Mid February - Burr

This winter has not been friendly to training the dogs. It has produced more snowfall than any recent winter, probably even more than the last three combined making any productive field work near impossible. This has not stopped the process of yard work. Like one man says, it's gonna take boot leather and horseshoes. Freddy, the 7 month old tricolor male here is one of my favorites rite now. He just has something about him, has a very affectionate demeanor, and is crazy for birds. He is by 2x RU/CH TerHaar's Elvis x TerHaar's Jen. From what I hear, all of the puppies in this litter are doing extremely well. This is in my backyard working on whoa.

We have had a couple of days where the snow melted some, and I was able to get some bird work in. Here is Casper on a quail, he has been doing very well on standing his birds.

Please check back frequently for updates and new pictures. I hope to do quite a bit of photgraphing this spring, along with keeping this up to date with trial results and outing reports amist anything else bird dog related. Also check back for puppy info as I am in contact with some great litters on the ground as well as planned litters.

Season Round-up 2007

While we don't typically do a lot of pheasant hunting in Michigan, Gus and Zoey did a great job handling these two young ringnecks (This picture was in the fall of 2005). I love pheasant hunting, but there are just not enough covers around to make it worth our while, so we might get out a couple times a year, but we mainly stay in the woods, as cover is abound. We are planning a North Dakota trip for the fall of 2008 before the grouse opener, so that will be a great training/hunting trip to get the pups and the rest of the gang into numerous species of wild birds while learning to handle different terrain and cover.


Field trialing is fun and requires high power dogs to do well. Many question whether people can/do hunt over their field trial dogs. This tailgate of ruffs is a reflection of these animals ability to compete on a high level, yet be gunned over any day of the week.

January 2007 Dave TerHaar had a nice repeat litter from 3x CH TerHaar's Rocko x TerHaar's Briar. Over the last few years I have become good friends with Dave, and have been privelaged to hunt over all of his dogs. I was very interested in this litter and brought home two pups.
The pups have not disappointed. Woody is the white and orange puppy in the photo to the left. He has showed a lot of motor since the get go, yet handles very well for a puppy. He placed 1st in his first ever trial, along with tallying up a total of 5 placements in the fall of 2007 - including an open derby placement and a horseback placement. He also pointed quite a few woodcock and shows great demeanor and style.

While attending the coverdogs at Gladwin over the last couple of years, I have met many great people. It is a fun venue to go to, and there is always good conversation and dog work. Scott Borgeson, another setter guy, has become a good friend and a recent neighbor. We have had many outings both hunting and training dogs, as well as socially. I am planning on getting a pup from him this spring from his Kara dog, who he is breeding to CH Berg Brothers Jack. Here is Scott on our annual Grouse Camp trip, which takes place in the northwestern part of the U.P. over the opener of grouse season. He is holding two ruffs, probably a double I had that I let him pose with to boost his esteem.

After a hot summer and lots of time spent training, the grouse season finally arrived. It was filled with many memories. We have now made it an annual trip to go to the western U.P. of Michigan, which is a dream world for the grouse enthusiast. Through the last couple of seasons I have been involved in some great relationships and seen some phenomenal dog work. My favorite was opening day 2007 at the first spot, when Dave turned Rocko loose, and he went on a ten find tear in the matter of about 50 minutes. Needless to say, that left some big shoes to fill for the rest of the trip. Dave has been a great friend and mentor to me in the field trial world; he has also placed some exceptional pups in my kennel along the way. The top picture - A U.P. ruffed grouse double with the side by side. The bottom picture - opening morning in the beautiful U.P.


Through other friendships I have formed with the likes of Ed Hart, I also became interested in the horseback game. I was able to learn a lot while training with Ed, and even made a trip down to visit at Lick Skillet Plantation in February of 2007, where he resides in the winter months. While Ed is mainly a pointer guy, he did have some nice young setters on hand. He kept insisting that I try a Hytest Setter. I was lucky enough to buy this mainly white pup from Jack Elliot of Hytest Kennels, whom my wife named Casper. Casper has shown exceptional manners on birds for a puppy, and also has good range and style. He has been to South Dakota and found plenty of birds. He has only been in a couple of trials, but placed 3rd in his first ever stake in a horseback puppy, and also 2nd in a horseback derby, standing a bird for quite some time with great intensity, a good feat for a 8 month old puppy in my book. We are looking forward to trialing him more next season. He is by the 2007 top Open All-Age setter derby Hytest Paladin bred to Hytest Star Chaser

This is Toby, the littermate to Woody. Toby is all bird dog. He shows a lot of style and intensity on game. He pointed numerous grouse for me as a puppy, allowing me to walk out in front of him for the shot, which sometimes could leave something to be desired from my end of the deal. He also did great with woodcock. Toby shows more of a hunting dog range but handles very well and is driven to find birds.

In the beginning

2007 Was my first real fall field trialing, and it started with a pretty solid group of puppies that were born that previous spring. My goal was to start with a few pups, and see which ones would make the cut, with the end goal being a dog that can compete in the Shooting Dog Circuit. Through the year I spent many hours developing each dog, getting them into the woods as often as possible on wild birds. Our target species - the ruffed grouse. In the end the gang and I were rewarded with 8 placements. This included a 2nd place in an Open Walking Shooting Dog stake, a couple of derby stakes; one being in a horseback venue, and 5 puppy placements in walking and horseback venues. The puppies all pointed many wild birds, and have made great strides in learning both cover and bird manners.