Sage hunting quail in Idaho desert. Photo credit Shelli Schroeder/Deep Creek Griffons.
Sage with Montana upland trifecta (pheasant, grouse, partridge) in his first season all solidly pointed and retrieved by him.
Sage completing a retrieve on quail. Photo credit Shelli Schroeder/Deep Creek Griffons.
Sage and Phil on Idaho chukar hunt. Photo credit Aaron Utz.
Sage on his second field hunt for geese as a pup.
Sage and Phil at Sage's NAVHDA Natural Ability test.
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Sage
Sage is standing at stud to approved females. We can help you find placements for your puppies as people are inquiring about getting Sage's pups. Sage (Cascade's Give Me Birds) is from our 2017 Rainy / Zeb litter. Pairing Rainy and Zeb brought 3 NAVHDA VC's (Versatile Champion) in 4 generations. Sage and his mother, father, maternal grandmother, paternal grandfather and paternal great grandfathers have produced a combined 16 NAVHDA Breeders Awards to date. In keeping with that tradition, Sage’s litters with Run Jump Shoot (RJS) Kennel’s “CC” have qualified for NAVHDA NA Breeder’s Awards in 2021, 2022 and 2023. His litter with Salmon River Dynamite Diva has also qualified for a NAVHDA NA Breeder's Award in 2021, In 2023, his son Chewie, from that litter scored a maximum 204 Prize 1 in his first ever UT test qualifying him for the NAVHDA Invitational at just 2.5 years old. Sage has sired 110 healthy pups in 11 litters as of 2024. Of those litters, 34 pups have tested in NAVDHA Natural Ability tests with fourteen of the puppies scoring Prize 1(seven of those with maximum 112 scores). Nine puppies scored Prize 2. The average score of these tested pups has been over 103 points out of 112 possible points. (More of these pups are pending testing in 2024/2025.) Four litters have qualified for NAVHDA NA Breeders Awards. And all testing aside, the owners of his pups report great hunting instincts. Sage was the "silver spoon in his mouth" pup of his litter. We had a special bond from the time he was born. Although he was midsized, he never got stuck behind Mom, never failed to hook up to a faucet at feeding time with minimal effort, never seemed to have difficulty encountering new things. He was one of the first to explore independently outside, first one out the gate when it opened, first to use the doggy door, learn to use new toys, find planted wings in the yard, point, and generally approached life boldly with minimal stress. He was one of the most people connected pups in that litter but also very independent when left alone. He was the first in his litter at 6 weeks old to notice pairs of geese flying over while the litter was playing in the yard. While they were all nice, there was just something charmed about Sage. I just had to keep him and see how he turned out. Sage is intelligent, biddable, eager to please, calm in the house, exuberant in the field and just really nice to be around. The first thing I hear when my feet hit the floor getting out of bed in the morning, is Sage picking up one of his toys or bones to bring to me as his morning greeting. He is the happiest tail wagger I have ever seen. His obedience, yard work and Whoa training was so easy. His housebreaking was simple and quick. He spends much of his indoor time at the window, on point, intently watching small birds in the yard. He's a very athletic 61 lbs and 24” at the shoulder with nice furnishings and a harsh wiry field coat. Sage's posture, gait and personality command attention. As Karen puts it, "He just looks like a stud." Sage started pointing birds and voluntarily entering cold water at 10 weeks old. He was holding his points and retrieving shot birds to me before 5 months old. Sage is dual registered with both NAVHDA and AKC. His DNA profile is registered with AKC and NAVHDA. Sage's K-Locus is KBKB (meaning he is not a carrier of the "tan point" gene). Sage's Pennhip is .35R and .36L, better than the breed average. (Griffs average tighter hips than most other sporting dog breeds to begin with) We tested Sage in his NAVHDA Natural Ability test in spring of 2018 and he obtained a Prize 1 with maximum scores in every portion of the test for a total maximum score of 112 points. The judges rated his coat as "harsh" which is very desirable in a field dog and not frequently seen. (Lots of breeders represent their dogs' coats as harsh, but a review of the judge's ratings on the test sheets don't show very many) We tested Sage once in his NAVHDA Utility Test in 2021 and he scored a 188 Prize 2 out of 204 possible points. In his first season, he successfully hunted pheasant, sharptail grouse, hungarian partridge,ducks and geese. We later added sage grouse, quail and chukar to his hunting experiences. He has turned into a goose and duck hunting machine as he has gained experience and does equally well at waterfowl and upland. He is a staunch pointer, enthusiastic retriever, searches hard, has incredible prey drive, tracks moving birds with finesse, and is just a pleasure to be around in the field and house. He honors other dogs points with style. I can't think of anything I would try to change or improve on with him. He's exactly what we want to be producing in our bloodlines. And he's throwing those traits to his pups! Sage has had some 300 yard retrieves on big Canada Geese and is handling them like a pro. He lays calmly in the layout blind with me and completes multiple goose retrieves with minimal handling. He just excels at everything we ask him to do. Sage is completely unrelated to Jacque (VC Griff D'Automne Mr. Brown) Jacque was a prolific stud in the northern Rocky Mountain region. We selected Sage as a stud, both, because of his excellent bloodlines and traits, and because he was completely unrelated to Jacque, giving a breeding option for the many fine female dogs who have Jacque in their pedigree. If you are interested in breeding to Sage, he is standing at stud to approved females. (Please have your female's hip eval, NAVHDA testing results and some hunting pictures ready to provide when inquiring about breeding to Sage.) Interestingly, most of his litters are very balanced on the M/F ratio. More photos of Sage on Photos Page and Progeny Page. Puppies sired by Sage are on the Progeny Page. Please take the time to look at the NAVHDA test scores of his progeny. He's throwing some excellent pups! 
Sage (in foreground) honoring a companion's GSP's point as Phil walks in to flush the bird.
Sage on point.
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Sage after a morning field hunt for waterfowl. He handles the big geese like a pro.
Sage retrieving a canada goose on a field hunt.
Sage handles big Canada Geese with style. He has had multiple retrieves on these big birds over 300 yards. He is enthusiastic and easy to handle.
Not my greatest picture... not Sage's most stylish retrieve...but this Giant Canada Goose was huge! I weighed him at 18 lbs. Sage got the retrieve done!
Yes, I know, these aren't hunting pictures. But I want to show that these dogs have wonderful family dispositions for the rest of the year when you are not hunting them. Sage has been mauled by lots of puppies and grandchildren with never a hint that he would be untrustworthy.
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| sage_navhda_ut.pdf |
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