Northwoods Lyon: a special setter puppy

Eight-week-old Leo curls up for a nap in a tub filled with his puppy toys.

Among the dogs in our kennel, Betsy and I have every trait we’d ever want. The challenge for us as breeders is to get as many—if not all—of those characteristics into each pup.

Leo picks up a bobwhite quail and brings it back to hand at nine weeks of age.

We think we have one now with just about all of them. It is setter male Northwoods Lyon, call name Leo. He has the brains and the nose. He has the temperament and personality. He hunts with verve and determination. He goes to his birds with the right mix of boldness and caution. He is high-headed and straight-tailed on point. He’s naturally staunch to flush, backs, and retrieves to hand with a soft mouth. He handles from foot or horseback and finds as many wild birds as dogs twice his age.

And Leo is only nine months old.

By fall, four-month Leo handled in the woods, found and pointed many woodcock.

Leo was whelped on June 3, 2018, by Northwoods Minerva (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2016) bred to Northwoods Grits (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2011). Carly and Grits represent our two best nicks.

Leo spent a weekend in the northern Minnesota woods at 19 weeks of age–hunting during the day and playing with girls in the evening.

Why do Betsy and I even own Leo? Serendipity. There were extra males in the litter and near the end of the picks, a cute orange-and-white one with a dark nose and eyes was left. We picked him.

Six-month-old Leo easily transitioned to the piney woods of northern Florida and found this covey.

Leo inherited almost every trait we’d want and showed us at this early age what he has. But, more than that, in a year when we lost two of our all-time favorite dogs—dogs that were also sires of those two nicks, Shaq (Blue Shaquille) and Oscar (Northwoods Blue Ox)—Leo assuaged our grief and loss.

Even though Leo is his own dog, he is the embodiment of Shaq and Oscar.

Leo beats two bracemates to this find at seven months of age.

In this video, Leo points a covey that was spread out and feeding. His relocation is bold and confident. He exactly locates two quail and points staunchly until flush.