Waiting Game

Well we are a little over half way to puppy-paloza. This is always such a hard point in the waiting game. This is when the real magic is starting to take place inside Fern's belly. Up until about a week ago, the puppies were mere cells in her uterus, but now they are taking shape, forming facial feature, whiskers and claws. Enough with the science-y gore... On the outside Fern is tired, not eating tons. Although, she was super psyched when I dropped and entire Tupperware full of vegetable soup on kitchen floor this morning. I have never seen broccoli and carrots be consumed so quickly. Fern was even unlucky enough to be in the line of of the soup splat, she had it all over her backside, lol.
So we are continuing to wait. Just a month or less to go. Watch for updates as the due date approaches.  We are still taking names for our waiting list. Contact me at lindsey.bona@yahoo.com, if you are interested.

Fern pointing a Hungarian partridge

 

Back from Vacation

Fern is back home from her vacation in Choteau. We are hoping that she is now pregnant. We should know in about 30 days whether or not the pregnancy took. It is nice to have her home, although I will admit that having just one dog to take care while she was gone was so much easier.

While the rest of the country is enjoying balmy weather, it is a typical spring here in Montana. Rain, snow, cold, warm winds, gray and occasionally sunshine. The ski areas continue to get hammered with snow. We haven't taken advantage of this spring skiing :(

Here is a picture of Fern on our walk the other day. She is so regal, if I do say so myself. Notice her chain collar. This is about the 5th collar I have gotten for her. Sunny her daughter has managed to chew-to-pieces every single fancy collar I have purchased for Fern. So now she is relegated to this ghetto chain thing. That solved the problem though.

We are still taking puppy requests. Please feel free to contact me via email or phone
lindsey.bona@yahoo.com or (406)531-4092 with questions or to get on my list. The approximate timeline for puppy mania is mid-May for whelping and pups would be ready for homes around July.

Fern Pictures

Sunny (fern's puppy from our first litter) and Fern



Fern loves fishing almost as much as she loves bird hunting.

2012 Litter Planned with Ear Mountain Hobbes

I am off this morning to Choteau, MT to bring our dame Fern to Ear Mountain Griffons for a hopeful successful breeding. This is our second time working with Greg Curtis of Ear Mountain Griffons and we were really happy with the first litter. We will be using a different stud this time. He goes by the name Hobbes. I have not met him yet but we thoroughly trust Greg's opinion. We do have these pictures of him and his pedigree. He is said to be a fantastic hunter in the field as well as a great companion. His owner is a contractor whom takes Hobbes to work with him everyday and doesn't even use a leash. View Hobbes' pedigree here as well as our dame Fern's here.

Exciting Updates

I got two emails this week from puppy families. Wallace (aka Monkey) is doing quite well in Massachusetts. He got to spend some time this summer in Maine with his family. He has three little ones (Maisie, Eve and Luke that keep him pretty busy. Here are some pictures they sent.






















































We also got to hear from Floyd (aka Arrow). Floyd had to have some dental surgery this fall but is doing well. He gets to spend lots of time out in the mountains of British Columbia. He got to play in snow for the first time the other day and enjoyed that as all griffs do. Here are some pictures of Floyd and his people.



































































A while back we had Linden (aka Iris) over for a playdate. She has a sister Maple that is from my stepdad Mickey. Maple's mom was my dog when I lived at home. We had a good time reuniting the sisters.














Scott took Sunny out hunting for the first time a few weeks ago. She came home looking like this.



































O and here is Haas in his Halloween costume. He loved greeting all the trick or treaters and wanted to go home with all of them.





Thanks for sharing your stories and pictures with us!!! We love updates!

Smorgasbord of Stuff

It's tough to be away from the ones you love. By "ones" I mean Lindsey, Fern, and our little pup 'Sunny'. I've been in Alberta for the past four weeks now, and I only made it home over the Memorial weekend. I certainly enjoy my time here keeping track of the elk I'm studying and occasionally herding them on horseback. Yesterday morning I watched a cow elk give birth to a calf (video), and then this morning I spotted two grizzly bears eating the calf. So, Alberta has it's share of excitement.

However, timing is everything and with puppies that rings especially true. While I was home, I discovered that our Sunny girl had grown much bigger and is quite the play friend for Fern. She will be 16 weeks old soon and now is the most important time in her development as a hunting dog and a well behaved companion. This means it is Lindsey's job to work with her while I'm gone. Lindsey has been taking Sunny to a puppy training class at PetSmart. This is a great opportunity for Sunny to gain confidence, being away from Fern and to bond with Lindsey. This class uses positive reinforcement and clicker training. Neither of us have used clicker training before. Everyone comments on how mellow Sunny is when she is at PetSmart for the class. Well, she is indeed pretty mellow, I believe it is also that she is a little cautious and apprehensive without Mom.

It's good when Lindsey forwards the occasional email from one of the happy owners of Fern's litter. Here are some recent pictures of the pups with their new families. Enjoy!















Floyd the Forester in British Columbia.


















Green Mountain Griff Sisters and BFFs, Hope and Grace.























Lark is now Gilbert and is a hit in the classroom!

























Glamor Shot
Haas, clearly always ready for his closeup!

























Our girls Mama Fern and Baby Sunny.





















Fern is the featured dog this month in the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association Magazine. This is actually the second time this article as appeared in the magazine, so the editor must really like it. It was written a couple of years ago after our first Natural Ability test with Fern. Lindsey cries every time she reads the article. It brings back fond memories!




By Scott with a lot of remote technical help from Lindsey. Your welcome dear.

Some Updates

Haas, at his new home in New Hampshire. Haas's family plans on doing a lot of hunting with him. They will hopefully participate in Versatile Hunting Dog trials. He looks very happy at his new home.













Hope, aka Phloxy. Hope is now in New York State where she joins a Green Mountain Griffon sister named Gracie. There is youtube proof that the sisters are getting along quite nicely! Hope's new mom (Linda) even planted a phlox plant in honor of Hope's birth name,haha. Hope(fully) she doesn't tear it out like my dogs are doing to my spring plantings.















Floyd (aka Arrow) at his "puppy shower" with his new family in Cranbrook, British Columbia. Floyd is the apple of his new parents eye and gets to spend countless hours outside, watching birds, deer and taking walks in the forest. This little guy we hope to see again, as Scott will be working in Canada this summer and we will drive by Cranbrook to get to Banff where he will be working.















And of course Scotty with our little Sunny. Take comfort in the fact that we are struggling with all the same issues you knew puppy owners are! Potty training has been a challenge thus far for us. I suspected it would be as Sunny was raised in the house peeing on newpaper, why would she think she should go anywhere else? She also is learning manners still. On Wednesday my friend brought her two children over (1.5 years and 3 years old). Sunny was so excited to see the little guys she jumped on the 1.5 year old raking her claws down poor Sloan's face. After a little reprimand she didn't do it again for the duration of their visit. Needless to say I was embarrassed for Sunny's actions and sympathetic for Sloan's face.














Linden (aka Iris) will be in Helena Montana with our friends Jared an Liz. They also have a Green Mountain Griffon named Maple. Jared is also from Vermont originally and is a Forester here in Montana. So, he thought he would honor both his home state and his profession by naming his dogs after trees with Vermont references. Lyndon is Jared's hometown in Vermont and Linden is a type of tree (for those of you not savvy on tree species). Sunny will be spending a week with Jared, Liz, Maple and sister Linden, next week actually. Scott and I are headed to Juneau, Alaska to visit some really good friends of ours.
Well, this is just part of the Wildflower gang stay tuned for continued updates!