Traveling Pointing Dogs

Rocky

Rocky

Rocky the English Cocker Spaniel.

I have never trained a flushing, retrieving puppy before but I’m reading some books about it, to learn. Rocky is forgiving when I make a mistake.

Several weeks ago I started teaching Rocky to sit. I would point my finger at him and tell him to sit. He would bounce around for a little while then finally sit. The instant he sat I would click the clicker and give him a piece of the hot dog. It didn’t take him long to figure out what it took to get a piece of hot dog. I started making him sit for longer periods of time. Then it dawned on me that I should be having him sit on the command “hup”. It didn’t take him long to sit on hup. I was still pointing my finger at him and every thing was just like it was when I said sit. Even if he’s an English Cocker Spaniel he isn’t fluent in the English language. I’m making him hup for 15 or 20 seconds before clicking and treating.

I have a big brush pile on my land. I thought it would be a good thing to throw a retrieving dummy over the brush pile and send him to retrieve. I tossed the dummy over the edge of the brush pile so he could see it. He made a little turn around the edge of the brush pile, picked up the dummy and brought it back to me. I clicked and treated. I threw the dummy over the center of the brush pile. Rocky started over the brush pile. Retrievers are supposed to go in a straight line. They aren’t supposed to go around. I helped him off the brush pile and picked up the dummy myself. I don’t want to train the going straight to the retrieve out of him. I’m not sure why retriever people insist on it but I’m not changing him.

Sunday, I left Rocky home when I went quail hunting. My daughter, Dana, son-in-law Robert, and grandson Isaac came to my house so Isaac could ride his motor cycle. They texted me to say they were coming over. I told them where I was but they could turn Rocky out if they wanted to play with him.

Dana texted the following exchange to me. Robert was throwing a stick for Rocky to fetch. He asked Isaac if Papa had any special words he used on Rocky when he retrieved. Isaac said, “Yeah, he says, here, dumber than dirt.” I may have to watch what I’m saying in front of my grandson.

A couple of days ago, I noticed a turkey, near the brush pile on my land, while I was cleaning dog pens. Rocky was running around outside the kennels. I finished cleaning the kennels, then Rocky and I started toward the turkey. It was still standing where I had originally seen it. It was standing with it’s head down and didn’t pay much attention to us. When Rocky saw the turkey he started toward it but the turkey didn’t move. Rocky got behind me. I kept trying to get him to chase the turkey. I was about 10 yards from the turkey when it started moving away from me with Rocky still behind me. When the turkey started moving away from us Rocky passed me and started chasing the turkey. The turkey moved a little faster and Rocky was really running. Just before the turkey decided to fly Rocky grabbed it’s tail. The turkey flew off with Rocky hanging onto a single tail feather. The turkey flew to the back of my place with Rocky underneath her. She lit in a tree. Rocky stopped under the tree watching the turkey. After a few minutes he came back.

The turkey didn’t act right. I don’t know what was wrong but she should have flown before we ever got close. Today I took Rocky for a walk to the back of my place and he found a lot of turkey feathers. Some predator had caught a turkey. Probably the same one. If it didn’t try harder than she did to evade Rocky almost any predator could catch her.

I’ve really enjoyed working with Rocky. It’s different than what I’m used to but I will learn some things that will work with pointing dogs, too.

Rocky

Rocky checking out a grass strip.

Rocky retrieving.

Luke pointing a single quail.

Luke after Rocky licked him in the face.

Blaze

I planned to hunt the Byron Walker Wildlife area on the third day but I woke up before 4:00 am and decided I would drive back to the Emporia area. There are a lot of walk-in properties in this area and it’s close to my home. During the season I hunt this area a lot.

The first farm I hunted was one that held 2 coveys of quail last year. I turned Tur Bo and Rocky loose. Tur Bo had the Garmin GPS and the Sport Dog e-collars on. This farm had a big, brush filled draw running through the middle with harvested corn and soy bean fields on the sides. We went up one side and down the other without finding any quail. This was the second time this weekend that I turned a dog out without finding quail. I drove to another farm.

The second farm was CRP with some row crops that hadn’t been harvested. I turned Luke and Rocky out and tried to keep them out of the standing crops. We went through some CRP to a small bottom that had soy beans still standing in the field. Luke went down a hedge row that separated this farm from land that wasn’t walk-in. He got real birdy but didn’t point. The last 2 or 3 years there has been a covey near this field that must fly when I close my truck door. It usually flies into some CRP with a lot of thickets in it. We circled the soy bean field and with Luke well out in front of me I heard a covey flush off to my left. I called Luke back and we started into the CRP.

The first part of this is solid thickets. It’s hard to even walk through. Rocky was staying with me but I was following Luke on the GPS. I was trying to force my way through a thicket when a quail flushed at my feet. Rocky had been off to my left but when the quail flushed he came by and got real excited. I called Luke in and had him hunt the area.

I don’t know whether Rocky followed Luke or he was hunting but he got lost. I noticed he wasn’t with me so I stopped behind a tree. I wanted him to have to look for me. He wasn’t gone very long but he was really happy when he found me.

We didn’t find any more of this covey and worked our way back toward the truck. We were east of where we had come into this farm going down a hedge row next to a soy bean field when Luke went around a point that ran into the soy bean field. He wasn’t 25 yards ahead of us when he went on point. The GPS vibrated, alerting me to him being on point. I walked around the point and saw him on point and the covey flushed. I was watching Luke and didn’t see the birds. Luke turned to chase but stopped when I said whoa. I petted him then released him to hunt.

Luke crossed to the other side of the hedge row and went in the direction that the covey had flown. He was about a hundred yards in front of me when he went on point again. Rocky and I started toward him. When we got about 20 yards from him Rocky saw him. He ran to him and licked him in the face. I got the camera out to take a picture but he came back to me. Luke looked pretty disgusted but he didn’t move. I had already taken pictures of Luke so I put the camera away. Rocky ran back and licked Luke in the face, again. I got the camera out but Rocky came back to me. I took a picture of a dejected Luke. Rocky and I walked in front of Luke and a single quail flushed down in the hedge row then I heard another one fly. Luke didn’t move. I released him and we hunted back to the truck.

On the next farm I turned Blaze and Rocky out. This was a small farm that had a harvested soy bean field with wide fence rows around 3 sides and a good hedge row on the other. We went to the west down the fence row the turned north on a fence row to the hedge row. We started east down the hedge row. there was a pond just to the north of the hedge row and I got both dogs into it. Blaze went around the pond and to the end of the hedge row. I couldn’t see her when she pointed but I heard a covey flush. I don’t know whether she got too close or moved after pointing them. I whoaed her and she stopped. We worked the edge and a draw that ran through the field but never came up with any others. We hunted back to the truck.

It was getting warm so that was a good place to end the hunt. Only one time had I hunted 2 pointing dogs at a time and most days we quit early. We hadn’t hunted very many hours but we had hunted several farms. Most of these farms weren’t covered the way they would have been if I was quail hunting. Over the three days we had moved 12 different coveys and maybe 13.

In my opinion, there are more quail than there has been for several years. That’s what these turkey hunts are for. To see how the quail population is doing.

Rocky the English Cocker Spaniel.

Tur Bo pointing where a prairie chicken had flushed from.

Blaze on a pigeon.