While Betsy and I were out walking our Labrador retriever May today, we flushed a grouse from its snow roost.
A snow roost is a place grouse fly into without leaving a trail for predators to follow. A grouse also conserves body heat by burying itself in snow. Though there currently isn’t enough soft snow for a grouse to be completely submerged, it can be partly concealed by several inches.
A grouse flushed from this roost on the south side of some hazel brush next to a birch tree.
Most of the time, Jerry and I called him Dasher. Sometimes it was Dash or Our Dash or, if he did something particularly annoying or naughty, Jerry called him Your Dash.
Physically, Dasher was a specimen. He was liver-and-white with a gorgeous, square muzzle and an even mask. Dasher weighed a solid 58 pounds—the biggest of our bird dogs. He was beautiful in motion. He moved with the strength and power of a thoroughbred but was graceful and light on his feet. Dasher was enjoyable to watch run—not only for his style but because he always seemed to be having so much fun.
Dasher was intelligent, too, and intuitive and his large, expressive eyes seemed all-knowing. He had his quirks and oddities, like all dogs. We’ll always remember his jerky motion when he noisily lapped water from the water bucket.
Dasher was almost 14 years old and had lived a happy and productive life. For almost two months, he’d been ill with a failing kidney and a fist-sized tumor on his spleen. Like so many proud, strong and stoic dogs we’ve owned before, Dasher would rally from a couple of bad days to eat well, grab a chew toy and trot happily outside for his short walks.
An uncanny Christmas evening
Dasher had endured a tough Christmas day. Food didn’t appeal to him and I couldn’t tempt him with canned dog food, cooked meat or even holiday dog treats. It was difficult for him to get up and go outside, notwithstanding the cold weather. We stoked up the fire and left him to sleep on his thick bed in front of our wood-burning stove.
Not two hours later, Dasher had shuffled to our bedroom door—something he had never done—made enough noise to wake us up and then, because he was so weak, lay down in the hall.
Jerry and I leapt out of bed and carried him back to his bed in front of the fireplace. We brought blankets and pillows. I curled up with Dasher on his bed and Jerry slept beside us on the couch.
Dasher died peacefully the next day.
Dasher’s pedigree
Dasher was out of our first-ever grouse champion, Dance Smartly (Dancer), and a dog campaigned by Jim Tande, CH Brook’s Elhew Ranger. Among his littermates were CH Sidelock’s Rogue Trader, owned by Mitch Stapley from Michigan and RU-CH Dancing Queen, a female that produced Frank LaNasa’s CH Centerpiece, a six-time champion/two-time runner-up champion.
We kept Dasher because he was evenly marked like his dam and seemed most like her in temperament and ability. Just for fun, we continued the reindeer-naming theme.
My Memories
• When he was a puppy and being worked with the check cord, he’d pick up the end of it and run around with it in his mouth. It was “so cute” but was he really “so smart” because he knew that if he had the end I couldn’t grab it?
• Dasher had a superior nose. Jerry lost a glove one day while we were working dogs. The next day, just by chance, we worked eight-month-old Dasher on the same trail. He found that glove and proudly bounded by us with it in his mouth.
• He loved heat. On a hot summer day, he would lie in front of our south-facing glass door…utterly content.
• Dasher could leap. The fence around our pasture was 5’ high. Instead of waiting for me to open the gate, he raced around the corner of the garage and took that fence in full stride—gracefully launching himself off the ground and clearing the top by several inches.
• He was a morning dog and earned the name Mr. Perky. We never had to wake him up or prod him to go out. He was always sitting up straight with ears pricked and an eager expression in his eyes.
• Dasher chewed his way through hundreds of dollars of dog beds. I bought beds from L.L. Bean, Orvis, Cabela’s and Fleet Farm. Finally, last fall, I succumbed to the grandest of beds, a Mud River Homebase. This thing is gorgeous! It is made from 6”-high memory foam and is extremely comfortable. Plus, it’s a whopping 43” long x 30” wide. Dasher loved his bed, guarded it and rarely shared it. Forever it will be known as “Dasher’s bed.”
Jerry’s memories
• Dasher had an outstanding nose and was a natural at finding and pointing ruffed grouse, even at a young age. One day I was working him with two other year-old puppies. One by one, the other two came out to the logging trail and hunted on ahead of me. Dash was the last one to catch up. When he was about 75 yards ahead of me, on the same trail the other pups had just gone down, he stopped, turned his head slightly and pointed. I walked up and a grouse flushed noisily and Dash was off in hot pursuit!
• I remember well (so does Betsy) the day he beat his kennelmate, CH Blue Streak, in a spring grouse trial when he was three years old and Streak was in her prime.
• Dash had endless stamina and, amazingly, kept himself in excellent shape without any real conditioning.
• Dash was a member of the guiding team on the day I clocked the highest flush count of my life. I ran him in the middle of the day and he found as many grouse as those that were down during the prime morning and evening hours. When Dash pinned a grouse, we’d follow the beeper. The hunters likened him to a hound—follow the dog to the treed game!
Dasher’s legacy
Dasher was bred just handful of times but left outstanding progeny. Jason Gooding at Goodgoing Kennels bred his female, Moxie, to Dasher twice. Out of that came Goodgoing Hannah Montana, a field trial dog handled by Brett Edstrom, and fabulous hunting dogs owned by Todd Gatz of Ely and Wayne Grayson of Mississippi. Jerry and I have an attractive orange-and-white female, Prancer (remember the reindeer thing?), from a breeding to Fate, Mark Fouts’ extremely talented grouse dog. We plan to breed Prancer to CH Westfall’s Black Ice this year so we’ll have grand-Dashers. (How about a Vixen or a Blitzen?)
Finally…
Jane, my sister-in-law, sent a kind note with the perfect sentiment: kindred spirit. To some it might seem odd that a dog and a woman could be kindred spirits but that, in a nutshell, is how I feel about Dasher.
Experienced field-trial people have said, “Give a dog a name to live up to.” Betsy and I can certainly vouch for its truth. We named a spirited, feisty, black-and-white setter female Blue Streak.
Streak was a 35-lb. bird dog that lived for the hunt. She had endless stamina and an uncommon level of focus when hunting. She was sure and intense on point and no cover, from Minnesota and the Dakotas to Pennsylvania and Texas, ever deterred her. She was calm in the house but a whirlwind in the field. She was a fierce trial competitor and an outstanding grouse hunting dog.
Streak’s breeding
Blue Streak was whelped in our first litter in June 1995 out of Spring Garden Tollway (Charlie) and Finder’s Keeper (Sparks). The litter contained five males and three females including future grouse champion Blue Smoke and the outstanding Oklahoma quail dog, Colonel. Five developed parvovirus at five weeks but all survived without ill effects. Streak was the smallest in the litter and, early on, we nick-named her “Little.” We tried several times to change it but nothing else seemed to stick. Little it was.
We were neophytes in dog breeding but felt we had a unique nick with Charlie and Sparks—both out of Jack LeClair’s Spring Garden Kennel. Charlie was beautifully conformed and it clearly showed in his stamina and strength. He was fast, also, and could run like the wind. In fact, to this day, he was as much dog as I have owned and it took me several years to get him under control. While hunting grouse in northern Minnesota one fall, a friend asked if I’d ever hunted grouse in Canada. I said, “No, but I think Charlie has!”
Sparks was a medium-sized, chestnut-and-white female that was an outstanding wild bird dog with excellent instincts around game.
Early Years Streak never acted like a carefree puppy. When Betsy and I took the litter out for romps in the woods, she was serious and hunted with focus and determination. This continued as she matured and, ultimately, she pursued anything—birds, rabbits and deer. Deer became her bane. Streak chased so much, so far and for so long that she became lost, occasionally even, overnight. Her record was three days and three nights in Michigan when I lost her at the Lakes States Grouse Championship.
Due to this deer-chasing proclivity, there was a three-year gap between Streak’s last derby placement and her first win as a shooting dog. She and I worked hard and, finally, in the spring of 2000, it started to pay off and Streak began the first of her two “streaks.”
2000
CH Blue Streak and Jerry, 2000
• Won the Region 19 Walking Shooting Dog Championship (30 entries)
• Placed in the next five shooting dog stakes
Streak’s second “streak” was even more impressive. We entered her in six championships and she placed in five—an incredible series of wins. Consequently, she earned several prestigious awards.
2001
Streak earned an invitation to the 2001 Grand National Grouse & Woodcock Invitational Championship. Betsy and I traveled to Marienville, Pennsylvania, where, over the course of three exciting days, she went head-to-head with the best grouse dogs in the country, including three-time-Invitational winner, CH Centerfold Rose. Streak and Rose were the only two dogs in the call-back on the final day. When the dust settled, Rose was named champion and the runner-up was Streak.
• Runner-up Grand National Grouse & Woodcock Invitational
• Runner-up in the National Amateur Grouse Championship
• Won the Minnesota Grouse Dog Championship
• Won the Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship
• Won the Pennsylvania Grouse Championship (80-dog entry)
2002
• Won Michael Seminatore English Setter Award
• Won William Harnden Foster Award
• Minnesota/Wisconsin Cover Shooting Dog of the Year
• Won Minnesota Grouse Dog Championship
2003
• Several local field trials
• Minnesota/Wisconsin Cover Shooting Dog of the Year
Streak was then eight years-of-age and instead of a heavy field-trial schedule, I hunted with her and used her in our guide string. At the hunting lodge, she is now famous for leading me and their guests on some spectacular hunts into heretofore unknown territory.
Blue Streak and Jerry, 2006
Her final competition
Something happened during the summer of 2005 when I was, as usual, out on the prairie working dogs and training them for the fall field trial and hunting season. Streak had been in semi-retirement but, out on those alfalfa fields and in those pastures, she ran and hunted at a high level, beating most of her younger brace mates. I thought, “She could still win the Grand National Grouse Championship!”
The 2005 running was held at the Gladwin grounds near Prudenville, Michigan, and Streak and I made the trip. The judges were David Grub, veteran trainer and Bird Dog Hall of Fame member, and Rob Frame, a competitor and judge of many grouse championships.
Streak ran in the first brace on the first day of the running. She put down a savvy, hard-hunting, forward race and had two grouse finds and one woodcock find. At the age of 10, Streak was named Runner-up Champion over a field of 81 younger entries.
2005
• Runner-up Grand National Grouse Championship
Less than a month later, I took Streak to Texas. She hunted but with little enthusiasm and didn’t eat well. A diagnosis revealed an inoperable tumor located in her chest cavity between the heart and lungs. She died in March 2006.
Streak’s record
Streak was a 4X CH/4X R-U CH and finished her field trial career with 22 placements, all on grouse and woodcock.
• four championships
• four runner-up championships
• two classic wins
• three 1st, two 2nd and three 3rd place shooting dog placements
• one 1st, two 2nd and one 3rd place derby placements
Streak’s legacy
CH Blue Streak
We only bred Streak twice but she left us a legacy. She produced CH Bobby Blue (owned and handled by Bob Saari), winner of the Minnesota Grouse Dog Championship and a powerful competitor, when bred to CH First Rate. We have her daughter, Blue Silk, Bobby’s littermate, and through Silk we have sons, Blue Shaquille and Northwoods Blue Ox. In addition, Blue Blossom (Tina) was whelped from Streak’s breeding to CH Grouse Hollow Gus. Tina was an excellent grouse dog and, in turn, whelped many talented grouse dogs.
Betsy and I are now whelping litters that have Streak as a great-great-grand-dam. We will always be on the lookout for a competitive, fearless, black-and-white puppy…..that just might also be small in size.
Once upon a time, in northern Wisconsin, there lived an old grouse hunter. He was known far and wide for the quantities of ruffed grouse he bagged. Rumor had it that he would go into the woods with five shotgun shells and usually return with five grouse.
This reputation spread to a small town in rural Minnesota where a young man, just learning to hunt ruffed grouse, was having a very difficult time. He could do well enough on open country pheasants and prairie grouse but ruffed grouse, with their craftiness and thunderous flight, was still beyond his abilities.
The young man heard of this legendary grouse hunter and was eager to learn the secrets of someone so successful and so traveled to northern Wisconsin. Upon meeting the grouse hunter, the young man said, “I am here to learn your secret of shooting ruffed grouse as they fly through the dense forest.”
The old grouse hunter looked at him with a quizzical expression and said, “Grouse can fly?”
Serendipity…fate…good timing…..or whatever one chooses to call it. Jerry and I have felt it before and we think it definitely played a part when we were looking for a solution to our employee situation.
Earlier in the fall, Jerry and I had a dilemma. Zac, our excellent and loyal employee of three years, was leaving to begin his senior year of high school. He would soon be concentrating on homework, basketball and parties (not necessarily in that order) rather than on dog training and kennel chores.
Similarly, our summer neighbor and training helper, Jeff, would be spending his days hunting grouse and woodcock. And soon after but before the first snowflakes appear, Jeff and his wife, Carol, leave for their winter home in Arizona.
Through our rural township grapevine, Jerry and I heard that a close neighbor, Dan Stadin, was retiring from his many years of service at the federal prison. We’ve known and liked Dan and his wife, Paula, for all the years we’ve lived here but little did we know the depth and breadth of his expertise and knowledge.
What we did know:
• avid outdoorsman who fishes and hunts turkey and deer
• has owned retrievers—at least one Labrador and a Chesapeake
• along with other family members and friends, owns a cabin “up north”
• drives a very cool Harley.
What we didn’t know:
• beginning in 7th grade, bred and trained sled dogs and competed in local races
• for many years beginning at the age of 14, had a summer job as a dock boy at a resort on the Ash River
• earned a degree from the U of M Waseca with an emphasis on Swine Production
• worked for a fur farm that produced mink and silver fox for pelts; skunks, raccoons and ferrets for the pet market
• bought and ran a beef cow and horse farm; managed a hog farm or two
• worked 20 years for the Federal Bureau of Prisons where he held several positions—his final 15 years as a Correctional Counselor.
Dan is a tremendous asset and already we see improvements in our operation. He has initiative and has taken over responsibility for feeding, watering and otherwise caring for the pigeons, quail and chukars. Dan genuinely likes animals—a trait that is reflected in his ability to relate to them. Jerry feels he has a wonderful way with the dogs.
One of Dan’s primary responsibilities this fall has been the development and training of our puppies. He’s worked them in the pasture on quail and chukars and has also taken them in the woods for training on grouse and woodcock. While Jerry spent the better part of October doing guided grouse hunts out of a lodge in northern Minnesota, Dan helped me manage the kennel.
We’re not sure who’s happier…Jerry and me because we found Dan…or Dan because he’s found a new passion…or Paula because Dan is so happy.
Blue Ghost x Blue Riptide puppies, Rosie, Piper and Sage, at five months of age.
An early leaf fall in both Minnesota and Wisconsin seems to have been beneficial to grouse and woodcock hunters. Region-wide reports from everyone—training clients, puppy buyers, dog buyers and friends—are outstanding. All are finding plenty of grouse, and the woodcock numbers are up considerably.
Weather not only has contributed to the early leaf fall but the clear, cool days make for beautiful days in the woods. Remarkably, I’ve found grouse are moving into late season habitat earlier than usual.
My dog report:
• Guide string of CH Houston’s Belle (age 9), Blue Silk (age 10), Blue Shaquille (age 6) and Northwoods Blue Ox (age 3) are tearing up the woods and are as good as grouse dogs get. These dogs go from grouse to grouse and you better have plenty of shells when out with these dogs!
• Three younger dogs are doing well: Northwoods Prancer (Fallset Fate x Dashaway), Northwoods Chardonnay (Houston’s Belle’s Choice x Blue Shaquille) and Synder’s Liz (CH Magic’s Rocky Belleboa x CH Houston’s Belle)
• Seven-month-old dogs out of Ox and Houston’s Belle’s Choice are pointing grouse.
• Six-month-old dogs out of Ox and CH Houston’s Belle are also pointing grouse!
• Three females are part of the same grouse hunting camp and are having a blast.
What a great year to be a grouse dog—young or old—and a grouse hunter.
I was fortunate to be invited by a friend, Frankie, to his “Grouse House” on the western prairie for a few days of sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge hunting. Another friend, Ian, accompanied us.
Here’s the wrap-up.
• dog power: 8 English setters, 3 German shorthaired pointers, 1 pointer.
• sharp-tails were plentiful and lots of young birds.
• early-season, young grouse were easy for dogs to handle.
• numbers similar to what I remember from my last trip 15 years ago.
• conditions were unusually cool with snow on the last day.
Miles (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Northwoods Madrid, 2024) ~ Lars Totton, New Jersey
Rip (Northwoods Louis Vuitton x Houston’s Dancing Queen, 2022) ~ Mark Fitchett, Kansas
Vida (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2019) ~ Tom Condon, Montana
Suki (May’s Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024) ~ Eric Beauregard, Massachusetts
Birdee-Su (CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer, 2011), from a stellar litter of eight females ~ Chip Young, Tennessee
Winnie (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024) ~ Joe and Jess Nelson Family, Minnesota
Tally (May’s Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024), on left, and Georgia (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2015) ~ Joe and Deb Wech, Minnesota
Cosmos (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2019), on right, and his pal ~ The Collins Family, Georgia
Stanley (May's Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024) ~ Johansson Family, Minnesota
Tyler (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024) ~ Josh and Des Matel, Minnesota
Filly (May’s Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust, 2024) ~ Tom and Lauren Strand Family, Minnesota
Sage (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024), top, and Louis (CH Erin's Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Nickel, 2018) ~ Joey Paxman and Amanda Allpress, Montana
Racer (CH Miller’s Upgraded Version x Northwoods Comet, 2024), right, and his very special pal JTH Cooper (HOF CH Rock Acre Blackhawk x Northwoods Vixen, 2015) ~ Doug and Nicole Miller, Oregon
Russell (CH Woodville’s Yukon Cornelius x Northwoods Redbreast, 2024) ~ Gregg Pike and Family, Montana
Abby (CH Woodville’s Yukon Cornelius x Northwoods Redbreast, 2024), on top of her new pal ~ Ben and Penelope Pierce, Montana
Annie (RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana x Northwoods Carbon, 2017) on her 7th birthday ~ Lynn and Kathy Olson, Iowa
Maisy (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) ~ Zenas and Susanne Hutcheson, Minnesota
Molly (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) ~ Ken and Caroline Taylor, Pennsylvania
Jordy (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Prancer, 2014). Look closely! ~ Mark and Janie Fouts, Wisconsin
Speck (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2018) ~ Mike Watson, Pennsylvania
RU-CH Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017) ~ Greg and Michelle Johnson, Wisconsin
Zion (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022) ~ Rick and Jodi Buchholz, North Dakota
Harper (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022) ~ Tom Dosen-Windorski, Minnesota
Attie (Southern Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2023) ~ Jeff and Carol Hintz, Arizona
Cedar (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2019) ~ Eric and Lindsey Saetre, Minnesota
Chester (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Northwoods Stardust, 2023) ~ The Milles Family, Minnesota
Millie (RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana x Northwoods Carbon, 2017) ~ Mercer Clark, Georgia
Belle (CH Southern Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2023) ~ Kevin Sipple, Wisconsin
Piper (CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2021) ~ Tom and Ashton McPherson, Pennsylvania
Ginny (Northwoods Louis Vuitton x Houston’s Dancing Queen, 2022) ~ Pat Kane, Montana
Valencia (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carbon, 2017), on left, and Tasha (Blue Shaquille x Snyder’s Liz, 2012) ~ Tim Esse, Minnesota
Macquina (CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2021) ~ Jeremy Moore Family, Wisconsin
Caddie (CH Southern Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2023) ~ Brian Smith, Pennsylvania
Madji (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Stardust, 2021) ~ Ron and Lora Nielsen, Minnesota
Russell (CH Southern Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2023) ~ Nathan and Gretchen Johnson Family, Minnesota
Willie (Northwoods Rolls Royce x Northwoods Minerva, 2021) ~ Chris Smith, Wisconsin
Junie (CH True Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2021) ~ Joey Paxman and Amanda Allpress, Montana
Enni (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar 2022) ~ Eric and Lindsey Saetre, Minnesota
Layla (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) ~ Skyler and Jen Gary, Colorado
Frisco (Blue Riptide x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2014), on left, and Zion (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022) ~ Rick and Jodi Buchholz, North Dakota
RU-CH Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017) ~ Greg and Michelle Johnson, Wisconsin
Watson (CH Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Highclass Kate, 2013), on left, and Walker (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) ~ The Long Family, Ontario, Canada
Northwoods Highclass Kate (Northwoods Blue Ox x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2010) ~ Barry and Jill Frieler, Minnesota
Pep (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2023) ~ The McCrary Family, Michigan
Maple (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022), on left, and her pal ~ The Watson Family, Montana
Rip (Northwoods Atlas x Northwoods Stardust, 2023), on left, and Flint (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2015) ~ Ben and Adrian Kurtz, Colorado
Attie (CH Southern Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2023) ~ Jeff and Carol Hintz, Minnesota
Luna (RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana x Northwoods Carbon 2017) ~ The McCrary Family, Michigan
Stoeger (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013), on right, and Chester (RU-CH Northwoods Atlas x Northwoods Stardust, 2023) ~ The Milles Family, Minnesota
CH Northwoods Sir Gordon (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2016), on left, and Eddie (CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Northwoods Valencia, 2023) ~ Ben and Maureen McKean, Minnesota
Griffin (CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Northwoods Valencia, 2023) ~ The Johnson Family, Minnesota
Annie (CH Rufus del Fuego x Northwoods Valencia, 2021) ~ The Sligh Family, Georgia
Chrissy (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022), on left, and Carly (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2015) ~ Bob and Carol Berry, Wyoming
Sage (CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Northwoods Valencia, 2022) ~ The Orstad Family, Minnesota
Dottie (CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Betty, 2020) ~ Tom (on left) and Lauren Strand, Minnesota
Lacey (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Minerva, 2020) ~ Zenas and Susanne Hutcheson, Massachusetts
Smooch (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2013) ~ Wayne and Julie Grayson, Mississippi
Biscuit (Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, 2011), litter sister to our beloved Grits ~ Ryan and Monica Gould, Minnesota
Rayna (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017) ~ Jeff Bird, Oregon
Carly Simon (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2011) ~ Jessica Kramer, Wisconsin
Jenny (CH Shadow Oak Bo x Northwoods Carbon, 2016) ~ John and Jeri Cleverdon, Michigan
Lacey (CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen, 2016) ~ Brian Smith, Pennsylvania
Jade (CH Rock Acre Blackhawk x Northwoods Vixen, 2015) ~ Frank Ilijanic, Michigan
Jones, on left, and Nellie (both out of CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Northwoods Valencia, 2022) ~ Chris and Laura Miller, Illinois ~ Gregg and Sherrie Knapp, Wisconsin
Tippy (Northwoods Louis Vuitton x Houston’s Dancing Queen, 2022) ~ Bill and Gail Heig, Minnesota
Dexter (CH Snyder’s Pioneer Scout x Northwoods Cedar, 2022) ~ Mike Rosario, Wisconsin
Jones (CH Northwoods Sir Gordon x Northwoods Valencia, 2022), on left, Stella (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2015), center, Rose (Blue Riptide x Blue Ghost, 2010), on right ~ Chris and Laura Miller, Illinois
Rip (Northwoods Louis Vuitton x Houston’s Dancing Queen, 2022) ~ Mark and Jana Fitchett, Kansas
Willow (Northwoods Louis Vuitton x Houston’s Dancing Queen, 2022) ~ Rhon and Lori Tranberg, Indiana
Madison (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2018) ~ Barry and Jill Frieler, Minnesota
Lady P (RU-CH Erin's Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2018) ~ DeWolf Emery, Maine
Nellie (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Bismuth, 2017) ~ Dick and Melanie Taylor, Michigan
Elmer (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2014), Annie (RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana x Northwoods Carbon, 2017), Sig (Northwoods Rob Roy x Northwoods Minerva, 2019), front to back ~ The Olson Family, Illinois ~ Kathy and Lynn Olson, Iowa ~ Chris Bye, Wisconsin
Winston (CH Rufus Del Fuego x Northwoods Valencia, 2021) ~ The Short Family, Oregon
Cosmos (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2019) ~ The Collins Family, Georgia
Northwoods Diana (RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana x Northwoods Carbon, 2017) ~ Lynn and Kathy Olson, Iowa
Once upon a time, in northern Wisconsin, there lived an old grouse hunter. He was known far and wide for the quantities of ruffed grouse he bagged. Rumor had it that he would go into the woods with five shotgun shells and usually return with five grouse.
Serendipity…fate…good timing…..or whatever one chooses to call it. Jerry and I have felt it before and we think it definitely played a part when we were looking for a solution to our employee situation. 
