Jeff Hintz, left, and Dave Moore pose their winning dogs, CH JTH Izzie and 2X CH/RU-CH I’m Blue Gert.
Congratulations to Dave Moore and Jeff Hintz!
Dave’s Gert and Jeff’s Izzie won the Minnesota/Wisconsin Pro Plan Cover Dog and Cover Derby Dog of the Year, respectively. The awards are sponsored by Purina Pro Plan. Placements in trials conducted by three local clubs—Minnesota Grouse Dog Association, Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association and Moose River Grouse Dog Club—are considered for the awards.
2XCH/RU-CH I’m Blue Gert has been a consistent winner throughout her career. She won the Region 19 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship in both 2009 (when she was three years old) and 2012. Both venues were on sharp-tailed grouse.
To win the award this year, Gert was RU-CH at the 2012 Minnesota Grouse Championship, a trial run on grouse and woodcock.
Gert is owned by Dave and Rochel Moore of Big Lake, Minnesota. She is out of the 2006 successful nick of Paul Hauge’s talented I’m Houston’s Image (Houston x I’m Jet Setter) and our own Blue Silk (CH First Rate x CH Blue Streak).
Gert has style, enthusiasm and verve that draws people in to root for her. She always gives 110% and seems like she’s having a blast. Plus, she finds birds and looks beautiful on point.
CH JTH Izzie won both the amateur and open derby awards with a first place finish in the Moose River Grouse Dog Club Open Derby and a second in the Reuel Henry Pietz Derby Classic held in Minnesota.
Jeff also entered Izzie in several field trials in Arizona last winter–both horseback and walking. Not only was she named champion at the Region 12 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship (when she was 20 months old) but that placement also earned her the title Region 12 Walking Shooting Dog of the Year.
Izzie is owned by Jeff Hintz of Ham Lake, Minnesota, and Tucson, Arizona. Izzie was the last puppy left in the all-female litter of 6X CH/7X RU-CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer in 2011.
Izzie is heady and versatile and exciting to watch due to her speed and exuberance. Plus her maturity, confidence and bird-finding ability belie her youth.
Again, our congratulations to both owners. You should be very proud of your dogs!
Northwoods Bird Dogs was featured in the recent issue (#81) of Today’s Breeder, the Purina publication available to members of the Purina Pro Club. To view a pdf of the article click here: todays breeder issue 81.
The writer Kayla Miller focuses on our backgrounds and breeding program. Kayla also highlights some of our own best dogs—including 2X-CH Dance Smartly, 4X-CH/4X-RU-CH Blue Streak and Northwoods Chardonnay—and Larry Brutger’s outstanding English setter, 2X-CH/RU-CH Ridge Creek Cody.
Many thanks to Chris Mathan, Ben McKean and Larry Brutger for supplying photographs.
Upon the recommendation of Dennis Anderson, Outdoors Columnist & Editor of the Star Tribune, I submitted a piece to the “Cabin Country” feature for the inaugural issue of their Outdoors Weekend. The section premiered on June 28, 2013.
Like many Minnesotans, my family, including siblings, parents, cousins and an aunt and uncle, spent every summer at a simple cabin on a lake my grandparents owned. The place resonated with me and, to this day, I’ve always felt most at home in a small, rustic structure in a very private setting that’s close to water.
Interestingly, Kim Ode, also a writer for the Star Tribune, contacted me last summer after reading an essay I posted on my Dazzle Gardens blog. Her piece is titled, Cabin culture: A place at the lake and was published on July 8, 2012.
The nine puppies out of CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen are now six weeks old. They eat dry food and we’ve started weaning them off Vixen. The puppies seem extremely coordinated for their age and easily scramble in and out of their dog door.
Jerry shot some video of the puppies last week. As you can see, they are very friendly and have lots of energy.
Even though Jerry got up every couple hours to check on Northwoods Chablis, she waited until 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28, to whelp. Everything went very smoothly and exactly four hours later, there were four males and four females in the nest.
Third-time dam Chablis is sure and calm…not surprising given her sweet, easy-going nature.
Other good news! We can confirm that Northwoods Highclass Kate is pregnant and due to whelp on June 22. Kate is out of two of our best producers—Northwoods Blue Ox and Houston’s Belle’s Choice. She is owned by Barry Frieler.
The sire of both litters is the talented and ultra handsome CH Houston’s Blackjack, co-owned by Frank LaNasa and Leroy Peterson. With Paul Hauge, we co-bred Jack who is out of two champions—CH Can’t Go Wrong and CH Houston’s Belle.
On a recent radiant morning complete with blue skies, gentle breezes and tweeting songbirds, Jerry and Jeff were out in the field.
Dogs are here for the first part of our Gun Dog Training Program. They can range in age from as young as eight months to two or more years-of-age but all must have been exposed to at least one season of birds.
Jerry developed his own training method that integrates a dog’s natural instincts, how dogs learn and proper ecollar use. Simultaneously, he teaches stauchness, backing, stop-to-flush and steady-to-wing-and-shot. All training occurs in the field—on, around and between birds.
This unique training method allows Jerry to move the dogs along at a fast rate while retaining and enhancing the dog’s intensity, focus and style.
The first stop is a conditioning lesson to teach the dog (Dottie) to stop on stimulation from the flank. No bird is flushed.
Next the dog (Dottie) is lead to an area where a backing dummy is set up. Jerry teaches the dog to stop when another dog is on point and the association between another dog on point and a bird in the air. Jeff lets a pigeon go from his bird bag and shoots a blank pistol as it flies away.
The dog is then lead to an area some distance away where a pigeon is hidden in a bird-releaser. Depending on the dog’s level of development, it might stop-to-flush (Riser, first photo; Dusty, second photo). As the dog advances, it will point the bird (Kiki, third photo).
The highest praise is when Jerry touches the dogs. Kiki gets encouragement in the field and Dottie earns pets after her training session.
When I think of CH JTH Izzie, a two-year-old pointer female owned by Jeff Hintz, I’m reminded of the Enjoli perfume ad from 1980. Hopefully many readers are old enough to remember this evocative television ad with the catchy song. The woman who wears Enjoli can do everything. She can “bring home the bacon…fry it up in the pan.”
Izzie, too, can do everything but it’s due to a combination of inherited potential and Jeff’’s development, exposure and training.
In Minnesota and Wisconsin, Izzie has hunted woodcock and ruffed grouse in the woods and sharp-tailed grouse on the sand barrens. She has hunted three quail species of the desert southwest: Mearns, Gambels and scaled.
Izzie has placed in field trials on all those birds and in all those locations and she doesn’t seem to care whether Jeff is on foot or horseback.
Izzie is “dead broke… a strong marker…and retrieves to hand,” says Jeff.
Izzie swims. She rides shotgun in Jeff’s golf cart. And she loves to watch tv.
Oh, and did I mention that Izzie won a championship at the Region 12 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog trial when she was 20 months old?
Izzie was the last pick of an all-female litter out of CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer in 2011. Just like Izzie, Ice was evenly marked, black-and-white, compact, strong and talented. He was a 6X CH/7X RU-CH owned by Bill Westfall out of Missouri and campaigned off horseback. Prancer is a big, powerful female and beautiful with classic Elhew looks. We don’t compete her in field trials but save her for our guiding string where she is first-rate.
Here is Izzie’s impressive list of accomplishments…at just two years of age!
• Champion, Region 12 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog, January 2013
• Minnesota/Wisconsin Derby of the Year, 2013
• Minnesota/Wisconsin Amateur Derby of the Year, 2013
• Region 12 Walking Shooting Dog of the Year, 2013
• 1st Place, Moose River Grouse Dog Club Open Derby, Wisconsin, 2012
• 1st Place, Danforth Social Society & Fine Bird Dogs Open Derby, Minnesota, 2012
• 2nd Place, Region 19 All Age Derby, Wisconsin, 2012
• 2nd Place, Reuel Henry Pietz Derby Classic, Minnesota, 2012
• 2nd Place, High Country Bird Dog Club Amateur Derby, Arizona, 2013
• 3rd Place, Arizona Pointing Dog Club Open Derby, Arizona, 2013
The only field trial that Jerry competed in this spring was held over the weekend of May 3 at Crow-Hassan Park Reserve outside the Twin Cities. This is a horseback trial hosted by the Northwest Field Trial Association on liberated quail.
The Open Shooting Dog Derby was a big stake with 18 entries including 12 setters and 6 pointers. Our thanks to Frank LaNasa for the use of his horses and to Greg Gress for scouting.
Grits ran in the third brace under overcast and blustery conditions. From the breakaway, Grits had birds on his mind. His race was strong, forward and focused. His first find was forward and 300 yards to the right of the course on a tree line. Jerry flushed a quail and Grits was perfectly steady to wing and shot.
As they caught up to the forward party, his bracemate was on point. Grits backed and stood composed while his bracemate relocated several times. There was no bird.
Grit’s second find was at about 20 minutes, again along a fence row but dead ahead on the course. Again he stood high and tight throughout a lengthy flushing effort by Jerry. A single was seen twittering and running on the ground and eventually disappeared into the dense cover. Jerry shot his gun and took him on.
Grits wasn’t done yet, though. His last eight minutes were forward and reaching and at time he was still hunting far to the front.
Grits is owned by Bob Senkler and is out of our 2011 breeding of Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis.
We handled four other derbies and are proud of their performances: Trudy (Steve Snyder), Trixie (Greg Gress), Slash (Dan Stadin) and Chet (Nathan Friend).
Snyder’s Liz (Steve Snyder) competed in the Open Shooting Dog stake and did a fine job but had no birds.
This the second son of Ox to place in this derby stake. In 2012, Northwoods Parmigiano (Northwoods Blue Ox x Houston’s Belle’s Choice) won second.
The litter out of Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice is now about 3½ weeks old and growing like weeds. After Choice feeds them each morning, we clean the nest and add fresh wood shavings—all of which seems to invigorate the puppies. Even though they’re a little wobbly on unsteady legs, the play facilitates coordination and muscle development.
Meanwhile, puppies in the adjacent run out of Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay are one week older and more mature in their play. They’ve begun a bit of dominance play, including biting and standing over. But they’re all pals and, in the end, fall asleep together in one big pile.
Note: The background noises in the videos are dog doors banging as dogs go in and out.
Northwoods Roquefort, left, and Northwoods Parmigiano. (Photo by Chris Mathan.)
Chris Mathan recently asked if I wanted to contribute a piece to Strideaway, an online publication dedicated to promoting pointing dog field trials; particularly, trials for English setters and pointers that are sanctioned by The American Field.
Since the subject was raising puppies, I jumped at the chance. Her assignment was to discuss how we raise, socialize and develop puppies—all with a slant toward how that helps their future training.
The piece is titled Early Development of Bird Dogs and was published on Strideaway last week. Even if the subject isn’t interesting, the exquisite photos of setter and pointer puppies by Chris are worth a look-see.
Chris owns two businesses on her own—The Sportsman’s Cabinet and Chris Mathan Photography—and Strideaway, co-conceived and co-managed with Mazie Davis.
Many thanks to Chris for offering me the opportunity.
