Ridge Creek Cody won the 2010 Bill Conlin Setter Shooting Dog Derby Award. This award honors the top English setter shooting dog derby in horseback trials and, with this year’s wine, Cody set a record by amassing the most points ever for a male. Cody is owned by Larry Brutger and was handled by professional Shawn Kinklaar.

Second in point standings was his litter brother, Houston’s Blackjack, owned by Frank LaNasa and Leroy Peterson, and handled by Frank.

Congratulations to these fine young setters and their owners and handlers.

Northwoods Bird Dogs is especially proud of these dogs. The dam, CH Houston’s Belle, was bred and is owned by Dr. Paul Hauge. I trained and handled Belle to two championships and four runner-up championships in grouse trials from Minnesota to Pennsylvania. Due to her outstanding and versatile talent, and with Paul’s blessing, I also handled her to horseback wins on sharptail grouse.

When it came time to breed Belle, Paul and I worked together to choose the best sire. When we saw CH Can’t Go Wrong at several grouse trials, we were impressed with his desire, fluid gait and uncommon bird-finding ability. The litter was born in January 2008 here at Northwoods Bird Dogs and was raised by Betsy and me.

Both Cody and Blackjack returned to us for training. Cody went to North Dakota during his first summer and I worked Blackjack on Oklahoma quail and ruffed grouse and woodcock in 2009.

The breeding goal of Paul and NBD is to produce setters that have the physical build, instincts, brains and bidability to adapt to their owners’ hunting. According to the observations of Mike Husentis, reporter of the US Quail Shooting Dog Futurity, we are meeting our goals.

Cody’s lineage traces to dogs that were primarily campaigned in the woods and foot trials. Cody’s performance here was proof positive that good dogs adjust to their handler’s wishes and to the type of terrain on which they hunt regardless of where they began.

~ Mike Husentis

Spring is a great time to get out and work dogs on grouse and woodcock. The woods are open and it is easier to see what dogs are doing when they encounter birds.

 

Spring is also a great time to attend local grouse and woodcock trials. Even if you don’t compete, it’s a fun day in the woods with fellow bird dog lovers.

Below are the dates, locations and contact information for local grouse and woodcock field trials. Directions to the field trial grounds are on our blog, Northwoods News Blog, on our website.

Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association

Saturday, March 27 – Sunday, March 28

Eau Claire County Forest

Near Stanley, Wisconsin

Roger King 715-845-6833

Minnesota Grouse Dog Association

Friday, April 9 – Sunday, April 11

Saturday, April 17 – Sunday, April 18

Rum River State Forest

Near Mora, Minnesota

Scott Anderson 651-338-4921

Moose River Grouse Dog Club

Friday, April 25 – Sunday, April 27

Douglas County Forest

Near Moose Junction, Wisconsin

Mary-Beth Esser 262-567-8176

The Sooner Pointing Dog Club held its annual spring trial at Trail’s End Ranch, a beautiful venue 60 miles northeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the cool, soggy weekend of February 20 and 21. The ranch is owned by Jerry Myers who also works very hard to put on the trial. Attendance was excellent and handlers came from Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Michigan.

 

It was an extremely gratifying trial for us as we entered four dogs and came away with three placements.

 

The Open Derby had 12 entries. I was thrilled with the strong, mature work of Wirthall Dali, setter female owned by Justin Hall. She won the stake, burying all contenders with 5 steady to wing and shot finds, a back and a big race.  Dali accomplished all that despite the misbehavior of her bracemate who chased one of Dali’s birds as I flushed and then chased its own quail right past Dali when Dali was backing. Dali, bred by Mary Beth Esser, is a granddaughter of Houston.

  

We are now 3-for-3 in this stake. We’ve won three years in a row with dogs that had steady to wing and shot bird work—Blue Spirit in 2008 and Northwoods Blue Ox in 2009.

 

The highlight of the trial and the most competitive stake of the weekend was the Open Puppy. Unusual for a puppy stake, quail were planted. Sixteen dogs were entered and many prominent sires were represented:  Hytest Skyhawk, Terhaar’s Rocko, Long Gone Nixon, The Valedictorian and Trail’s End Badboy. The caliber and number of entries in the stake rivaled some major puppy classics.

 

We are extremely proud to report that we won first and second place with English setter littermates, Northwoods Lager and Northwoods Chardonnay. Lager, owned by Jim and Nina Bires of Minnesota, ran with drive and desire, his big stride taking in lots of country. He found quail three times and pointed them long enough to demonstrate his lofty style and composure.

 

We own the female, Chardonnay. Her drive and eye-catching style, along with two well-pointed quail earned her placement.

 

We developed, trained and handled these two exceptional puppies. They are sired by Blue Shaquille, out of Houston’s Belle’s Choice.  Paul Hauge bred the litter which is line-bred to his dog Houston.

 

We were also happy with the performance of Lizzie, a setter female owned by Steve Snyder.  Lizzie is sired by CH Magic’s Rocky Belleboa and out of CH Houston’s Belle. 

 

Winning third was Jill, setter female, owned and handled by Dick Fortner of Missouri. She ran well and pointed quail. Dick bred her out of his Hamilton’s Blue Diamond female to Trail’s End Badboy.

 

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, we were excited about the caliber of our young dogs this year. “We have some very nice puppies here with us—maybe the best all-around group we’ve ever had.”

Ridge Creek Cody, owned by Larry Brutger and handled by Shawn Kinkelaar, recently placed third in the prestigous U.S. Quail Shooting Dog futurity. To place in this trial, a dog must run a 30-minute qualifying heat and be selected by the judges to compete in the one-hour finals. Fifty-five dogs were entered and 14 were chosen for the finals. Cody was the only setter in the top four placements.

Cody has placed in several other competitive derby stakes and is perhaps on his way to winning the English setter shooting dog derby of the year award.

 

A litter brother to Cody is Houston’s Blackjack, co-owned by Frank LaNasa and Leroy Peterson. Jack was handled by Frank to second place in the National Open Prairie Chicken Derby stake last September.

These dogs are out of two grouse champions—Houston’s Belle and Can’t Go Wrong. Paul Hauge and I chose Wrong based on observing him in many grouse trials. In addition to Wrong’s abilities, his pedigree traces back to CH Northern Zephyr Smoke, Crockett's Bojangles and Little Partridge Patch, three dogs that figure prominently in Paul’s setter line.

We raised the litter here at our kennel and performed some initial training and development with them. Cody went with us to North Dakota when he was a puppy and we worked Blackjack both in Oklahoma and in the grouse woods. The puppies were quite impressive and showed potential at that early age.

We wish both of these contenders continued success!

 

Click here to view a pdf pedigree of CH Houston's Belle x CH Can't Go Wrong

We attended three field trials last fall and here are the highlights.  

Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship

Satin From Silk put on a stellar show and won the Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship in early October. Peggy, owned and handled by Greg Gress, had one woodcock and three grouse finds with two expert relocations. In addition, Peggy’s driving gait and lofty style on point added icing to the cake.

We’re excited about the fast-approaching field trial season. Since we don’t campaign derbies in the fall, we’ve been conditioning and training our string of extremely talented shooting dogs.

CH Houston’s Belle is a two-time champion and four-time runner-up champion, including the prestigious Grand National Grouse and Woodcock Invitational. She is now eight years-of-age but we’re working hard to get her in good shape. Belle is owned by Paul Hauge.

Also in our string is RU-CH Magic’s Climb Kaytoo (age 5 and pictured above), owned by Steve Snyder. She is hard-driving and finds birds in the thickest of cover. A young shooting dog but a true contender is Merimac’s Adda Girl (age 3), owned by Ben McKean. She is fast, flashy and courageous. Blue Shaquille (age 5) is our elder male entry and he, also, is owned by Paul Hauge. Shaq is big, strong, powerful and beautifully lofty on point. A first-year shooting dog that we’re campaigning is Northwoods Blue Ox (age 2). He is classy in motion and more than holds his own in the bird-finding department.

Listed below, in chronological order, are the field trials and championships we plan to compete in this fall.

Chippewa Valley Grouse Dog Association
Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship, Wednesday, October 7 to conclusion
Open Derby, Saturday, October 10
Eau Claire County Forest, near Augusta, Wisconsin

Minnesota Grouse Dog Association
Minnesota Grouse Championship
Monday, October 12 to conclusion
Reuel Pietz Open Derby Classic, following the championship
Rum River State Forest, near Mora, Minnesota

Moose River Field Trial Club
Open Shooting Dog and Companion Stakes
Friday, October 23, to conclusion
Douglas County Forest, near Moose Junction, Wisconsin

Grand National Grouse Championship
Tuesday, November 3 to conclusion
Allegheny National Forest, near Marienville, Pennsylvania

Directions to local field trail grounds are listed under the category, Directions to Field Trial Grounds.

Competition in field trials got me started in this business when, about 20 years ago, serendipity handed me a handsome, talented (too much for me at the time!) English setter named Charlie, a.k.a. Spring Garden Tollway.  I still relish winning in field trials, but it is extremely rewarding and satisfying to watch dogs we have bred and/or trained garner placements as well.

 

The Moose River Grouse Dog Club held their first annual spring trial on April 24.  This newly formed club has developed a reputation for putting on a first-class trial—not only for the bird numbers on their courses but for the fun-factor of the overall event.

 

Here are the results of the MGDA field trial held the weekend of April 17.  We appreciate the efforts of those who worked to put on this trial and the support of Pro Plan Dog food.  Congratulations to all the winners!

 

Beautiful weather and great camaraderie made this past weekend’s trial an excellent event.  The sunny, warm days were very pleasant, although the mornings in the mid-20s were a little crisp.  Handlers and spectators came from all over Minnesota and Wisconsin to compete and to watch dogs in action.  We appreciate the efforts of those who worked to put on this trial and also the support of Pro Plan Dog food.  Congratulations to all the winners!

 

The CVGDA held its first trial of the year the weekend of March 27.  The weather was clear and sunny, although a bit too cold in the mornings for good scenting.

 

The spring Cover Dog trial season is just around the corner.  Below are the dates and information about the trials.  You can find directions to the various field trial grounds under the category ‘Field Trial Grounds Directions.'

First year shooting dog, I’m Blue Gert, added another fine placement to her record by winning the Plateau Shooting Dog Classic.  Gert, handled by co-owner Dave Moore, won this stake over a competitive field of 28 dogs, including several other champions.  This trial is held in Tennessee and is run on bobwhite quail.

 

Gert was bred and trained at Northwoods Bird Dogs.  She is out of a fine litter by I’m Houston’s Image and our producing female, Blue Silk.  This litter also included Blue Spirit and Blue Ghost.  We will have puppies by Spirit and Ghost available early this summer.

 

Coincidently, both Gert and runner-up, Fireside Fleetwood, were sired by males in Dr. Paul Hauge’s kennel.  The sires of both winners trace back to Dr. Hauge’s producing male, Houston.

 

Congratulations to Gert, Dave. Rochel and Marilyn Moore!

The 2008 fall trial season was tough for us!   Three of the four championships we competed in had substantially above average temperatures.  All the winners in both the Lake States Grouse and Grand National Grouse Championships hunted in the first three braces of the morning.  We were never fortunate enough to get any of those draws.  In the Wisconsin Cover Dog Championship, the results were similar.