Blue Blossom: July 2002 – November 2016

If only all of our dogs’ lives were as long and happy as Blossom’s.

Blue Blossom, call name Tina, was out of our best field trial setter, 4X CH/4X RU-CH Blue Streak, and another grouse champion, Grouse Hollow Gus. She lived with Jerry and me for about six years but for the majority of her life, Tina was the treasured hunting partner of Tim Esse.

Tina was trained as all our other dogs are—on wild bobwhites in Texas, native prairie birds of North Dakota and on ruffed grouse and woodcock in northern Minnesota. She was perhaps best-suited to the latter and gained quite a reputation as a star member of Jerry’s grouse guiding string.

Because Jerry and I are also breeders, our hunting females get bred. With a bit of kismet, we chose Blue Chief for Tina in 2006 and that cross became our first nick.

We repeated Chief x Tina for three consecutive years. Her famous puppies are legion—Cooper and Cammie, Elle and Daisy, Ollie and Peanut, Bee and Banshee —and they are scattered across the country. Tina’s legacy will continue because we continue to breed one of her special sons, Blue Riptide.

Jerry and I retired Tina in 2008 after her last litter. We sold her to Tim, a passionate grouse hunter from the Twin Cities who schedules the rest of his life around the fall season. For one thing, his job enables him to work remotely. For another, he has family living in northern Minnesota and can easily slip back and forth.

Throughout these eight years, we’ve stayed in touch with Tim and were always so happy to see Tina. As late as this fall when Tina was 14 years old, Tim took her hunting 15 times.

We were deeply saddened to receive an email from him in late November. “Tina is in hunting heaven,” he wrote.

RIP, dear Blue Blossom.