Northwoods Vixen, on left, and her pregnant daughter, Northwoods Comet, watch for rabbits.
Northwoods Vixen (CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer) and her daughter by HOF CH Rock Acre Blackhawk, Northwoods Comet, have always been house dogs.
As eight-week-old puppies, they were brought into the house where they learned to get along with our other house dogs–older setters and May, our Labrador. They were house-broken and, after sleeping in crates at night, they graduated to sleeping on dog beds alongside the older dogs.
Vixen and Comet spent days in the kennel and they received the same training as all our bird dogs. They were hunted in the grouse woods of Minnesota and in the southeastern piney woods on bobwhite quail. They’ve also both starred in Jerry’s guiding strings—whether at Bowen Lodge on the shores of Lake Winnibigoshish or at various quail plantations. Too, they hunted sharptails and Huns on the prairies of North Dakota and Montana.
Around the house, Vixen and Comet are a perfect two-some, much like a cashmere twin set. They are two beautiful, classic peas in a pod.
2X RU-CH Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel) is owned and handled by Greg Johnson of Superior, Wis.
Something extraordinary occurred when the Minnesota/Wisconsin Dog of the Year trophies for open shooting dogs and derbies were announced on Sunday, April 28, in Moose Junction, Wis.
A father/son duo won their respective awards.
2X RU-CH Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel) won what is officially called the Purina Pro Plan Cover Dog of the Year Award/Shooting Dog. Atlas (call name Jet) is owned and handled by Greg Johnson of Superior, Wis.
Big Big Energy (Northwoods Atlas x Clover Valley’s Millie) is owned and handled by Jordan Pharris of Brainerd, Minn.
Big Big Energy (Northwoods Atlas x Clover Valley’s Millie) won the Purina Pro Plan Dog of the Year Award/Derby. Big (call name Lotto) is owned and handled by Jordan Pharris of Brainerd, Minn. Lotto was bred by Jerry Furnish of Two Harbors, Minn. and whelped in April 2023, and so is truly a puppy.
Both awards, sponsored by the Minnesota Grouse Dog Assoc. and the Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Assoc., honor a winning body of work spanning months. Beginning last fall and including this spring, points for trial placements in open and amateur stakes held in Minnesota and Wisconsin are recorded and tallied.
Jerry and I are extremely proud not only of Jet but of Greg’s handling of him. Jet is a son of Northwoods Grits—a product of Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, one of our best nicks. Grits inherited the best from both parents and was renowned for his stamina, desire, bird finding and, yes, grit.
Jet’s dam, Northwoods Nickel, is a daughter of our most prolific producer of field trial winners, Northwoods Chardonnay. Chardonnay herself was no slouch. She was out of another of our top nicks—Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice—and won the Dog of the Year Award/Derby in 2011. Nickel’s sire was CH Shadow Oak Bo, the only setter to win back-to-back National Championships. Nickel offers intelligence, coolness and a long, strong, graceful gait.
Besides the honor of winning, Greg and Jordan received traveling trophies that I think are among the classiest in the world of cover dog field trials. Stunning pieces of etched glass slide into chunky walnut bases where the winning dogs and handlers’ names are engraved.
Minnesota-Wisconsin Amateur Dog of the Year Awards
About 10 years ago, the two clubs began similar awards for amateurs: Minnesota-Wisconsin Amateur Shooting Cover Dog of the Year and Minnesota-Wisconsin Derby Cover Dog of the Year. The trophies for both are big, beautiful, shiny cups.
Jet was a double winner that day. He also won the shooting dog award so Greg had even more hardware to bring home.
Northwoods Cedar Edge (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar) is owned by Eric and Lindsey Saetre of Holyoke, Minn.
The derby trophy was won by Northwoods Cedar Edge (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar). Edge (call name Enni) is owned by Eric and Lindsey Saetre of Holyoke, Minn., and handled by Eric.
Enni has a distinguished pedigree. Her dam is Northwoods Cedar (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon), a talented dog also owned and run in field trials by Eric and Lindsey. Even when Cedar was young, she caught our eye and we knew we wanted to breed her. Cedar is out of a breeding we repeated three times and one of our finest nicks.
When Jerry and I bred Cedar, we chose Scout, owned by Steve Snyder of Ellendale, Minn., as the sire. Scout is a champion grouse dog and Scout’s sire, 8X CH Ponderosa Mac, is the winningest dog ever in grouse trials.
