Open Puppy Winners Northwoods Carly Simon with Paul Diggan and Gracie with Mr. Lawton. Back row: Dan Stadin and judges Brad Holt and Bert Benshoof.
Wet, drizzly and overcast—perfect bird-finding weather—was the forecast for the Moose River Grouse Dog Club field trial held the weekend of April 21 – 22.
First-year shooting dog Northwoods Lager, owned by Jim Bires, was our only entry in the Open Shooting Dog stake. He ran strong and powerful, hit all the right places and yet showed when needed. At about 40 minutes he had an unproductive but stood strong when his bracemate interfered. Lager ended his bid at 50 when he unsuccessfully tried to relocate on a touchy, running grouse.
In the Open Derby, Northwoods Classy Kate, owned by Barry Frieler, ran her namesake race—driving, forward and classy. That day, though, she went without bird contact. Houston’s Miss Liddy, owned by Paul Hauge, also ran very well but missed some opportunities on birds. Northwoods Roquefort, owned and handled by Dan Stadin, ran well and had an unproductive in likely cover.
The highlight of the trial was when 13-year-old Paul Diggan handled 9-month-old Northwoods Carly Simon to third place in the Open Puppy stake. He had to work hard to pull her out of likely cover on the outside edge of the puppy course loop.
Front: Jerry with Sean, Barry Frieler with Kate, Kaufman with Maisey. Back: Mr. Lawton, Greg Gress, Frank LaNasa, Chris Bye, Ian MacTavish.
The Minnesota Grouse Dog Association held its final trial of the spring last weekend, April 13 – 15. A beautiful sunny Saturday was sandwiched between a cloudy, cool day and a rainy day. Our sincere thank you to the club volunteers who worked hard to put on the stakes.
Bird work was again tough to come by in the Open Shooting Dog stake. Of 14 dogs that ran, only three finished with clean work on birds. The judges awarded two placements—Merrimac’s Adda Girl, setter female owned and handled by Ben McKean won first and Abigail, setter female, owned and handled by Ed Graddy, placed second. I handled Northwoods Lager (Jim Bires) and Northwoods Blue Ox. Both ran strong races but without birds (not counting Ox’s nice point on a turkey!).
The largest entry was the Open Derby with 18. We’re very proud of the performances of two dogs we ran. Northwoods Parmigiano (Sean), setter male owned by Bob Senkler, won. Sean ran a powerful, forward race on a 73-degree afternoon, hunted all the right places and finished strong. In addition, he has a style and verve that is extremely eye appealing.
Sean has competed well for the select times we’ve entered him in field trials. Of four starts, he’s placed in three—2011 Open Puppy (1st), 2012 CVGDA Open Shooting Dog (2nd) and this placement.
Northwoods Classy Kate, setter female owned by Barry Frieler, placed second. She ran her usual, sharp, driving race–she is always searching for birds. She is on a hot streak this spring with three derby placements in three starts.
Northwoods Roquefort, owned and handled by Dan Stadin, put on a competitive effort. Sean, Kate and Roquefort are littermates, sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of Houston’s Belle’s Choice.
Puppy stakes are always fun and this Open Puppy was no different. Betsy and I own Northwoods Vixen, a female pointer out of CH Westfall’s Black Ice x Northwoods Prancer, and she is mature, smart and talented. She won first place. I handled Snyder’s Trudy (CH Ridge Creek Cody x CH Satin From Silk), setter female owned by Steve Snyder, to second. Trudy hunted hard and looked good doing it.
Northwoods Tesla owned by Tim Cunningham.
Northwoods Tesla, owned and handled by Tim Cunninghamy, placed third. Tes and Tim are new to field trials but both put forth a great effort. Tes is sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of Northwoods Chablis—and it’s turning out to be quite a talented litter. Two of her litter brothers, Northwoods Bees Knees and Northwoods Grits, won first and second in the Open Puppy last week.
The Minnesota Grouse Dog Association held the first of its two spring trials on April 6 and 7. Dan Stadin, Paul Diggan and I attended both days.
For us, the most exciting stake of the trial was the Open Derby. Fifteen young dogs competed and we are very proud of Northwoods Classy Kate, owned by Barry Frieler of Pequot Lakes. She convincingly won first place. She is sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of our blue hen, Houston’s Belle’s Choice.
Kate ran in the first brace of the stake—at about 1 p.m. on a bluebird afternoon. Normally, that’s not the preferred time of day to hunt grouse but Kate didn’t know that. Within a few minutes of the breakaway, she was already working scent near a drumming log. She caused the bird to flush and gave a short chase. After that, however, she left dust and leaf chaff behind her as she tore the cover apart in search of grouse. At about 13 minutes, Kate’s bell stopped 80 yards to the front. We could see her standing on the edge of a cut from a distance—tall and confident. She had a grouse pinned about 15 feet off her nose. At flush and shot, she stood perfectly broke.
Farther down the course as Kate was hunting on the right, her bell stopped abruptly. After a moderate search, Judge Brett Edstrom and I found her pointing at a low area of brush. For the second time, she had a grouse pinned perfectly and, for the second time, she stood perfect at flush and shot. She did have a slight movement as I went back to release her.
For the remainder of her brace, Kate made several showy casts, hunting a cut aspen edge as we watched her from the distant woods. She finished strong to the front.
Kate’s performance may have been the best I’ve seen for a derby. Her drive to find birds, her intensity and accurate bird location are rare in a dog that age. These thoughts were echoed by Brett at the announcement of winners and also by Scott Anderson, the handler of Kate’s bracemate.
That’s why I love to compete in field trials. To have a dog put on a
spectacular performance in front of people who recognize and appreciate
it makes it all worthwhile.
Northwoods Bees Knees
Two littermates out of our 2011 breeding of Northwoods Blue Ox to Northwoods Chablis placed in the Open Puppy stake. Northwoods Bees Knees, handled by his owner Mike Donovan, won first place. Beasly hunted the tough puppy course with strength and purpose. Beasly is Mike’s first pointing dog and this was Mike’s first field trial. Congratulations, Mike!
Northwoods Grits, owned by Bob Senkler and handled by me, placed second. Grits hunted hard and made casts to all the right places. I had run him in the Open Derby just a short time earlier and even though he’s a strong dog, it seemed to take a little punch out of his performance. But we were proud of his effort.
Even though the Open Shooting Dog drew 18 dogs, only two dogs had bird work (and they were braced together). Those two were given placements and third was withheld.
Dan Stadin and I attended the Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association (CVGDA) spring grouse trial over the weekend of March 30 – April 1. The grounds are situated along a beautiful stretch of the Eau Claire River near Cadott and usually hold ample grouse and woodcock. Thanks to the club members who worked hard to put on the trial.
We’re happy to report that three dogs, Northwoods Classy Kate, Northwoods Parmigiano and Northwoods Lager, placed and garnered ribbons for their owners, Barry Frieler, Bob Senkler and Jim Bires, respectively.
The Open Derby was very competitive with 21 entries. We ran six: littermates Northwoods Parmigiano, Northwoods Roquefort, Northwoods Brie and Northwoods Classy Kate (sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of Houston’s Belle’s Choice), Houston’s Miss Liddy (sired by Northwoods Blue Ox out of CH Houston’s Belle) and Northwoods Piper Lebowski (sired by Blue Riptide out of Blue Ghost).
Three derbies finished with bird work which proved to be the deciding factor. Many of ours showed some affect of the recent two-day drive from Tennessee but gave competitive performances of which we were proud.
Northwoods Classy Kate
Kate won second place with a hard-hunting effort capped off by a beautiful point on a woodcock right in front of the gallery. The woodcock flushed low and landed about 20 yards from Kate but she stood her ground with just a hop at the shot. This was a tough piece of bird work for a derby-aged dog and she handled it with poise and confidence.
The Open Restricted Shooting Dog was run on Sunday morning and had 10 entries. We entered four dogs even though three were derbies and had competed the previous day: Parmigiano, Roquefort and Liddy. Lager (sired by Blue Shaquille out of Houston’s Belle’s Choice) is a true shooting dog although this is his first season.
Northwoods Parmigiano
Parmigiano won second place. His hunting effort was not up to his usual standard of a race filled with fire and desire but he made up for it with a nice point on a grouse. He was the only dog in the stake to point a wild bird under judgment.
Lager placed third. He had the kind of race I like—strong running, always searching in the right places for birds and showing when I called on him. Three minutes after time was called as he was making his way back to me, he stopped and had a beautiful point on a grouse, unfortunately not under judgment. The judges called Lager back on a liberated quail to prove that he was steady to wing and shot…which he did with aplomb.
Steve Hurdle handles 2012 National Champion Connor’s E Z Button.
A fun aspect of living for a time in another part of the country is to take advantage of what that area offers. Here in western Tennessee, Jerry and I are close to Grand Junction, which is home to the Ames Plantation and the site of the National Championship.
This year marked the 113th running of this celebrated competition, which is one of few in the country with three-hour braces. Thirty-four dogs competed in 17 braces over nine days. Last year’s champion, Touch’s Whiteout, scratched.
Randy Downs steadies Gamemaker at the morning breakaway while Fred Corder waits on his horse.
It was thrilling to be around big-name handlers like Sean Derrig, Luke Eisenhart, Colvin Davis, Robin Gates, Randy Downs, Steve Hurdle and Gary Lester. Another big draw was to see—firsthand—famous dogs like Gamemaker, In The Shadow, the setter Shadow Oak Bo and all the Erin pointers. Plus it was cool to see all the gear and the big horse trailers necessary for competition at this level.
Jerry and I chose to go on the first Friday so we could watch Gamemaker (Rock Acre Buckwheat x Therapy’s Little Bess), a handsome liver-and-white pointer owned and handled by Fred Corder, scouted by Randy Downs.
Gamemaker was braced with Connor’s E Z Button, owned by David O’Connor and handled by Steve Hurdle.
Gamemaker, Fred Corder, Steve Hurdle and Button pause at a crossing.
What an exciting brace. Button had six finds; Gamemaker had five. In the waning minutes of the brace, Gamemaker was hit by a truck when he ran across a road. But he got up, shook himself off and finished with just a slight limp.
The three judges (in orange) and the gallery cross a road on the Ames Plantation.
And, several days later on the white front porch of the Ames Plantation, Connor’s E Z Button was named this year’s National Champion.
Chris Mathan of The Sportsman’s Cabinet and Strideaway was with us. Jerry and Ben McKean, a friend from Minnesota, rode the following Tuesday to see In The Shadow and Erin’s Whiskey River.
Three-year-old Ridge Creek Cody, a setter male co-bred by Paul Hauge and Northwoods Bird Dogs, won Runner-up in the All America Open Shooting Dog Championship. The trial was held near Carson, North Dakota, and was run on native pheasants and sharp-tailed grouse.
Northwoods Chardonnay edged out her litter sister, Northwoods Chablis, by two points to win the 2011 award. Another littermate, Northwoods Lager, was in the top four. That these dogs were so competitive is no accident. Grandmothers on top and bottom—Blue Silk and CH Houston’s Belle—won this award previously.
Chardonnay has had four field trial placements in as many starts. As a puppy in 2009 she placed second in the very competitive O-Kan puppy stake held in Oklahoma. (Lager placed first.) Later that spring she placed second in the MGDA derby. This spring she placed third in the MGDA Open Derby (beaten by littermates Lager and Chablis) and won first place in the Moose River Grouse Dog Club Open Derby. She pointed grouse in both of this spring’s wins.
Chardonnay is out of a litter bred by Paul Hauge in 2009. The sire is Blue Shaquille and the dam is our current producing female, Houston’s Belle’s Choice. We started four from this litter and each is a strong grouse dog.
Chardonnay did a fine job in our grouse guiding string last fall, especially for a 1½ year old. She has the classic Houston-line trademarks: easy, attractive gait; lofty style on point; outstanding ability to find and point grouse.
Northwoods Bird Dogs have won or been in close contention for this award several times before.
In addition, dogs sired by our studs have won the award.
2009: Goodgoing Hannah Montana, owner Brett Edstrom/Good Going Kennel, was sired by Dashaway
1999: Milk Run Jessie, owner Brian Miller, was sired by CH Blue Smoke
This accolade was started in 1994 and has subsequently been awarded 17 times. It has been won by pointers on 10 occasions. It is sponsored by Pro Plan who generously purchased the rotating trophy and supplies dog food to each year’s winner.
While training in Tennessee this winter, I took a day to ride a brace of the National Championship held on the Ames Plantation near Grand Junction, Tennessee.
This field trial was been run since 1896 making it one of the oldest in the US. It is steeped in tradition and formalities. Only dogs that have met stringent qualifying criteria can compete and they must re-qualify each year. The entries are dominated by pointers but one or two English setters also make the running. The dogs are handled from horseback. The professionalism and capability of the handlers and scouts to show their dogs in the best manner was impressive.
More than 100 riders gathered at the starting point to watch the dogs. The field trial chairman used a loudspeaker to announce the dogs, handlers, scouts and owners of the brace. Representatives from the trial sponsors such as Pro Plan, Eukanuba and Garmin were in attendance and were thanked for their contributions. Rules and conduct for the gallery were reviewed and, finally, the brace was off.
Point!
These dogs are amazing–
• They are bigger dogs, generally in the 50-lb. range. They have long, powerful strides that carry them easily and efficiently cover the ground.
• The handlers have put hours and hours into conditioning the dogs specifically for this trial and they are in superb condition.
• In the course of the 3-hour heat, the dogs will average about 12 miles per hour and cover around 36 miles!
Most people think all-age venues are in big, wide-open terrain. At Ames, though, it’s quite different. There are some open spaces and long edges where a dog can reach but most of the cover is more dense and vast than I imagined. There are many places where a dog can get lost on point, or just plain lost.
I have followed the running of the Nationals for years and it was truly thrilling to finally see the trial for myself.
Three-year-old Ridge Creek Cody, a setter male co-bred by Paul Hauge and Northwoods Bird Dogs, won Runner-up in the All America Open Shooting Dog Championship. The trial was held near Carson, North Dakota, and was run on native pheasants and sharp-tailed grouse.
