Bird dogs, hunting and life from Jim Harrison’s perspective

A young Jim Harrison in the doorway of his cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The Search for the Genuine is a newly published collection of essays and magazine columns by Jim Harrison. Subtitled Nonfiction, 1970 – 2015, these pieces are reprinted from various sporting magazines—Field & Stream, Sports Illustrated, Outside—and prestigious publications such as Esquire and The New York Times.

Jim Harrison (1937 – 2016) was a best-selling New York Times author of 39 books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and one children’s book. He is perhaps best known as a poet and for his Legends of the Fall and Dalva novels.

Harrison’s big draw for me is simply his writing. I can read anything he wrote. Beginning with his first paragraph and then his lyrical, eloquent, clear style, I became enthralled. Subject matter included dogs, hunting and fishing but also his big view of life and his big appetites. Along with his cool friends Jimmy Buffett, Tom McGuane and Guy de la Valdene, he shared a zest for life, food (much of which they had shot or caught) and drink.

A few favorite passages.

“Our greatest politician, Thomas Jefferson, said that ‘good wine is a necessity of life for me.’ I agree but he should have said, ‘Good wine and good dogs are necessities of life for me.’”

“Utterly docile and sweet in the cabin or house these are big-running setters suitable for the Southwest and Montana though they shorten up in the denser cover of northern Michigan. When cynics say that our dogs are ‘too far out’ we’ve learned to give a pat answer: ‘That must be where the birds are.’”

“One August morning in the Upper Peninsula Rose had twenty-nine woodcock points in less than two hours. I was slow to admit that I enjoyed this training run as much as hunting.”

This is a long passage with long sentences but, yikes, can he write.
“I’ve begun to believe that some of us are not as evolved as we may think. Up in the country, in my prolonged childhood, I liked best to walk, fish, and hunt where there were few, if any, people. After a ten-year hiatus for college and trying to be Rimbaud, Dostoyevsky, and James Joyce, not to speak of William Faulkner, in New York, Boston, and San Francisco, I found myself back in northern Michigan walking, fishing, and hunting. There are a lot more people now, but there are still plenty of places where they aren’t. Tennis, golf, and drugs didn’t work for me, so for the past thirty years my abiding passions are still centered on upland game birds, fish, and idling around fields, mountains, and the woods on foot, studying habitat but mostly wandering and looking things over.”

“The death of hunting will come not from the largely imagined forces of anti-hunting but from the death of habitat, the continuing disregard for the land in the manner of a psychopath burning down a house and then wondering why he can’t still live there. The illusion of separateness is maddening. We are nature, too, surely as a chimp or trout.”

“Strangely, as you grow older, if you can’t hunt with any of two or three friends, you’d rather hunt alone. Newcomers make the grievous error of talking to your dogs—which are confused by such breaches in taste—or they whine about the weather.”

“I’m very poor at dates and numbers and what happened at what time in our life. But if my wife mentions the name of a dog we’ve owned and loved, I can re-create the dog’s life with us, and consequently my own.”

Big winnings at big field trials by Northwoods dogs

CH Erin’s Three Leaf Shamrock (CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2015), on right, was handled by Tracy Swearington for owner Tucker Johnson in the Masters Open Shooting Dog Championship.

At Northwoods Bird Dogs, Betsy and I strive to breed dogs that possess the talent and ability to win field trials. But winning field trials isn’t the goal—it’s a consequence. It’s a consequence of breeding our own and knowing outside exceptional dogs, of passion, of uncompromising high standards. It’s a consequence of decades of selecting dogs that are intelligent, physically capable and easy to train. It’s a consequence of hunting every generation on wild birds and it’s a consequence of devoted clients who give our dogs the opportunity to reach their genetic potential.

As a consequence, several of our dogs placed in prestigious field trial competition around the country over the past several months.

Greg Johnson, on left, with his runner-up champion setter male Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017).

Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017), owned and handled by Greg Johnson, won Runner-Up Champion in the 52-dog Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship. This win, combined with other placements earned during 2022, qualified Atlas to compete in the Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational Championship. In that event, the previous year’s two winners and 12 top point-earners in 2022 cover dog trials compete for three days to determine a winner. The trial was held in early April near Phillipsburg, Pa.

Cody’s Sadie Belle (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013), on right, with her owner Ryan Bjerke.

Cody’s Sadie Belle (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013) won Runner-Up Champion in the National Amateur Grouse Championship held last October near Moose Junction, Wis. Owner/handler Ryan Bjerke has done a marvelous job with Sadie—his first bird dog.

CH Erin’s Three Leaf Shamrock (CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2015), handled by Tracy Swearington for owner Tucker Johnson, is having a stellar year. In November, at Burnt Branch Plantation near Ochlocknee Ga., Three Leaf won the 40-dog Blackbelt Open All Age. This setter was also named Runner-Up Champion in the recently completed Masters Open Shooting Dog Championship.

CH Erin’s Three Leaf Shamrock photo by Chris Mathan.

The Masters, held on three prestigious wild-quail plantations near Albany Ga., drew a whopping 69 dogs vying for the title. Only six of those competitors were English setters and three of them were either sons, grandsons or great-grandsons of Northwoods Chardonnay (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2009). Four of the six were grandsons of CH Ridge Creek Cody (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle, 2008).

Northwoods Sir Gordon (Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2016) placed second in the Minnesota Grouse Dog Championship last October. Owner Ben McKean handled Gordy to his two-grouse-find performance.

Nick Allen, on right, with Northwoods Cosmic Ray (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2019).

Northwoods Cosmic Ray (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2019), owned and handled by Nick Allen, placed second in the Big Sky Field Trial Club Amateur Shooting Dog stake, a U.S. Complete Association Trial held near Barber, Mont. This placement was especially gratifying as it was Nick’s and Ray’s first field trial.

Dave Moore, on left, and his derby-winning pointer, True Ending (CH True Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2021).

True Ending (CH True Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2021), pointer male, owned by Dave and Rochel Moore and handled by Dave, won first place in the Region 19 Open Shooting Dog Derby and third place in the Open All Age Derby. The Region 19 trial was held last October at the Namekagon Barrens near Danbury, Wis. All the dogs were handled from horseback.

Another consequence? Our genetics pass on to the next generation. Here are winners produced by sires and dams we bred.

In Canada
Runner-Up Champion in the North American Woodcock Championship in McAdams, New Brunswick, last fall was Wynot Pete, a pointer male handled and owned by Steve Forrest. Pete’s dam is Northwoods Maddie (CH Rock Acre Blackhawk x Northwoods Vixen, 2015).

On the East Coast
Runner-Up Champion in the Northeastern Open Championship held in East Windsor, Conn., was setter male Erin’s Big Casino, owned by Paul Berdiner and handled by Mike Tracy. Casino has several of our dogs in his pedigree; he is sired by CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock whose sire, CH Ridge Creek Cody (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle, 2008), was whelped and started at our kennel. In addition, Casino’s dam, Three Stripe’s Livewire, was sired by RU-CH Northwoods Nirvana (CH Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2011).

In the Heartland
Last fall, two pointers owned and handled by Rod Lein of Chippewa Falls, Wis., and sired by JTH Cooper (CH Rock Acre Blackhawk x Northwoods Vixen, 2015) placed in derby stakes. Over The Hill Morgan placed first in the 24-dog Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship Open Derby while littermate Over The Hill Try placed second. Try also placed second in the 18-dog Open Derby held in conjunction with the North Country Championship trial.

Out West
Near the town of Payette, Idaho, on the Oregon/Idaho border, setter male, Charlie’s Zip Tie, owned and handled by Bill Owen and sired by CH Northwoods Charles (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013), won the Northwest Chukar Open Shooting Dog Championship. In the Larry Brech Memorial Open Derby held during the Chukar Championships, third place winner, Mauck’s Wyest Molly, setter female owned and handled by Alex Mauck, is out of High Prairie Gypsy (CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2016).

Congratulations and continued success to all these owners, handlers and trainers!

“Happiness Is a Warm Puppy”

“Happiness Is a Warm Puppy” is a book written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. It was first published in 1962 and has since been re-published several times.

Anyone who has ever bought a puppy will agree with this simplest, but truest, of notions.

“A Different Approach To Steady Your Dog”

That was the title of the half-hour talk given by Ronnie and Susanna Smith of Ronnie Smith Kennels at the recently held Pheasant Fest in downtown Minneapolis. Because Betsy and I have usually been somewhere in the South at this time of year, we’d never been to this exhibition sponsored by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. But feeling a touch of cabin fever and being intrigued by this talk, we decided to venture out and hear what they had to say.

What we heard was a short course on a way of training that was new for the Smith’s. The basic premise is to give the dog the freedom to decide how to act when it smells a bird.

After planting a pigeon in a launcher, lead the dog on a check cord, directing it to the area downwind of the bird. When the dog scents the bird, let it decide how to act instead of physically stopping it. If the dog points the bird, praise it. If the dog gets too close, launch the bird and stop the chase.

While this method is new to the Smith’s, it’s not new to me.

I’ve used it for the past 20 years and call it the Natural Way. I first became familiar with the basics when I went to Bill Gibbon’s place in Arizona to learn the West/Gibbons Method. Their method was vastly different from how most handlers trained.

Over time, I’ve tweaked and modified the technique and now find it to be, by far, the best way to train steadiness. The results are eye opening. The dog is bold around birds. It exudes confidence. And it points birds independently, without being micro-managed by its handler.

For Ronnie and Susanna, whose training method had been based on controlling the dog around birds, this is a fundamentally different approach. But, as Ronnie said, times and dogs change. Kudos to them for recognizing the need to modify their method.

A reward for our efforts was a stop at Brit’s Pub, which was a short walk from Pheasant Fest. The Fuller’s ESB on tap is Betsy’s favorite beer and was perfect with an order of fish and chips.

P.S. Please stay tuned for a future post featuring more details about my Natural Way of steadiness training.

A good year for our puppy quail training program

Willow (Northwoods Louis Vuitton x Houston’s Dancing Queen, 2022)

Sometime in late summer, it became clear to me that several things would come together to provide a perfect November bobwhite quail training session for puppies.

Two litters whelped in July would be four months old—a prime age to introduce them to birds. The quail in my four johnny houses that I’d been acclimating and conditioning would be wild-acting, hard-flying birds. My guiding responsibilities would be done and, hopefully, the weather would cooperate. Talk about serendipity.

Many clients were keen and signed up. With the puppies Betsy and I kept from those two litters, I had 11 puppies.

The adage is “It takes birds to make a bird dog.” More specifically and for me, it takes wild birds to make a wild bird dog. For the same reason beginning baseball players start with a ball on a tee, we can’t expect a 12-week-old puppy to handle wild birds—the equivalent of a major league pitch.

The Quail
Our ball on a tee for young puppies is quail from a johnny house. Our birds aren’t the standard quail—caught, handled and buried in the grass. Our birds are never touched; they run and fly almost like wild birds. It takes time, effort and specific habitat to get the quail to act wild, but that’s crucial to prepare young dogs to learn to hunt wild birds.

Quail sun themselves on the perches of the johnny house. Birds are released through the hinged door the swings open.

The Johnny House
A johnny house is a quail pen that, well, resembles an old outhouse. Ours are 4’ by 4’ square and 6’ high. All four walls are made from green-treated plywood except for the top six inches which is covered with ½ inch hardware cloth. The roof is either treated plywood or corrugated metal. The floor is made of ½ inch hardware cloth. There are perches just below the top six inches of hardware cloth where the birds fly to sun themselves.

An entry door is on one side with a feeder and nipple waterer attached to the inside of the door. Near the bottom of the door on the outside is an entry funnel for the quail to use to get back into the house.

Inside the door of a johnny house a feeder and nipple waterer are mounted. On the floor inside is a dusting pan. On the bottom left is the entry funnel.

How the Quail Act
At the beginning, most of the quail fly to the same areas near the house which makes it easier for the pups to find them. Then as the puppies learn to find, point and flush them, the quail run more, flush wilder, fly farther and become more difficult to find. Sometimes, with a dozen quail flushed out of the house, a group of puppies might find very few. But that’s ok. Wild birds are hard to find and the sooner the puppies learn they have to hunt hard to find them, the better.

Really good quail will flush strongly out of the house, flying up and over the trees for 100 yards or more. After a scattered landing, they will quickly gather together leaving foot scent for the young dogs to figure out. Once just one pup finds them, the quail react as a covey, giving the pup only one contact but that one contact will be wild-like.

At times, quail might not come back to the house for a day or more. And at times, I found some coveys more than 300 yards from their johnny house. When flushed, the birds flew another 150 yards in the opposite direction, and yet, they were back in the house the next day.

When to Start the Puppies
Young puppies’ brains are like sponges. Too, they are bold, curious and adventurous. But they lack the physical ability to run far or fast and so stay close to the handler. Like other stages in their development, there is a short window of opportunity.

I’ve found that starting puppies on johnny house quail by 12 weeks of age brings the best results. I work puppies in groups of two or three where they learn not only to hunt, find and point quail but also to read their bracemates which can lead to good things like backing. Often I’ve had several 14-week-old puppies backing another puppy that is pointing a quail.

In addition, puppies worked in groups become accustomed to distractions while hunting and are less likely to be competitive with bracemates in the field. Two or three months of this work, threes time a week is about enough. After that the window starts to close; puppies are stronger, start to hunt wider and are more independent in their search.

The johnny house quail have done their job and the pups are ready for the next stages of advanced training and wild birds.

Grouse vs. goshawk

Photo courtesy of Ruffed Grouse Society

“He was watching a ruffed grouse that was poking along the forest floor, as grouse will do, foraging for seeds or fallen berries, perhaps some remaining leaves of clover.”

So Sam Cook wrote in the opening paragraphs of his piece in the November 30 edition of the Duluth News Tribune. Cook related a story about a friend of his who was deer hunting in the north woods.

“Most deer hunters would agree that it’s pleasant to have a grouse come mooching along during a morning on the stand. Grouse are enjoyable to watch—the way they seem to step carefully over the landscape or hop up to cross a deadfall. They cock their heads to the side often, presumably to get a better look above them, where most potential danger is likely to come from.

“Suddenly, he (the deer hunter) said, he caught the movement of a hawk on the wing. A goshawk, he said. A goshawk on a mission. A goshawk whose eyes were trained on the grouse feeding on the forest floor.

“Goshawks are among the primary predators of ruffed grouse. These raptors are designed to dart and weave through dense aspen forests where ruffed grouse live.

“But, in this scenario, the grouse my friend was watching had caught a glimpse of the goshawk at the last second. The grouse burst into flight and made its escape to heavier cover, just evading the predator’s dive.

Photo courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology

“The goshawk, foiled this time, winged away to continue its hunt for a less wary grouse.”

On that day, there was a happy outcome for the grouse. But as Jerry and I frequently discuss and acknowledge, the natural world is at once beautiful and ruthless.

Sam Cook had been the outdoor writer for the Duluth News Tribune for 38 years. He retired in 2018 and now freelances for the paper. I first knew of Sam Cook in 1977 when we both lived in Ely, Minn. I worked for the original town newspaper, The Ely Miner, and he worked for the rival paper, The Ely Echo.

Northwoods Atlas named RU-CH in Wisconsin championship

Greg Johnson, on left, with RU-CH Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017) and Ken Moss with CH Moss Meadow Seeker. Back row: Tucker Johnson, Judges Ben McKean and Ryan Hough.

Most people involved in wild bird field trial competition acknowledge that it is a game.

Not only must handlers navigate uncontrollable vagaries like running order, weather conditions, bracemate and the often unpredictable behavior of grouse and woodcock but they also must handle their dogs flawlessly around a one-hour course and abide by the rules of the game. Among those rules are that the dogs should: run a strong, forward race; never lose focus; point with style and intensity; be steady to wing and shot; have no unproductive points; honor the bracemate; finish strong. No mistakes are allowed or the dog is “picked up,” i.e., leashed and walked out of the woods by the handler.

To persevere and win trials—especially big championships—competitors must keep paying the entry fees, showing up and running their dogs.

So it is especially sweet and satisfying when everything aligns and the handler and dog win an important stake—especially a big championship.

The Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association held its Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship last week in the Eau Claire County Forest, near Augusta, Wisc. A large entry of 52 dogs was under consideration by judges Ben McKean and Ryan Hough.

After five days of running, Moss Meadow Seeker, owned and handled by Ken Moss, was named champion. With three finds and a strong race that often strained the bell’s limit but always stayed within range, Northwoods Atlas, owned and handled by Greg Johnson, was named runner-up champion.

Five-year-old Atlas, call name Jet, is no stranger to the winner’s circle. Throughout his young career, he has consistently placed in 11 field trials. This is his first championship placement.

Jet was whelped in 2017 out of Northwoods Nickel by Northwoods Grits. Grits was infamous for his bird finding and never-give-up attitude while Nickel added an uncommonly strong yet graceful gait.

And that sweet and satisfying part? After it was all over, Greg commented, “I am walking on air right now.”

Dogs and Homo sapiens

“A 15,000-year bond has yielded a much deeper understanding and affection between humans and dogs than between humans and any other animal.”
~ Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens

No wonder Jerry, me and all our clients form such strong bonds with our dogs. It’s in our DNA.

Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari, is not, as the subtitle suggests “a brief history of humankind.” Rather it is a sweeping history of the genus Sapiens and its impact on our planet. Harari is well qualified to write a book of this magnitude. He holds a PhD in History from Oxford University and teaches History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

One aspect that makes this such a good book is the clear, direct writing style of Harari. Another is simply the compelling subject. Where did we come from and how did we get where we are today?

About 50 pages into the book, this passage leapt off the page. From perhaps “15,000 years ago” to perhaps “thousands of years earlier,” dogs and humans began living together.

“The dog was the first animal domesticated by Homo sapiens, and this occurred before the Agricultural Revolution. Experts disagree about the exact date, but we have incontrovertible evidence of domesticated dogs from about 15,000 years ago. They may have joined the human pack thousands of years earlier.

“Dogs were used for hunting and fighting, and as an alarm system against wild beasts and human intruders. With the passing of generations, the two species co-evolved to communicate well with each other. Dogs that were most attentive to the needs and feelings of their human companions got extra care and food, and were more likely to survive. Simultaneously, dogs learned to manipulate people for their own needs. A 15,000-year bond has yielded a much deeper understanding and affection between humans and dogs than between humans and any other animal.”

* Readers of this post shouldn’t need visual proof of the deep bond, affection and love between dogs and people…but just in case, scroll through the photos in our posts and on our sidebar.

2022 spring field trial winners; Northwoods Chardonnay produces 2nd Elwin G. Smith award winner

Northwoods Cedar (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2019), setter female owned by Eric and Lindsey Saetre and handled by Lindsey, earned a red ribbon in the Don Didcoct Amateur Shooting Dog Classic.

Field trial competition is a bug that some owners of pointing dogs catch. Betsy and I are proud of owners of our dogs who put forth the effort to compete. It’s a fun, rewarding game attended by fellow serious bird dog aficionados. We’re also proud of our setters and pointers that have the ability to compete in the various venues across the country and also that pass on that prowess to future generations.

MINNESOTA & WISCONSIN TRIALS

Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017) is a setter male owned and handled by Greg Johnson. Atlas gets the nod for consistency, winning three thirds and one second place ribbon in six starts and in three different venues; the Minnesota Grouse Dog Associations (MGDA) grounds in the Rum River State Forest; Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Associations (CVGDA) grounds near Augusta, Wis.; and the Four Brooks Field Trial Area near Milaca, Minn.

Northwoods Atlas (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2017), on left, setter male owned and handled by Greg Johnson, placed third in the open shooting dog stake at the Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog trial.

Placing third behind Atlas at the second MGDA trial was Rhett (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2018), setter male owned and handled by Dave Moore.

Northwoods Cedar (RU-CH Erin’s Prometheus x Northwoods Carly Simon, 2019), setter female owned by Eric and Lindsey Saetre and handled by Lindsey, placed second in the highly competitive Don Didcoct Amateur Shooting Dog Classic held by the CVGDA.

As a puppy, Northwoods Fallset Hope (CH True Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2021), on right, owned and handled by Mark Fouts, placed third in a huge open derby stake.

Northwoods Fallset Hope (CH True Confidence x Northwoods Comet, 2021) is a pointer female owned and handled by Mark Fouts. She placed third in the gigantic, 28-dog open derby stake at the Moose River Grouse Dog Club spring trial held near Moose Junction, Wis. Very impressive for a 15-month-old pup!

Tony Misura handled his Northwoods Thunderstorm (Northwoods Grits x Houston’s Nelly Bly, 2020) to second place in the 14-dog open derby at Four Brooks. This was the first field trial for both Tony and Thunderstorm. Again, very impressive!

NORTHWOODS CHARDONNAY PRODUCED BIG-TIME WINNERS

Northwoods Chardonnay (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2009)

Northwoods Chardonnay (Blue Shaquille x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2009) was co-bred and basically co-owned by Paul Hauge, Betsy and me throughout her life. She had the basics of a winner—big race, strong bird-finding, natural staunchness and composure around game. But she excelled in many of the finer aspects of field trial competetion. Her long, strong, graceful stride produced a style in motion that was both exuberant and exciting and her loftiness on point was breathtaking.

Chardonnay placed in every grouse trial we entered her in and won the Minnesota/Wisconsin Derby of the Year award in 2011. After her derby year, we retired her from competition.

In a feat perhaps never accomplished before, Chardonnay produced two Elwin G. Smith English Setter Shooting Dog award winners. This award is bestowed on the nation’s winningest English setter in open shooting dog horseback field trials.

CH Northwoods Charles (CH Ridge Creek Cody x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2013), owned and handled by Bill Owen, won the 2020-2021 award.

CH Erin’s Three Leaf Shamrock (CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2015), on left, owned by S. Tucker Johnson and handled by Tracy Swearington, won the Southeastern Open Shooting Dog Championship.

CH Erin’s Three Leaf Shamrock (CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Chardonnay, 2015) is owned by S. Tucker Johnson and handled by Tracy Swearington. Shamrock is the recipient of this year’s Elwin G. Smith award. He also won the prestigious Southeastern Open Shooting Dog Championship, a wild quail trial held on the Senah Plantation near Albany, Ga.

A Chardonnay granddaughter, Mauck’s Wyeast Owyhee Dalee, owned and handled by Alex Mauck, recently won runner-up in three all age horseback championships, including the California Quail Championship. Dalee’s dam, Hidden Jasmine, is by CH Erin’s Hidden Shamrock x Northwoods Chardonnay.

Mauck’s Wyeast Owyhee Dalee, on right, is owned and handled by Alex Mauck. She won runner-up in the California Quail Championship.

OTHER WINNERS

Others with Northwoods dogs in their pedigree but not bred by Betsy and me also had impressive wins. Pointer derbies sired by JTH Cooper (CH Rock Acre Blackhawk x Northwoods Vixen, 2016), owned by Jeff Hintz, swept all three placements in the 19-dog CVGDA Open Derby stake.

Meredith Grade Katie, winner of the Thomas Flanagan Setter Award for the top Cover Dog derby in the nation, is out of I’m Blue Sky (Northwoods Grits x CH I’m Blue Gert, 2014). Katie is owned and handled by Mike SIngleton.

Hearty congratulations to handlers and dogs!!

A visit to T’s Doghouse in Utah; Northwoods Bird Dogs featured in YouTube video

Northwoods Big Sky, our T’s puppy, at 18 weeks of age is a hefty 30 pounds and a handsome, bold, spirited, fun puppy.

First, a little history…

When Jerry and I started Northwoods Bird Dogs in 2003, training was our primary service and primary source of income. Breeding setters and pointers was definitely secondary and more a means to personally keep us in good bird dogs. Field trial competition and guiding were a distant third and fourth.

But, as businesses usually do, ours gradually morphed into primarily a breeding facility as more and more clients—especially returning clients—want our puppies and dogs. While we’re extremely proud of our line breeding program that consistently produces our high quality puppies, we’ve known for some time that we’ve needed to find good outside sires and dams, too. But where to find those dogs?

Fast forward to this April…

Jerry and I drove to T’s Doghouse in Farr West, Utah, to pick up an eight-week-old male setter puppy. Jerry had contacted Talmadge Smedley, owner of T’s, and not only did he find excellent bloodlines and dogs but, in Talmadge, he discovered a kindred spirit. Over several conversations last winter, those two discussed training methods, puppy rearing and breeding and all manner of industry issues.

Unfortunately, we were on a very tight schedule when we were in Utah which left little time for face-to-face conversation. But early one morning, Talmadge and his son, Tanner, filmed a session featuring Jerry for their YouTube channel, titled “Training and Breeding Bird Dogs with Jerry Kolter of Northwoods Bird Dogs.”