Minnesota Red Setters

How much fun it is to see your own red setters backing at 100 yds.

To see them intense on point

To have them retrieve to hand

So much fun! it never seems cold .

Wishing you a merry White Christmas

Real dog sledding...

These guys know how to have fun!

The Night Before Christmas...

It was about time for Christmas, and all through the house
A creature was stirring, but it wasn't a mouse
I knew right away it was my wife's little pup,
She thought we were sleeping, and so she was up

The dog was a gift it was coercion, really,
A woman can pout, 'til a man gets downright silly.
And now the wife was snoozing she was really sacked out
She wouldn't have awoke from less than a shout.

Yes, her in her nightgown, I in my BVDs,
We had finally settled down to catch some Zs
When off in the kitchen there arose such a clatter,
I rolled from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away down the hall, my head in a muddle,
I reached the kitchen...and stepped in a puddle.
The glow from a nightlight illuminated the room,
So how come I stumbled over the broom?

I fell in a sprawl, my legs were not stable.
On the way down, my nose hit the table.
My head was a spinnin' and when I came to rest
Four miniature dog feet stood on my chest.

With a lick and a bark, she bounded away,
Into the living room, she ran to play.
More rapid than mouses, that rat terrier ran,
Me on the follow, rolled newspaper in hand.

"Stop, Skeeter! Stop, Dog! Stop, Pup!
Halt, Pooch! Halt, Girl! Oh, come'ere, you mutt!
"Get off the new couch! Now let go of that curtain!
Ohhh...If I ever catch you, you're gonna' be hurtin'"

As winds of a Texas tornado do fly,
She spun round the room, down low and up high.
Then up on the countertop, that puppy went
She stopped for a second. I thought she was spent.

I make a quick lunge, she ducked me and then
Yawned when I dove through the flour bin.
As I drew out my head and was turning around,
She made for the presents, in a single bound.

I was covered with flour, from my head to my toes,
My robe in tatters, and blood on my nose.
A bag full of toys, she grabbed with glee
I nabbed her, I thought, but instead got the tree.

The ornaments, they broke, as they began to fall
The lights, how they fizzled, and that is not all.
When I reached for the plug, to turn the bulbs out,
What flowed through my body, but electricity, so stout!

As smoke encircled my head like a wreath,
That dog held my big toe, tight in her teeth.
"Skeeter," I moaned, "I give up. Oh, Skeet, I give in."
So she bit my swollen nose, and nipped at my chin.

She spoke not a word, but went back to work,
Down came the stockings it took just a jerk.
Then up from the hall, came the sound of feet,
Momma, it seemed was awake from her sleep.

"Now you'll get it pup," I announced with glee.
Then Skeeter walked over and put her little head on my knee.
She looked up at my wife - so innocent - and at me, so, so sad.
And it didn't take long, to know I'd been had.

Then came the wife's voice, so strong and so clear,
"Bill, you leave that puppy alone! You hear!"
And I exclaimed to myself, as they walked out with a strut,
"Don't leave any gifts, Santa just PICK UP THE MUTT!"

A dog named Beau...

Holly's Memory and her new home...

Here are a couple of pics of Holly's Memory and her new boss, John Glynn. John and his family live in central New Jersey. Thanks for the pics John!

"Sadie " The new Kid on the Block

This spring Kira had a litter of 3. Of these three pups Sadie was the one I kept. One of the reasons I kept her was noone really wanted a red setter with green eyes a brown nose and white fur on it. Those things din't matter to me what I saw in her was all the qualities I was looking for in a pup. She's very brite catches on quick hard driving ,no fear, natural love for birds, yet great around the house comical personality, gentle and sweet natured. I've worked with Sadie very little over the summer because of her age, it wasn't until late summer early fall that I really started woking with her. To anyone who has passed up a red setter pup because it has green eyes and a brown nose, that's a very silly reason. This little pup Sadie up to this point is every bit as good as any brown eye, black nose ,solid red, red setter I've ever had. Sadie's brown nose finds birds very well and her green eyes show that spark that tells you there is someone home in there.

The old addage "don't judge a book by it's cover " applies here.

Team Moxi

Lately I've been working with Moxi and Kira together. Kira has very limited experience for her age of 5 yrs. Kira has been paying close attetion to Moxi and has been picking up skills very quick. My last session out with them for pheasants proved to be spectacular. This was the kind of hunt any bird hunter hunting with two dogs would love to experience. Inside of 30 minutes each dog had a point and a back and my shooting was on the mark. Watching it all transpire was exactly what creates a bird dog addict. Shooting the pheasant is mearly a bonus the real reward is being there to witness and appreciate the beauty

this little part of God's creation.

If you've never hunted with a pointing dog you owe to yourself to give it a shot! It's more fun than a day at an amusement park.

Minnesota Moxi

Up here in Minnesota Moxi is still hunting hard. Now 5 years old Moxi is very proficient with pheasant and grouse. Moxi has still been doing work at a local preserve hunting for father son team and small businesses

out for a day with clients. Moxi impresses those that get to shoot over her. Some folks nervous at first because Moxi doesn't always hunt close, being a trial dog she's not afraid to punch out there to find the bird. When folks begin to understand that she can hold a bird until they are able to get there to take a shot, they begin to relax and see the beauty in what's taking place. That's why I began guiding groups so that I could share the beauty of working with a pointing dog and to disprove any thoughts that anyone may have about red dogs being able to hunt. Don't get me wrong Moxi isn't perfect things don't always play out as in the pages of Field & Stream, if I had better writing skills I sure could write a couple good stories now. Moxi and I have many more success stories than we do

failed. It's not just Red Dogs but any dog being used for it's intent and worked with, honing and fine tuning to the level of your own satisfaction. For me to drive an hour to a hunting spot, shoot my limit of two roosters in 30 to 45 minutes... well lets just say, I'm okay with that! To have them pointed for me, priceless.

ISCA National Field Trial...

The Irish Setter Club of America held their national field trial and supporting stakes this past week at Booneville Arkansas. Here are a few pics of the action. Thanks to Jeannie Wagner for the pics!

Dog pills...

Before you let your dog have the keys tonight for his big date...


... be sure to remind him of the dangers of mixing alcohol and meds! Yes, this is an actual label for an actual veterinarian-dispensed drug.

Thanks to Terrierman blog for this pic!

Holly's Memory grows up...

Holly's Memory is a pretty little red setter owned and currently being worked by Jan Zarebicki. Holly started out little slow, but once she figured out there were wild birds out there, she came along! Jan is hoping to use her as a trial dog or perhaps to do some woodcock hunting up north, or maybe both! Holly is out of King Cormac x Flushing Whip Flash Edition. I'm sure that our dear friend Holly Bruns is smiling, along with her dad Dale.

Our friend Holly Bruns

Our friend Dale Bruns


Holly's Memory...

Thanks Jan for being a part of the Purest Challenge!

About That Wet Dog...

Scientists Reveal How Fast Dogs Must Shake To Dry Their Fur

(from NPR.org)
If you've ever seen a dog trying to shake itself dry after taking a plunge into water — or perhaps while standing next to the person who just gave it a bath — you've probably noticed that the technique can throw off a shocking amount of water.

That's all part of nature's design, says Andrew Dickerson, a graduate student at Georgia Tech. Talking with NPR's Robert Siegel, Dickerson described his recent study of how fast different animals "oscillate their bodies to shed water droplets," as an abstract of his work states.

If that's too esoteric for you, check out this video:



For his study called "The Wet-Dog Shake," which appeared in the journal Fluid Dynamics, Dickerson and his colleagues slowed down images of animals — dogs, a bear, even a mouse — shaking themselves dry. The footage was shot with a high-speed video camera.

The researchers found that both bears and dogs shake at a similar speed — around 4 Hz and 4-5 Hz, respectively. In this case, hertz refers to the frequency of skin oscillations per second. And it turns out that the smaller the animal, the faster it has to shake to dry. Thus, a cat can get by with shaking around 6 Hz. But its nemesis, the mouse, requires 27 Hz to dry off.

Dickerson says that his work focuses on discovering mechanisms found in nature. The research on how animals shake off water, he says, may have real-world applications in improving the design of washing machines.

But he does not recommend that any human try to duplicate what is, by many rights, a dog's trick.

"If you were to get down on all fours and try to shake off water after a shower," Dickerson says, "your efforts would be most unfruitful."

National Red Setter Shooting Dog Championship

The National Red Setter Shooting Dog Championships will be held November 3-7 2010 in Grovespring MO. Drawing is November 2. For more info, check the NRSFTC website at

http://www.nrsftc.com/schedule_fall.htm

I need a dog like this...

Finn...

Here are some pics of Finn... owned by Joe and Mary Cornely. Finn is out of King Cormac x Flushing Whip Flash Edition.

Tony Blair and foxhunting...

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he deliberately sabotaged the ban on fox hunting his government introduced, calling it "one of the domestic legislative measures I most regret."

In his memoir "A Journey," published by Random House today, Blair said he ensured that the 2004 Hunting Act was "a masterly British compromise" that left enough loopholes to allow hunting to continue "provided certain steps were taken to avoid cruelty when the fox is killed." He also told Home Office minister Hazel Blears to steer the police away from enforcing the law.

Blair's 1997 pledge to give Parliament a vote on the subject dogged him throughout his time in office, with lawmakers opposed to hunting repeatedly trying to introduce a ban. Each time, hundreds of thousands of hunt supporters marched through London, and in 2004 some invaded Parliament.

"The passions aroused by the issue were primeval," Blair, 57, wrote. "If I'd proposed solving the pension problem by compulsory euthanasia for every fifth pensioner I'd have got less trouble. By the end of it, I felt like the damn fox."

Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who described the law last year as a "farce," has promised a vote on repeal. Since the act came into force in 2005, only three hunts have been successfully prosecuted, according to the Countryside Alliance, which was formed to oppose the ban.

"I won a bet with Prince Charles about this," Blair wrote. "He thought the ban was absurd, and raised the issue with me in a slightly pained way. The wager was that after I left office, people would still be hunting."

Blair said he initially agreed to a ban without properly understanding the issue. Then, during a vacation in Italy, he found himself talking to the mistress of a hunt near Oxford.

"She took me calmly and persuasively through what they did, the jobs that were dependent on it, the social contribution of keeping the hunt and the social consequence of banning it, and did it with an effect that completely convinced me," Blair said.

--With assistance from Laurie Muchnick in New York. Editors: Eddie Buckle, James Hertling.

Michigan Amateur Field Trial Club...

Hi all,

This past weekend I ran my red dogs in my first ever "cover dog" trial... went to the hallowed grounds of Gladwin in Michigan... had a blast and although my red dogs didn't have any placements, they showed some potential for running in the woods. One of my puppies also put up a covey of grouse that had at least 12 birds... THAT was fun!

Thanks to everyone who helped us during the trial... especially Tom, who ran around with me and helped round up one of my dogs who decided to run for an extra hour after her brace! Gladwin is a great place and well worth the trip. And the club members were really a great bunch of folks. I'm planning to go back.

Here's a couple of videos I shot during the weekend... sorry I can't I.D. everyone, but if you know someone, feel free to post in the comments. Thanks!

Al Faze

At one of the breakaways on Saturday

Driving to the next course... had a heavy rain the night before, so the roads were a little muddy...

Waiting for a brace to return (I believe this is at Course 7)...

Another brace heads out...

Heading out with one of my red dogs (Ruby)...

Hall of Fame Vote!!

DON'T FORGET TO CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE

RED SETTER HALL OF FAME!!

Kansas Tornado rescue...

Rescue workers searching after the Kansas tornados found this guy whom they named Ralphie...

Ralphie was a little nervous after being separated from his owners and riding out a Kansas tornado...

This building was thought to be uninhabited, but then...

They found this terrified beagle in the ruins.

He settled in nicely in one of the rescue vehicles...

meeting up with Ralphie.

Then, two more frightened beagles pulled from the wreckage...

They decided to join the crowd in the rescue vehicle... along with a rescued cat...

Not a problem... everyone getting along fine.

There's a lesson to be learned from these guys...