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Pupdate: Two Weeks Old!

March 4, 2011

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"B" Litter: Week 2

Once the snow started flying last weekend, we moved Sue and the puppies inside, as it appears that the temperature is going to continue to fluctuate substantially and it is easier for me to check on them this way.  They are very uniform, all weighing in right around 3 pounds.  We had a checkup with the veterinarian this week and he stated that these are very robust puppies, even for the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon breed.  He prescribed Sue some additional vitamin supplements in order to help her support a very demanding litter.  Sue seems to be holding up well and is doing her job.

It was exciting to pick up the puppies this morning to see that half of the litter has their eyes open!  I shot this video a couple of days ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_mVlP9iMno

Here are their individual snapshots:

Bluestem Bart

Bluestem Bart's Face - eyes beginning to open

Bluestem Bess

Bluestem Bess's Face - eyes opening

Bluestem Ben

Bluestem Ben - eyes open

Bluestem Buster

Bluestem Buster's Face - eyes open

Bluestem Betty

Bluestem Betty's Face - eyes beginning to open

Bluestem Barb

Bluestem Barb's Face - eyes open

We received some exciting news yesterday, in that our new female puppy has been born in Quebec!  So a couple of weeks after these little ones go home, I will get to travel to Canada to pick her up!

 

B Litter: 1 week old!

February 25, 2011

Charity Upchurch Puppy Update , , , 3 Comments

The litter in the outdoor dog house/whelping box, with the top off

Announcing the Bluestem Kennels YouTube Channel!  You can either follow this link to the channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bluestemkennels or simply type bluestemkennels (as all one word) into the search field.  I have uploaded a little video that I took of the puppies on Wednesday (while it was still warm out), along with a hunting video of Sue and a “first hunt” video from one of last year’s puppies.

The puppies have grown and changed so much already in a week, it is amazing how fast things happen.  Speaking of quick changes, we’ve been on a weather rollercoaster here, going from the highs of the 50’s and 60’s then to the 20’s today.  That’s February in Nebraska for you!

For any casual readers looking for a puppy, this litter is all spoken for, but please let me know if you are interested in a pup from next year’s litter.

For my reserved buyers, please do not ask to make a pick at this time or start getting attached to any particular puppy based on these photos.  They are for informational purposes only.  The distances and perspectives are not the same on the individual photos, so size will not be distinguishable.  I am weighing and measuring the puppies, but will only release weights, measures and litter rank during the final selection process, which will be at 5-6 weeks of age.

Sue and the litter in our indoor dog studio (aka the laundry room)

The puppies will be coming home to you at 8 weeks of age, which falls on the weekend of April 16-17, so if you are planning on traveling to us to pick up the puppy you now have that information.  If the puppy is being shipped air cargo, it will go out Monday or Tuesday of the following week.

Time for some individual introductions of the puppies:

Male: Bluestem Bart

Bluestem Bart’s face

Female: Bluestem Bess

Bluestem Bess’s face

Male: Bluestem Ben

Bluestem Ben’s face

Male: Bluestem Buster

I didn’t get a face shot of Buster, but in my notes it says that he has an all-brown face with a white spot above his nose.

Female: Bluestem Betty

Bluestem Betty’s face

Female: Bluestem Barb

Bluestem Barb’s face

Like a good mother, Sue gets very upset when one of the puppies is away from the litter to be photographed, so taking the individual pictures is only a once a week event.  I look forward to sharing the amazing changes that will happen to these puppies over the next seven weeks, now in both video and still photos!

Pupdate: Day 3

February 22, 2011

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The puppies have spent the last few days nursing and establishing their pecking order.  Whereas they were of all uniform size on day 1,  slight size and movement differences were noticeable today.

Growing babies

The pup closest to the front decides to push itself up on its front paws

Sue unwillingly took a day off from exercise the day of the whelping and is excited to be back out in the forest unburdened by a large belly.

Sue is feeling like her old self

Pupdate: Day 1

February 19, 2011

Charity Upchurch Puppy Update , , , 6 Comments

Sue took a food and water break, so I stuck my head in the dog house/whelping box to check the pups out.

The brood

Snuggle bunch

WELCOME NEW PUPPIES!!!

February 18, 2011

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Most of them were born before I was up and around, but a few came this morning and the last arrived right after lunch today.  I took these shots in my utility room, where I placed them while I was cleaning out the dog house/whelping box in the kennel.  It’s been quite an adventure!

Sue tends to her brood

Busy Mama

Waiting for Puppies and Pheasant Cordon Bleu

February 14, 2011

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Happy Valentine’s Day from Bluestem Kennels!!  It is an extra special observance for me as a native of the North-Central Nebraska town of  Valentine, which was recently named a “Best Adventure Town” by National Geographic Adventure magazine!  Check it out: http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/weekend-getaways/nebraska/valentine-travel Over the years, we have had some adventurous upland and waterfowl trips to the Nebraska Sandhills ourselves.

Spring is in the air here in the woodlands of Eastern Nebraska!  Robins galore, squirrels scurrying about and a pleasant morning sunshine for some photography this morning.  We are still anxiously waiting the arrival of the puppies, but I anticipate that by this time next week, I’ll have some puppy photos to share.  Of course, I will post those up as soon as they are born, so it could be any day now!  For now, here’s some shots of Sue and Sam during morning exercise.

Sue on the sniff

Sue doesn't let her big belly stop her from inspecting a deadfall

Sam looking regal in the sunlight

Sam on the sniff

Closeup of Sue's belly

Sam running to check back in

If you have any pheasant breasts hanging around in your freezer, you really should try making this Pheasant Cordon Bleu recipe for your Valentine!  It is an adaptation of a Tyler Florence chicken recipe, but it didn’t take very long and the family was very pleased with the results (as Charles cooked in restaurants in his younger days, I have a tough crowd).

  • 6 pheasant breasts, skinless and boneless
  • Salt, black pepper and either crushed thyme, basil or oregano
  • 6 thin slices deli ham
  • 12 thin slices of good cheese (typically Swiss, I used extra sharp white cheddar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian style bread crumbs)
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lay the pheasant breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. Take care not to pound too hard because the meat may tear or create holes. Lay 1 slice of cheese on each breast, followed by 1 slice of ham, and 1 more of cheese; leaving a 1/2-inch margin on all sides to help seal the roll. Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll up tight like a jellyroll. Squeeze the log gently to seal.

Season the flour with salt and pepper; spread out on waxed paper or in a flat dish. Mix the bread crumbs with thyme (or oregano or basil), salt, pepper, and oil. The oil will help the crust brown. Beat together the eggs and water, the mixture should be fluid. Lightly dust the pheasant roll with flour, then dip in the egg mixture. Gently coat in the bread crumbs. Carefully transfer the roulades to a baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until browned and cooked through. Cut into pinwheels before serving.

Pheasant Cordon Bleu

Enjoy!!

Litter 2011 Update

February 8, 2011

Charity Upchurch Puppy Update , , , , 2 Comments

This morning, Sue and I made a trip to Bellevue Animal Hospital for an exam and x-ray.  I originally had scheduled the visit for Monday, February 14th, but she is getting quite large and her milk has come into her teats, so I wanted to be more sure of her due date and not risk having her whelp by surprise.

The x-ray didn’t give us an exact number of puppies, but it did give us an idea.  It looks like she has a minimum of 8 puppies, but it could be as high as 10 or 11.  Counting skulls and spines from the side angle x-ray, the veterinarians and I believe the 10-11 is closer to being correct.  This also corresponds to her tremendous size.

We also determined that my original due date of February 22nd is pretty accurate.  The mineralization of the skeletons is not yet to a point where we were seeing their pelvises and femurs, so that tells us that we have another 10-14 days left of gestation.  This is a great relief to me because the subzero weather does not break until Thursday of this week.

I took some pictures of Sue over the weekend while she was out:

Sue has been spending most of her time walking, but briefly breaks into runs

The thinning of the fur on her side is caused by hormonal changes

Sue plods along

Closeup of Sue’s belly

I received so many compliments on Sue’s temperament from the vet techs and the veterinarians at the office.  I suppose many pregnant females can be growly and irritable when being handled, but Sue is always a sweetheart.

“I love you, Dad!”

“Whoever said that money can’t buy happiness has never bought a puppy” – Unknown

Puppy Update: Whiskey and Geese

January 24, 2011

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Puppy Update, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Whiskey from litter 2010 and Geese

Pete and Deborah sent over a great photo and e-mail on Saturday that I just had to share:

Pete just emailed me Whiskey’s newest experience!!
They are hunting on the UC Ranch which is about 3 hours east of Reno…Pete said that Whiskey didn’t actually RETREIVE these geese…Whiskey couldn’t pick up the birds because they were as big as he is…he had to drag them to Pete!
Besides being an awsome hunting dog, Whiskey continues to entertain us daily with his endless energy and golden heart…he doesn’t tollerate being ignored and when it’s play time….it’s play time!!  He is the smartest, sweetest, most loveable dog we have ever had!!
Hope all is well with you…we will continue to send pictures!!
Take care!!
Deborah

Puppy Update: Gauge in Wyoming

December 9, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Hunting Tales, Puppy Update, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Trying to get back into the groove with being a stay-at-home mom again and hope to get on a better schedule with posting on the blog.  I have so many things that I want to write about, but the time gets away from me!

Here’s what Sean has to say about Gauge a.k.a Male 2.1 from the 2010 litter ( I’ll post a picture to go with it as soon as I receive one):

“I have been training Gauge with Wolters training methods, and it has been absolutely wonderful and incredibly fun!  After getting the basic commands down, retrieving and pointing commands went very well.  This is the first dog I have personally trained for bird hunting, so I was a little nervous with how things would go, but Gauge made the process great!  I was shocked at how much of a “natural” he was in training!  The first true test came three weeks ago.  We have a local bird farm outside of town that many hunters use for dog training purposes.  After contacting the owner, we scheduled our first “hunt” with the idea of focusing on training purposes for Gauge.  Starting with Chukkars because of their smaller stature, Gauge did great in tracking down all three birds, holding three beautiful points, and flushing the bird on command.  Retrieves didn’t quite go as planned, but I think that was more a product of actually dealing with a live bird.  Gauge would actually release for the retrieve and then point the dead bird.  Pretty funny actually!  All in all, it was a GREAT day that I couldn’t have been more excited about.

Gauge’s first real hunt came the first Sunday of November in Glendo, WY.  Every Sunday in November they host a free youth hunt in the area, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work with Gauge exclusively while my 16 year-old brother-in-law did the shooting.  Gauge did wonderful.  He tracked down and pointed several pheasants on the day, and even retrieved well.  This past Sunday, we participated in the 2nd youth hunt, and Gauge was even better than the week before!  He pointed and flushed 7 birds (due to an “off” shooting day by my bro-in-law), and actually chased down and caught a pheasant after a flush and chase that lasted roughly 20-30 seconds.  He was an absolute stud this past Sunday, and I’m greatly looking forward to 2 more youth hunts this month, as well as 3 scheduled hunts of my own in the next few months.  Most hunters in this area use retrievers, so for them to see a pointer in action has been not only neat for them, but has made me very proud.  I was very skeptical when reading Wolters’ take on hunting a dog as soon as 6 months of age, but have no doubt in my mind that with consistent, constructive training, it is not as farfetched as it may sound!”

Thanks, Sean!!

Pupdate: Winston

November 4, 2010

Charity Upchurch Kennel Update, Puppy Update , , , , 1 Comment

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Winston aka Male 3 of 2010 Litter

I finally broke down last night and e-mailed my owners looking for six-month photos of the pups (except for Pete and Whiskey, naturally).  Nancy and Kelvin in Minnesota were nice enough to provide an updated picture of Winston.  They just finish obedience class and I think he is looking quite handsome!  Thanks Nancy and Kelvin!

Sounds like Charles is heading back down south in search of more birds this weekend.  He was nice enough to invite me, but I feel like I need to stay home and catch up around here.

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