Gert is a cool dog. She has a snow-white body, just lightly ticked, and her 40-lb., strongly muscled conformation seems perfect for a grouse dog. The deep orange on her handsome, blocky head nicely sets off a dark nose and eyes.
Gert is owned by Rochel and Dave Moore, who live on a nice spread outside Big Lake, Minnesota. Ever since their marriage in 2002, they have owned bird dogs—setters and pointers both. They train, condition and work their dogs together and share chares, too. Even though Rochel and Dave are hunters, they especially train for field trial competition. They enjoy putting their dogs up against the best in the country. “I like to watch my dog but especially I like to watch my dog win,” Rochel said.
The last pick.
Gert was whelped in 2006 out 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). Even though Dave and Rochel were on the list early, they didn’t care which puppy they got. “I’ll take the last one,” Dave said.
Gert’s name.
I’m Blue Gert is a cool name. Each word has special meaning. I’m is in honor of her sire’s impressive pedigree which goes back to Paul’s favorite setter, Houston. Gert’s dam’s side is formidable, too, for both of Blue Silk’s parents were multiple champions. Gert is short for Gertrude, the daughter of friends of Moore’s. Dave said, “Gertrude was rock-star good-looking and if we’d had a daughter, I’d want her to look like that.”
Dirty Gert.
Most dogs have several nick-names—some are endearing, others playful. Gert earned her name of Dirty Gert many years ago. “By about 40 minutes into training sessions, Gert usually ends up dirty,” Dave said, whether by rolling in something dark and stinky or by pushing hard through heavy cover.
Gert as a house dog.
Even though Gert lives in Moore’s kennel with pals Slew and Elle and her son Zack, whenever she gets in the house, she makes a beeline for the master bedroom. According to Dave, “She lies down on our bed and won’t get up.”
Gert in the field.
Rochel deserves credit for Gert’s debut as a field trial competitor. She handled Gert to a placement in a puppy stake at a 2007 spring trial held by the Minnesota Grouse Dog Association. That was the only time Rochel handled a dog in a trial, preferring instead to scout, but it was exactly the start Gert needed.
While Gert has been worked to bring out her best, sometimes it’s the things that can’t be trained that become paramount; other characteristics can catch the hearts and minds of judges. What sets Gert apart? “Gert has zero quit. She’s always searching for a bird. There’s just no quit,” Dave said.
After the 2013 North Country Walking Shooting Dog Championship, Rochel Moore poses RU-CH I’m Blue Gert (on right) and Dave Moore holds the plaque. Scott Chaffee poses the champion on the left.
Gert’s championship placements.
2013 RU-CH North Country Walking Shooting Dog Championship
2013 Minnesota/Wisconsin Pro Plan Cover Dog of the Year
2012 CH Region 19 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship
2012 RU-CH Minnesota Grouse Championship
2009 CH Region 19 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship
Gert is a producer, too.
The 2013 runner-up champion of the National Amateur Grouse Championship is Woods R Callen Sam, a male owned by Bill Frahm. Sam is out of Gert’s only litter by Tom Jones, Scott Anderson’s dog out of his CH A Rolling Stone.
Congratulations to Rochel and Dave on your success with such a cool dog, I’m Blue Gert!
2013 National Amateur Pheasant Shooting Dog Championship winners: Champion Nemaha Yankee (on left) and Runner-up Champion Houston’s Blue Diamond.
From a quality entry of 62 dogs, Houston’s Blue Diamond was named Runner-Up Champion in the National Amateur Pheasant Shooting Dog Championship. Diamond was handled by his owner, Ross Leonard, of Cloudland, Georgia. The trial was held in August near Circle, Montana, and run on native pheasant, Hungarian partridge and sharp-tailed grouse. The judges were Jim Michaletz of Goodman, Missouri, and Harold Ray of Waynesboro, Georgia.
Diamond was bred in 2006 by Paul Hauge who used his favorite sire Houston (via frozen semen) to Forest Ridge Jewel. This is the second year in a row that a setter from Paul’s “Houston” line has placed in that championship–the 2012 winner was Ridge Creek Cody (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle).
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!
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.
CH Houston’s Blue Diamond (Houston x Forest Ridge Jewel) is posed by his owner Ross Leonard, on left.
Congratulations to Ross Leonard for handling his setter male, Houston’s Blue Diamond (call name Sam), to first place in Region 4 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship held recently near Berea, Kentucky. Most of these horseback trials are dominated by pointers and this was no different—18 pointers and eight setters competed.
Sam was whelped in 2006 out of Houston (via frozen semen) and Forest Ridge Jewel at the kennel of Paul Hauge. This was a repeat breeding for Paul…and for a very good reason. The first litter in 2004 produced multiple champion and extraordinary dam, CH Houston’s Belle. Sam is a handsome dog with a blocky head and the distinctive “Houston” mark around his left eye.
Sam was one of five puppies. Two of his siblings, Fireside Fleetwood and Fireside Blue Zephyr, are also field trial winners.
I developed and trained Sam for Paul that first year—on the North Dakota prairie, in the grouse woods and in Texas on bobwhite quail. Ross bought Sam from Paul in 2007 and, after furthering his training, has successfully competed in various field trials.
RU-CH Landcruiser Scout (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle)
Landcruiser Scout, five-year-old setter male owned by Mike and Patricia Cooke of Rochester, New York, was recently named runner-up champion at the Eastern Open Shooting Dog Championship. Four setters and 28 pointers competed in the trial which was held near the Virginia and North Carolina border. Scout is trained and handled by professional Jeanette Tracy.
What a family! Scout is out of a litter of six males and two females that Paul Hauge, Jerry and I co-bred—CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle—in 2008. Two litter brothers are champions in horseback field trial competition, CH Ridge Creek Cody (Larry Brutger, St. Cloud, Minnesota) and CH Houston’s Blackjack (Frank LaNasa, Isanti, Minnesota).
In addition to delivering Scout on his way to field trials in Pennsylvania that spring, Jerry met Joe Zimmer of Chamois, Missouri. Joe’s dog, Fritz, is a winner in walking field trials.
While a judge watches, Shawn Kinkelaar shoots over Ridge Creek Cody just seconds after the covey flushed.
Besides the opportunity to train on a quail plantation, a compelling reason to live in southwest Georgia for a winter is its proximity to lots of cool dogs and field trials. The most prestigious horseback shooting dog trial, The National Open Shooting Dog Championship, began February 4 on the historic and beautifully groomed Sedgefields Plantation, just outside Union Springs, Alabama. Fortunately for me, Jim and Kathy Tande invited me to ride a morning with them.
You know you’re in bird dog country when a life-sized, bronze statue of a pointer (sculpted by Bob Wehle) that’s mounted on an 8-foot-tall column graces the middle of a main intersection of town; and when that town, Union Springs, claims to be the “Bird Dog Field Trial Capital of the World.”
Jim and Kathy Tande graciously offered me one of their horses so I could ride a morning brace of the National Open Shooting Dog Championship.
Betsy and I have known Jim and Kathy for a long time—going back to our years as competitors on the grouse trial circuit. Jim and Kathy still have a place in northern Minnesota but now winter near Arlington, Georgia, where Jim trains, competes in horseback field trials and is a sought-after judge.
This trial, now celebrating its 53rd anniversary, is unique in that dogs must quality by placing in specific trials and each brace is 90 minutes. Most of the handlers are professionals but a few amateurs compete, enticed perhaps, by the $10,000 purse. The birds here are bobwhite quail—all wild coveys—and are plentiful due to excellent management at Sedgefields.
Shawn Kinkelaar has an impressive string of championship dogs including Covey Rise Offlee Amazin, Skydancer Dancing Bell, Miller’s Atomic Rain and Ridge Creek Cody, the setter in the front.
This year 47 pointers and five setters competed. In a strange bit of kismet, Paul Hauge, Betsy and I bred two of the setters. CH Ridge Creek Cody (owned by Larry Brutger and handled by Shawn Kinkelaar) and Land Cruiser Scout (owned by Mike Cooke and handled by Jeanette Tracy) were littermates out of CH Can’t Go Wrong and CH Houston’s Belle in 2008.
Defying even more odds, Cody and Scout were in the same brace! Both dogs hunted hard, looked good running and scored a back. They each tallied four covey finds and stood staunch as their handlers fired blank .410 shotguns. Neither dog placed on this day…but I was very proud of them both.
Sedgefields Plantation built a very nice clubhouse that’s used for The National Open Shooting Dog Championship.
Maybe Izzie is as sharp as Snoopy and can read. One look into her beautiful, brown eyes does reveal her intelligence and good sensibility.
Izzie has been featured in three recent blog posts and perhaps has glanced over Jeff’s shoulder when he powers up his Ipad. She is definitely our poster child for “How to pick a puppy.”
November 28, 2012: How to pick a puppy “Since at eight weeks of age it’s impossible to definitively know what the puppy will become, any puppy should be ideal—no matter the picking order, no matter whether it’s the first pick or last.”
About two years ago, Jeff was in the market for a puppy and, in exchange for his work with us, we made a deal. He could have the last pick of our Ice x Prancer litter.
November 21, 2012: Winning wild bird field trial championships “Even though Izzie is just a derby, I feel compelled to include her because she has all the makings to be a champion.”
Izzie was whelped on April 17, 2011 (she is only 20 months old!) and was very successful last fall. In four derby stakes, she won two and twice placed second.
October 8, 2012: Jeff and Izzie: An inseparable pair “Izzie is a sweetheart in the house and a tiger in the field. She was quite precocious and last year Jeff successfully hunted her on grouse, woodcock and the quail of southern Arizona.”
Too, Izzie has the genes of a champion. Her sire is Westfall’s Black Ice, a five-time champion and seven-time runner-up champion. Out of Northwoods Prancer on the bottom side, her great grandparents were both multiple grouse champions, Brooks Elhew Ranger and Dance Smartly. Rather unusual for a dam, both parents of Dance Smartly were also multiple champions, Northern Dancer and Vanidestine’s Rail Lady (a six-time champion!).
But, truly, Jeff deserves all the credit. What any dog becomes depends on how it is raised, developed, handled and trained. Since she was a four-month-old puppy, Izzie has been hunted and worked at least three days a week.
In early January, on the Empire Ranch of Sonoita, Arizona, Izzie was named champion at the Region 12 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship. She ran a strong, forward race and went on point where no dog had gone. At the shot, she stood tall and firm. Amazingly just days before, Izzie had placed third in the horseback derby stake.
Congratulations, Jeff and Izzie! You deserve that big blue ribbon.
To have a good wild bird dog takes hours and hours of training, days in the field and several seasons of hunting. To have a dog capable of winning a wild bird field trial championship takes that and so much more.
…field trials were not instituted for the purpose of bringing to the front a dog or class of dogs eminently suited for the wants of the average gunner, whose primary objective in using a dog afield is to swell the game bag, regardless of the manner that his dog performs. Rather it is for the purpose of bringing to the notice of the public a class of performers best suited to perpetuate the most desirable qualities possessed by the high-class field dog.
~William F, Brown, Field Trials 1947
The field trial competitor must stop on a flush, be steady to wing and shot, hunt in the right places and cover as much ground as possible, yet still stay in touch with the handler. The dog should always work in a forward fashion and with style, strength and flair. And to win big, the dog must not just perform well; it must perform to near perfection.
Preparation for fall trials begins in late June. The dogs start a physical conditioning routine three to four times per week to develop strength and stamina and to toughen their feet. In July, dogs are tuned up on their manners around birds with planted birds. For the next two months, the trainers/handlers spend many days traveling to areas where the dogs can be worked on wild birds. Physical conditioning continues and diets are strictly monitored to keep the dogs in peak condition. When the venues are horseback trials, another time-consuming level of commitment is necessary to condition and train several good horses.
After months of this intense preparation, the trainers/handlers again hit the road to attend the trials—some of which can be hundreds of miles away—and then spend more time at the trial. Each dog gets one chance, usually for an hour, to prove to the judges that they deserve to be named a champion.
Many things can go wrong and some are out of control of the handler. The luck of the draw is a major consideration. So too is incompatible weather, time of day, lack of birds or incompatible brace mates. It sometimes seems that the odds of everything coming together for a specific dog to win are nearly impossible.
This fall, three dogs produced by our kennel won wild bird championships. Good genetics are essential, but these owners/handlers deserve all the credit.
Betsy and I are proud of these dogs and thank their owners for their hard work and commitment.
2xCH/RU-CH Ridge Creek Cody (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle)
Cody is owned by Larry Brutger of Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Larry handles Cody in amateur horseback shooting dog trials and professional Shawn Kinklaar is the handler in open competition. Cody, handled by Larry, won the National Amateur Pheasant Shooting Dog Championship held in August near Circle, Montana. Larry also is successful in AKC field trial competition with Cody and his other setters.
CH Houston’s Blackjack (CH Can’t Go Wrong x CH Houston’s Belle)
Blackjack is co-owned by Frank LaNasa of Isanti, Minnesota, and Leroy Peterson of Slayton, Minnesota. Frank trains and handles Jack in open and amateur horseback shooting dog competition. In September, Blackjack was named champion at the National Amateur Prairie Chicken Shooting Dog Championship held at the Buena Vista field trials grounds near Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Frank is renowned for running championship pointers; this is his first championship win with a setter.
2xCH/RU-CH I’m Blue Gert (I’m Houston’s Image x Blue Silk)
Gert is owned by Dave and Rochelle Moore of Big Lake, Minnesota. Dave trains and handles Gert in wild bird grouse trials and hunts over her extensively. In October, Dave handled Gert to runner-up champion in the Minnesota Grouse Dog Championship held in the Rum River State Forest near Mora, Minnesota. He has also been successful in wild bird field trials with other setters and pointers.
JTH Izzie (CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer)
Even though Izzie is just a derby, I feel compelled to include her because she has all the makings to be a champion. Izzie is owned by Jeff Hintz of Ham Lake, Minnesota, and Tucson, Arizona. Jeff hunts, trains and competes in field trials in both locations. Izzie won first place in the Danforth Social Society and Fine Bird Dogs Open Derby held in late summer. She placed second in the Region 19 Amateur Derby, which was a horseback stake. In October, Izzie finished second in the Minnesota Grouse Dog Reuel Henry Pietz Derby Classic and won first place in the Moose River Grouse Dog Open Derby.
