At the banquet preceding the 82nd running of The Grand National Grouse Championship held in early November in the Eau Claire County Forest near Eau Claire, Wis., our 4X CH/4X RU-CH Blue Streak was named this year’s Legends of Coverdog. Legends of Coverdog is a special award given by The Grand to dogs “that have ..read more

“There comes a time when it is absolutely necessary for the breaker to go afield with his dog and do nothing but let the dog develop.”~ C. B. Whitford, Training The Bird Dog, 1908 The key word in the quote is develop. This isn’t the time to train the dog. It’s the time to let ..read more

Even though Jerry and I are primarily known for breeding setters, we also have had a line of pointers for 27 years. It doesn’t have the breadth of our setter breeding program but there is length and incredible strength. It began inadvertently but we’re so proud of the outcome. When we started in the 1990s ..read more

Here are two depictions of autumn as imagined by the brilliant Charles M. Schulz. Only he could have conceived of and drawn Snoopy dancing with a falling leaf. In the second strip, Woodstock reviews various signs and finds the correct way to fly south. Even though Schultz died in 2000, the wonderful characters he created ..read more

“There are two kinds of hunting: ordinary hunting, and ruffed-grouse hunting. “There are two places to hunt grouse: ordinary places, and Adams County. “There are two times to hunt in Adams: ordinary times, and when the tamaracks are smoky gold.” Thus opens the chapter titled “October” in A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and ..read more

Most often, I write these remembrances when, after living a long life, a special dog passes. In those cases, you see the end coming and you can, somewhat, prepare yourself. But when a favorite dog dies suddenly, without warning, in the prime of its life, the heartache and pain are almost unbearable. Atlas died like ..read more

The process of developing a puppy into an experienced bird dog should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. That process begins with the all-important first season. Not only is the young dog at an impressionable age, but the experience and knowledge gained from that time in the woods and fields will create a foundation the ..read more

Beginning with their first dog in the late 1990s, Barry and Jill Frieler have owned six setters out of our dogs. On a recent afternoon in their Minnesota home, the current pack found a sunny spot for napping. Clockwise from top: Northwoods Highclass Kate (Northwoods Blue Ox x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2010), Madison (Northwoods Grits x Northwoods Nickel, 2018), Ellie (CH Ponderosa Mac x Northwoods Redbreast, 2022) and Jack (CH Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Highclass Kate, 2013). When Sig (Northwoods Rob Roy x Northwoods Minerva, 2019) isn’t in the grouse woods or in wide open Montana pla ..read more

As are many of our clients, Joe Wech and his wife Deb are repeat puppy buyers. This summer, they picked up their second from us, a female setter out of May’s Pond Hank x Northwoods Stardust. Tally is her name and she joins Georgia, the first setter they bought in 2015. Georgia is out of ..read more

Sage is a female owned by Joey Paxman and Amanda Allpress from Montana. Sage joins another female pointer and two male setters they have from us. The puppies out of Northwoods Comet by CH Miller’s Upgraded Version are in the early stages of puppy development and training by their owners. The exercises being introduced include clicker training, retrieving and pointing exercises. It’s never too early to start. Timber is a female being worked in her northern Minnesota training grounds by owner Randy Ott. She is Randy’s third Northwoods dog. Racer’s owners, Doug and Nicole White, are from Ore ..read more