Grouse Champion Houston’s Belle (2001 – 2011)
CH Houston’s Belle was whelped in April 2001 by Paul Hauge of Centuria, Wisconsin. Paul used frozen semen from Houston, his favorite gundog, on a line-bred Tekoa Mountain Sunrise female he owned, Forest Ridge Jewel. Of that litter, only Belle had an opportunity in field trials. Belle epitomized the qualities of the Houston dogs—smooth, easy gait, lofty style on point, strong bird-finding ability and natural backing.
I first saw Belle at Paul’s farm when she was a one-year-old. We were working some of his young dogs and as he took Belle out, he smiled and said, “You’ll like this one.” He was right.
That summer I took Belle to our prairie camp in North Dakota. She looked beautiful running in the pastures and alfalfa fields and found more than her share of birds. Out there, I learned of Belle’s uncanny ability to know which direction I was headed and to always show to the front. She took in a lot of ground on the prairie but always wanted to hunt for me.
She adapted easily to the grouse woods and even though she had more speed and range than was really necessary, she used it to her advantage.
Belle spent the winter of 2002-2003 with trainer Roger Buddin of Big Country Kennel in Texas. With Roger’s skill and patience, she learned to handle bobwhites and also matured considerably. That spring, she placed in every derby stake and won the 2003 MN/WI Cover Dog Derby of the Year Award.
On her final derby placement, I accepted the purse and officially became a professional handler.
Belle as a field trial champion
Belle came of age in the fall of 2005 and for the ensuing three years, was among the top point-earning grouse trial dogs in the country. She placed first in back-to-back Wisconsin Cover Dog and Minnesota Grouse Dog Championships. The following spring, she won runner-up in the Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational Championship and won the MN/WI Cover Shooting Dog of the Year Award. In 2006, she was runner-up in both the Minnesota Grouse Dog and the Lake States Grouse Dog Championships. Her final win was in the fall of 2007 when, again, she was runner-up at the Minnesota Grouse Dog Championship.
No other dog has placed in the Minnesota Grouse Dog Championship three times. She finished her career with two championships and four runner-up championships.
Belle: Highlights and lowlights
• Veteran Minnesota grouse trialers still mention Belle’s win of an open derby stake. She had a blistering, mature race and a scouted, stone-cold-broke grouse find on a part of the course that hasn’t seen a grouse since.
• I only lost Belle once at a field trial. During a raging thunderstorm and downpour at the Lake State Grouse Championship, she became lost. We found her 20 minutes later, running the road and looking for me.
• Belle won the Namekagon Sharptail Classic run from horseback in 2005 and placed in it for the following three years.
• I ran her two times in the National Open Prairie Chicken Shooting Dog Championship held near Buena Vista, Wisconsin. After her performances in 2005, one of the judges, Hall-of-Fame-handler Freddie Epp, rode up to me and drawled, “Your dog ran an ideal shooting dog race and, with a bird, she could have been a champion.”
• In 2007, Belle was invited to the Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational Championship due to her runner-up placement in the trial the previous year. She began her first brace with a beautiful woodcock find and, true to her style, was tearing up the course in search of birds. A bit later, we found her on point, to the front and right of the course and in full view of judges, marshalls and gallery. She looked magnificent—strong, confident and lofty. As a judge and I walked in to flush, the grouse blew out low over Belle’s head and, to my disbelief and chagrin, she broke. Like a puppy, she chased that bird through the gallery and right past wide-eyed, speechless Paul. It was heart wrenching at the time, but today, it brings a smile and a tear.
Belle as a dam
Belle was bred five times and all to different sires as Paul and I planned the best matches. Most of her puppies were sold to bird hunters, where they have done extremely well, but several are campaigned and with much success.
2005: Gusty Blue
Paul kept a tri-color female, Houston’s Belle’s Choice, that I trained and competed with until about four years-of-age. Choice placed fourth in the Grand National Puppy Classic and was named first reserve dog in the Grand National Grouse Futurity, both held in Marienville, Pennsylvania. Choice won a good-sized shooting dog stake as a derby and had several grouse trial placements before being sold to another client for his hunting string.
2007: Blue Shaquille
Two of these puppies were trialed and both garnered placements in horseback AKC and grouse trials.
2008: CH Can’t Go Wrong
This breeding produced two outstanding field trial dogs. Ridge Creek Cody placed in the Quail Futurity and was the recipient of the 2010 Bill Conlin Setter Shooting Dog Derby. Houston’s Blackjack placed in horseback derby stakes and all-age competition. Two other litter brothers competed and won placements in grouse and walking field trials.
2009: CH Magic’s Rocky Belleboa
Four puppies went on to be field trial winners—three in grouse trials and one in horseback stakes.
2010: Northwoods Blue Ox
Her final litter produced only three puppies. While these are still quite young, Houston’s Miss Liddy, placed in a puppy stake and another, Merimac’s Blu Monday, shows great promise.
While her passing leaves a void that will never be filled, we have many of her progeny in our kennel, as does Paul. Her daughter, Houston’s Belle’s Choice, is an outstanding producer herself. Three of Choice’s progeny dominated the grouse trial derby stakes this past spring and one of them, Northwoods Chardonnay, won the 2011 MN/WI Cover Dog Derby of the Year Award. Every breeding female we have in the kennel traces back to Belle and we are especially excited about our breeding of Chardonnay to Houston’s Blackjack. This litter will have three crosses to Houston and two are through Belle.
Finally…
Hall-of-Fame handler and co-developer of the famous Smith setters Harold Ray judged the 2006 Grand National Grouse Championship in Marienville where Belle and 73 others competed. When interviewed after the trial he named Belle as one of the select dogs he would love to have in his horseback shooting dog string. He said, “These dogs could go anywhere I run…The good ones will do good anywhere they run.”
Harold Ray was right. Belle won on the prairies of the Midwest and in the grouse woods of the Lake States and over the hills of Pennsylvania. She pointed grouse after grouse after grouse for our guiding clients. And better than all of that, she continued a legacy that will be enjoyed for many, many years.
Thank you, Paul, for giving me the opportunity to work with Belle.
Thank you, Belle. May the wind always be in your face and the birds plentiful.