Elmer (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2014).
If Jerry and I could sum up the summer of 2014 in one word, it would be “puppies.” With the exception of the Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis puppy in early spring, never have our litters occurred so closely together and so late in the year.
As it turns out, though, summer is a wonderful season to raise a puppy. Besides the general relaxing of rules and moods, kids are out of school and have time on their hands. Parents take holidays from work and vacations are planned—many to cabins and other rustic venues where dogs are welcome.
It’s been fun for us to spend time with the new puppy owners, some of whom are old friends. We’re thankful for owners who spare no expense when a puppy flies off to its new home and we’re thankful, too, for families who drive hours—and from as far away as Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Texas—to pick up their puppy.
Most of all, we’re grateful to all the families for their warmth and loyalty and for the good life they’ll give their new puppies.
I can’t believe I got one of your dogs. ~ Jeff, owner of Bates (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2014)
We recently returned from a week-long vacation at a lake cabin, and Timber enjoyed all that the new environment had to offer. At one point there were a total of 7 dogs running around, and he wanted to play with every one of them! He learned to enjoy playing in the water with the other dogs…..he has shown a lot of enthusiasm for jumping into the water to retrieve sticks and his retrieving dummy. ~ Keith, owner of Timber (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Prancer, 2014)
The puppy is doing great. He handled the 2-day trip home like a veteran. He gets along well with the other dogs…..he and our other male are great pals. ~ Mike, owner of Charlie (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014)
So in love with our little Belle. She is the sweetest puppy we have ever met. Belle is so well behaved and a Miss Social butterfly. Thank you so much again for this darling puppy. ~ Robby, owner of Belle (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014)
We are very impressed with her natural abilities so far. We have thrown pretty much 2 dozen balls each day and she retrieves them to hand. When the older dog goes on point she naturally stops as well with a high tail. We are very pleased with our new hunting companion and look forward to many years of memories that we will share with you. ~ Rick, owner of Frisco (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014)
Elmer is doing very well. From the very beginning, he has been sleeping well in his crate and he never cries. We’re working on some basic commands and he learned to come right away. We walk our daughter to school every morning and Elmer has been enjoying that along with all of the activity at the school. All in all, he is absolutely fantastic and we all love our new family member. ~ Kjellrun, owner of Elmer (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2014), pictured with Northwoods Roy Roy (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2012)
Wanted to let you know that Hartley, Lacey and I are still having loads of fun together! I loved watching him try to climb steps for the first time as he was a little unsure of it. I helped him once or twice but each time I walked up the steps myself, and without encouragement, I let him figure out how to follow me. A half day later and he was going up and down no problem. He’s a fantastic dog and we can’t commend you both enough on your dogs and breeding program. ~ Nick, owner of Hartley (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle Choice, 2014)
The ride home went really well….spent the afternoon playing in the yard and getting used to the kennel / house. She is already running in and out of her doggie door in the outside kennel (very cool and unexpected). We brought her in the house for the night about 90 minutes ago… we put her in the (inside) kennel and she started to cry a little…..it was a solid 30 minutes of puppy screaming, but she wore herself out and now she’s sound asleep…..we are head-over-heels in love / happy. ~ Joe, owner of Roxy (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle Choice, 2014)
Our little puppy is getting big! 24 weeks and as of 2 days ago – 38 lbs. Everything is going very well! Right now focusing on WHOA command, birds, scent points instead of sight points, and continuing to slowly intro the gun. I have 40 young pheasants and 10 bobwhites that I’m working him through the rest of summer before we head to NE MT to chase sharptails. Then back in MN woods to hopefully rustle up some real grouse. Looking forward to having fun with him in the field and woods…and watching him develop this fall. ~ Todd, owner of Finn (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2014)
CH Ridge Creek Cody (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle, 2008)
Jerry and I received horrific, heart-breaking news from North Dakota. During the morning of Saturday, August 9, Ridge Creek Cody and several other dogs drowned while on a conditioning run from a four-wheeler. Cody was owned by Larry Brutger of St. Cloud, Minnesota, and trained and handled by Shawn Kinkelaar on the horseback shooting dog circuit.
Nine other dogs perished including 6X CH/7X RU-CH Hot Topic, 2X CH Royal Rocks Mr. Thumper and Handsome Harry Hardcash.
Ridge Creek Cody was whelped in 2008 out of two grouse champions, Can’t Go Wrong x Houston’s Belle. Paul Hauge, Belle’s owner, and Jerry were the brains behind the breeding. Jerry had competed against Can’t Go Wrong on the grouse trial circuit and was extremely impressed with his fluid gait and extraordinary ability to find and point ruffed grouse. Too, Jerry campaigned Belle to all of her championships and knew her strengths.
We both remember the day Larry picked up Cody as an eight-week-old puppy. As little Cody romped around the kennel office, Larry talked of his plans for training and competition. That first year, Jerry took Cody to our camp in North Dakota and worked him on the vast prairies. Matt Eder further developed Cody but it was Shawn Kinkelaar who took on Cody and fully realized the dog’s potential.
Cody was a 3X champion and one-time runner-up champion.
2014: Midwest Open Shooting Dog Championship
2012: National Amateur Pheasant Shooting Dog Championship
2011: Idaho Open Shooting Dog Championship
2011: All American Open Shooting Dog Championship (Runner-up)
In addition, Cody was the Bill Conlin Setter Shooting Dog Derby Award Winner (2009-2010) and placed third in the United States Quail Shooting Dog Futurity, a rare accomplishment for a setter.
Among trainers, handlers, judges and fellow competitors, all agreed that Cody had supreme athleticism—a skill level on par with Michael Jordan or LeBron James.
Cody had become an extremely popular sire and his progeny were just starting to be recognized. Jerry and I bred Northwoods Chardonnay (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2009) to Cody in 2013. We’ve stayed in contact with most of the puppy buyers and trained five, even though the clients are near and far. It was a stellar litter.
• Piper: owned by Larry’s friend Chuck Brandes, St. Cloud
• Willow: Gregg Knapp, Wisconsin
• Charlie: Bill Owen, California
• Zada: Tom Condon, Montana
• Stoeger : Drew Milles, Minnesota
• Mazie: Scott Harness, Minnesota
• Rae: David Larson, Minnesota
That Cody was a rare champion with desire and ability is obvious but when he stayed with Larry, he was a cool, calm house dog.
What a tragic loss—not only to the Brutger’s and not only to the field trial world where a valiant competitor is respected but to the English setter world at large.
The Washington Post recently published an interesting story, “What our cats and dogs say about our politics,” by Aaron Blake. Together with The Post’s Graphics Editor Christopher Ingraham and data from the American Veterinary Medical Association, Blake discovered a remarkable similarity between dog vs. cat states and conservative vs. liberal states.
In other words, the dog vs. cat map of the country looks much like the red vs. blue map of the 2012 election.
In a related piece on Wonkblog, Roberto A. Ferdman and Ingraham (who also previously worked at the Brookings Institution and the Pew Research Center) extrapolate further:
“We all know there are only two types of people in the world: cat people and dog people. But data from market research firm Euromonitor suggest that these differences extend beyond individual preferences and to the realm of geopolitics: it turns out there are cat countries and dog countries, too.”
I don’t know the political leanings of many of our clients but, obviously, I do know that all are dog people. Further, a large percentage live with multiple numbers of dogs. While the initial intent was upland bird hunting, these dogs of our clients live, for the most of the year, as beloved pets.
Many thanks to my friend Jan Streiff for telling me about this story. She is a cat person but has grown quite fond of our dogs.
Houston’s Blue Diamond (Houston x Forest Ridge Jewel, 2006)
The standings for the national English setter awards for all field trial venues were recently announced in The American Field. It was nice to see every dog honored but especially gratifying for Jerry and me was the inclusion of dogs that we bred. In addition, one dog Paul Hauge bred out of his Houston and one dog of Sean Derrig’s were honored.
2X CH Houston’s Blue Diamond, owned and handled by Ross Leonard, won the John S. O’Neall, Jr., English Setter Amateur Shooting Dog Award. Placing fifth in the standings was CH/RU-CH Houston’s Blackjack. He is owned by Frank LaNasa and Leroy Peterson, both of Minnesota, and handled by Frank.
Houston’s Blackjack (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle, 2008)
For the fourth year in a row, Shadow Oak Bo won the John S. O’Neall, Sr., award in the open all-age category. Bo is the setter that famously won the National Championship in 2013 and 2014. Bo is owned by N.G. Houston and Dr. John Dorminy and campaigned by Robin Gates. Blackjack was high in that category also, listed seventh in point totals.
3X CH/RU-CH Ridge Creek Cody was the sixth highest point earner for the Elwin G Smith award. Cody is owned by Larry Brutger of St. Cloud, Minnesota, and handled on the circuit by pro Shawn Kinkelaar. Cody and Blackjack were littermates.
Ridge Creek Cody (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle, 2008)
In addition, Sean Derrig had bred his dam Erin’s Skydancer to Ridge Creek Cody in 2012. A male he kept, Erin’s Hidden Shamrock, earned points in two derby categories.
Congratulations to dogs, owners and handlers. Perhaps, most especially, congratulations to Paul, who started it all with Houston more than 30 years ago.
John S. O’Neall, Jr., English Setter Amateur Shooting Dog Award
1st Houston’s Blue Diamond
5th Houston’s Blackjack
John S. O’Neall, Sr., English Setter All-Age Award
1st Shadow Oak Bo
7th Houston’s Blackjack
Elwin G. Smith English Setter Open Shooting Dog Award
6th Ridge Creek Cody
Herman Smith English Setter Open All-age Derby Award
7th Erin’s Hidden Shamrock
Bill Conlin English Setter Open Shooting Dog Derby Award
9th Erin’s Hidden Shamrock
Erin’s Hidden Shamrock (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Erin’s Skydancer, 2012)
Finn (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2014) is 14 weeks old tomorrow and is doing great! He is an exceptionally smart and confident puppy. (Rhonda says sometimes too smart for his britches.) He loves going for car and truck rides and we’ve been taking him along just about everywhere we go. He’s been a lap dog from the first day home. ~ Todd
Jerry and I think puppies and dogs that we breed and sell are among the luckiest anywhere. Not only are they owned by perhaps the most avid bird hunters in the country, but for times when they can’t be in the woods and fields, they are treasured, close companions. The dogs spend those months in vehicles, boats, trout streams and warm homes and on soft beds and laps.
Wanted to send you a picture of Northwoods Creek (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013). We are extremely happy with him and wanted to thank you again for the opportunity to own such a talented young dog. ~ Randy & Vallana
Just to let you know that Sadie (Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Chablis, 2013) is making the transition from your kennel to house remarkably well. She catches on to things quickly, walks on a leash well, sleeps on the bed and is slowly getting us trained! Here Martha is explaining the nature and complexities of pontooning! ~ Bob
Today Beemer (Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Chablis, 2013) is one year old. We feel he has adjusted well since we brought him home. He and Tony (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle, 2008) get along very well and he enjoys running in the back yard, watching the birds fly by or stop by the bird feeders. Thank you for another handsome and wonderful dog. ~ Butch
Roy is becoming quite the trout dog… Loves to be on the river and explore the bottoms when not watching for fish. ~ Chris
May is a month when Jerry and Dan focus on gun dog training. Dogs are taught steadiness on point, i.e., dogs are trained to stay on point until the handler flushes the bird, to stop-to-flush and to back another dog on point. This training is done in a controlled area with extensive use of pigeons to ensure the dog gets a sound understanding of what is expected. Occasionally, dogs were worked along a woodland edge where bobwhite quail were released from a johnny house.
No trees had leafed out in early May but by the end of training, aspens and alders and dogwoods bore chartreuse foliage and even dandelions bloomed in the pasture.
Smooch, pointer female (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013).
Willow, setter female (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013).
Aspen, 18-month-old male Brittany.
Ginger, pointer female (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013).
Have you seen an issue of The Upland Almanac recently? How about Quail Forever? You might have noticed an ad—prominently placed just inside the front cover—for a tracking/ecollar combination unit by Sportdog. The moody, sepia-toned photo is beautiful. Standing tall in the sprawling landscape of South Dakota is a pointer with sharp, focused eyes.
The dog caught the attention of Jerry and me.
It is Timber, a three-year-old female out of our litter by CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer. Timber (named in honor of the timberdoodle) is owned by Mark and Janie Fouts of Superior, Wisconsin. In the background is another Fouts’ dog, Allie.
Many know Mark through his work with The Ruffed Grouse Society where he serves as a Regional Director. In addition to his RGS job, though, Mark is an avid pointer guy which is how Jerry and I first met him.
In 2008 Mark bred his talented female Fate to our Dasher (out of two multiple grouse champions, Brooks Elhew Ranger x Dance Smartly). In lieu of a stud fee, Jerry and I wanted a female so Mark handed over the only female of the litter. That was Prancer.
Even as a puppy, Timber was easily recognizable with her heart-shaped body spot. Here she plays with five of her eight female littermates.
Three years later we paired Prancer with the pre-potent, 6X CH/7X RU-CH Black Ice, owned by Bill Westfall and campaigned on the horseback shooting dog circuit. Ice himself was out of the very successful nick, Rock Acre Blackhawk x Elhew Katie Lee.
Black-and-white Timber closely resembles her sire with an evenly masked head, intelligent brown eyes and big body spot.
Starting a bird dog puppy isn’t much different than other kinds of dogs. Adequate socialization to people and other dogs along with good nutrition, abundant exercise and consistent expectations will go a long way to ensuring future success. But there are two additional lessons that can make or break a bird dog’s future.
These are the introduction to birds and gunfire.
Birds first!
In the puppy training programs we offer, we call this step “bird and gun introduction” and that’s not by chance. It should be approached in that order.
The most natural way to start is also the most exciting to a bird dog—birds. Love of birds should be in their genes.
The first step is to make sure the dog knows it has power over the bird. (We use carded pigeons and quail in our training. Both are good options.) Allow the dog to chase and catch a bird. We pull off some wing feathers so the bird can fly a short distance. Ideally, the dog will chase the bird, pick it up in its mouth and bring it back. Even if the dog doesn’t do all three steps, the most important part is to mouth the bird, proving it is bold and confident towards the bird.
Some dogs catch on immediately; some need three to four opportunities and a few will need more. If a dog isn’t showing great desire to get the bird, wait a few days and then try again. But once the dog has shown that it is bold, stop. We don’t want the dog to catch another bird that hasn’t been shot.
Gunfire.
While the desire for birds is genetic, getting excited at the sound of gunfire is not. On the other hand, a dog isn’t born gun shy. Negative association through improper exposure to gunfire or other loud noises can be difficult—if not impossible—to overcome.
The best way to introduce gun fire is when the dog is distracted by something else exciting. Again, we use birds.
Use a small-bore shotgun or training pistol and wait until the dog is focused on chasing a bird. When it’s in full-chase mode at least 30 yards, fire the gun in the opposite direction. If the bird introduction was done correctly, the dog shouldn’t even notice. If the dog shows any reaction to the sound, just ignore it.
One shot is enough for the first session. During the next several sessions, slowly start shooting sooner until you’re shooting as soon as the bird is flushed. Finally, wait until the dog is hunting and fire a shot into the air. If the dog looks for a flying bird, then it has made the correct association.
Finally…
Don’t take your puppy to the gun range to see if it’s gun shy. (It might be after that!) Don’t be in a hurry to get the lessons over. Let the dog set the time table. Don’t try to take shortcuts.
Proper introduction to birds and gunfire—in that order—isn’t something to take for granted. Most dogs will take to them easily and with confidence. But take your time and do it correctly. You’ll set the foundation for many years of good hunts.
Enjoy the process!
Photos above: Tana (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2012) enthusiastically chases a pigeon, catches and retrieves it. Photos by Brad Gudenkauf, owner of Tana.
Axel (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2012) spent two months with us in Georgia and was trained on bobwhite quail. He effortlessly made the transition to grouse and woodcock in April and, in fact, he placed in both derby stakes.
For a bird dog aficiando who likes to get in the woods and perhaps to compete in field trials, April should be a banner month. It’s the first chance in months to work dogs. It’s good to see grouse that made it through a tough winter and to find migrating woodcock return And it’s always fun to see friends at field trials.
But this April was frustrating. Our region of east central Minnesota received 30 inches of snow in two big storms and temperatures rarely warmed to average. Flexibility was necessary vis-a-vis training periods and field trial dates but, in the end, everything was accomplished. We had a full kennel and hauled the dog trailer to run in two trials held by the Minnesota Grouse Dog Association.
The bird of the month, American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), blends in perfectly with the duff on the forest floor.
As soon as the snow melted on south-facing banks, woodcock moved in by the dozens. Jerry had some stellar work on those birds—one afternoon he counted 92 flushes! Snow cover remained thick in the woods but eventually young aspen cuttings held good numbers of grouse and woodcock. Too, Jerry relocated sturdy bobwhites from a pigeon coop into two johnny houses and those quail were perfect for training young dogs.
From Ken Balfanz, owner of Tia (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2011): The woodcock are migrating through our area right now. My dad and I took Tia up to his five-acre lot north of town this afternoon. In 10 minutes we must have had a dozen birds fly out. Ryan (our youngest) and I took her out just now to the park behind the house and moved three pheasants, one woodcock, and a bunny. Now she’s sleeping for the rest of the night. Big day for her!
Young Northwoods Troy McClure (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2013) is backed by Gigi in an aspen cutting.
Ryman setter littermates Gigi, on left, and Buck found oodles of woodcock this spring.
Northwoods Rum Rickey (Blue Shaquille x Snyder’s Liz, 2012) shows good poise and intensity on point.
Conditions were extremely wet but Benson, undeterred, pointed a woodcock on an edge.
Tri-color setter Tripp (Houston x Northwoods Blue Babe, 2009) in a snow-covered aspen cutting is reminiscent of a Bev Doolittle painting.
Seasoned Northwoods Chablis (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2009) backs young Basil (Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013) on a nice find.
