Badlands Hunting Dogs

Quill taking a cool down when we were after sharpies in the Alberta badlands

When you have somewhere to be but the pup wants to stay.

This is a flashback to the day I met Heike Erath Vom Ebersburger Holz in October 2018. To be honest, she was in pretty rough shape - she had very few human connections in her previous home situation, and wasn’t very healthy. I was asked to lead her through her JP test only 15 minutes before it started. Her first test was the hare track and within half an hour we had her marked Spurlaut and had a very good track. I fell in love with her then and there. Throughout the day she learned a lot, and we received a passing score in her JP test. My wife saw us together, and suggested we bring Heike home. She might have been joking, but we made it happen anyways. Since then, Heike has made huge improvements in her health and connections with people, while teaching me more about handling dogs. She is a great addition to our family.

Quill and Heike doing what they love in the Albertan badlands. #wachtelhundofinstagram #badlands

I recently finished a portrait of a very special dog. This is Elsie the Black Labrador Retriever. This was a very fun and challenging project. I had to make up a lot of fur texture because the reference was so dark, I also used oil to blend out the background. I’m pretty happy with the results

I found a really nice picture of this ruffed grouse on the forest floor in my art cupboard from years ago, I thought it would be the perfect project to try out my new set of @fabercastellglobal & @fabercastellcanada coloured pencils. This was a fun project, and not a commission - so reach out if you like it!

Awesome update from Felix and his family! Congrats on your first goose! We are very proud to see the hunting abilities of Quill + Heike’s pup - even if he needs a bit more time with regular retrieves He’s still not quite 2, and we know that it’ll come. He’s just a bit stubborn, which he gets from his dad.