Traveling Pointing Dogs

Tur Bo pointing a pigeon.

Blaze pointing a pigeon.

Luke pointing a pigeon.

I worked Tur Bo on the retrieving bench and enjoyed it so much I worked Luke and Blaze, too. Some days, working dogs are more fun than others. This morning to fool the dogs I hid a pigeon in a release trap on my side of the training grounds and 2 pigeons on the neighbor’s side.

I heeled Tur Bo to the retrieving bench and he jumped onto it. We walked up and down with me petting him every few feet. I hooked him to the cable that runs the length of the bench and put the string around his toes. As soon as I got the bumper in front of him he snatched it from my hand. He didn’t wait for me to pull on the string. When I said give he dropped it in my hand. I held it above his head and he lunged for it. He definitely knows what it takes to keep me from pulling on the string. I said give and he dropped it in my hand.

I went through all 5 retrieving bumpers, several times each, then started having him pick them up from the top of the retrieving bench. I only used the bumpers that had ends that were larger than the middle because they are easier for him to grab. (The dogs in the pictures at the end of this post have the bumpers I’m talking about.) He understood what I wanted as long as I kept my hand on the bumper until he took it. I only had 2 bumpers that were designed for an easy pick up by a learner. I set the 2 bumpers on the table top and sent him to retrieve. I walked with him and held the end of each as he retrieved. I had him retrieve each one about 10 times. I set him on the ground and said whoa.

I got on the 4-wheeler and released him to hunt. He went down my side of the training grounds, hit the scent cone on the pigeon I had hidden in the tall grass and pointed. I took pictures then walked in front of him kicking the cover. I threw my hat in front of him. He didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I stroked his sides telling him what a good boy he is and led him away. I whoaed him, got on the 4-wheeler and released him.

He hunted all of my side then crossed to the neighbor’s side. The hillside was blocking the wind and I had to send him around the back fence on my neighbor’s side twice before he hit the scent cone and pointed. He was about 10 yards from the bird. I took pictures then went in front of him kicking the cover. I threw a chunk of wood that was lying on the ground. He didn’t move. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He still didn’t move. I petted him then got on the 4-wheeler and released him to hunt.

He hunted back to the front side of the neighbor’s side and pointed. He was getting a lot of scent from this bird because he was within a few feet of it. I took more pictures then kicked the cover in front of him. I threw my hat but he didn’t pay any attention to it. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. The pigeon flew right over him him and he leaped up and whirled around to catch it. He didn’t chase. I picked him up and turned him around. I petted him then got on the 4-wheeler. I released him to run before going back to the kennel.

I heeled Blaze to the retrieving bench and she jumped onto it. I went through my petting routine then put the 5 bumpers on the other end of the bench. I sent her to get them one at a time. One of the bumpers is a lot bigger than the others and when it came time for her to bring it back she acted like her mouth wasn’t big enough. Rather than use the e-collar I put the string back on her toes and led her down the bench. When I pulled on the string she found that her mouth was plenty big enough for the bumper. I put all 5 bumpers on the other end and she retrieved them just fine. I set her on the ground and said whoa.

I threw a bumper and told her to fetch. She ran out, picked it up and returned holding until I said give. I have been making them retrieve 5 times, in a row without a mistake. on the ground before we go to other things. She retrieved 5 times with no mistakes. I said whoa and got on the 4-wheeler. I released her to hunt.

She ran a little way down my side then crossed to the neighbor’s side. I tried to call her back but she didn’t come. I crossed to the neighbor’s side and found her on point. She was real close to pigeon hidden in the grass. I took pictures then walked in front of her kicking the cover. I threw my hat and she didn’t move. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She didn’t move. I petted her then led her away. I released her then got on the 4-wheeler.

By the time I got to the back on my neighbor’s side she was on point. Again she was real close. I took pictures then walked in front of her. I picked up a chunk of wood and threw it. She didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She didn’t move. I stroked her sides then led her away. I whoaed her then got on my 4-wheeler. I released her to hunt but this time I stayed right behind her.

Sure enough when we got to my side of the training grounds she hit the scent cone and pointed. I sat on the 4-wheeler and watched. She took about 3 steps toward the pigeon and pointed again. I yelled whoa. I held the button on the e-collar, around her flanks, down on level 3 and picked her up and set her back. I walked in front of her throwing sticks, my hat and tufts of grass. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She didn’t move. She’s not moving after the flush she’s pointing then moving up. Wild birds won’t stand for this. I will make sure I’m on the 4-wheeler so I can see when she hits the scent cone and I will flush the bird. Because she can’t chase the bird it will make her point at the first hint of scent. (I hope.) I released her to run before going back to the kennel.

I brought Luke down to the retrieving bench and he jumped onto it. We went through the petting routine and I put the 5 bumpers on the other end of the bench. Blaze didn’t like to retrieve the large bumper but Luke stepped over the other bumpers and brought the largest back to me. He held it until I said give. He retrieved all 5 and held them until I said give. I set him on the ground and said whoa.

He’s been less than good on the ground with the thrown bumper but today he retrieved 5 times in a row without a mistake. I petted him telling him what a good boy he is then said whoa. I got on the 4-wheeler then released him to hunt.

He was a long ways from the first pigeon when he hit the scent cone and pointed. He was so far I wasn’t sure he could really smell it but then I saw his mouth opening and closing like he was chewing the scent. I took pictures then walked in front of him kicking the cover. I threw my hat. He didn’t move. I picked it up and while I was still bent over threw it from his right to his left. He still didn’t move. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I stroked his sides then led him away and said whoa. I got on the 4-wheeler and released him to hunt.

We hunted on to the back then crossed onto the neighbor’s side. I thought Luke hadn’t come over yet and stopped the 4-wheeler and was looking over my left shoulder. I sat there and called him then hit the tone on the e-collar. I kept watching for him but he didn’t show up. I turned to the front so I could go look for him and he was in front of me lying down waiting for me to quit calling him. (I wonder what my dogs think when I do dumb things.) I said okay and he went back to hunting. He pointed the bird at the back of my neighbor’s side. I took pictures then went in front of him kicking the cover. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I stroked his sides then led him away. I said whoa then got on the 4-wheeler and released him to hunt.

He pointed the pigeon at the front of the training grounds. I took more pictures then walked in front of him kicking the tall grass. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I stroked his sides then led him away. I released him to run before going back to the kennel.

One of the reasons that I give the dogs the benefit of the doubt on most things is that I do dumb things too. If I was perfect I would expect my dogs to be but I’m far from it.

Dolly

Tur Bo

Blaze

These puppies are on the heating pad when they are only hours old.

As they get more hair and the days get warmer they only use it sometime.

As they grow they get away from the heat pad.

I decided to keep a daily log on raising a litter of puppies. This is my way of having well socialized puppies when they go home with their buyers. This is not the only way to do it, it’s just my way.

On the 17th of June I went to the kennel to let Blaze out of the shed. The shed is air conditioned and I lock her in each evening so she can’t have the puppies outside, under a rock. I have a whelping box, with food and water inside, for her to have the puppies in. I let her out during the day because I’m around to keep an eye on her. I checked her out and there was no signs of impending delivery. Usually about 2 or 3 hours before they deliver they pant real hard.

About 10:00 am a gunsmith friend, Don Hansen, called and said he had my gun fixed. He’s about an hours drive from me. I went back to check on Blaze and she seemed fine. No panting. So I went to Don’s and got my gun. All told I was gone about 2 1/2 hours. When I got back I went to check on Blaze. I wasn’t too worried, she wasn’t due until the next day. Blaze reared up on the kennel gate and still wasn’t panting. I petted her through the chain link. I started to go back to the house but something looked different about her teats. I looked inside her house and saw 4 puppies!

I wasn’t sure she was done. I carried all 4 puppies to the shed and she followed. They were all still really wet like she had had all 4 within minutes of each other. Although it was a warm day, and the air conditioner was on, I plugged the heat pad in. I had a towel in the shed in anticipation of the birth so I dried the puppies off and placed them on the heat pad. The air temperature was about 80 degrees outside but cooler in the air conditioned shed. For just born, wet puppies that is too cold. I put Blaze in the whelping box with the puppies. I sat with them for about 2 hours to make sure that was all she was going to have.

I started notifying my grand kids that I had some new puppies. I like to have the puppies handled by as many people as possible if the mother is not stressed by it. Sometimes the mother is afraid that you are going to run off with her babies but after a few days it’s like they are saying “get those pups away from me.” For the first 2 weeks I make sure I pick the pups up at least twice a day and pet them.

The busiest day the puppies had in their first 2 weeks a friend, Robin Barrows, came by in the morning, my daughter Dana Charpie, brought my grand son, Isaac, a friend and her 2 boys over about 1:00 pm. Later on, Dennis Garrison, a friend and a owner of 2 pups out of my kennel came by to pet puppies. Dennis called back later and said he wanted to buy one of the females.

At 2 days old, I took them to get their dew claws removed and have the vet, Dr. Becker owner of Independence Animal Hospital, look them over. Without the wisdom and friendship of Dr. Becker it would be hard for me to have dogs. Just knowing that a good vet is there relieves a lot of the stress of owning dogs.

I weigh the puppies at birth and each week until they go home with their new owners. I do this to make sure they are gaining weight but also to know how much worm medicine to give. At 3 or 4 weeks I worm the puppies for the first time. This litter I didn’t worm until they were 4 weeks old.

Dr. Becker gave me a recipe for replacement milk for puppies a long time ago and I still use it. I start feeding this to the puppies with some puppy food that I let soak in the milk. I start this at 3 weeks. The recipe is:
*1 can evaporated milk
*1 can of water
*1 egg yolk (yolk only, egg white isn’t good for dogs)
*1 table spoon of plain yogurt
*1 table spoon of karo syrup

At the time I start feeding the pups, 3 weeks, I start playing a cd from Master’s Voice that conditions the puppies to gun fire. Puppies are born being able to smell but with no eye sight and no hearing. They open their eyes at 10 days to 2 weeks but they can’t hear until about 3 weeks old. At 3 weeks, I turn the cd on then set the milk with soggy dog food in front of them. The puppies may not even hear it the first time or two but one of their earliest memories will be gun shots. I feed the pups twice a day and I let the cd play from the start to finish each time. I’ve had some of the people who buy my pups say they seem to like the sound of guns and others say if their dogs get out too far they can call them back with a gun shot.

When I feed the puppies, I throw a pie pan down on the concrete run. The pan makes a loud sound then I pour the milk into it. I clap my hands real loud and say “here puppy” over and over. They hear this twice a day. Soon when the pie pan hits the concrete they start toward me. When I turn them out into my yard I, also, call them to me by clapping real loud and saying, “here puppy’. I want the pups to know that when I’m around there is going to be noise.

A lot of things start happening at 3 weeks old. I have some small puppy collars that I slip on each pup. I attach a cord about 15 inches long to the collar that the pups drag around. A pup will see a cord moving in front of them and grab it. The other pup will pull back. They will teach each other to lead and a human is not involved.

A few days before the pups were 4 weeks old I moved them to the kennel. The whelping box has indoor-outdoor carpet and Blaze could no longer keep the puppies clean. Here the pups have more room and I can help Blaze keep the run clean and that will keep the pups cleaner.

I bought a kids wading pool and put it in the big pen that surrounds my kennels. On a day with the temperature in the 90’s I filled it with water. I let it warm for about 4 hours then took the puppies one at a time to the wading pool for a bath. The way the ground slopes I had a shallow side and a deep side. I soaped the puppy on the shallow side then led them across to the deep side to rinse them off. They had to swim on the deep side and none of them panicked. They just swam as I rubbed their fur to get the soap off.

Once or more often, a day I let the puppies out into my yard next to the kennel. My pigeon pens are next to the kennel so as I sit and watch the pups play, I sometimes grab a pigeon for them to play with. The first few times I lock the wings of the pigeon so it can’t flop around and scare the puppies. When I let the pigeon fly away, I hold it above the ground, so it’s wings don’t hit and make a lot of noise. The puppies usually move toward the pigeon as it flies away. When they become too aggressive for a lock wing I will start hiding a pigeon in the grass for them to find.

This is not really a daily log. A daily log would have started on day one and then been written each day. I thought about this before the pups were born but life happened. I didn’t have time each day so I’m trying to remember all the things I did to or with the puppies. They are a little over 4 weeks old now and I will try to do better over the next few weeks.

2 of the puppies playing with a lock wing pigeon.

Another pup playing with the lock wing pigeon.

Tur Bo pointing a pigeon

A close up of Tur Bo when he’s pointing.

Tur Bo holding a bumper on the retrieving table.

It rained me out yesterday but it was nice and cool this morning so I worked dogs. I worked Tur Bo on the retrieving bench and on being steady on his birds. I hid 4 pigeons, in release traps, on my neighbor’s side of the training grounds then heeled Tur Bo to the retrieving bench. He jumped onto the bench and we walked back and forth with me petting him every few feet.

I put the string on his leg with a slip knot above the first joint, a clove hitch between the first joint and his foot then circled the middle two toes. Tur Bo stands quietly while I put the cord on his toes although he really doesn’t like having it on. I took the string in my left hand and held a bumper in front of his face. When I said fetch he grabbed the bumper. I let him hold it for a few seconds while I petted his head and ears. I said give and he dropped it in my hand.

The second or third time I had him fetch he dropped the bumper without me saying give. I pulled on the string and picked the bumper up from the ground. When I got close enough for him to reach the bumper he snatched it from my hand. He doesn’t like to give after he drops the bumper on the ground and I pull the string until he takes it. I only say give one time. I hold the end of the bumper until he drops it. If he doesn’t give I rotate the bumper in his mouth and he will release it.

I varied the height of the bumpers. I used all 5 bumpers with some down near his feet and some above his head. After we had done about 25 fetches I started putting the bumper on the retrieving bench. Tur Bo has been used to taking the bumper from my hand. Now I’m asking him to pick the bumper up from the floor of the bench. I keep my hand on the bumper until he grabs it. We moved all the way down the bench with him picking it up from the floor of the bench. We went back to the other end and changed bumpers.

We went back down the bench with Tur Bo picking the bumper up from the floor of the bench. A couple of times he was either slow or was getting ready to refuse and I tugged on the string. When I just barely tugged he would start trying to take something, anything. That’s a good start for no longer than he has been on the bench. I took the string off and set him on the ground telling him to whoa.

I got on the 4-wheeler and released him. He ran to the back of the training grounds on my side then back up and crossed over onto the neighbor’s side. I rode to the back on the neighbor’s side but Tur Bo didn’t come in front of me. I rode back toward the front and saw him pointing. I took pictures then walked in front of him kicking the cover. I had 2 pigeons in a bird bag slung over my shoulder. I dropped a pigeon in front of him and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I had 4 pigeons, in release traps, hidden in the tall weeds about 20 yards apart. I flushed a pigeon that was farthest from him and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move.

I continued to kick the tall grass and dropped the last pigeon from the bird bag and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover then flushed a pigeon from another release trap and shot the blank pistol. He knew it wasn’t his bird but he decided he could move closer to his bird. He took a step and stopped. I held the transmitter button down on, level 3, on his flank collar, picked him up and carried him back. I let off the button when his feet touched the ground.

I went back to kicking the cover and flushed a closer pigeon and shot the blank pistol. This time he didn’t move. The only pigeon left was the one he was pointing. He was only about 3 or 4 yards from it. I kicked the cover, flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He lunged at the pigeon, almost doing a flip when it flew away. I had been holding the transmitter and pressed the button on level 3. After his lunge he stopped. I held the button down on the flank collar, picked him up and set him back. I let him stay on point while I kicked the cover in front of him. I went to him and led him away after petting him. I released him to run. We went to the back of my side then back to the kennel.

When the weather cools down I will probably get back to working all of the dogs. Right now I’ve started Tur Bo on the retrieving bench and I want to get him through it.

Tur Bo

Tur Bo after the pigeons have flown away.

Tur Bo

Tur Bo on the retrieving bench.

A close up of Tur Bo pointing a pigeon.

Tur Bo after some of the pigeons have flown.

Working the dogs real early doesn’t help all that much. It was 77 degrees at 6:00 am this morning. I only worked Tur Bo and left the other dogs in the kennel. It’s hot for him but once I started the force breaking I don’t want to quit until I’m through. I also worked him on some pigeons I hid on the training grounds. It took between 30 and 45 minutes to work him on the bench and on the pigeons then back to the kennel where I had given all of the dogs fresh, cool water.

I heeled Tur Bo to the retrieving bench with an e-collar on his neck and one around his flanks. He jumped onto the bench and we walked back and forth with me petting him every few feet. I hooked him to the cable that runs down the bench and slid the slip knot above the first joint in his leg, put a clove hitch under the joint and wrapped the string around the center two toes of his foot. I petted him some more. The petting may be the most important part of the training.

I took the of the string in my hand and held a bumper in front of him. I put a little pressure on the string and said fetch. He grabbed the bumper. I petted him telling him what a good boy he is, then said give. He dropped it in my hand. I held the bumper above his head and down around his feet, varying it each time. He grabbed the bumper no matter where I held it. I had 5 different bumpers and had him take each one several different times. After going through the 5 bumpers I started over and had him take them all 3 or 4 times each. All told he probably did about 40 fetches. He didn’t drop it at all this morning and he didn’t refuse to retrieve but I didn’t give him that option. As soon as I said fetch I started tightening the string. That makes him grab the bumper quickly.

The last two mornings I have hidden the pigeons on my side of the training grounds but this morning I put them on my neighbor’s side. I set him on the ground and released him to hunt. I jumped on the 4-wheeler to follow him. He had to check the places where I had put the birds the last 2 mornings then he crossed to the neighbor’s side. We went to the back and started back toward the front. When we got near the front he went on point. From where he was pointed all of the pigeons, in release traps, were in front of him.

I took pictures then walked in front of him kicking the cover. I had 3 pigeons, in a bird bag, slung over my shoulder. I dropped one behind me as I kicked the tall grass. I didn’t have the blank pistol with me this morning. When I dropped the pigeon he watched it fly away but didn’t move his feet. I continued to kick the cover then flushed the pigeon in a release trap that was the farthest from him. He didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover and dropped another pigeon from the bird bag. Again, he just watched it fly away. He was only about 5 yards from the pigeon he was pointing and he knew it hadn’t flown.

I tried to make as much noise as possible by kicking the cover real hard. Then I threw sticks and handfuls of grass but he didn’t move. I flushed another pigeon that was in a release trap and was a long way from him. He watched but didn’t move his feet. I continued to kick the cover then dropped the last pigeon I had in the bag. He didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover then flushed a pigeon from a release trap that was a little closer to him. He didn’t move. I was walking straight toward him kicking the tall grass and flushed the bird he was pointing. It came out of the trap and flew right over his head. He turned around and watched it fly away but didn’t try to chase. I led him away then released him to run. I picked up the traps then rode the 4-wheeler to the back then back to the kennel. He stayed out front all the way.

It’s so hot I’m not going to work Tur Bo or any of the dogs every morning. I may just work Tur Bo 2 or 3 days a week until it cools down. I have quite a while to get him broke although the season will be here before we know it. Thanks to everyone that has clicked on an ad that was on these posts.

Tur Bo

Tur Bo

Tur Bo