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.