Spring greetings and winter review
Against the quintessential backdrop of longleaf pines and live oaks on a Georgia plantation, half siblings Northwoods Istanbul (CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Nickel, 2018), on left, and Della (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2019) await the whistle.
Well, it’s been a while since we’ve posted here. We’re sorry about the inconsistency but rather a lot has been going on.
Big considerations that most of us are no doubt weary of—things like the pandemic, political hubbub, civil unrest, important international issues —take their toll and time. But with vaccinations and the arrival of spring, we’re happy and hopeful for the year ahead.
So far in 2021, we’ve bred three dams and three litters have whelped. While the numbers of puppies have been disappointingly low, we’re grateful for their health and thrilled with every single puppy.
• CH True Confidence x Northwoods Comet: Confidence is nationally renowned as a stellar performer with a wonderful temperament. Comet continues our decades-long line of favorite pointers. She has it all—build, brains, personality and talent.
• Northwoods Rolls Royce x Northwoods Minerva: Royce is a son of Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, one of our best setter pairings. This was Minerva’s fourth litter—a testament to how much we think of her.
• Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Stardust: Grits is now 10 years old and for much of his life, he was a premier producer of who he is—an outstanding grouse dog with an off switch for the house. Stardust is a first-time dam but so worthy.
On a warm morning, Northwoods Valencia (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carbon, 2018) points a covey. Strut, the Tennessee Walking Horse Jerry rides, ground ties.
This winter was our ninth in the Thomasville, Georgia, area where we feel quite at home. We’ve made many friends and do our bit for the local economy in the town’s shops, restaurants, vet clinic, library and YMCA. Thomasville is the center of the historical tradition of hunting bobwhite quail on plantations under majestic longleaf pines. We live on a 600-acre (small) plantation but the dogs are trained on a 6,000-acre (mid-size) plantation of plentiful wild birds.
Our Georgia training began in December and wrapped up in March. We brought 21 dogs with us but others joined from Colorado, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Illinois. It was go-go-go for six days each week but we felt fortunate to develop such a talented group of dogs. Puppies from our 2020 litters gained invaluable experience on wild birds where their natural pointing and backing instincts blossomed. Veterans Vixen, Grits, Royce, Valencia and Stardust excelled on the temperate grounds where they did what they always do—find and point wild birds.
It’s fun to work four puppies at a time but when all are littermates, it’s exhilarating. Four-month-old puppies out of the 2020 Northwoods Rolls Royce x Northwoods Valencia breeding stop on a chopper trail. In front, Jet points into the cover while siblings, clockwise from left, Strike, Dewey and Earl back.
We’re now happily settled back into our home and kennel in Minnesota and looking forward to two summer training sessions. It’s always exciting to see our clients and to see the young dogs they purchased from us. In addition, we’re planning more setter litters.
As always, we’re grateful for the loyalty of our clients to our enterprise and for the hunting opportunities and devotion they give their dogs.
For a glimpse of the experience of working pointing dogs on a quail plantation, here’s the view from horseback. Black-and-white male Northwoods Hercules (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2016) and Patty hunt the course.
Found pointing on a chopper trail, Northwoods Rolls Royce (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013) shows poise and confidence after the covey wings its way towards the woods.
One aspect of developing puppies on wild game is allowing them to determine the exact location of the birds. They can only learn how close is too close by bumping birds. Northwoods Gale (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Minerva, 2020), in front, boldly follows her nose while Northwoods Lightning (Northwoods Rolls Royce x Northwoods Valencia, 2020) backs.
We plan to update this blog site about every two weeks with a variety of posts and photographs. We look forward to staying in touch!
~ written by Betsy and Jerry