Winter in St. Jo, Texas

Following the U.S. National Open Championship in Kansas this fall, I picked up Keeper from his trainer Gary Riddle for the winter. I’d made plans to winter over for a second year at Amelia Baxter’s Bad Habit Gundogs facility in St. Jo, Texas. After spending two winters in a row at Woodland’s Hunt Club in Imperial, California as a dog handler with Keeper in his younger days, my Texas experience was more focused on preparing Keeper for the upcoming field trial season. I decided to set just one goal for the coming year – to finish Keeper’s Amateur Field Champion title in the spring of 2022.

December has gone smoothy with Keeper getting some well deserved time off with just some fun training exercises and a few birds. Graeme and Lorna Baxter’s home building projects are coming along nicely and I was honored to join their family for the first dinner there – outdoors on Christmas Eve. We all had a great time and the food was nothing less than amazing! My contribution was a Dutch Apple Pie from the Lazy Heart Grill in St. Jo.

2021 has been a challenging year for so many of us. I’m looking forward to a great 2022 and wish the same for all of you! Happy New Year from the Red River Valley – a place I’ve come to love for its delicious BBQ and friendly people!

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