"Scout is doing well since we brought him home. He’s all paws, legs, and ears at this age, but he has a nose for birds as well. I attached two pictures of him pointing liberated Chukars at 10 weeks old and this morning at 13 weeks. He also loves to retrieve.
"I forgot how much work puppies are at 8 -12 weeks old. Luckily he’s very patient and quiet in his crate, staked out in the yard, and in the outdoor kennel so we get some relief from the mischief. He and our eight year old setter have pretty well sorted things out between themselves already, so that concern is over.
"So overall he’s adjusted quickly and is progressing nicely with his training."
"We hope you are staying cool amidst the muggy, tropical assault August has unleashed on us. Although you are probably not losing any sleep worrying about Piper, we thought an update was in order..
"In short, she is doing extremely well. She loves her kennel and riding in the car. We have taken her to multiple places, including visiting emotionally disturbed children at a therapy center, Game Fair, the beach, dog parks and many visits with my niece and nephew (7 and 5 years old). She has gone swimming in the Mississippi, Kinnikinnic, Willow and St.Croix rivers, and loves wading along the shore.
"She makes eye contact and wants to be w us – her temperament is sweet and well-balanced and bomb-proof. As Roberta proclaims on a regular basis "she is basically and unequivocally and undisputedly the very best dog in the entire world and she couldn’t be more loved."
"When she is not sleeping in her crate or eating, her days are spent playing with the other dogs and going for multiple walks. Each 20-30 minute walk usually begins heading up the driveway, with much time spent chasing and pointing butterflies in the adjacent pasture."
When Jerry and I designed our kennel building, we thought long and hard about the size of the runs—both inside and outside. Since our goal was a small yet efficient space, we wanted to keep the number of total runs to 20 but how big to make each run was our conundrum.
After many drawings, lengthy discussions and permutations, we ultimately settled on 16 regular-size runs at 4’ in width and four larger runs at 6’. The larger spaces would be for whelping and raising litters.
An unforeseen benefit has been the opportunity to keep two dogs together in one run. The dogs seem to enjoy it and, in fact, become pals. (Jill and Shaq are currently together as are Prancer and Oscar.) They sniff and nuzzle each other, roll around in their runs and play together with their chew toys. Jerry is careful who gets kenneled together and there is always one male and one female. He also considers size, age and temperament.
Jerry and I walk down to the kennel about 9:00 pm each evening to make one final check and to give all dogs a nightly biscuit. After treats are given in the larger runs, the two pals drink together out of their water bucket, curl up next to each other on the bed and settle in for the night.
The puppies from our Blue Riptide x Blue Ghost litter were eight weeks old last weekend and Jerry and I had a steady stream of families here to pick out their puppy.
This was the second Northwoods Bird Dog puppy for two of the buyers. As we all know, it’s a small world. In 2006, Kevin Sipple first bought a wonderful tri-color female that is a littermate to this litter’s dam, Blue Ghost. This year he picked a matching, even-marked, tri-color female. Dwayne Splan is also back. His first puppy was a male out of Magic’s Rocky Belleboa x Old Glory Bluebelle in 2008 and, again, he was on the list for another male.
Splan clan
Other buyers included Chris Bye and Roberta Scherf from Wisconsin and the Nielsen and Head families from Minnesota.
It’s a sad day for me when the puppies go…but we’re grateful to the new owners and happy for the puppies.
"Great to see you guys…Again, we really appreciate all your care and attention to these pups for their first 8 wks. They are so very much better socialized, confident and relaxed among people as a result.
"Our pup took about a half hour to get acquainted with her new surroundings, and then she acted like she’d been living here for her entire life. My wirehair treated her gently, and they have been getting along fine. I’m happy to report that she didn’t make a noticeable sound last night–to our great surprise and delight. She regaled us most of the way home when she wasn’t sleeping, but I put her kennel right next to our guy Chance last evening, and that may have made all the difference."
Chris Mathan, a friend and owner of The Sportsman’s Cabinet, visited while she in Minnesota recently. We have known and worked with Chris for many years. She is a marketing specialist geared toward the outdoors and developed the brand and website for both Northwoods Bird Dogs and Dazzle Gardens, my horticulture business.
In addition, Chris is an excellent photographer and has provided us exquisite photographs of dogs, training sessions, flowers and landscapes. She has an extraordinary sense of style and a keen artistic eye. She perfectly captures her subjects and her photos are, literally, breathtaking.
Chris and I also collaborated on a 2010 calendar project, Why We Love Flowers.
We feel fortunate that Chris brought her camera and took time to photograph some of our dogs. Luckily also, the pasture was in full bloom when Chris photographed Roquefort and Parmigiano, 9-week-old littermates out of Northwoods Blue Ox and Houston’s Belle’s Choice.
Check out more of Chris’ photography—including shots of Bird Dogs, Field Trials, Upland Hunting and garden photos—and her other work at sportsmanscabinet.com.
On a January night in Minnesota after a nasty cold snap with several days that never got above zero, my husband, Jerry, and I shared a memorable meal—and one quite suitable for owners of a bird dog breeding and training business.
"We hope you are staying cool amidst the muggy, tropical assault August has unleashed on us. Although you are probably not losing any sleep worrying about Piper, we thought an update was in order..
