Traveling Pointing Dogs

I have had puppies since March 24 until Monday. The last puppy went to his new home, new owner, in North Carolina. June and I have been wanting to go to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky for a while so we took the puppy and met the new owner in Louisville. It was still a long drive but it was much shorter for the new owner than coming all the way here.

The set up on the retrieving bench.

Abby with a dowel dummy.

Sally waiting for me to take the dummy and give her a treat.

Before we took the puppy to Kentucky the guy that had Boss, Bodie and Gus in South Dakota had called to tell me that Boss wasn’t eating. This was the second time but this time he hadn’t eaten in 3 days. He had a friend leaving his camp that could drop Boss off to me in St. Joseph Missouri. I met the guy. Boss was skinny and when I got him home, I fed him. He ate just fine. Evidently, he was just home sick. He’s cleaned his food dish every day since he came home.

When we got back from Kentucky, I had no puppies and was at a loss for something to do. I decided I would work the grown dogs on retrieving. It seems like the dogs forget or try to make me think they have forgotten. I worked Sally first. I threw a Dokken dove dummy about as far as I could throw. Sally ran out, picked it up and returned. She held it until I could dig a treat out, hold my hand under the dummy and say, “give”.

I threw the dummy 5 times for her and she was perfect each time. She had not forgotten or even tried to make me think she had. It may be that she likes the treats too well. And she doesn’t get a treat if she doesn’t do it perfectly. I put her on whoa, got on the 4-wheeler, started it and put it in gear. I then said, “okay” and she made a couple of laps around the yard with me following on the 4-wheeler.

Mann was next. I work them on retrieving right outside the kennels where the other dogs can see. Sally and Mann are my best retrievers so I work them first just to let the other dogs know it can be done. Some people think, and I don’t disagree, that hearing me praise the other dogs makes the ones not retrieving jealous and causes them to want to retrieve too.

Mann doesn’t really like the treats which are a hot dog cut into about 20 pieces. But he really likes the petting and praise. I threw the same dummy for him that I had for Sally and he retrieved it perfectly and holding until I took it from him. He took the first 2 pieces of hot dog but dropped the next ones. When he had retrieved 5 times I picked up the treats on the ground and fed them to him. He ate them then. I put him on whoa, got on the 4-wheeler, started it and put it in gear. I looked at Mann and said, “okay”. He made a couple of laps around the yard. My yard is about a quarter mile deep so they get a pretty good run.

Abby and Boss I work a little different. I have a stump near the kennels that I make them stand on until I throw a tennis ball. Then they have to go get the ball and jump onto the stump and hold until I say, “give”. Abby really likes to retrieve the ball but she likes the treats better than anything. I told her to get on the stump but she was too excited to stay. She would jump onto the stump and come right back off.

Boss pointing a single.

After several times having her get back on the stump I said, “whoa” as soon as she got on. That stopped her. I threw the ball and she bounded after it. She jumped onto the stump and spat the ball out. I made her get it and she spat it out as soon as she was back on the stump. We went through this 3 or 4 times. Finally, she held it after I said, “hold”, forcefully. I took the ball and gave her a treat.

We went through the same process 4 times. She didn’t get a treat until she did it right. On the fifth throw she never saw the ball. Mainly because she ran in the wrong direction. I had thrown the ball about 45 degrees to my right until the fifth ball and I threw it to my left. When my arm came forward she went right. I walked near it while she looked all around for the ball. She found it and went to the stump jumped on and held the ball until I reached for it. I whoaed her on the stump, got on the 4-wheeler, started it, put it in gear and said, “okay”. She ran a couple of laps around the yard.

Boss was next. Boss doesn’t care about the treats and doesn’t like retrieving. But he does enjoy being petted. I heeled him to the stump and whoaed him when he got on it. I don’t expect him to ever be a good retriever but this gives me an opportunity to have him obey some commands and gives me the chance to pet him a lot.

Bodie honoring Sally.

I whoaed him on the stump and only tossed the tennis ball a short distance. He ran to the ball, scooped it up and came back jumping onto the stump. He held the ball until I reached for it. He dropped it into my hand. I thought, wow. Better than I expected. On his fourth retrieve when he went to pick the ball up I thought he was going to refuse. But he picked it up and came back and jumped onto the stump. He even ate a slice of hot dog with each retrieve. I didn’t want to get in a fight with him so we ended the retrieves at four.

I whoaed him on the stump, got on the 4-wheeler and before I could start it he was running toward the back. I yelled, “whoa” as he came by me and he stopped. I heeled him back to the stump, made him jump on and said, “whoa”. This time he stayed until I got on the 4-wheeler, started it and put it in gear. At my okay he headed to the back.

All of that happened yesterday morning. This morning I wanted to have all of the dogs retrieve to a place board instead of Abby and Boss hopping on the stump. I worked Mann first and he retrieved really well, held the dummy until I took it but wouldn’t get on the place board. After his retrieves I led him onto the board and whoaed him. I got on the 4-wheeler, started it and put it in gear. He took off when I said, “okay”.

Sally on point, Mann closest to the camera, Bodie next to Sally and Abby in the back.

Sally was the same way. She retrieved just fine but wanted no part of the place board. But I started her on it and finished, as I got on the 4-wheeler, with her on it. It may take a little time for them to get used to it.

I brought Abby out and she went right on the place board. I have worked her a lot with place boards. I have been throwing a tennis ball but this morning I threw the Dokken dove dummy. I thought she would pick up anything but that wasn’t the case. She ran to the dummy picked it up, dropped it and came back. I walked her to the dummy and said, “fetch”. She acted as though she had never heard the word before.

I had an electric collar on her but no transmitter with me. I have only been using the bark collar feature on the e-collars. I had started her with the toe pinch and converted her to the e-collar. I squeezed her foot and she took my hand in her mouth but didn’t bite down. Three or four times she took my hand. But never a bite. Finally, she picked up the dove dummy. She didn’t hold it long. I squeezed her foot and she picked it up and held it. I took it and gave her a treat. I made her take it several times from my hand but if I wanted her to pick it up from the ground I had to pinch her foot. I put her back in the kennel.

Vince kicking the birds up for Bodie.

I took Boss to the stump. Nothing new for him today. Four retrieves is about all he is comfortable with. But he is eating the hot dogs so that a break through. I let him run a couple of laps around the yard as I followed on the 4-wheeler.

I came to the house and got the transmitter for Abby’s e-collar. I drank a cup of coffee and thought about what I needed to do. Last year I had worked her on about 8 or 9 different dummies and while she had some that she would rather retrieve she would get them all. I decided to put her back on the retrieving bench with several different dummies.

I took the Dokken quail and the Dokken dove with me to the retrieving bench. I got another 5 dummies and spread them out on the bench. I told her to fetch and she just stood there. I held the button on the transmitter down on level 2. She slowly picked up a dummy. The transmitter shuts off in 6 seconds, maybe 8. But anyway I didn’t want her to learn that if she just waited the transmitter would go off so I started walking down the bench with her.

Bodie with a nose full of quail scent.

She got all of them but then it dawned on me that she had taught me to walk down the bench. She wouldn’t go unless I did. Well that’s not the way to teach them to go get a bird. So I shortened the distance to the dummies. I had one of the Dokken dummies as the first one and she stepped over it to get an easier one. A couple of times I had to turn the transmitter to level 3 but each time I went right back to level 2. She got all of the dummies. I will work her for a while on the bench then we will go to the ground just like we did before.

Last year I should have stayed with several different dummies until she would retrieve whatever I sent her for. But I evidently didn’t do enough so we will start again. I may put Boss back on the bench, too. At least I will have something to work on, on these really hot days.

A friend and I were talking about retrieves the other day and it got me to thinking about some of my old dogs. Some of these, if not all of these, I have written about on the blog before. Like any real good story, they are worth repeating. I have pictures of most of these dogs but not where I can put them on this post but there will be pictures of dogs I still have.

Mann running an edge with a smile on his face.

Abby pointing a chukar.

Bodie pointing.

A lot of years ago I had a grand daughter of Boseann’s Mosely. I had used my male, Rusty, to breed a daughter of Boseann’s Mosely and got pick of the litter. If I remember correctly she raised 13 pups. So I had a bunch to pick from. I had never had a tri-color setter before and wanted to try one. So that was my pick. A beautiful tri-colored female that I named Susie.

Back in those days we just took the young dogs hunting and the wild birds trained them. And Susie was a good one. She started right out holding her birds really well. She covered more ground than anything I had ever had before but once she went on point she would stay, as long as the birds did. She never intentionally flushed birds.

This was long before GPS collars and sometimes she was hard to find but usually was in front of where I saw her last. Sometimes way in front. I never worked with her on retrieving. And she never attempted to retrieve until I knocked a bird down in a deep ravine. She went right over the edge after the quail.

The sides on the ravine were almost straight up and it was really deep. Probably, 30 or 40 feet deep. But when I got to the edge I could see her with the bird in her mouth. Since this was the first bird she had ever tried to retrieve, I didn’t know what she would do. I called her and she started up the side of the ravine. She made it about 2/3 of the way and slid back down.

We moved a short distance and I called her again. She ran at the side of the ravine and got closer but slid back down. I walked back and forth trying to find another less steep place but to no avail. The ravine went as far as I could see both ways. I put my gun down, laid on my belly and called her. She still had the bird as she tried again to get to me. I just barely brushed her head before she slid back down.

Sally

I was hunting by myself and really didn’t want to wind up down in that ravine but I inched as far down as I felt comfortable doing and called her again. This time she got high enough I could just get a finger in her collar and pull her up. She dropped the bird in my hand and went back to hunting like it was no big deal.

Susie’s dad, Rusty, was also a good retriever. I had worked with him on retrieving but he was, mostly, natural. A friend, Kermit Maxwell, and I were hunting south of Nevada Missouri. It had rained the night before and water was standing everywhere. The place we were hunting had some holes scattered through out that were almost like post holes. After the rain they were all full of water.

One of our dogs pointed a covey that got up on the other side of a brush pile. Rusty ran and retrieved the quail I had killed and brought it right back. Kermit said he had dropped one just to the right of the brush pile. We took Rusty to the area and he looked but didn’t immediately come up with anything.

Boss honoring Sally.

I don’t give up easily on birds that are knocked down. Kermit and I were trying to find the bird and Rusty was still looking. I had my back to them, looking at the ground when I heard Kermit laughing and he said, “he got that SOB. It was down at the bottom of one of those holes and he ran his head under water to get it.” Kermit swore his head was so far under that his collar was wet. His collar was wet whether it was from that or not.

Then there was Windypoint’s First Lady. I bought her from a guy in St. Joseph Missouri without knowing anything about her pedigree. She was the best retriever I’ve ever had. She, too, was a natural retriever until she decided to quit. Which was the last day of season her first year. She had retrieved really well all year until the last day. I had had Rusty who retrieved well and Susie that did really well before I got Lady. I liked for my dog to retrieve.

So I force broke Lady. It only took about 2 weeks. I thought there is nothing to teaching a dog to retrieve. I’ve done several since then and none were as easy as she was.

Boss on point with Abby backing.

There are so many stories of her retrieves that I can’t do all of them but here are some favorites. She was fairly young when Don Bowlen and I were hunting north of Abilene Kansas. I knocked a rooster pheasant down and we had several dogs hunting dead when Lady got to us. She came through the area and didn’t even slow down. Went right on through. I told Don that I was going to see what she did.

The other dogs scoured the area and tried to leave but I kept them in. About 5 minutes later Lady came in with the pheasant in her mouth. This was before GPS collars, so I don’t know how far she had to chase it to get it, but she had it.

I had her near Abilene Kansas another time hunting with a friend on his lease with a bunch of guys. They were 6 or 7 of us walking through a corn field when a huge covey of quail flushed. It was at least a 40 yard shot but I knocked one down that fell near a hedge row. The dogs didn’t see it go down and all of the guys were pheasant hunters. They wanted to go on and find some pheasants. I marked the bird as well as I could from the spot I was in.

This is Mann pointing a covey with Abby in the middle and Boss close to the camera, honoring.

We circled this field and a few others and it was getting dusky dark when we got back to the trucks. I put my other dogs up and Lady and I started toward that hedge row to find the quail. There were a couple of guys cleaning birds as we went by I said I’m going to find that quail I knocked down. They laughed and said, “If you find it, we’ll clean it”.

The hedge row was about 300 yards from the trucks and I came in from another direction than where I was when the bird went down. When we got close I said, “hunt dead, hunt dead”. Lady went about 10 yards and picked up that quail. Now that was pure luck. But when I went right back and tossed that quail on the cleaning table and said, “Clean that for me, please”. Those two guys were plenty surprised and impressed.

The only time I made real money on her retrieves was when Vince Dye and I were hunting near Greensburg Kansas. We had turned the dogs loose and were just entering the field when Vince said, “Bet you a quarter for the first rooster”. I was ready for that. We hadn’t gone 200 yards when just as his dog, Roxy, pointed, a rooster pheasant flushed. It never got very high but it came my way. When I shot it hit the ground hard. I just knew I was going to make a quarter off Vince.

Abby pointing another single.

The dogs ran to the area where the pheasant had fallen, but nothing. Vince’s dog Roxy was a really good retriever, too, and we almost never lost a bird. I had a GPS collar on the dogs this time and as Lady came through and after a few seconds was gone, I checked the GPS. She was moving and eventually was over a hundred yards away.

About that time we noticed Roxy on point just a little way away. When we walked in a covey of quail flushed going Vince’s way. He dropped a bird that Roxy saw fall. She scooped it up and as she got close I could see that white head on the rooster quail just shining. Just a few steps before she got to Vince Lady dropped a bedraggled pheasant rooster in my hand. She must have had a time with it. It was dead when she handed it to me but it had no tail feathers and was missing a lot more. But I got my quarter from Vince.

Lady had a rough last year. She lived to be 13 and almost made it to 14. Opening day in Kansas she was attacked by a huge mule deer buck. I wrote about that in October of 2013. If you want to read that just go into the archives and select Oct. 2013. But she healed and I hunted her occasionally. She had a really good tail when she was young but in her old age she couldn’t raise it any more. She was pretty slow too. But she still hunted and when she stopped there were birds in front of her. If her tail wagged the birds were running.

Boss pointing a single.

Her last hunt was near Emporia Kansas. She was in front of me about 50 yards when I saw her go on point. There was a huge plum thicket in front of her. I saw her tail wagging and knew the birds were running. I knew this was, probably, her last hunt and I really wanted one more retrieve from her. But I knew these birds were going to get up out of range on the other end of the huge plum thicket.

The birds, when they flushed, were so far ahead I couldn’t hear them but Lady did. I saw her head come up and she started moving. I looked above the plum thicket and real high one quail came back over me. Lady saw it bounce as it hit the ground and brought it to me. I took it from her and gave her the head. We were close to the truck and I put her up. A good way for a dog to end their career.

Another single with Boss in the back ground.

I should have told about Lady getting the head of most of the birds she ever retrieved. She only got them from the quail. As she got older and slower the other dogs were beating her to the retrieve but she still thought the head was hers even if someone else retrieved. That was just what she charged for a days hunt. And most of the time she got them. I still miss her.

Having a litter of 8 puppies shortly after selling 2 of the first litter is exhausting. I kept Gracie from the first litter and worked her on birds several times a week. And I still had the litter of 8 to take care of. They were all in the same kennel. As they grew older they played more and rolled each other around in their feces. Since I was only putting Abby in with them a couple of times a day she couldn’t keep them clean. They smelled and looked dirty.

Puppies with the formula mixed with softened puppy chow.

Puppies in the grass.

Bodie, a full brother, just 2 years olde than these puppies.

I have 3 dogs, Boss, Bodie and Gus, in South Dakota and Nebraska, being worked on wild birds, so I have some empty kennels. To keep the puppies cleaner I kept the 3 males and the largest female in their kennel and moved the other 4 females to another kennel. That made a huge difference. In just a few days they smelled better and their white was a lot whiter. I still clean their kennel twice a day but with them all in the same run it wasn’t often enough. I feel better about them and they have to feel better, also.

I have been working Gracie on pigeons several times a week and walking her through the training grounds, most of the time, twice a day. Walking her through the training grounds with no birds out keeps her from pointing every place I have ever hidden a bird for her. Also, it’s good exercise for her and me both.

Gracie did really well on the birds. She could smell them at a good distance and would usually stop at the first hint of scent. She was rock solid on her points until I flushed the pigeon. Almost from the first point she wouldn’t move until the bird was in the air. A couple of times the pigeon didn’t fly away. Just landed near the release trap.

The first time she pointed the bird until it moved away from her then she moved and pointed again. I could tell she wanted to catch the pigeon but she didn’t want it in her mouth. The pigeon ran around in the clump of brush with her right behind. The
first few times she stopped it with her foot. Then she laid down on top of it. The clump was too thick for me to enter so I just waited.

Pretty soon she let it up and finally decided to pick it up. She grabbed it by the wing and started out of the clump but she wasn’t sure where I was. I called her and she started to me but dropped the pigeon. She grabbed it by the head and came on to me. I petted her for a long time then took the pigeon from her. The pigeon wasn’t hurt.

Gracie on another point in the clump of brush.

The second pigeon she caught was a little quicker. When I flushed it it hit some brush and came back to the ground. She ran in and stopped the bird by putting her foot on it but then reached down and picked it up. She had it by the body and when I called she came toward me. She tried to run by me but I grabbed her and petted her. I let her hold it for a long time and when I finally reached for it she was ready to give it up.

Because of Abby’s litter I had a sign in my front yard advertising the puppies. A guy that had done some water damage work on one of the duplexes came by to get paid and saw the puppies for sale. After I paid him he wanted to see the puppies. I turned them out and they were running all around and while he was looking he saw Gracie. He asked if I would sell her. I can’t keep them all so I priced her to him. He said he would think about it.

A few days later he came back and we took Gracie for a walk and after calling her to him in the field and he saw how easy she was to handle, he took her.

Mann pointing Abby honoring. The parents of the puppies.

So I still had 3 of the little puppies unspoken for. I wasn’t too worried because after selling Gracie I had a little kennel space. I had the puppies listed on a couple of bird dog sites on Facebook. A guy messaged me with some questions. He didn’t live far from me and I told him as close as he was he could come look. I’m always happy to show my dogs and kennel off. He couldn’t come down for a while and thought that was probably the end of it. He said he might come down Sunday.

I texted him after I got home from church on Sunday expecting to not even hear back from him. In just a few minutes he texted that he was on his way. That was the first surprise. I’ve had a lot that never show up. He showed up and had his wife with him.

I had the 3 males and the first female that was picked in one kennel and the other 4 in another. One of these was already sold but it was the only white and black there. We took them to a shade where there were some chairs and let them play. I got a few pigeons and teased the puppies with them and let them fly off. The puppies were used to having the run of the yard and showed a lot of confidence in going where they wanted.

This is Mann pointing a covey with Abby in the middle and Boss close to the camera, honoring.

I usually tell people to take an hour or so to make up their mind on a puppy. I didn’t have to tell this guy. He knew what to look for. He liked one but his wife liked another. They talked back and forth on the merits of both dogs. After a while it was down to just 2 out of the 3. He wanted the one with the pink collar but his wife really liked the smallest puppy. They talked some more then said we will just take both of them. The one with the pink collar and the smallest pup.

I was surprised but that left me with one puppy and since I had sold Gracie I would just keep her. For a while anyway. When the 3 boys come back from Nebraska/South Dakota I will have 7 dogs. I only have 6 kennel runs and I can only haul 6 dogs in my truck without doubling some up.

Oh well, when the boys come back, near the middle of September, they will have hunted wild birds for 2 1/2 months and should be in good shape. Someone may be looking for a trained dog.

Another single with Boss in the back ground.

Now I have to think of a good name for my little left over puppy and start working her on pigeons. That will force me to get a lot of steps in each day and get me ready for the new hunting season. The Lord has blessed me with a great life.

Boss, Bodie and Gus are in Nebraska/South Dakota. The guy that has them showed some pictures of the cover and it was really green. Last year he had a lot of birds and he’s expecting even more this year. Should be really good for the young dogs. Hopefully, all of this last litter of puppies will be with their new owners and I will be able to take a trip or two to the same area that these dogs are at now. I would like to check on their progress.

Puppies with the formula mixed with softened puppy chow.

They love to chew on my pants leg.

Gracie pointing a pigeon.

Most of the recent pictures I have are on my phone. I haven’t figured out how to move them from my phone to the blog so I take a photo of the pictures on my phone, with my camera. That works but it’s not always as good as a picture from the camera.

I have been only putting Abby with the pups a couple of times a day. Early morning and late evening for about 30 minutes. They were 5 weeks old Friday, 7/7/23. That’s old enough to start eating food, especially, softened puppy chow. I soak it in water before adding it to the formula I mix for the puppies. Just about a week ago they weren’t eating all of the formula but in the last few days they clean the pan of formula and the puppy chow.

This morning for the first time I locked the wings on a pigeon and let the puppies find it. Actually, I locked the wing on 3 pigeons for them. The first one got it’s wings unlocked before a puppy even saw it and flew away. The second one had 2 puppies next to it when it got it’s wings unlocked and flew away. But the third one worked perfect and a couple of the puppies really enjoyed the bird. The pigeon, probably, didn’t enjoy it that much.

We had our monthly brunch for the kids, grandkids and great grand kids last weekend. There were probably about 15 people out petting the puppies. Also, I had two guys, at different times, bring 2 grand kids each to see the puppies. Then I had a couple bring two little girls over. So this last week has been a busy one for the puppies.

Abby has been fighting a problem with her eye for over a week. I thought I had found something in it and expected it to get better. No such luck. I didn’t want to wait through the weekend to get her checked so I took her to my vet. He checked her eye and couldn’t find anything. Vets dig in to find anything. I can’t do that to them or me. Just as he was getting ready to quit he saw just a little bump that he thought was a small tumor. When he touched it it came off. A really small grass seed near the corner of the eye. He checked it with some dye but that little seed must have been the problem. I’ve been putting some drops in the eye but it looks to be completely healed. That little seed wasn’t as big as a head of a straight pin.

Gracie and a pigeon staring each other down.

This morning I put the formula and puppy chow in the puppy pen and cleaned their pen while they were eating. If I don’t do it this way they are underfoot or in my pan that I scoop the poop into. Then I turned all of the older dogs out and cleaned their pens. I’m still feeding Abby twice a day. I let all of the dogs back into their kennel and when Abby was through eating I let her in with her puppies. I turned Gracie out and tied her to a stake.

I had also put bark collars on Sally, Mann and Abby. When the pigeons come back to their coop the older dogs bark a lot without the bark collars. I hid 4 pigeons on the training grounds for Gracie. I hid 1 pigeon on my side, but I rode the complete circle, and 3 on my neighbor’s side. I like to put plenty of 4-wheeler tracks down so the dog doesn’t learn to just follow the 4-wheeler tracks to the bird.

Gracie pointing a pigeon.

Gracie would like to jump on me when I come to take her off the stake but I stand back until she sits. I don’t say anything I just wait. She’s used to it now and sits pretty quick but it wasn’t always that way. I make her sit for a few seconds after I drop the chain as I pet her. I don’t want the dropping of the chain to be her cue to take off.

At 3 months old she stays right in front of me on the way to the bird field. When we got close to the first bird she started slinking around. I don’t like this but until she learns to trust her nose she will do this from time to time. With her slinking around I walked past her. This got her to moving again and she hit the scent cone on the first pigeon and pointed.

When she pointed I stopped and just watched her. She is really steady. I don’t like to leave her on point very long at this age. After about 30 seconds I flushed the pigeon. It hit some brush that it was hidden in and she almost caught it. It came out right over her head and flew away. She seldom slinks around after the first pigeon.

Bodie

We went all the way to the back on my side and back to the crossing to the neighbor’s side. For some reason she could not place this next bird. She knew there was one close but never pointed. When she got close I flushed the pigeon. I think flushing some birds before they point is very important. It makes them more cautious around bird scent and it will happen to them if they get too close to a wild bird.

She was a long way from the next bird, but had the wind in her face, when she pointed. I watched her for about 30 seconds and she didn’t move. I stroked her sides and belly telling her what a good dog she is. I don’t say anything or touch them very often but still they need some of it. But mostly they need me to stand still and be quiet. Again, after about 30 seconds I flushed the pigeon. It fluttered around a little and landed next to the trap.

Boss honoring Sally.

When it fluttered she was charging. She chased it through the brush for just a few seconds and caught it. I knelt down and called her to me. She wanted me to see it but not to have it. She came close but wasn’t stopping. I got her turned to my side and I petted her. I petted her for over a minute, probably, while she held the pigeon. When I reached for it she turned it loose. I think she was tired of having it in her mouth.

The bird wasn’t hurt but was probably a really young pigeon. When they get about 3/4 grown it’s hard to tell them from an adult bird. Since it didn’t fly well or at all I carried it back to the pigeon coop.

But we still had one more bird out. We were walking into the light north east wind and she smelled this one a long way off and pointed. After catching the last one I thought she might try to move but when she hadn’t moved in about 30 seconds I flushed the pigeon. This one, too, fluttered around and she was right there but it flew away with her right behind it.

Gus.

I like for them to be chasing at least 50 yards before I introduce the blank pistol but she’s not old enough or fast enough, yet. I’ll wait. There is a long time before bird season.