Monday and Tuesday mornings were forecast to be the coolest of the week so I trained my English setter yearlings, Mann and Babe, both mornings. A real early start is hard with the litter of puppies taking some of my time. I clean kennels morning and night to keep the amount of flies to a minimum. Just having puppies seems to draw flies. Sally is doing a good job of cleaning the kennel and puppies but they are now 6 weeks old so she’s starting to wean them. Each evening I put her in a separate kennel and then turn her back with the puppies during the day. To get away from the puppies she jumps onto her house.
This female will be going to Oklahoma.
This female will be staying in this area.
Sally and her puppies.
I’m still playing the CD from Masters Voice to condition these puppies to the gun. They also have collars on with ropes about 16 inches long that they drag 24/7. Sometimes when I need to catch them I step on their rope. When they were first restrained with the rope they would jump, whine and throw a fit. Now they just stop, most of the time. I’ve seen the puppies grabbing the ropes of their litter mates as they run around. They are used to being restrained.
Very few days have gone by that there wasn’t someone and as many as 9 different people stopping by to pet them. These puppies like people. They are turned out of the kennel two times a day if no one comes by. Sometimes they are turned out 4 or 5 times. I leave their kennel gate open and when they get ready for a nap they go back on their own. People think being in a kennel is a bad thing but even at this young age these puppies like their kennel.
I locked the wings on a pigeon and let them play with it a few times but I have to watch them. They are getting bigger and more aggressive toward the pigeon. I have a pigeon harness with Velcro fastener that I’ve used also. It didn’t take long for them to become really aggressive so now I’m holding a pigeon in my hand and letting it flop to draw their attention then letting it fly away. They chase for a couple of steps but they aren’t fast enough to chase much.
I have another puppy sold but the young man, Austin Farley, is working so much he can’t get by to make his pick. I’m going to keep 3 for a while. Austin wasn’t sure whether he wanted a male or female so I don’t know what I will keep. Either two males and a female or two females and a male. I’m going to either Nebraska or South Dakota early to run all of the dogs on the prairies and see if I can get them into some young chickens.
Puppies with collars and ropes.
I can’t go like the pros do for 3 months but I think a week would let me know if the puppies will start early. Sally, the mother of this litter, was about 7 months old when she started pointing and letting me walk in front and flush her birds. I hunted her a lot before she was a year old. And she did a good job. No matter what other dog or dogs I put down with her she pointed her share.
Sally is a grand daughter to Shadow Oak Bo on the top and a grand daughter to Tekoa Mountain Outrage on the bottom. To get these puppies, I bred her to Bruce Sooter’s male, a son of Tekoa Mountain Sunrise on the top and a grandson to Tekoa Mountain Outrage on the bottom. From both sides these puppies get a lot of the Tekoa Mountain line of dogs.
I like dogs that will run and start holding their birds early. I usually start taking them hunting when they are 6 months old or less, according to how close to the season they are born. When Tur Bo was a puppy, Lucky made a point and Tur Bo had no clue what he was doing. He came up and licked him in the face. The covey flew across the road and spread out. I took both dogs across the road and Tur Bo pointed 2 singles that I killed for him. Tur Bo was 5 months old.
Mann was 7 months old when the season started last year and he pointed birds that he let me flush. A couple of times I walked by him without noticing him on point. The GPS would show him on point behind me. Once, in south central Kansas I had gone about a hundred yards past him. He didn’t move until I flushed the birds. No matter which of my dogs or what dogs of people I hunt with are put down, he finds his share of birds.
I’ve heard and people still tell me that English setters don’t start as early as other dogs do. If mine started any earlier they would still be nursing. If you leave these dogs in the kennel until they are a year old before you hunt or train them they won’t start early.
I do work mine on pigeons from the time they are small. (This litter, at 6 weeks old, is already getting pigeons to play with.) Some of the people tell me mine don’t count because I work with them so much. That’s a really dumb comment. Everyone could work with their puppies if they would but there is a lot of stuff printed that talks about waiting until they are a year old.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
When the puppy is about 10 weeks old I hide a pigeons in a release trap. I lead the puppy across the scent of the bird. Usually, you can tell when he smells the bird. If he continues toward the pigeon I flush it and lead the puppy away. I reload the trap and bring him back to the exact same spot. After a couple of tries he will anticipate the bird being there and point. I don’t say anything or do anything. No walking in front, no saying, “whoa”, no brushing the tail up or anything. I stay still and at the first movement of the puppy I flush the pigeon.
I may put several birds in the same place the first time. The next time I will do the same thing only in another place. Still not saying or doing anything. That puppy has to figure this out. He doesn’t need me breaking his concentration. After the second time I start hiding the traps in several different locations. I don’t try to restrict the puppy in any way. He’s hunting without a check cord or anything.
I do try to stay with them and watch. If he gets too close I flush the bird. If he points then takes a step or even if he has a leg in the air and moves it to the ground, I flush the pigeon. I want him to think if he blinks that bird will fly.
When that pup points for close to a minute without moving anything, I might attempt to walk in front. This might be after 20 birds or 50 birds. I still don’t brush their tail up or handle them in any way or say anything. Taking the time at the start to let the dog work this out in their head, pays big dividends. They must learn that any movement on their part is what flushes that bird.
Babe on the barrel.
When Dolly was a young dog, a little over a year old, I ran her in a Shoot To Retrieve Trial. She pointed a quail in a clump of brush along the edge of the bird field. The quail just wanted to run around. The judge said Dolly was in bounds but the quail was out of bounds. If I could run it back in bounds then flush it, it would count. I started chasing this quail around and finally the judge got off the 4-wheeler and helped me chase. He was amazed that Dolly stayed on point without me saying whoa. Finally, we chased that quail back onto the grounds and I shot it but Dolly couldn’t see it drop. No retrieve.
The only time I say whoa to my dogs is if a dog is on point and another dog can’t see the pointing dog. I will whoa him. As long as the dog is on point and not moving, they don’t need me breaking their concentration.
In another 3 or 4 weeks these puppies will be old enough to start them to seriously playing with pigeons. I will occasionally write a post about them although I still will be working and writing about Mann and Babe.
Mann on point.
Babe on point.
Babe next to the whoa barrel.