Traveling Pointing Dogs

The forecast today was for rain all day so about 8:00 am I loaded Tur Bo, Blaze and Whitey along with 6 pigeons into the truck for the trip to the county park. When I put the pigeons out I wanted to do something different, so I put them along the edge of the woods. I walked through the areas that I usually placed the birds so my tracks would be there. When I put the first 2 pigeons out the wind was out of the south west, but by the time I got back to release a dog, it had changed.

Whitey

Whitey

I heeled Whitey to the edge of the open field, whoaed her and tapped her on the head to release her. She went back and forth through the field where I had been putting the birds. One of her passes took her close to the woods on the edge of the field and she got enough smell to point. The bird was in the edge of some brush and I made a lot of noise kicking, then flushed the pigeon and fired the blank gun. She never moved. I continued to kick then tapped her on the head to release her.

The wind changed again and on the second bird she had the wind right when she pointed. I walked back and forth making a lot of noise kicking the brush. She pointed this time with her tail up a little. When I flushed the bird and fired the pistol she never moved. I continued to kick the cover then released her to run.

Blaze

Blaze

The way the wind was swirling I decided to move the birds to the other side of the field. The road that runs south has only about 100 feet of grass on the east side of the road and I put a bird on the east of the road and one on the west. I heeled Blaze about 100 yards to the west of the road and turned her loose. She hunted the grassy areas but she was not fooled for very long. She hunted close to the road and pointed the bird that was on the west side. I kicked the cover and flushed the bird. I watched her real careful. She didn’t move when I flushed the bird but when I shot the blank she started moving. I held the button down on the e-collar that was on her flanks until she quit moving. The e-collar was on level 2. I picked her up and put her back where she pointed originally. I walked around, kicking the cover then tapped her on the head to release her.

She knows what she is supposed to do but she is willfully disobeying. So I turned her e-collar up to level 4. She pointed the second bird and when I flushed it she never moved but when I shot the blank pistol she started moving. I hit the button on the e-collar and she put on the brakes. I carried her back to the original spot and walked in front of her kicking the cover. I fired the blank pistol and said whoa loudly. She started to move but didn’t. Again I shot the blank pistol and said whoa. This time she didn’t move. I released her.

Tur Bo

Tur Bo

I brought Tur Bo out and heeled him about 100 yards west of the road. I whoaed him then tapped him on the head to release him. He made a couple of passes through the field where I have been planting the birds then pointed the bird to the west of the road. I took a picture from the side then said whoa 1 time then walked in front and took 3 more pictures. One of the 3 I took from in front I squatted down and took it through the tall grass. He never moved. I stood up, kicked the cover and flushed the pigeon. He chased and I fired the blank pistol.

He only chased for a short distance then went back to hunting. He crossed the road and went on point. He was almost on top of the second bird when he crossed the road. I took a picture but I didn’t make him stand very long before I flushed the bird. When he started chasing I fired the blank pistol. He hunted back to the truck.

So much for rainy forecast. I worked the dogs, then a friend brought a Lab puppy over and we worked it on pigeons. After lunch I worked on my lawn mower, then mowed until evening. I rain out real easy and I worked all day. But any day you can get dogs to point 6 times is a good day.

The forecast is for the temperature to be in the 90’s today so about 7:30 am I loaded Blaze, Whitey, Tur Bo and 6 pigeons into the truck for the trip to the county park. Lately there has been people parked in the parking lot when I got there but not this morning. I left the dogs in the truck while I put the pigeons out. Instead of putting the pigeons close together as I have been doing I spread them out about 75 yards apart. While I was putting the pigeons out I remembered that I hadn’t brought the camera so I made sure the release traps with the pigeons in them were hid real well and drove back home for it.

Blaze

Blaze

I put the e-collars on Blaze, on the tail gate of the truck, then heeled her to the field. We had a south east wind of about 10 miles an hour. She found the first bird real quick. I walked in front of her kicking the cover then I flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol. She never moved. I kicked some more then released her to hunt.

I went on to the south of the first bird and kept Blaze with me expecting her to find the second bird. She hunted that area real well and wanted to move on down the field and I kept calling her back. She went over all of that part of the field again and still didn’t find the bird. This field is probably 30 acres with woods all around it but out where I hide the birds it’s just tall grass with a few weeds. I was really starting to worry about Blaze’s nose until I figured out she had pointed the farther bird and the other bird was back closer to the truck. When I let her work that end of the field she found it right away. When I flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol she tried to chase. I whoaed her and she stopped. I picked her up and carried her back to where she had been on point. After I kicked in front of her I tapped her on the head to release her.

Whitey

Whitey

I put Blaze back into the truck and brought Whitey out. After putting the e-collars on her I heeled her to the field and released her. It helps when I can remember where I put the birds. Whitey doesn’t really like pigeons but it’s better than staying in the kennel. When she points, every thing must be perfect for her to raise her tail. If she is close with the wind directly from the bird to her she will raise her tail a little, if she’s getting the scent in a cross wind she is rigid but her tail is just level. Her first point was of the level tail kind. When I flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol she didn’t move. I continued to kick in front then tapped her on the head to release her.

As she moved down the field the wind came up a little and she got the scent of the second bird a little better than she did the first. She’s still not even close to a 12 o’clock tail on pigeons. When I flushed the bird and shot the pistol she took a step. I carried her back, walked in front, and tapped her on the head to release her. Then took her back to the truck.

Tur Bo

Tur Bo

Tur Bo had heard the pistol shots and he was ready. I heeled him out to the field, whoaed him then tapped him on the head to release him. He’s a lot like Luke, he goes all out until he hits the scent cone and he slams into a point. His first bird, when he slammed into his point, his tail was level with his back. I waited and it started coming up. His head was real high when he pointed and as I waited his tail came all the way up. I whoaed him 1 time then walked in front of him. I kicked the cover then flushed the bird. I’m trying to make him point for longer and longer. He chased the pigeon. He likes pigeons.

He didn’t chase the first bird very far and came back to hunt. He made a big cast then hit the second bird. This time his head was up and so was his tail. I still have not touched him when he was on point. Each picture is the way he was at the time. I whoaed him 1 time then walked in front of him. I took a picture then looked at the camera. When I looked back at him he was moving toward the bird. I launched the bird and fired the pistol. When the bird came out it never got very high and Tur Bo was pretty close so he chased for a long ways. We hunted back to the truck.

Each day I work dogs now is almost a carbon copy of the day before but that’s the nature of dog training. Dogs learn by repetition and so you have to do the same things over and over until they do it the way you want. Then you have to do it some more. After a while it gets boring to do and I know it’s boring to read about but it’s necessary.

It was in the 80’s yesterday when I trained and the forecast for today was for it to be in the 90’s so I started about 7:00 am. I ran the young dogs early and then had to wait for my pigeons to come back before training the older dogs. I trained Luke, Lucky and Dolly about 9:30 and it was already getting hot.

Luke

I put 2 pigeons out about 75 yards apart and turned Luke loose to hunt. I wanted to hurry because of the heat so I didn’t even take the dogs out of the truck until it was time to run them. Luke is always going all out, so when he hits the scent cone he slams into a point. This time was no exception. I walked in front of him kicking the cover, flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol. He never moved. I continued to kick the cover, then tapped him on the head to release him.

His second bird was about like the first. When he pointed he was rigid all over. I walked back and forth for a long time then finally flushed the bird and fired the blank. He never moved. I walked in front of him kicking the cover, then tapped him on the head to release him.

Lucky

Lucky was next up. I heeled him from the truck to the field, whoaed him then tapped him on the head to release him to hunt. He moved into the field, working the wind. I could tell he smelled the bird a long time before he pointed and he was still 20 yards from the bird when he stopped. When I guide this is my most productive dog. He knows how close to get or how far to stay away before pointing and he learned this at an early age. I walked in front of him, kicking the cover. When I flushed the bird and shot, it came over his head real low. His head moved but his feet didn’t. I kicked some more then tapped him on the head to release him.

He was closer to the next bird when he hit the scent cone. I walked in front kicking the cover. I flushed the bird and shot the blank pistol. He never moved. I tapped him on the head then I started back to the truck to put him up and get Dolly out. The field I was working dogs in is about 35 acres surrounded by woods all the way around. I looked for Lucky when I was almost back to the truck and he was running the edge of the field next to the woods. He will be 10 years old this month and it was 80 degrees but he was bred to find birds and he was trying his best. They are too soon old.

Dolly

Dolly is eight years old and she had been whining to go ever since we had parked the truck. If the dogs whine or bark I make them wait until last and she has been last all year. I heeled her to the field and released her to hunt. She started to make a big cast then got some scent and trailed toward the pigeon until she was about 15 yards from it, then pointed. I sometimes wonder if the dogs ever get to talking amongst themselves and say our owner must not be too smart. We point right at the bird and he’s off 25 or 30 yards in the wrong direction trying to flush the bird. Anyway I kicked the cover then flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol. She never moved. I continued to kick the cover then tapped her on the head to release her.

She was from one side of the field to the other. She hit the scent cone on her second bird and froze. She was about 25 yards from the pigeon but she was getting a lot of scent. Her head was real high and her tail was almost 12 o’clock. I walked in front of her, flushed the bird and shot. She never moved. I picked up the traps and she hunted back to the truck.

Writing this blog makes me think about things that I might not think of without it. Like Lucky being 10 years old and Dolly 8. I raised both of them from pups. I owned the sire and dam of both of them. At 10 this may be Lucky’s last year or last year might have been and Dolly doesn’t have very many more. Then to take that line of thought even further, last year may have been my last, also.

The Lord has always taken care of me and I think he will again. I expect to be hunting for several more years.

I didn’t get a chance to work dogs today until after lunch and it was over 80 degrees. I didn’t work Tur Bo on heel and whoa. I loaded Tur Bo, Whitey, Blaze and 6 pigeons into the truck and went to the county park.

Whitey

I tied the dogs to a fence in the shade and put out 2 pigeons. I have been putting the pigeons close together but today I spread them out so the dogs would have a chance to point twice. I put the e-collars on Whitey and heeled her to the road. It was so hot I only heeled her a short distance then released her to hunt. Today the wind was only about 5 miles an hour from the south. When she hit the scent cone she pointed. She was rigid but her tail was level with her back. On wild quail she looks good and she likes pigeons but she doesn’t want to waste any style on them. I walked in front, flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol. She never moved. I kicked the cover then tapped her on the head to release her.

On her second bird, she crossed the scent cone pretty close to the pigeon and whirled into a point. Again her tail was level with her back. I walked in front of her kicking the cover, flushed the pigeon and fired the blank pistol. She took 2 or 3 steps and stopped when I said whoa. I picked her up and put her back. I went in front of her and kicked the cover. I walked back and tapped her on the head to release her.

Blaze

I heeled Blaze a short distance down the road then released her to hunt. We didn’t have very much wind so Blaze was pretty close when she hit the scent cone. Blaze always looks good on point. I walked in front of her, flushed the bird and shot the blank pistol. She never moved. I kicked the cover some more then tapped her on the head to release her.

Blaze pointed her second bird and I walked in front, kicking the cover, flushed the bird and shot the pistol. The pigeon flew right back over her head and she turned to watch it fly away. I kicked the cover and tapped her on the head to release her.

Tur Bo

Tur Bo was next. I only heeled him a short distance but I did 3 or 4 180 degree turns then released him to hunt. He was really running when he hit the scent cone, whirled around and pointed. His head was up but his tail was straight out behind. I stopped and waited. His tail came up, slowly, but finally was at 12 o’clock. I whoaed him 1 time then walked in front. I have been standing to the side or behind him. The last time I worked him and this time I walked in front kicking the tall grass. I flushed the bird and fired the blank pistol. He chased but not very far.

He pointed the second bird with good style. I whoaed him 1 time and walked in front. He started to move (I saw his tail move and knew he was going to move) and I whoaed him again. He never moved. I kicked some more then flushed the bird and shot the blank pistol. He chased.

I enjoy working dogs on birds. In less than an hour I got 6 points and the young dogs learned a little more. With more repetitions they will become steady to wing and shot, I hope.