Fern and Bullet meet, romance ensues...

*Bullet's photos courtesy of Greg Curtis, All rights reserved

Fern finally came into heat the second week of December. We shipped her off the same weekend for a romantic getaway to the metropolis of Choteau, Montana. She spent what seemed like the better part of December frolicking with her new found love Bullet (Griff D'Automne Silver Bullet). Greg Curtis from Ear Mountain Griffons and proprietor of Bullet took excellent care of our little Fern. Greg was able to successfully breed the pair multiple times over their "vacation" and we are hoping that Fern will successfully concieve puppies. If the breeding was successful between the pair Fern will whelp her puppies sometime around the end of February.

We picked Fern up on Christmas Eve and brought her home. But to her suprise, was not her home at all. All of our stuff was there and the cat "Clarkes." It took some explaining that this was her new home and that while she was gone, we had moved. (thank god she was gone). Moving is such a joy...we can only imagine how our child would have handled the maddness.

So now we wait... Hopefully in about a month we will be able to see the signs that Fern is with child(ern). Stay tuned for more information regarding Bullet and the pairs bloodlines.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Front

We spent last weekend up the Rocky Mountain Front in search of pheasant and grouse. Although we saw a few, we were not lucky enough to bag any. The bird population got hit really hard this May with a 2 foot snow storm which apparently froze hens on their nests with chicks and all. Sad, but nature can be cruel. We finally had the opportunity to meet Greg Curtis with Ear Mountain Griffons in Choteau, Montana. Greg owns the breeding rights to Bullet the male griffon we will be using to breed Fern with. Greg has extensive experience with breeding WPG's and will have the honors of chaperoning Fern and Bullet on their romantic gettaway. Greg told us that Bullet has a lot of white in his coat which will be a nice attribute to bring into the breeding, as Fern's coat is mostly brown.
We are just waiting for Fern to come into heat... It should be any day or week now. Should be a very exciting month, Fern being bred, we are buying a new house and moving, and of course Christmas.

Just for fun

Road Trippin'

Fern has been busy over the last month, with trips to Michigan, eastern Montana, and the emergency vet! The latter sounds worse than it actually was - details later. Our trip to Michigan included Fern's first Upper Pennisula grouse hunt. She performed well but our success rate was terrible - poor shooting - but Fern could not help but chase some of the birds before we could get to her. The learning curve is steep on grouse.

We had fun chasing pheasants in eastern Montana on the way back from Michigan. Unfortunately none were roosters, bummer!!! This past Thursday night Fern had a high speed collision with a set of elk antlers. After an expensive trip to the emergency vet, Fern left with a small puncture and a sore chest. We were slightly embarrassed that we overreacted, but Griffs are worth it, right? We did discover that the antibiotics that were prescribed didn't settle well with our girl. She was prescribed Cephalexin and as we found out it can cause upset stomach and lethargia. Fern is now back to normal after stopping the antibiotic. Anyway I just finished constructing her whelping box for her first litter, and hopefully more to follow. Above is a picture of her new baby bed, we can't wait!

Natural Woman

Field testing Fern's Natural Ability with NAVHDA what so much fun. We wish we were better trainers because we would test her in Utility. These are the results from that test last fall.

Summer Pics from '08

Just some pictures from hiking last summer.

Background Check

Green Mountains Fern is the product of our family Griffons in Vermont. Fern's mom is Mickey Murphy's dog, "Yvette" and her dad is my Mom's Griffon, "Sherman." Mickey is my stepfather and raised me around many, many litters of Griffon puppies. There is nothing like the joy and excitment that surrounds breeding and rearing hunting dogs. The anticipation of having puppies in our home is almost too much to bear!!!! To bad the breeding isn't until December. Until then, we will continue to work with Fern in the field, honing her hunting skills. Next month she will have her first Eastern Montana phesant hunting experience.

Hips Don't Lie

We have some news to report on Fern's progression towards motherhood. Her hip X-ray results came back and we she received a grade of "good". This is important because hip problems are passed on through genetics and can be troublesome in larger dogs.

Fern is also featured in the September magazine of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA), in a story about her, and our, testing experience. We will post a link to the article soon, please look for it!

Off to the Vet

Monday we will check another task off the checklist of things required to begin breeding our WPG, Fern. Monday, Fern will be getting her hips checked and certified through the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA). This will give Fern's hips a rating to determine if they formed correctly and to prove that she is not going to pass bad hips down to her puppies. This is done when the dog is older then 24 months. Fern turned 2 years last month. The other checks on the list we have made are getting her AKC registered, testing her with the North American Versitile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) for her natural hunting abilities. She scored a prize II on this test with the best being a prize I. She narrowly missed the prize I, mostly due to our inexperience as field handlers. One of the most exciting feats in our journey towards breeding her has been finding a stud. Fern's new man is from the beautiful Rocky Mountain Front, in Choteau, Montana. His name is ... Bullet.

EVERYBODY IS DOING IT

I THOUGHT I WOULD JOIN THE BLOG MOVEMENT... SCOTT AND I HAVE SERIOUSLY STARTED PREPARING TO BE DOGGY BREEDERS. HAVING BEEN RAISED AROUND DOGS FOR THE MAJORITY OF MY LIFE, I HAVE BEEN PATIENTLY WAITING UNTIL THE TIME WAS RIGHT IN MY ADULT LIFE WERE I COULD HAVE MY OWN DOG. THERE WERE INSTANCES IN MY FURLOUGH BETWEEN MOVING AWAY FROM HOME AND BEING IN A PLACE WHERE I COULD HAVE MY OWN DOG, THAT I WAVERED FROM MY ALLEGIANCE FOR WIREHAIR POINTING GRIFFONS. I LOVE ALL DOGS... BUT IN MY EYES THE WPG IS THE KING OF DOGS. THE WPG IS A SUPERIOR HUNTING DOG, BEING ABLE TO HUNT BOTH UPLAND AND WATERFOWL THEY ARE CONSIDERED A VERSATILE HUNTING DOG. WITH PROPER TRAINING THESE DOGS ALSO HAVE THE ABLITY TO POINT, FLUSH, AND RETERIVE GAME BIRDS. BUT FOR ME THE WPG IS KING FOR THEIR PERSONALITY AND LOOKS AND CHARACTER.