Our 2011 litters by Northwoods Chablis and Northwoods Chardonnay represent the sixth generation of setters we have bred, raised, trained, hunted and trialed. It is so much fun to see various traits and characteristics that are passed along. Even if they skip a generation or two, we know our setters so well that we have a good idea where those traits originated. Here are some "family" photos. Enjoy!
Blue Silk and her sons, Northwoods Blue Ox and Blue Shaquille.
Linus comments to Charlie Brown: “You know what you and Snoopy should do? You should go to an obedience school.”
Snoopy’s cartoon bubble: “Why should we go to obedience school? He already does everything I want him to.”
~ Charles M. Schulz
I never miss the Peanuts comic strip in the newspaper. Its creator, Charles M. Schulz, died in 2000 but newspapers continue to run old strips……and I continue to read them faithfully.
The characters are wonderful. Charlie Brown is the perennial loser who tangles with kite-eating trees and comments, “I only dread one day at a time.” And who can resist loud-mouthed, selfish, crabby Lucy and her brother Linus, the sweet natured kid who is never without his blanket and believes in the Great Pumpkin?
My favorite character is Snoopy. He’s great whether he’s dancing “The Beagle,” imitating a fierce vulture or playing the World War I flying ace. And how can you not love a dog that lost everything when his dog house burned….but then resolutely replaced his ruined Van Gogh with a Wyeth?
While Charlie Brown can’t win on the baseball diamond or with the little red-haired girl, he has always been Snoopy’s devoted owner.
Several strips featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang hang on the bulletin board of our kennel office.
A couple of my favorites:
— A simple one with no talking or cartoon bubbles features Charlie Brown holding an umbrella over Snoopy and his dog dish while Snoopy eats.
— Snoopy is barking during the night in the first frame. Lucy comments, “Listen! Do you think Snoopy sees a burglar?” Charlie Brown replies, “No, that isn’t his ‘Burglar Bark.’ That’s his ‘barking just for the sake of barking’ bark.”
— In a longer Sunday strip, Charlie Brown says, “It’s kind of cold tonight…it shouldn’t be so cold this time of year…I wonder if Snoopy is warm enough…I think I’ll take my sleeping bag out to him…”
Charlie Brown then takes his sleeping bag into the back yard for Snoopy and comments, “I can sleep well myself now, knowing he’s warm.”
The final frame shows Snoopy tucked into an enormous sleeping that hangs off the roof of his dog house and flows onto the ground.
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.
With monster drumming counts last spring and evidence that Minnesota and Wisconsin are approaching the peak of the 10-year grouse cycle, this seems to be the year to hunt ruffed grouse. But I have other reasons.
#1. There are only so many autumns in one’s life and whether at the peak or in the valley of the grouse population cycle, there will be grouse in the woods.
#2. Fluctuations in grouse populations don’t matter to dogs. They will hunt their hearts out and search for birds like they do always. They will carefully select which cover to hunt by following their noses along damp alder edges and into aspen cuts. Excitement will mount when one dog catches a scent, gets birdy and stands on lofty, intense point.
#3. Autumn is a fine season to be in the woods. The dogwood berries will be white on bright red stems and the aspen leaves will turn golden and, permeating the entire forest, will be the evocative smell of damp, fallen leaves.
I can’t predict if my dogs and I will find few or many grouse in a given day. Some of my best days were in “low” population cycles and, conversely, the biggest disappointments have been in “high” grouse years.
But it doesn’t matter. My dogs and I will be out in the woods and we will be hunting for them. For me, the sport is in the pursuit.
My favorite character is Snoopy. He’s great whether he’s dancing “The Beagle,” imitating a fierce vulture or playing the World War I flying ace. And how can you not love a dog that lost everything when his dog house burned….but then resolutely replaced his ruined Van Gogh with a Wyeth?