Korthals Griffon | Bluestem Kennels

So much to be thankful for…

November 23, 2014

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales American Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Association, AWPGA, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA, Nebraska Pheasant Hunting, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, North Dakota pheasant hunting, South Dakota Pheasant Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

I really should not be blogging, but I know how much y’all have been missing me. Well, not so much me these days as these fab updates from our owners. But that comes later. First of all, I wanted to say that I had no idea how much work it takes to run an AKC breed parent club. Boards, committees, and lots of blood, sweat, and tears from dedicated volunteers. I am really stressing about my first issue at the helm of the Griffonnier, but it looks like it is coming together well. “How do I get this Griffonnier,” you say? You have to join the AWPGA: http://awpga.com/

Another awesome must-have magazine is Versatile Hunting Dog from NAVHDA. I’m excited/embarrassed to be in the November 2014 issue. Guess how you get Versatile Hunting Dog: you have to join NAVHDA.http://www.navhda.org/. I went ahead and scanned a copy of the article so that the non-members can check it out.

Thanks again to New Englander Jason Wade for coming all the way out to Nebraska/Iowa to put it on, and to Tracey Nelson for being a great hostess. Also thanks to the people who let me ask about their recent Handler’s Clinic experiences: Susan Davy, Dan Dorfschmidt, and Matt Heard.

I was also recently published in Tufts University Seabird Ecological Assessment Network’s publication Field Guide to Beached Birds of the Southeastern United States. The field guide will be used to help citizen scientists to identify bird carcasses. They needed a photo of a female canvasback carcass and found it here on the blog. Here is the link to the guide, my photo is on the bottom left hand corner of page 72: https://app.box.com/s/k01qk2eic0ojc0h0tjv7. I’m always happy to donate my work in the name of science and conservation.

Birthday Hunt

I bagged my first official shot-it-all-by-myself Nebraska rooster on my 40th birthday. That’s about the best present I could get. I’ve been attributed to some Nebraska roosters in the past, but it was always up for debate since others had also put pellets in it. But not this time.

I love chocolate cake, but I love birthday roosters more.

So that was the high point of the hunt. The low point of the hunt was at the end where we had to cross this shallow creek into a fallow field that was all plowed up and uneven. I tripped on a giant dried up dirt clod and didn’t even catch myself. It was a full-on face plant into the dirt. I may not be known for my gracefulness, but I have become an expert in totally wiping out safely while holding a firearm.

Oh yeah, and Charles got a rooster too. But you expected that.

That is my poor photography skills with the glare, not evidence of any supernatural forces.

That is my poor photography skill with the glare, not evidence of any supernatural forces.

Pupdates

Bob and Ed, who hail from Minnesota (and from our “E” Litter 2013 between Sam and Sue), had a great hunt up in North Dakota this year:

What a fantastic trip to North Dakota for Ed again this year! 5 guys hunting and we brought home our limits even with the tough wind we had. Ed’s performance was fantastic and I could not ask for anything else from him. He is a solid pointer and retrieves to hand with no hesitation. He proved his worth when he found a bird we knocked down which ran into a cattail slough. I am once again very happy for having found you while researching the breed. I can’t wait for our trip in 2015! Bob

Ed, Bob, and the birds in ND.

Trucks, dogs, and birds is where it’s at!

Jealous! In more news from North Dakota, Susan and TracHer (2012 “C” Litter between Sam and Mae) took out some roosters in the western part of the state:

A good friend got permission from an old high school classmate who farms in western ND, but north of I-94 (where the famed pheasant hunting area is) yesterday. I experienced an all time first in my hunting life. I shot a double, and was the first in our party of 3 to get birds. I end up in that category of, I GOT ONE! only to be told by the guy hunting to either side of me, that no, they got it. I’m a little slower to shoot so do better when I can get away from the others enough to get a bird on my own time, and it happened in spades yesterday!! TracHer did great again…in the pics she is bring my bird back to me, with our friend Don Winden in the pic as well. There were, indeed, a huge number of pheasants out amongst the oil drilling rigs and wells…The birds seem to have adjusted alright for now.

TracHer on retrieve with Don looking on.

Closeup of TracHer and the pheasant.

TracHer and the cows

I love how she manages to shoot with a gun and a camera! I need to work on that. Staying in the North Dakota theme, Ernie put together this cool video with footage from his GoPro and some tunes, “Country Boy” by Aaron Lewis and “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynard.

Here’s a photo of Ernie and Duncan (from our “H” Litter 2014 of Sam and Mae)

Duncan, Ernie and a North Dakota pheasant limit.

A bit closer to home, it looks like Rob and Maggie of Omaha (from our 2013 “E” Litter between Sam and Sue) had a great trip to South Dakota:

Maggie did fantastic for the start of her second season. She works perfectly in my opinion. She stays close, her drive is fantastic, she is very methodical and thorough yet not too slow and her nose is awesome. She points solid and does a great job at retrieving, especially the sneaky ones that are hard to find. When I turn her loose I almost never even have to direct her. Just when I think that she might be nearing a range that I would consider being too far out she puts her head up to check where I am at and readjusts to stay in the working distance that I prefer. Sometimes it’s like she can read my mind. I’m sure I am biased but I just can’t say enough about how well I think she hunts. I love this dog! Take care. Rob

Rob, Maggie, and roosters.

Taking it way down south, I got an update from Charbel in Mexico with Freyja from our 2014 litter of Sam and BB.

I’ve been off the grid lately with lots of work but finally manage to find some time for R&R. Sorry I couldn’t send you pictures sooner but here are a couple. This is Freyja´s first hunting trip in the beginning of November, we went Dove hunting, it wasn’t a good weekend because of the climate but we manage to get a few doves and the dogs had a lot of fun.

I have her leashed to me or to a long check leash since she still need to learn that there is no point in chasing flying birds, she will run all the way trying to follow a bird that fly’s by specially falcons when they are kiting the area and she tends to draw out thorns like a magnet, specially one I hate don’t know how its called but its a round seed fool of thorns that acts like Velcro. Took me more than an hour to remove all the thons from her, the bright side is that the thorn never actually gets it the skin but it does tangle in the hair. But I would let Freyja run free after every hunting morning.

The second morning while we were lunching in the field she dash into a corn field, after a few minutes suddenly a entire covey of quail flush out and 2 seconds after that Freyja came out of the field with that smiley doggy face she makes. We were all shocked since no one was expecting that. It was amazing!!!

This weekend we are going to be flying to Mexicali Pheasant hunting I´ll send you pictures after we come back.

Best Wishes, Charbel

Freyja ready to go.

Charbel and Freyja taking a break from dove hunting for a selfie.

Four labs and a griff cooling off.

Freyja coming back in.

Wow, thank you owners! You force me to come back and blog even when I don’t think that I want to. Then when I’m done, I see how much fun you have with your pups and it makes everything worth it.

The week of Thanksgiving is upon us, isn’t it? So that means that we go hunting, right? I hope so. I’ve been stuck at home the last couple of weekend with deer season. Charles didn’t see one big enough to shoot out in the Sandhills last weekend and went out yesterday for a doe along the Platte River and didn’t see anything.

We really should be thankful to God every day. As my grandfather says, “You’ve got a roof over your head and food on the table”. We take important things for granted, like clean water. 1 billion people on Earth don’t have access to clean water, and we’re lucky enough to be able to fuss over hunting dogs.

I am thankful for you, my readers, for hearing what I have to say and enjoying what my kind puppy owners are nice enough to share with me.

Pheasant 2014: North Dakota and Nebraska

October 27, 2014

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Upland Hunting Trips, Waterfowl Hunting Trips Bird Hunting, Hunting Dogs, Hunting Nebraska, Hunting North Dakota, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska Pheasant Hunting, Pheasant Hunting, Snipe Hunt, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

North Dakota Wrap-Up

As mentioned in the last post, Charles and the dogs were in North Dakota last week from Sunday until Thursday. Sunday they got a hun, and Monday a duck and two pheasants were in the bag (both of those photographs are in last week’s blog post). Tuesday they bagged 4 ducks, but they were mixed in with everything else on the stringer in the photograph and it was getting dark, so I opted to spare you another body count photo. Wednesday, they got a snipe and a rooster.

Snipe and Rooster from Wednesday, October 22nd

One of Charles’s friends tipped him off to a good spot to hit on his way out of North Dakota, where he got a limit in an hour and a half on Thursday.

North Dakota Rooster Limit

I apologize for the body count photos, especially to one of my regular readers who scolded me recently about having too many of them on my blog. We’ll get some more artful action photos with dogs in them and such next year, I opted to stay home since I got in plenty of travel earlier in the year.

Nebraska Opening Weekend

We decided not to wade into the fray of opening morning, but I was bound and determined to get out on Sunday. Charles decided that he wanted to come along too even though he had a cold and had just spent the whole week hunting. We went out midday and by the time we were headed back to the truck later in the afternoon it was 86 degrees out. Way too hot. He got 2 roosters within the first 5 minutes of our arrival to the field. I got a shot off on one a bit later, but missed.

The second rooster that Charles shot yesterday still had enough juice to fly 80 yards or so into some thick sunflowers, making Sam and Fire work hard to find the carcass. Fire was the one who found it and brought it right to Charles. He wanted to make sure that he got the bird from her in a timely fashion, so I didn’t have a chance to take a picture since I was carrying my shotgun. Darn.

I took Wednesday morning of this week off from work so that I can get out on my own. Not that it will necessarily change my shooting luck with rooster pheasants, but I’m going to give it a try.

Yet another dorky hunting selfie from Charles and Charity

It appears that the top pheasant in the photograph below was released by Nebraska Game and Parks this year, if you notice the nostrils are enlarged from the blinders that were on the bird during its time in the pen. The bottom bird is either a survivor from last year or a wild hatch.

Notice the size of the pheasant nostrils

Pupdates

Bob from Minnesota sent me an e-mail and photo of “Ed” from our 2013 “E” Litter from Sam and Sue.

Just wanted to give you a quick update on Ed. We finally made it out pheasant hunting in MN this past weekend. I managed to get Ed and my oldest daughter, Faith, out for a bit. In a year in which MN DNR says the numbers of birds are down, Ed managed to find and point 7 birds in a quick morning walk. We have done no live bird work since last year and he was flat out amazing! He is definitely ready for our annual trip to North Dakota next week. I will get you some pictures upon our return from that trip. Definitely looking forward to it.

Ed and Faith in MN

Curt out in Central Nebraska shot this video a couple of weeks ago of our Fire’s sister “Gracie” doing her first water retrieve at 8 months of age:

Congratulations to Lindsay and Bluestem’s Big Sky Rendezvous CGC NA I “Midge” in Montana for qualifying for the AKC Owner Handler Series. Midge and Lindsay were #8 (tie) in conformation show points in the series (click photo to enlarge results).

AKC Owner Handler Series Rankings

I hope that everyone who celebrates Halloween has a happy and safe one. I do not dress up my dogs, so don’t even think that you’ll be seeing that next week. Not gonna happen. But thanks to all of my owners for the updates and I’ll be sure to keep you posted as to what is going on here. Happy Haunting and Hunting!

Duck Opener and Fire’s NAVHDA Natural Ability Test

October 13, 2014

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, NAVHDA, Upland Hunting Trips, Waterfowl Hunting Trips Duck Hunting, Heartland NAVHDA Chapter, Jump Hunting Ducks, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA Natural Ability Test, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, North Dakota hunting, Teal, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wood Ducks Leave a comment

Duck Opener

Nebraska High Plains duck opener on October 4th found us in our usual haunts up in the Sandhills. We didn’t get out into the field until around 9 AM both days; that is the nice thing about jump hunting as opposed to sitting over decoys. Sitting over decoys requires three things that I don’t like to do: 1) haul excessive amounts of gear 2) get up early 3) hold still. So even though Charles had brought up all of the decoys and blinds and such to do it, we just didn’t.

We work a network of small ponds, swamps, and beaver dammed creeks trying to keep the dogs on heel as best we can. It is about a 50% success rate on a jump as far as getting shots off. Sometimes a dog will spook a flock, other times we come across a pond that we didn’t know was there at full standing profile and scare them off, or take a shot at a single in one pond that sets off a giant flock in the next pond.

We’ve taken up enough of a pattern that the game warden was able to track us down on Sunday just because he wanted to chat and see what we’d gotten into. Charles took 3 teal and a hen wood duck on Saturday and I took 3 teal. Sunday was a 6 hour day in the field and I took nothing, Charles got 2 snipe and a mallard hen. I got a couple of videos, the first of Fire retrieving Charles’s mallard hen, her first wild duck retrieve: . The second is my first anything of the year, I think that I’ve shot at 15 snipe this year with no luck:

The photo from Saturday is a bit goofy, I just threw the camera up on the tripod, hit the timer and took the shot. I obviously did not review the pic for my odd facial expression while talking to the crazy dogs. Oh well, there it is.

Opening day, Saturday, October 4th.

BB and Charles with Sunday’s quarry.

Fire’s NAVHDA Natural Ability Test

Before I get into the test itself, I want to tell you about my new friend, Bob. He is 75 years-old and ran his 52nd NAVHDA test on Sunday. He is a retired truck driver from Pennsylvania who was en route to my beloved Sandhills and has been traveling out there for many years. Before he takes his buddies hunting in the Sandhills, they are required to read the famous Nebraska author Mari Sandoz’s novel Old Jules. I am certified as a middle and high school English teacher in Nebraska and have not read Old Jules. Bob laid quite a bit of grief and shame on me, so I will be going on to Amazon to pick up a copy later today since it is not available on iBooks.

My new friend Bob from Pennsylvania

Bob travels in style

His cool license plate

My favorite picture of the day was of Blaine Erkenbrack looking on as his daughter, Alexa, tossed the bumper for “Khloe”, a 14 month-old German Shorthaired Pointer. Khloe and the gang earned a Prize I, Score 112 in Natural Ability.

Blaine, Alexa, and Khloe.

Eight month-old Bluestem’s Prairie Fire “Fire” now has a NA I at the end of her name, with a maximum score of 112 points. Thanks to Senior Judge Mike Garriott of Falls City, Nebraska, Gabby Awbray of San Diego, California, and Darin Tolzin from Atlantic, Iowa for coming out to judge. It was a little chillier than what we’ve been used to lately, but there was no rain, and the breeze was pleasant, not a howling gale.

Fire found a number of quail in the field and pointed them all, but proceeded to rip almost every single one (catching the bird before it flushes, also known as a “trap”). There were a few that were able to get up and fly.

Fire working the thick tallgrass cover

Fire slamming into point. Two quail successfully flushed from this one.

Charles holds Fire’s collar while a quail flushes.

After 2 Natural Ability dogs ran the field, they did their track, so 2 field runs, 2 tracks, alternating. There were 8 Natural Ability dogs running for the day. The track was a mowed strip leading into a dense, food plot-sized growth of native tallgrass prairie. Conrad and Charles have been working with Fire quite a bit on the tracking skill and it paid off.

Fire successfully working the track.

Fire inherited her sire’s absolute love of water retrieving and had two great bumper retrieves.

Fire getting excited when seeing the bumpers

Fire bringing one back in

L to R apprentice from NJ, Gabby Awbray, Mike Garriott, Darin Tolzin, and apprentice John Green at the reading of the scores.

L to R: apprentice from NJ (sorry, I didn’t note the name), Gabby Awbray, Mike Garriott, Darin Tolzin, and apprentice John Green at the reading of the scores.

We were very pleased with Fire’s performance and enjoyed the day. Good luck to John and Cle, Fire’s brother, on his Natural Ability test in Tennessee this weekend.

Velma in North Dakota

Velma’s owner, Aaron, was up on the federal ground in North Dakota the weekend before the PLOTS land opens and got into some pheasants and sharptailed grouse. Velma is right next to Aaron giving him a kiss, we will be keeping a pup out of her breeding to Ben this spring for our next stud dog.

Aaron, his lab, and Velma WPG in North Dakota on Saturday.

Pupdate

Tyson up in Bangor, Maine sent over a nice report on the start of his hunting season, his pup, Moose, is from our 2014 “H” Litter between Sam and Mae:

It has been a crazy busy summer here in Maine with some vacation and lots of training with Moose. We feel so blessed to have such an incredible dog. He is fitting in great and does awesome with the kids. I have attached some pics for you. Moose spent most of the summer sleeping in the boat, as you can see.

The most exciting thing to report is that bird season officially opened in Maine on October 1st. And Moose got his first day in the field this Saturday. He got the chance to hunt with her good friend Spice who is an 8 year old female GSP that is an amazing Maine gun dog. She definitely showed him the ropes. They have spent some time training together this summer. Some good pics of Moose with some very rare Maine Pheasant. He also pointed the first grouse of the day at our first stop. Thanks again for an amazing dog!

Best,Tyson

Moose is looking handsome at 7 months old.

Moose spending some time on the Atlantic.

Moose and the elusive Maine roosters

Thanks, as always, to my owners for the updates!

Well, that is about all of the excitement I can handle for one day. Charles and the dogs head to North Dakota on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see what they come across. I’m sure we’ll all be jealous. Stay warm, until then.

Beginning of Hunting Season 2014

September 17, 2014

Charity Upchurch Hunting Forecasts Dove hunting, Ducks, early teal hunting, Hunting Nebraska, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska Sandhills, Sharptailed Grouse Hunting, Taking kids hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

I think that I overdid the adventures this summer and it rattled my hunting cage. I carried a gun the days that we hunted up in the Sandhills the weekend before last, but the few cracks that I took at doves felt way off. I will either opt to carry a camera this season, otherwise I will have to go back and re-read my favorite shotgunning book, Breaking Clays by Chris Batha, and get over to the skeet range before the big ducks start flying.

Nebraska Sandhills Sharptailed Grouse

We devoted Friday, September 5th to chasing grouse with our old buddy, Ryan. After 4 hours in the field, we didn’t see a single bird.

Charity, Charles, and Ryan take a selfie in the grouse field.

What we did end up getting were two dogs with faces full of porcupine quills.

Charles pulls quills out of Sam as Ryan restrains BB.

Another shot of the quill pulling

Conservation Officer Frank Miller of the Valentine office of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission stopped Charles and I on our way into the field Saturday morning and verified that grouse numbers are way down from normal, but just slightly better than last year. Hopefully once the weather turns and they bunch up, we will see them on future trips this fall.

Charles talks to Conservation Officer Frank Miller

Early Teal

After checking a few ponds with no ducks, we were able to put the sneak on a mixed flock and jumped them up. There were too many mallards in the mix as they rose from the pond and the group of teal was circling around them really fast, so I didn’t even dare take a shot. Charles was able to drop one teal out of the group. The last day for early teal in the low plains region is this Sunday, high plains is already closed.

Our 10 year-old son, Conrad, came with us on the trip and learned a great deal about getting around out in the Sandhills.

How to open a western gate

Conrad celebrates dad’s teal and 2 doves

Dove

Dove numbers are strong statewide, with Charles harvesting limits at the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers in the east, as well as during our trip to the Sandhills. We’ve been making these bacon-wrapped dove poppers with them and they are quite delicious! http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/bacon-wrapped-dove

Bacon-wrapped dove poppers

Charles and a Sandhills dove limit

Other friends around the state are also getting their kids out on the doves!

My friends Ashley and Matt's son Gavin and his first dove harvest in the Sandhills.

My friend Ashley’s son Gavin and his first dove harvest in the Sandhills.

Carter and Cadence loved watching their dad Matt shoot doves near Lincoln.

Snipe and Sora

Last weekend I followed Charles, BB and Fire around the swamp chasing after teal, snipe, and sora. There was quite a bit of fast action and good success.

BB retrieves a sora

Fire, BB, and Charles

Snipe in flight

BB brings a snipe to hand on a mud flat.

Charles and Fire inspecting the snipe.

Charles and the dogs circling the pond.

BB and Fire with Charles and 2 teal, 4 sora, and 4 snipe.

Overall a decent start to the 2014 hunting season so far.

Pupdate

George over in Wyoming had a great opener on Blue Grouse with Harry from our 2014 “H” Litter of Sam and Mae, “Attached you’ll find two pictures of yesterday’s blue grouse with Harry. This was her first exposure to wild birds, and she pointed and retrieved them all. One was still somewhat lively for the retrieve and I’m glad she had the experience with a grouse instead of a rooster pheasant! Happy hunting!”

Harry and Blue Grouse

As always, thank you to my puppy owners for sending such great updates and photos!

Until next time, good luck out in the hunting fields!

Field Trial Placement and on to Maine

August 24, 2014

Charity Upchurch Field Trialing, Puppy Update Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds, Delmar Smith, German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Nebraska, Korthals Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

AKC Field Trial

Today we ran Bluestem’s Prairie Fire “Fire” in her first formal dog event. She participated in the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Nebraska’s Fall Field Trial in the Amateur Walking Puppy and Amateur Walking Derby stakes at the Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds near Raymond, Nebraska. These grounds are famous and I noticed a new sign hanging in the lodge as I was getting breakfast this morning. It is notes made this spring by Delmar Smith.

Comments from Delmar Smith about Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds, April 2014

We met Delmar in Kansas City at Pheasant Fest a few years back and he is definitely a sage of the sport.

Sunrise over Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds

Horse barn and clubhouse of Branched Oak Field Trial Grounds

A standard setup at Branched Oak

It was entirely English Pointers and German Shorthaired Pointers, but we had fun and Fire had a great experience. Of course she was shown up with range in the field because of her young age (6 1/2 months) and the close-working nature of the breed, but due to the fact that there were only 4 dogs entered in the Amateur Walking Derby, we did walk away with a ribbon. Although it was a “gimme” (which none of BB’s field trial placements were), it was still cool to represent griffons and be the only 6 month old griff ever to have placed in an AKC Field Trial.

Walking to the line

At the line

Starting in the field

Escapee

Running Fire

Charles and Fire with their 4th place ribbon in the Amateur Walking Derby

We also had visitors from Matt and Carter, who live around Lincoln and will be getting a Sam/BB pup next year.

Matt and Carter saying hi to Fire.

Fire and Carter

I really hate to cut this short, as there’s more to say, but I am still not packed for the AWPGA National Specialty Dog Show, Hunt Tests and Annual Meeting this week in Maine, and I have a 6 AM flight to catch in the morning. I’m taking all of my equipment with me, so maybe there will be a blog post part 2 if I get the time this week, but I will probably be busy seeing all of my long lost dog friends. If I don’t get to it, I’ll catch up with y’all next weekend.

Federacion Canofila Mexicana: Pointer Griffon de Pelo Duro

August 17, 2014

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Uncategorized Dog Training, Federacion Canofila Mexicana, German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Nebraska, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Sandhills, Pointer Griffon de Pelo Duro, Prairie Chicken Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 1 Comment

FCM Bluestem Freyja

I received an e-mail from Charbel in Mexico City that six month-old Bluestem Freyja, sister to our pup Fire out of Sam and BB, is now officially the only registered Wirehaired Pointing Griffon in Mexico! Viva Griffon! I find the name that they use quite interesting, as it literally translates into “Pointer Griffon of Hard Hair”. Here is the official pedigree from FCM, and thank you so much to Charbel for sending me a copy!

Federacion Canofila Mexicana Pedigree of Pointer Griffon de Pelo Duro, Bluestem Freyja

It is pretty cool that in 3 generations it goes from France (Cyr, the sire of BB), Canada (BB was born), US (where Freyja was born), and now to Mexico. I know that she has a good life down there, and I can’t wait to get some pics of her chasing some of their crazy quail.

Fire Training Day Epic Fail

Our poor raggedy chukar have been sitting in the holding pen for too long. It isn’t a flight pen and most of them are big males and have pecked one another over quite a bit. But we decided that Fire absolutely had to get out. So yesterday morning, off we went to the dog training wildlife management area south of town with three chukars.

It has been raining so much that the grass was wet, and the birds were wet. But Charles planted them anyway. At that point, we hadn’t had Fire out working birds or even for a multi-hour walk for about a month. The first thing that she did was take off like a bat out of hell right down the scent of Charles’s boots, with no care in the world for the whistle. We finally found her about 150 yards away, up and over the hill with the last bird that he had planted in her mouth.

On the second bird, we got a point out of her that Charles was able to walk in on, but it barely flew and was almost an Arky shot (looks like I need to add Arky Shot to Urban Dictionary. It is when a person shoots a bird on the ground or in a tree, which is extremely unsportsmanlike when not totally illegal). But he wanted to make sure that he fired the shotgun and the bird was dead when she got ahold of it. I think that the shotgun blast scared me more than it did the dog, so it looks like we’ve got the pup’s shotgun conditioning finalized.

Charles walking in on Fire’s point

Fire showing off her prey drive on the flush

Charles going for the near-Arky

She retrieved that bird, but I was still too stunned from the blast to get a photo of it. We got a decent point on the last bird, but it didn’t fly but about 6 inches off of the ground, right into Fire’s mouth. Aw hell. Although it makes for a funny story, and everyone who trains dogs has these days, it was still a big thumbs down.

Everybody Run

Remember that awesome song from Sesame Street in the 1970s? Well, here it is:

Yet I digress. This morning, we finally got everyone out for a run. And it was fun.

Sam, Fire, BB, and Charles.

Fire in the flowers

Go Sam go

BB on the move

Three dogs in the grass: Sam, Fire, BB

Here comes BB

Happy Sam

The people

Upcoming trialing and hunting

This weekend, we will be running Fire in the Amateur Walking Derby and the Walking Puppy Stakes at the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Nebraska’s Fall Trial at Branched Oak Lake Trial Grounds. I’ll be sure to get something up about that at the end of next weekend before I get on the plane for Maine. I’m hoping that the stakes prior to the Derby are large, because if it falls on Friday, I will have to handle. It would be my first time. I thought we’d be running again the following weekend, but once I went to fill out the premium for the Lincoln club, I realized that there are no walking stakes. So we’ll have the first weekend of September off from dog activities and just plan on sitting for some doves on Monday the 1st.

Pointing Dog Journal: Nebraska Sandhills Prairie Chicken Mention

This month’s PDJ Pass Along E-mail Blast was about the Greater Prairie Chicken and my very own Nebraska Sandhills. The following is the full text from the e-mail and I hope that I am re-printing it with permission. Full credit goes to Pointing Dog Journal and the author listed below:

Prairie Chickens
in the Nebraska Sandhills
by Greg Septon, STCP

Founded in 1961 to save the greater prairie-chicken (GPC) in Wisconsin, the Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. (STCP) is working today to better understand the dynamics that maintain the nation’s largest viable population of GPC in the Nebraska Sandhills – the last best place to study the species in their natural grassland environment.

The goal in the Sandhills is to document productivity, habitat use, and movements of GPC and provide an understanding of how this is interwoven with human activities in the region. If GPC are to prosper as a species we need to better understand their needs and work to determine a scenario where compatible land uses will provide a secure future for them as well as humans so that both may coexist.

Our proactive approach at studying the dynamics of this large population now means that we can likely prevent the GPC from following in the wake of the lesser prairie-chicken – which is now listed as threatened, and the greater sage grouse, which may also be listed next year. If similar proactive research had been undertaken 20 years ago with these species, they might not be facing the uncertain futures they face today.

Gaining a thorough understanding of the life history of Nebraska’s large GPC population will also help provide a future for the isolated, remnant GPC populations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. For it is from the large populations that these states will need to translocate birds from to restore genetic health and increase numbers to maintain their “museum” or “zoo” populations as they are often referred to. Without a stable source population where birds can be drawn from for periodic translocations, these small, isolated populations will eventually fade away one by one.

For a more comprehensive history of STCP and an account of our research efforts including work with the endangered Attwater’s prairie-chicken, please visit our website at: www.prairiegrouse.org.

Until next weekend

I need to go and get the kids ready for school tomorrow. It is very much unlike me to do a Sunday night post, but I desperately need to save my writing time in the morning for my paid writing gig. Oh, I also wanted to give a special shout out to the late night internet lurkers on my blog. I am also one of those people who gets up almost every night for 15 minutes or so between midnight and 4 AM and gets online. I know it is neurotic and a bad habit, but I always check my stats and see there are folks out there reading my blog at that time. I also see that there are people reading my archived posts from several years back. How embarrassing, it is a real cesspool in places. But that is just part of keeping an online diary. I’m glad that you enjoy it.

Introducing Ben, etc.

July 15, 2014

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Uncategorized Heartland NAVHDA Chapter, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

Introducing Ben

We will be using Ben as the sire on the litter planned with Velma (De Jac’s Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah) for 2015. Ben is from our 2011 “B” Litter between Sam and Sue. We had him here as an overnight guest last week in order to get his hips X-rayed, which is really just a formality as there is no sign of anything wrong. It is just one of those things that you are supposed to do before breeding a dog.

Ben has a wonderful temperament: he only barked once or twice out in the kennel even though it wasn’t home and he let me mess with him up on the grooming table without putting up a fight. He is strictly a wild bird hunter of quail, sharptailed grouse, and pheasant here in Nebraska. He lives on a farm outside of Lincoln with Nate and his family. We plan on taking our next stud puppy out of the Velma and Ben litter, they really compliment each other well in their conformation.

Ben on point last fall on a hen pheasant.

Ben au natural, before any grooming

Ben after being brushed, before trim

Ben after a full trim and bath

Ben with Nate ready to head home

I was really blown away by Ben’s head furnishings, neither of his parents have anything near that long. I would put his eyebrows and beard at around 4 in. long. His face really makes me think of the West Coast show griffs. His body coat is more of the hunter lines liver coat, but it isn’t flat like some, it does have a curl to it like Sam’s. Then the chest and the legs have lots of gray fringe on them. He also isn’t too big, 64 lbs. and probably 23 in. at the shoulder, so really the perfect size and right in breed standard. We hope to get out this fall and do some hunting with him too, so I’ll have more pictures of him then.

Retiree Update

Mae is doing really well with my brother Ron, and his Siberian Husky Whisper. Whisper used to escape and run away all of the time, but that has changed now that he has an old lady. Mae was fixed before I moved her, so there will be no griff/husky cross puppies (although it was much talked about in jest beforehand). They sit around the yard all day, then play fight in the house at night.

Mae and Whisper doing what they do best.

Stan shared a cute picture of old Sue running with Savannah down the driveway, she seems to be very happy playing with the kids. Trey is 12 this year and passed his hunter’s safety, so game birds in Mellette County, South Dakota be warned.

Sue and Savannah on a jog.

Fire Training Update

Last weekend, Charles took our 5-month old puppy, Fire, out to Skyline Sportsmen’s Club in Thurman, Iowa for training with the Heartland NAVHDA Chapter. She did her first exercise with live shotgun fire and did just fine. She also retrieved bumpers from the water. The veterans of the chapter said that she is ready for her Natural Ability test, so we will go ahead and move that up to October of this year. We were talking about doing it in the spring, but will go ahead and move it up and do the UPT test in Spring of 2015. That way we can get her through the Utility Test prior to her coming into breeding age, probably Fall of 2015.

Pupdate

Cliff in Oklahoma sent over a great update on Bluestem Belle, from our “C” litter of 2012 between Sam and Mae. That would make her a littermate to Chester in New York and TracHer in North Dakota who we get frequent updates from. Here’s what Cliff had to say:

Belle has been just almost the perfect pet. She is so personable and most always very obedient. I will take partial credit on the obedient attribute. We had her spayed prior to her coming into heat the second time, so about 16 months ago. After going through one cycle of wearing doggie diapers and having to be careful what dogs we hunted around that first fall, I didn’t want to go through that again! She is an inside-outside pet. Inside when we are home, but outside if we are going to be gone more than a couple hours. We got our yard fenced shortly after bringing her home, so she has about half an acre to be in.

I continue to be amazed on how smart she is. She can open doors (we have door handles instead of door knobs), know toy names, and last week she fetched my socks and shoes to put on so we could go on a walk! When we go to our public walking area, I usually don’t have her on a leash unless we are about to walk past another dog or geese. She always wants to get in my truck to go someplace. There is a pub in Stillwater that allows pets on leash. Attached is a picture of her in front of a menu board.

She does great hunting, super nose and follows commands: verbal, whistle & hand directions. One of our most fun days out last season was the Jan 31st in north-central Kansas. We woke up to new and continuing snow. Belle loved hunting in that cold and snow. Attached are a couple pictures of her that day. She was caked in snow and had a vast number of icicles in her beard.

I look forward to seeing more of your posts.

Belle at Finnegan’s Pub

Belle in the Kansas snow

Belle on point

Thanks so much to Cliff for that update, I am pleased with how all of these pups have turned out and it really bolsters my spirit to hear from my owners. Infinite gratitude.

General Blog Ramblings

It is hard to believe that I’m fast approaching 300,000 lifetime hits on a totally homemade blog about an obscure breed of hunting dogs written by a gal who considers herself half redneck and half intellectual. I suppose I could sell ads on my YouTube videos and convert this over to a site where I could put ads on it, but it is a passionate hobby and am fearful of taking myself too seriously. But when I am able to see folks from all over the world reading it, like daily hits from Brazil during the World Cup (probably some Dutch and German griffon enthusiasts), it makes me feel pretty self-conscious and aware that I’m representing my breed and my sport internationally. I need to do a better job of being a professional about it and not so flippant. I appreciate you, my readers, for making me feel appreciated and tolerating my sometimes lazy and goofy posts.

I have also finally committed to going to Maine at the end of August for AWPGA National Specialty and the Korthals Cup. I am looking forward to seeing some good friends and meeting some of the East Coast US and Quebec griffonniers that I’ve only encountered online. If you’d like to join us, registration is open until August 1st http://www.awpganationalspecialty.com/.

Enjoy the end of summer and stay cool. Griffs love kiddie pools, so bust one out if you haven’t already.

One last thing: I finally updated the gallery on the About Us/Contact page to include the last two years of our adventures, so be sure to check that out. The button is in the brown top navigation bar.

NAVHDA Handler’s Clinic, our first Best of Breed, and other news…

July 1, 2014

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Dog Grooming, Kennel Update, Uncategorized Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Heartland NAVHDA Chapter, Hunting Dogs, Hunting Nebraska, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA Handler's Clinic, Nebraska Sandhills, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, Puppies, Valentine Nebraska, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

The Countdown Begins

It was only in the 50s when the sun was coming up this morning and it set Sam a-howling, which seemed appropriate to me because my first thought when I woke up was, “only two months left and it will be hunting season again”. Although I’m very excited, I’m also a bit nervous since we’ve retired all of our older females at this point and I’ll be hunting with Sam. It will be my first time hunting by myself with a male dog, and Sam and I have our moments where he thinks there is room for debate as to who is the dominate player in our relationship. But I’m sure we’ll get it sorted out and have a grand time as we always do.

Opening weekend 2011: Charity, Ryan Tompkins, Chas, then Sue, Sam, and BB.

Opening weekend 2011: Charity, Ryan Tompkins, Charles, then Sue, Sam, and BB.

Best of Breed

I am just beside myself at the success of Bluestem Big Sky Rendezvous NA I “Midge” in both the field and the show ring. She is from our 2013 “F” litter from Sam and Mae. Only a couple of weeks after her Prize I NAVHDA Natural Ability test with a score of 112, she took Best of Breed on June 20th at the Electric City Kennel Club Dog Show in Great Falls, Montana. The competition in Montana is tough and I am just thrilled. Infinite thanks to owners/handlers Lou and Lindsay Volpe.

Midge has a stretch after her BOB win at Montana Expo Park

NAVHDA Handler’s Clinic

The first and most important thing I have to say about NAVHDA Handler’s Clinics is: GO. I wish that we had gone 10 years ago, as it would have saved us numerous hours of time in both research and training. We were lucky to have 3 judges with us over the weekend: our own Tracey Nelson and Chuck Casanova, and our instructor, Jason Wade from the Sebasticook and Yankee Chapters in Maine. The first day was devoted to going over the Aims, Programs and Test booklet that covers the elements of the Natural Ability, Utility Preparatory, Utility, and Invitational Tests. We then scored two dogs at the Natural Ability level. The second day we scored a UPT and a UT dog, then finalized any remaining questions. It was a great combination of direct instruction, guided practice, then finished with independent practice. Kudos to Tracey and her family at Skyline Sportsmen’s Club in Thurman, Iowa for being gracious hosts to the Heartland Chapter yet again.

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Pupdates

Speaking of the NAVHDA Chapters in Maine, Tyson out in Bangor sent me a pic of Moose doing some work at a recent training day. Moose is from our 2014 “H” litter from Sam and Mae and is 12 weeks old in the picture.

Moose retrieving a chukar

Kaylee down in Missouri shared this cute pic recently of my pup Fire’s sister, Willow, working on the water retrieve. Willow is from our 2014 “G” litter of Sam and BB. I love the confident look in her eyes, like, “I’ve got this!”

Willow is proud of her duck dummy

I just love all of the pics that Susan and Tom up in North Dakota get of TracHer and the pretty flowers. Here is Susan and TracHer, who is from our 2011 “C” litter from Sam and Mae. Don’t be fooled by her show dog looks, she’s tearing up the sloughs, ponds, and prairies up there.

Susan and TracHer in the summer flowers

As always, many thanks to all of my owners for sharing photos with me and giving great homes to our pups.

Mae’s Retirement

We spent the solstice/wedding anniversary weekend up in the Nebraska Sandhills, enjoying time in the outdoors with family and friends.

Caleb, Fire, Charles, BB, Cordelia, Conrad, Mae, and Sam at our special swimming spot

Mae has been officially retired to Valentine, Nebraska to live with my brother, Ron, and his 1 1/2 year old Siberian Husky, Whisper. The initial introduction of the two dogs was a bit dicey, but they settled in with each other quickly and are good friends.

Mae and Whisper chilling in my brother’s yard

Burr season is here

As I was writing this, I received a panicked phone call from a griff owner asking about how to deal with burr mats in the coat. If we run the dogs in burrs, I try to brush them the same or the next day to prevent matting. Should I forget to do this and a mat develops, I try to brush it out with a wide toothed comb or burr puller. I make sure to grab the fur close to the skin before I start yanking on it with the comb. There are spray-on liquid detanglers that you can buy at the pet store to help with this. If it will not come out and the dog is crying and/or trying to grab your hand with its mouth, it is okay to cut the mat out with scissors if you have to.

I had better move on with my day, even though it seems like there is always more to write, but the littlest one is asking for me to fix him a hot breakfast. So everyone have a safe and Happy 4th of July! Keep the dogs inside or kenneled a safe distance from fireworks so they don’t try to eat them like my little cocker spaniel did when I was a child:)

Spring Training

June 17, 2014

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Kennel Update, Puppy Update Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Hunting North Dakota, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

It is supposed to get into the mid-90s today, so it is a perfect day to get dog baths and grooming out of the way. Mae will be heading up to her retirement home with my mom and brother in Valentine, Nebraska this weekend, so I want to get her all spiffy. Speaking of retired dogs, I’ve gotten some pics and video of 10 year old Sue who is retired up in South Dakota and she looks to be enjoying a relaxing family life up there. I am so thankful to the folks who are choosing to take our retired dogs, as an acre and a small house that is already full of kids just isn’t enough to keep an active breeding and hunting program going without transitioning the elders.

Fire and Charles out working over on Saturday

Fire and Charles out working on Saturday

Right now we are mainly working on getting Fire ready to hunt with us this fall. Opening day of sharptailed grouse season is only 2 1/2 months away! She comes when called, searches out in front, retrieves, has a good point, and isn’t afraid of the starter pistol sound. The housebreaking accidents are getting to be more infrequent. I seriously think that griffons are one of the slowest breeds to housebreak and am finding that it usually happens between 16-20 weeks.

I went out with Charles on Saturday when he worked with Fire on some planted quail. Obviously this video is edited for time as we walked for probably 30 minutes or more. I apologize that it is impossible to see the dog point because of the thick cover, but you know when the dog is pointing when Charles gets his starter pistol ready to go. Keep in mind that the pup was first started on pointing/flushing birds without a gun, then with a kids cap gun, now a .22 starter pistol with acorn crimps. We are getting close to working with a shotgun.

Ernie up in North Dakota sent me a video about a week and a half ago of Duncan, who was 10 weeks at the time, pointing a pigeon. I love the timing on this since I had a gentleman ask me a week or so ago if I guarantee my dogs pointing abilities. I don’t guarantee it in writing because I can’t guarantee someone training a dog incorrectly and messing it up, but the natural ability and instinct is all there and I see it starting at 5-6 weeks old here in the yard. I think that the only way that a griffon wouldn’t naturally have pointing instinct would be through poor breeding practices, but I’ve heard of plenty of housepet and show dog griffs who have the instinct without formal training. They are pointing dogs, they all are supposed to point naturally. I’ve never had anyone tell me that one of my puppies doesn’t point.

Thanks again to Ernie for sending that video over!

Training and Testing

June 3, 2014

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Kennel Update, Puppy Update Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Montana Sharptail Chapter NAVHDA, NAVHDA, nevada chukar, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, Puppies, Water Retrieve, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon 3 Comments

Puppy Homegoing

I received a picture of Hez in his new home in Bangor, Maine with Tyson and family. He also has a big golden retriever friend named Ferg and they are all getting along splendidly!

Hez (now Moose) and family in Maine

Shipping a puppy by air cargo

Someone asked me recently about how I ship puppies by air cargo. Well, I get an interstate health certificate from the veterinarian (needs to be dated within 10 days of travel). Then I buy the intermediate level crate, which is 22 inches tall, 28 inches long, and 22 inches wide. I take all of the plastic hardware off of the outside of the crate and replace with metal nuts and bolts, then fill the crate about 1/3 full of shredded newspaper. Each side of the crate has “Live Animal” signs taped on to it, with a leash, a small bag of dog food, and the shipping/care instructions taped to the top. I attach food and water dishes to the inside of the crate, then simply place the pup in the crate with his collar on. I always have the pup take the first available flight out of Omaha Eppley so they are more mellow. I am about a 15 minute drive from the airport, so I feed and water the pup, give it a walk to go potty, and away we go. I use Delta Pet First/Air Cargo. I check the dog in at the air cargo office (which is over with the FedEx and UPS buildings), they pull the pup out of the crate and inspect the crate for any contraband, put the pup back in and ny-tie the door closed. All of the holding areas in both the airports and the planes are climate controlled so that the pup never experiences extreme temperatures. I wish I could put a little camera in the crate and see what the pup sees when he is being shipped, it must be exciting. But I think that the cargo folks are really nice to the pups because they’ve never come out of their crates traumatized. I’ve shipped 15-20 puppies this way and have never had a problem at all. Some breeders do not ship air cargo from reading a story or two on the internet, but it is like anything you read from questionable sources.

Grooming of the young griffon

I also had a question about what type of grooming to do on a young griffon puppy. Aside from giving it a bath once a month with puppy shampoo and cleaning its ears with Malascetic Otic solution, very little. I don’t recommend aggressive brushing like I do with adults, as I accidentally overbrushed a young puppy once while its puppy coat was coming out and the adult coat still hadn’t come in. I had an almost bald griffon in October. Charles was not happy. So don’t do that:)

Fire’s training

Fire is coming along nicely at 15 weeks old; Charles has been planting birds for her once a week to point and flush. He has switched from using the kiddie cap gun to the .22 starter pistol with blanks and she couldn’t care less about the noise. He’s talking about incorporating the remote bird launchers as to avoid any accidental “traps” (when the live bird gets caught by the dog). Then once he feels comfortable there, probably mid-July, will try the first live-fire exercise with a shotgun. I will try to get out to catch some video of this process.

First NAVHDA Test Pupdate of the Season

Congratulations to owner/handler Lou Volpe and Bluestem’s Big Sky Rendezvous “Midge” on a NAVHDA Natural Ability Prize I with a perfect score of 112 at the Montana Sharptail Chapter test over the weekend! Midge is from our 2013 “F” Litter from Sam and Mae. Great job everyone!!!

“A” Litter Pupdate

Back at the end of April, my very first litter from Sam and Sue turned 4 years old. Here are some recent owner photos from the litter that changed my life for good!

Maggie is a good kid pillow

Maggie keeps her coat trimmed for the Alabama heat

Maggie showing off her beautiful eyes

Whiskey is a handsome dude

Whiskey (front) and friends beating the Nevada heat

Whiskey bringing Dad (Pete) his croc

I also saw a cool video on Whiskey’s mom’s Facebook page of him hunting chukars with his girl, Andi.

More training

Susan and Tom have been working with TracHer on preparing for her NAVHDA Utility Test and sent me some pictures of her retrieving a giant Muscovy duck. The first picture is of her retrieving it after a 60 yard dryland track from a drag and the second is a water retrieve. TracHer is from our 2012 “C” Litter of Sam and Mae.

TracHer and the duck in the field

TracHer’s water retrieve

I have one last bit of media to share with you and that is a YouTube that I made from a couple of video clips that new owners of this year’s litters sent to me. You can see the pups style and personality already starting to shine through!

Many thanks to all of my generous owners who take the time to update me with photos and videos so that I have something to share with you! It is greatly appreciated and keep it coming! Hope that everyone is enjoying the beginning of summer and I’ll check back in soon.

Bluestem Kennels

So much to be thankful for…

Pheasant 2014: North Dakota and Nebraska

Duck Opener and Fire’s NAVHDA Natural Ability Test

Beginning of Hunting Season 2014

Field Trial Placement and on to Maine

Federacion Canofila Mexicana: Pointer Griffon de Pelo Duro

Introducing Ben, etc.

NAVHDA Handler’s Clinic, our first Best of Breed, and other news…

Spring Training

Training and Testing

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