The forecast today was for rain all day so about 8:00 am I loaded Tur Bo, Blaze and Whitey along with 6 pigeons into the truck for the trip to the county park. When I put the pigeons out I wanted to do something different, so I put them along the edge of the woods. I walked through the areas that I usually placed the birds so my tracks would be there. When I put the first 2 pigeons out the wind was out of the south west, but by the time I got back to release a dog, it had changed.
Whitey
Whitey
I heeled Whitey to the edge of the open field, whoaed her and tapped her on the head to release her. She went back and forth through the field where I had been putting the birds. One of her passes took her close to the woods on the edge of the field and she got enough smell to point. The bird was in the edge of some brush and I made a lot of noise kicking, then flushed the pigeon and fired the blank gun. She never moved. I continued to kick then tapped her on the head to release her.
The wind changed again and on the second bird she had the wind right when she pointed. I walked back and forth making a lot of noise kicking the brush. She pointed this time with her tail up a little. When I flushed the bird and fired the pistol she never moved. I continued to kick the cover then released her to run.
Blaze
Blaze
The way the wind was swirling I decided to move the birds to the other side of the field. The road that runs south has only about 100 feet of grass on the east side of the road and I put a bird on the east of the road and one on the west. I heeled Blaze about 100 yards to the west of the road and turned her loose. She hunted the grassy areas but she was not fooled for very long. She hunted close to the road and pointed the bird that was on the west side. I kicked the cover and flushed the bird. I watched her real careful. She didn’t move when I flushed the bird but when I shot the blank she started moving. I held the button down on the e-collar that was on her flanks until she quit moving. The e-collar was on level 2. I picked her up and put her back where she pointed originally. I walked around, kicking the cover then tapped her on the head to release her.
She knows what she is supposed to do but she is willfully disobeying. So I turned her e-collar up to level 4. She pointed the second bird and when I flushed it she never moved but when I shot the blank pistol she started moving. I hit the button on the e-collar and she put on the brakes. I carried her back to the original spot and walked in front of her kicking the cover. I fired the blank pistol and said whoa loudly. She started to move but didn’t. Again I shot the blank pistol and said whoa. This time she didn’t move. I released her.
Tur Bo
Tur Bo
I brought Tur Bo out and heeled him about 100 yards west of the road. I whoaed him then tapped him on the head to release him. He made a couple of passes through the field where I have been planting the birds then pointed the bird to the west of the road. I took a picture from the side then said whoa 1 time then walked in front and took 3 more pictures. One of the 3 I took from in front I squatted down and took it through the tall grass. He never moved. I stood up, kicked the cover and flushed the pigeon. He chased and I fired the blank pistol.
He only chased for a short distance then went back to hunting. He crossed the road and went on point. He was almost on top of the second bird when he crossed the road. I took a picture but I didn’t make him stand very long before I flushed the bird. When he started chasing I fired the blank pistol. He hunted back to the truck.
So much for rainy forecast. I worked the dogs, then a friend brought a Lab puppy over and we worked it on pigeons. After lunch I worked on my lawn mower, then mowed until evening. I rain out real easy and I worked all day. But any day you can get dogs to point 6 times is a good day.