Traveling Pointing Dogs

Having both puppies to play with has made the spring, even with the screwy weather, tolerable. I have really enjoyed them and it keeps me getting in a lot of steps a day. I need the steps. Last season I didn’t walk as far or as well as I should have, while I was hunting. I may have had what some are calling Long Covid. With me walking these two puppies, most days, morning and evening, I have lost about 10 pounds and I’m walking with less effort, I think.

Gus this morning pointing a pigeon.

Another shot of Gus.

Gracie finding the dog food I threw in the grass.

Yesterday I got the shed ready for Abby to have her litter and moved Gracie, the puppy I kept from Sally’s litter, into Abby’s kennel. Gracie had been in the kennel with Sally but it’s hard for the puppy to get enough to eat. Sally is a chow hound and she would eats most of what I put in the kennel when they were together. I have been taking Gracie out a couple of times each day and feeding her. Now she can have her own food bowl with enough for her to eat whenever she wants.

Abby doesn’t like the shed. She does fine after the puppies are born but I had to force her to go in the dog door on the shed. I took one of our security cameras and installed it where I can watch Abby of the night. I use to walk down and check on my pregnant females when their due date was getting close. Now all I have to do is look at her on my phone. Before it was hard to sleep the last 4 or 5 days of their pregnancy. Now I just check my phone and go back to sleep.

With getting Gus as a stud fee puppy and keeping Gracie from Sally’s last litter my kennels are full. I may have someone coming to look at Gus this week but I’m also sending 2 dogs, Boss and Bodie, to Nebraska with a trainer to get them into wild birds. Boss is 3 and Bodie is almost 2 years old. Last year I didn’t get them into as many wild birds as I should have, although they both found a few.

Gus was born February 13th of this year so he’s still really young. I started him by carrying a bag of pigeons, putting one to sleep and hiding them in the tall grass. I just had him running along with me. It didn’t take him long to learn to watch me. When I would bend over to hide a bird he would come running to me. So I went to release traps.

I’ve probably told this before but it doesn’t hurt to explain this again. I take a lot of time introducing the release traps just like I do guns. I stake the pup out each time. I take a bag of birds and a release trap and get right in front of him. I let a pigeon flop about 4 or 5 feet in front of the pup and when he’s really trying to get the pigeon I let it fly away.

The release trap is about 15 feet away. After I let 3 or 4 birds fly from my hand I let the pup see me load a pigeon in the release trap. I get close to the release trap and tease the puppy with a bird from my hand. When I release this bird I release the bird from the trap. If there is no reaction other than a puppy trying to get the bird I move the release trap closer. It is never any closer than 5 feet or so from the puppy. If he’s still charged up about the birds the traps will be no problem. It’s a lot easier to make sure than it is to cure trap shy or gun shy.

Gus on another pigeon.

This morning I staked Gus out while I hid 4 pigeons in the cover on the training grounds. When I take him off the stake out he has to stand still or sit down. If he’s jumping or pulling on the stake I just stand out of his reach and wait. From the stake out it’s about a hundred yards to the bird field.

I have to put a leash on him or he will beat me to the birds. I want to see him when he smells the pigeon. If he points I watch him and if he moves anything, I flush the bird. If he points with a raised foot and puts it down, I flush the bird. If he gets too close to the bird I flush it. I try to make the pigeons act like a wild bird. Plus I want him to realize any movement on his part and the bird is gone.

The puppy I’m keeping.

I walk them both through the bird field twice a day, usually. Sometimes there is birds and sometimes there isn’t. Probably, there are birds hidden for them one out every 4 times through the field. It doesn’t take the pups very long to figure me out. I start putting 2 birds on my side and 2 birds on the neighbor’s side. In 3 or 4 weeks these pups figure that out so I have to change things. One morning I’ll put all of the birds on the neighbor’s side but start to the back on my side. The next morning maybe the opposite. Or one bird on the neighbor’s side and 3 on my side.

With 2 birds on each side the pups go from place to place where I have hidden birds before. And they aren’t really hunting. Delmar Smith called it doing milk runs. Stopping at all of the known places. Mixing it up stops this. The more the pup trusts his nose the faster they run.

Bodie on point.

I still work Gus on retrieving. This morning and evening when we got back to the shed I put a check cord on his collar and threw a paint roller cover 2 or 3 times. A few times I’ve thrown it 4 times but that is the limit. It’s according to how hot it is. After the retrieving I throw some dog food in the grass and I sit in a chair while he cleans it up. He’s been on Puppy Chow and this is adult food. He cleans the area really well.

By the time he’s found 4 birds, retrieved a paint roller cover and found 30 pieces of dog food he’s been rewarded a lot of times for using his nose. And we do everything but the birds twice a day.

Gracie is ready to start the release traps. This morning I staked her out and rode the 4-wheeler to the back and put 4 pigeons to sleep in the tall grass strips, I have left, on the training grounds. When I came back for her she didn’t try to jump or rear up on me. She just wanted free. I released her and we went to the back.

Boss honoring Sally.

When I put the birds to sleep in the tall grass it’s hard to know how long or if they will stay. This morning all 4 were still there although 3 of them were no longer asleep. They were standing in the grass. Gracie found the first one and woke it up. Gracie only chased a short distance. The second bird was awake and before she even knew it was close, the pigeon flew. Gracie stopped and watched it fly away.

The third bird was awake and Gracie pointed it, with almost no style. She just stopped with her tail down but her head was high. That’s not a big deal at her age. She runs with a good high cracking tail. But that tells me she’s ready to start with the release traps. In the morning I will get her used to the noise of the release traps.

She smelled the last bird and moved toward it and it flew away. She’s not fast enough to chase very far but she does her best. I haven’t started her on the paint roller cover yet but she does get to find a bunch of adult dog food in the grass. Both of these puppies get rewarded for using their nose.

Boss pointing a single, with Abby in the center with Bodie closest to the camera, honoring

Without any pressure these pups are learning a lot. From being staked out they are learning to give to the lead and that jumping around doesn’t get them released from the stake. They are learning to go with me and stay to the front. They are learning to use their nose. They know to come to me and I use kennel when they go back into their pen.

I really enjoy watching the puppies learn. Gracie’s litter, everyone thought they could walk through air. The first time they got on my front porch they all walked off and the first thing to hit the ground was their chin. But they had to learn that and everything else. And I get to watch them. Priceless.

It’s been quite a while since I wrote a post about the pups or about anything. My life is ruled by the dogs and weather. Usually, this time of year we have a rainy spell and I can’t get outside, or don’t, anyway. That’s when I usually write. This has been a really dry spring, for us. Finally, today, it’s raining.

No more lock wing pigeons. Pups are too aggressive.

The raised kennel the puppies are in.

Just puppies playing and having fun.

I have the puppies in a raised kennel. The floor is plastic with holes to allow their waste to drop through. It’s easy to clean and the puppies stay really clean. I let them out to play at least twice a day and most days more than twice. Tomorrow, Friday the twelfth of May, they will be 7 weeks old. At this age I only put their mother in with them a couple of times a day. For about an hour each time. These pups are pretty old to be still nursing but since there are only 3 it doesn’t take much milk, from Sally, to satisfy them.

Yesterday morning was cool and my plan was to work Gus, the stud fee puppy, on some birds in the release traps then walk the 3 young puppies with a bag of birds. Just strolling along and hiding a few birds in the grass for them to find. The night before there was quite a bit of wind and a huge limb off one of the neighbors trees fell. It didn’t hit the pigeon house but it landed close enough I couldn’t get the door open. So I just walked Gus to the back with no birds out and then walked the puppies.

My neighbor is on vacation so I pulled my chain saw out and trimmed away enough limbs I can at least get into the pigeon house. I don’t want him to come home and think I’m cutting down all of his trees. I’ll finish the job when he returns.

Gus is 12 weeks old and really loves birds. He sometimes points and holds for a long time. Usually, I flush the pigeon before he moves if he stands for 30 seconds or longer. If he moves, anything, while he’s on point I flush the bird. If he points with a foot up and lowers it to the ground, I flush the bird. Sometimes, he will rock back a little bit and I flush the bird. I want him to think any movement from him and the bird is gone.

I still stake Gus out. But now I usually have birds out for him when I do. Bodie, who is a first cousin and a half brother to Gus (how’s that for close relatives) learned to sit still while I unhooked him from the stake, quickly. Gus is different. He will sit until I bend over to unhook the chain and he jumps up. I back up and sometimes he will turn his back on me and sit. I wait on him to turn to me. He knows there is birds out and he soon does sit but it still takes a while before he quits jumping.

When I walk him to the back, which is usually twice a day, without birds being hidden for him, he runs but not like he does with birds out. With birds out, even at 12 weeks old or less, he’s fifty yards ahead. Without birds he will occasionally be that far but with birds he is hunting hard.

The puppy I’m keeping.

The wind swirls really bad and he most times will point from a completely different direction than I expect. I like to be with them when they point so if they move I can flush the bird. It won’t be long before I have to follow Gus on the 4-wheeler.

I try to walk the 3 puppies to different areas of my 5 acres. Usually, they come with me unless I get too close to the kennels. They have figured out where their mother is and will quit following and go to her.

Last Sunday we had our monthly brunch for the kids, grandkids and great grandkids. After we ate lunch the puppies were turned loose with all of the people. Everyone loves puppies. Some people don’t like dogs but everyone loves puppies. The puppies got petted, held and ran with. Kids lay on the ground with puppies crawling all over them. In about thirty minutes the puppies were wore out but there were so many people they played longer. When they went back to their kennel I had to carry them. Too tired to walk.

Gus pointing a pigeon.

Yesterday I intended to take the puppies to the back with a bag of birds but the tree against the door of the pigeon house stopped that and it’s raining (maybe misting) today. I will get them out this afternoon or tomorrow.

The first time I took the puppies to the front porch they didn’t understand drop offs. From the side walk to the porch top is about 6 or 7 inches. The puppies had no problem getting onto the porch. Their problem started when they went back to the sidewalk. Each one, when they came to the edge of the porch, expected to walk straight off. The first thing to hit when they came off was their chin for each one of them.

They are smart puppies. They got back on the porch but were more careful when they jumped off. Now it’s no big deal for them but puppies have to learn everything about their world.

Gus on another pigeon.

When I clean pens at the kennel I turn all of the dogs into a big pen. Some of the dogs expect to be petted before they go back into their kennel run. Gus is turned loose with them and he’s a pain to all of the dogs. Bodie and Boss play with him some but he chews on all of them. Most of the time they are okay with him. Bodie and Boss wrestle with him. But when I start putting dogs back in their run he bites them on the butt. Sally and Abby are chow hounds so they go back quickly and Bodie and Mann are pretty quick but Boss used to make me pet him before he would go back. And he controlled how long. Sometimes he wasn’t ready when I quit petting the first time so I petted longer. Now with Gus biting them on the butt Boss is in a mad dash to get into his kennel with Gus right behind him.

Sally, pointing quail.

The 3 puppies in Sally’s litter are doing well and are just over a week from going to their forever homes. They will be 7 weeks old tomorrow, May 12. I’m keeping one and the other two will be picked up on their eighth week birthday. I will only have a short time to get ready for the next litter. Abby is due around the second of June.

To start the year off I had a list of 12 people wanting puppies. When there were only 3 live puppies in Sally’s litter I got really worried that I wouldn’t meet the demand. Plus some of these people had waited for over a year. I didn’t have any puppies last year. When I started calling people about Sally’s 3 pups people started backing out. A couple of them had health problems and several were too busy or their kennel was full.

Mann, the sire of the litter, pointing a covey.

Now I’m starting to worry the other way. I am keeping a puppy from Sally’s litter because this is her last litter. She’s 6 soon to be 7 years old. My vet was upset that I bred her at 6. To keep me from ever breeding her again I will have her spayed when she dries up from this litter. But Abby last time had a large litter, 8 puppies, I think. Now my list is way down and I don’t know how many buyers I have. I don’t take deposits so it’s easy to get off my list. Oh well, it will all work out.

I have Sally’s 3 puppies plus the stud fee puppy from Abby’s sister, bred to Mann. I really enjoy having the puppies to work with. Spring weather is not really conducive to working the real young puppies outside but when it’s warm and dry I get them in the grass.

Sally and Mann’s puppies.

Gus, my stud fee puppy.

Another shot of Gus.

Puppies are born with their eyes closed until they are about 8 to 10 days old. Their ears aren’t fully functional until they are about 3 weeks old. This limits what can be done with them at an early age but I did do the Army Super dog exercise which consists of holding each puppy with it’s head straight up for 3 to 5 seconds. Then 3 to 5 seconds with it’s head straight down and tail up. Lying in my hands on their back for 3 to 5 seconds, tickling their foot with a Q-tip for 3 to 5 seconds then laying belly down on a wet towel that has been in the freezer for 5 minutes.

I only did these exercises once a day. According to the literature I read about the program, it could be detrimental to do longer or more often than once a day. This was only to be done from 3 days old until day 16. Supposedly, this puts the pup under stress and makes it more able to work through problems later on in life. If it helps even a little bit I’m all for it. It doesn’t take long each day to do this with the puppies and I will be handling them anyway.

At about 3 weeks, when they start being able to hear, I start feeding them. Before I put the milk that I mix up for them in their whelping box I turn on the CD player with the Masters Voice CD in it. This CD has loud music with gun shots interspersed in the music. This gets them used to the sound of gunshots, although even these puppies will still need to be introduced to the gun properly.

My vet gave me the formula for the milk I feed the puppies a long time ago and I still use it. It is: 1 can evaporated milk, 1 can warm water, a tablespoon of plain yogurt, a tablespoon of Karo syrup, and an egg yolk (Uncooked egg whites can be bad for dogs).

After the puppies get used to drinking the milk I let some dry puppy food soak for a while before allowing them to eat. This transitions them to the dry food. By the time they are 6 weeks old they should be eating dry food.

Gus playing with a pigeon.

I still have as many people as possible come by and pet the puppies and I make sure to hold them at least twice a day, myself. At about 3 weeks old or so when I put them in the grass they immediately crawled to my feet as I sat close to them. They weren’t sure about the grass and the ground but they knew my smell.

Now, at 4 weeks old, when I put them in the grass they may go any direction. One of them, a few days ago, went through the crawl space under the shed. The shed is 12×16 feet. The puppy went all the way through the 16 foot way and found a hole to crawl through to be in the big pen with her mother.

On April the 24 Gus will be 10 weeks old. I got him a few days before he turned 8 weeks old. The first few days I locked the wings on a pigeon and let him play with it. The first time he wanted the bird but was a little apprehensive. He would jump at it but not even touch it. Then he got to where he would roll it around sometimes just lying on top. Never taking it into his mouth.

After a few times He started getting too aggressive and I started just holding the pigeon with one wing loose. I let it flop where it couldn’t hit him, then let it fly away. I encouraged him to chase the bird. A few of the pigeons were young and landed in the yard or on low branches. These enticed him to chase. With several of these he got more and more bold.

Bodie on point.

I had also been walking him most days to the very back of my place. He still wants to jump against my legs as we walk along. Unintentionally, I sometimes step on his feet and on purpose I bump him with my knee. He’s learning to stay away from my feet. When he got too aggressive with the pigeons and was chasing the fly away birds I set for him I started carrying a bag of birds and hiding some in the grass. He pointed some of them but more often he pounced on them.

Bird dog puppies are smart. It wasn’t long before he would see me bend over to hide a bird and come to me on the run. So I had to get the release traps out.

I like to stake all of my puppies out so they can learn to not pull on their tie outs whether it be a chain gang or just a leash tied to a tree. My son-in-law, Robert Charpie, had a Brittany female get caught in a trapper’s snare. Because she had been staked out she didn’t fight. When the snare tightened around her neck she stopped and waited on Robert to turn her loose. Since then I have made sure all of my dogs have spent some time, staked out.

Mann pointing Abby honoring.

So I put him on the stake out and get the 4-wheeler out to hide the birds. I just hide 3 or 4 pigeons a day for him. To keep him occupied while I hide the birds I lock the wings on a pigeon and put it where he can’t quite reach it from his stake. When I come back from hiding the pigeons I unlock the pigeons wings and turn Gus loose. I let the pigeon fly away right in front of him. This gets him excited about the birds.

We walk to the back. This morning he pointed the first bird that he smelled. It was 20 yards in front of him but the wind was strong and the temperature was cool. I stood behind him, making no noise, watching. His genes were telling him to point but some others were telling him to pounce on that bird. He just stood there for about 20 seconds or more without moving, with a high head and a straight, maybe 11:00 tail. When he took a step I flushed the bird.

I had hidden the second bird in a patch of May apples that were about knee high. The wind was pretty strong and it seemed like every side we were on the wind was at our back. He got a little scent but wasn’t sure where the bird was. He started really moving in circles. I thought he was closer to the bird than he was when I flushed it but he saw it flush and chased a short distance. Puppies, less than 10 weeks old can’t chase far.

Boss pointing a single.

The third bird was at the very back on my side. When he got a little smell of this one he stopped. But not for long. Because of the way the wind was blowing I didn’t flush the bird right away. He stopped again but just to get the right direction. He moved toward the bird and I flushed it. We went back to the shed.

I have a chair sitting, this cold morning, in the sun. I got a little adult dry dog food and a check cord and paint roller cover. I put the dog food in my pocket and sat in my chair. When Gus reared up on me I snapped the check cord to his collar. As soon as I snapped it he started chewing on the check cord. I let him play with it for a minute or so then hit the ground with the paint roller cover.

When Gus heard the bonking sound he looked at me. I tossed the paint roller cover a few feet and he ran to get it. When he picked it up I said, “here, here, here” and pulled him to me with the check cord. I petted him for several seconds until he dropped the roller cover. I hit my knee with the roller cover and threw it again. He made a mad dash after it. I reeled him in again. I do lots of petting and tell him what a good dog he is. When he drops the roller cover I take it. After 4 times we quit.

Sally pointing Bodie honoring.

I’ve still got some dry dog food in my pocket so I spread it out in the grass in front of my chair. He likes this game and he has to use his nose to find the dog food. I sometimes put dog food out twice a day. This makes him use his nose and it teaches him how to use his nose.

All of this is done to Gus without any stress being put on him. I don’t shout at him or punish him in any way, with the exception of when he bites me. There has to be a consequence for biting. It’s short, quick and over with. All other, especially around birds, there is no sounds from me as long as the pigeon is on the ground. When I flush the bird I sometimes say, “Get that bird, get that bird”. But in an encouraging way.

Mann honoring Sally after I had walked by him.

How could a dog not get more birdy when every thing he does is right? This builds confidence and does it without any stress. Not only is this fun for him it’s fun for me.

I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything on my blog for a while. I’ve been working, on a duplex that a renter left in really bad shape, for the last month. This has kept my time and energy to near zero. But during this time I had a small litter of puppies.

All females.

Sally, tending pups.

The only way Sally knows how to wipe their butt.

I had bred Sally to Mann in January. From her looks I was expecting a huge litter. I moved her to the shed where she can go in and out on her own, during the day. Of the night I locked her in the shed to keep her from going outside, to have her pups. I really don’t think she will but I don’t want to have some puppies freeze because I was wrong.

I have an electric heater in the shed and there is a dog door that she can go outside during the day whenever she wants. Also, there is a heat pad in the whelping box that stays near a hundred degrees, for the puppies to warm themselves. And even before their eyes are open they find the heat pad, some of the time. Shortly after the pups were born I kept the shed temperature in the upper eighties. Now it stays about 75. The pups have been inside Sally where it’s 101 degrees. Even the eighties are cold for them at birth.

My shed is about a hundred yards from the house so I took one of the security cameras, that is on my house, and placed where with a small light in the box, I could see her night or day. I have done this the last few litters. Always before I would get up several times of the night to check on the females. With the camera I can just wake up, grab my phone and check on them. It’s easier to go back to sleep when you haven’t walked 200 yards round trip.

On March 24 as I worked at the duplex I checked the camera, about 11:00 am. I could see and hear a puppy. I drove home, probably faster than the law allowed. When I got there, there was one live puppy and one that, evidently, was born dead. I tried to revive the puppy to no avail. I sat with Sally for quite a while then came to the house and ate lunch.

I kept watching her on the camera then went back down to the shed. By 2:00 pm she hadn’t had any more pups. I called my vet and he said to bring her in. But hurry, as he had to leave by 4:00. I pulled the truck close, put a leash on Sally and lead her out. We got about 20 feet from the shed and she stopped, squatted and had another puppy. I took her back to the shed and put her in the whelping box.

I called my vet and told him of the new event. We agreed that she may be able to have the rest with no problem. I asked about getting some oxytocin. He told me to come up. He gave me 4 shots for her but said do not give her one unless you talk to me or my partner first.

I was gone maybe 20 minutes to get the shots and when I got back she had tried to have another puppy that was breech. Every thing was out except the head. Sally had already cut the umbilical cord. I had to pull the puppy out and it was surprising how hard it was. By the time I got it out, it, too, was dead.

About 30 minutes later she had another puppy. After a while I could see that she was through. Although I thought she would have a bunch (her last litter was 9) 5 was it, for this litter. And we had 3 healthy females. This is an easy litter for Sally.

The first few days she was really protective of her pups. I don’t know whether it was because she lost the two or more likely it’s just her way. After a couple of weeks she will be, get these pups away from me, probably.

The U.S. Military came up with some Neurological stimulation for puppies starting at 3 days old. I started doing this to each puppy a couple of litters ago. Some of the claimed benefits are; (1) Improved cardio vascular performance (heart rate). (2) Stronger heart beats. (3)Stronger adrenal glands. (4) More tolerance to stress. (5) Greater resistance to disease.

There are 5 different exercises that is done to each puppy for a period of 3 to 5 seconds, once a day, starting at day three through day sixteen. Longer duration or more times per day is detrimental.

The first exercise is to tickle the puppy between the toes with a Q tip for 3 to 5 seconds. I usually don’t see much reaction other than the puppy sometimes spreads their toes as I’m doing this.

The next thing is to hold them with both hands and the head straight up for 3 to 5 seconds. Sometimes the puppies wiggle but usually by the time the 5 seconds are over they are still.

Then still using two hands to hold them point the head down with the tail up. Hold this for 3 to 5 seconds. Even in this position these 3 puppies quit wiggling before 5 seconds is up.

The supine position is to hold the puppy so that it’s back is in both hands and it’s muzzle is pointed at the ceiling for 3 to 5 seconds. This morning one puppy arched his back and whimpered a little before settling down but the other two accepted the position with no problem. I think one went to sleep in those few seconds.

For the last exercise use a wet towel that has been cooled in a refrigerator for 5 minutes. Lay the puppy on their belly on the towel for 3 to 5 seconds. I’m surprised how little sensation this causes in the puppies. Even as cold as the towel is they usually move but never try to get off. Of course, they are really young at this time.

I usually do this the first thing of the morning. I’m feeding Sally twice a day, right now, so it’s easy to work with the puppies at the same time. Even if this doesn’t do anything for the puppies it causes me to hold them every morning and when I feed her of the night I hold them again. I don’t do these exercises but one time a day, though.

To socialize them more, I have my family and friends pet the puppies when they come over. Several friends come over just to pet the puppies.

Two of these puppies are sold and I will probably keep the other. Usually, the way I make my choice is whatever is left. I will give both buyers their choice and I will keep the left over. I’ve done this several times and never been disappointed. I’ve never seen a bad puppy. I have seen bad dogs though.