Darkwood Gordon Setters

12/12/2024

Little June-Bop nailed her first pheasant. I should say - I nailed my first pheasant with Junie, because she has pointed plenty while we were training.

In this case, I carried the gun. The previous day - birds were super wild, running and flushing out of range. So today, we tried to hunt icy ditches and use the element of surprise. It worked!

We came across fresh, running pheasant tracks in the snow. Junie tracked, then pointed the bird where it ran out of cover. I whoa’d her, then moved in for the shot.

It’s amazing how fast a bird can catch a stiff wind, and be gone. I got off a shot, but only winged the bird - which sailed a hundred yards before hitting the ground.

We rushed over there; Junie quickly found where this bird went down, tracked it to a nearby clump of willow and grass- then pointed again. When I parted the grass- tail feathers stuck out, and quickly pinned the bird down.

For only being a year old - Junie has had a lot of experience on all the wild birds that Minnesota has to offer. She’s doing really well! Sure am proud of this girl!

Think about coming to hunt with Sam, Junie and I in 2025!

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12/08/2024

It was a gorgeous day yesterday! We headed southwest to meet up with my friend Tim Anderson and his Gordon setters Sam and Junie (Annie x Bogie litter).

Valia’s first time on wild pheasants…and her learning curve was steep! She’s not used to areas that have a ton of scent but she worked hard at deciphering all the different scent trails, live track, old track, body scent…she may have had some 😵‍💫🤪🫨 moments where she got a bit wild but all in all she did well!

The birds, like most late season birds, were spooky and often wild flushed out ahead of her. She’s a pretty quiet dog while she’s working. She has quiet footfalls and she doesn’t breathe loudly but the sounds of vegetation moving was enough to tip them off.

Here’s Valia working scent and pointing a hen. Actually there were two hens there but the second one flushed after I hit stop on the video and took another step.

In this sequence she had a soft point, then a track and then a hard point.

11/16/2024

Junie, Gordy and the rest of the 12mo Annie x Bogie litter are doing so well on wild birds!

Yesterday, in a training mission with no gun - Miss Juniper slammed a point. I walked out in front of her and put up 3 hens and 4 roosters. I could tell she wanted to move real bad, but she didn’t. Very good progress! She’s learning, and I am too - to be a dog trainer who doesn’t always have to carry the gun and kill birds. Fun to be out on the prairie and have this opportunity every day.

11/10/2024

Well teaching them to bring me their food bowls didn’t take long.

Bogie already knew how to pick it up. Valia learned after the first time she picked up the near side and it covered her head like a hat. 😜

What else should I teach them?! I’ve got all winter.

11/08/2024

Excellent littermate syndrome explanation. People think it’s cute to get two puppies so they can be “friends”. But it’s not.

11/07/2024

Smart dogs.

I taught my dogs to pick up my dirty clothes off my bedroom floor, bring them into the hall and put them in the dirty clothes basket. They get Milkbone minis for their pay.

They LOVE Milkbone minis.

When they’re done picking up the clothes, they’re not done with Milkbone minis. Oh, no. That’s crazy talk.

They grab dirty clothes out of the basket, only to put them right back and wait for their treats.

I could not stop laughing tonight.

Here’s Bogie pulling out my dirty brush pants.

11/03/2024

10/27/2024

EDIT: I just added the video I pulled the still from.

More to come on Vivi, but here’s a really cool still from a video I took yesterday!

10/25/2024

This is Gigi. I think she’s pretty happy to have her first bird. Hard to tell. 🤣

I know for sure her owners Scott and Annie are! She’s their first bird dog after training working dogs for many years. They were worried that a setter wouldn’t be as smart as their malinois and shepherds. Within a few days after taking her home I got a message that they were no longer worried. Gigi is one very smart little girl!

Gigi is yellow girl from the Annie x Bogie litter.

10/21/2024

Well dang, I had written out a whole post about Valia but it’s gone into the void. I’m not retyping it all. 🤣 So…here’s Valia on an unproductive woodcock point.

Yep, it’s nasty out there where the birds are. A whole body workout.

10/16/2024

My sweet and talented Bogie dog. 😍🥰❤️

10/14/2024

This is the third year I’ve guided this father/son. Last year they both got their first grouse on the same day over my dogs! It was very special.

This year the son brought along a friend to share in the miser…I mean, hunt. It rained all night and all morning. 🤣💦

But it was VERY much needed moisture and I was practically dancing when Bogie started finding grouse in the uplands! We have been hunting mostly wet areas all season so far.

The friend got his first woodcock! We were all thrilled for him.