First Grouse

Traveled up north today with the crew and had a great morning. I put Coco on the ground first and she did a nice job, scoring on a grouse after about 5 minutes, and another one around 50 minutes. Funnest part of trip was the next shift, I ran Roxxy, who is Coco's barely 5 month old daughter, with one of Dave's shooting dogs. This was her first time in the woods pretty much other than some walks in the woods by my house which don't hold birds, and she ended up pointing 3 grouse. The first one was great, I saw her start to work a bird, then slam on point, and stand there about 20 seconds, then the grouse started moving a little bit in front of her where she could see it, and she took it for a ride out of the county. Put a big smile on my face, and boy did it get her fired up! Hopefully we can get some birds shot for her in a couple of weeks, planning on a long weekend up to the Northwest Lower for the season opener. I put Mo down next and it started to pour after about 10 minutes so that ended the trip, but still had a good time.

Late summer pup workout

Below is Mo, about 10-11 weeks old pointing a quail. He likes to get after it for a little guy, and is a fun pup to work, he's all business when he gets to the field, just how we like em. I also have his sister but didn't get a picture today as the bird left and I was also managing Luke who was along for the trip.

Roxxy is a little older and seems to be a nice pup also, she is doing well on her birds, and moves through the land nice. Hoping to get some good hunts out of her in a month or less.

Fricke N Coco wins Runner-Up at the Region 13 Championship

Coco wins Runner-Up at the Region 13 Championship with 9 finds and a back. The winner was Sweet River Lace with Mike Panovski. We were both braced together, and it was an awesome brace to be in, with Lace also having 6 finds and 3 backs. Both dogs were nice on the ground and reached to the front. I was just happy to be running in the trial, as Coco's puppies just turned 8 weeks old today, and were totally weaned about 2-3 weeks ago, giving me about 2 weeks to try and get her ready for a quail championship, and she did great. She was gorgeous on all of her finds, ran strong, and held her own against the pointer who was more of a horseback type of dog. It was a fun weekend and the only trial I got to run in all spring, and also my first piece of a championship as a handler. It was a good way to end as a first year shooting dog, especially since she has maybe been ran 6-8 times since last fall. I am excited for the fall with her, and her pups, which all seem to look real good so far.

Pups - 7 wks Females

Rosie - Mainly all white with some light ticking

Penny - Mainly white with a penny sized orange spot above right eye and some light ticking

Lilly - Mainly white with right orange ear and some light ticking

Reba - Mainly white with ticking on ears, light ticking on body

Roxy - Mainly white with two orange ears and patch on right eye - this one is my pick!

Pups @ 6 weeks

SStill don't have any picked out yet, all are looking like nice little independent pups. Usually get out for walks with them a couple times a day at least. They are growing fast!

Luker Turns One!

The little guy turned one year old today, and he has been a blast so far. I was always the guy who thought that I would never change, despite what people told me about having kids, but it has been nothing short of great having this baby boy. He has spent numerous trips already afield running the dogs, and he is surely not getting any lighter spending about three hours on my shoulders Monday out at Allegan trial ground running dogs. The pups are also about 5 weeks old and all have solid homes, which they will find in a few weeks. Still not sure which ones we want to keep, they all change a little each day.

Puppies @ 9 days old

A little late on posting this, but Coco, who was bred to 3xCh Terhaar's Rocko, whelped her pups a week ago Sunday, having 5 females and 4 males. All have had their dew claws removed, are starting to show some markings, and have pigment filling in. They sure do grow fast, mom has done a good job taking care of them for her first litter. Excited to see what they develop into over the next couple of years.

Winter Fun

I got out yesterday as the temps hovered around 30, overcast with a slight breeze. Was a nice time to get out, snow was up over the dogs knees, wet, and heavy to walk through, but did manage to get some work done.

Snoopy at 8 months old pointing a pigeon. She has a good bird sense and is starting to staunch up pretty nicely, letting me get at least up to her and usually in front a little bit before she wants to break.
Coco on some planted birds. She was bred a couple of weeks ago to 3xCH Terhaar's Rocko, so I hope to work her as much as I can through the weather until she takes maternity leave. She always has a pretty serious look when on game, had a nice workout, and glad we did as it again snowed a bit last night. Winter sure beats working on bare dirt!

The Season 2010

2010 Was a great year, yet very busy, as some might notice by my lack of posts on here. The year started with a baby on the way, Luke, who was born April 27. It put a little slow down in some of the dog stuff, but I still managed to get out some. In the mean time Erin and I were shopping for our first house, which we bought in Lowell and moved in around mid May. The house did not require much work, but the process of moving along with getting settled, especially with a newborn was a little timely. In the mix of this, Erin also graduated from medical school in the beginning of May, becoming a doctor, where she also found out earlier in the year, that she would be doing her residency in Grand Rapids for Ob/Gyn. If that wasn't enough, her sister graduated from dental school in Milwaukee a couple weeks later, where we traveled with the little guy on his first real trip. About a month later, I was in one of my high school friends wedding, and then another month or so my brother got married, and then in October Erin's sister got married. Along with a couple of other friends weddings, this has been the busiest summer of my life, along with the bachelor parties that went along with them.

This was the Fricke's first Christmas in our new house, with our beautiful baby boy, and Ottimer. The other dogs are here in spirit, enjoying the holidays from the kennel. Luke enjoyed his first holiday season as much as an eight month old could, probably overwhelmed at times.
Deer season was fun as always, with a nice eight point harvested during the shotgun season. I had a few encounters with some shooter bucks during bow season but none that offered a good shot opportunity. I also filled the freezer with a doe, and donated a couple more to some people.

This is Erin, Luke and I at her graduation from Michigan State University as she became an M.D. I am so proud of her, no one can really know how hard these guys actually work to get to where they are. It makes me tired just watching how hard she studies and works along the way.

Dave Terhaar and I with Elvis and Coco after a solid day in the U.P. for the grouse opener. We had a blast as always and had a great week up there. We shot a lot of birds, and had some of the best dog work we have ever had in terms of number of different dogs that were producing birds consistently. It was fun, we were there with good friends, dogs, food, and fun.

Sunrise on the lake at the cabin, nothing better than cold mornings in the U.P. with grouse dogs and plenty of covers to be had. Makes you wish for fall year round.
Some nice grey phases with the double. These truly are the king of game birds, and are especially rewarding in early season when they are a very challenging shot with all of the cover.

Coco after a great day of hunting. She is as good of dog as I have had, now a first year shooting dog, she has shown a great ability to find and handle grouse. I am excited for her future, she still has some maturing to do, but was sure fun to gun over this year, as well as showing the ability to be competitive at the shooting dog level. She is currently being bred to 3x Ch Terhaar's Rocko. I am hoping to be able to get her into shape for some spring trials, we will see how everything pans out.