Traveling Pointing Dogs

I have pretty well settled on the name of Stormy for the new puppy. With Stormy Daniels in the news I almost backed out on the name. But I had the name picked out before she, Stormy Daniels, showed up in the news. Stormy’s registered name will be Windypoint’s Black Storm. To lighten my load of training I sent Bodie to Nebraska/South Dakota with Justin Crook for his summer program. Bodie did really well last season on wild birds, but this should give him a lot more experience. The outlook for the area where Justin trains is for a good hatch of wild birds.

Stormy on the retrieving bench.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

Since Bodie is gone I have been working the puppies most mornings on some pigeons. I have a chain gang set up near the whoa barrel. I clean pens and then let the two puppies out and we walk to the chain gang. One morning, before Bodie left, Annie wouldn’t go near the chain gang. In fact, she went back to her pen. I put her in the kennel and worked Bodie and Stormy in front of her. I made sure Annie could hear me praising them. The next time I turned her loose she went to the chain gang.

When I first started working Annie on the pigeons in release traps, she would take a step or two back when the bird was flushed. And sometimes, it looked like she was almost blinking the bird. She would circle the release trap but only some of the time. Sometimes it didn’t seem to bother her. I had introduced her to the trap the way I do most of the pups.

I started flushing the pigeons as soon as I could see her react in the slightest way to scenting the pigeon. If she just turned her head toward the hidden pigeon as she ran by, I flushed the bird. Most of the time she was quite aways from the bird. Now after several weeks of birds, she doesn’t seem affected at all. But as with all dog training, we must be vigilant and read our dogs. Fix things as they happen instead of letting them accumulate.

Now to what we have been doing, lately. I put both puppies on the chain gang and go get 5 or 6 pigeons. I hide 3 birds, fairly close together, on the training grounds. I put a pigeon in a release trap, with a string tied to it’s feet, in front of the whoa barrel and another on a string on a short PVC pipe. Some of the time while I’m getting these birds ready, I put a pigeon to sleep right in front of the puppies.

Annie pointing a pigeon.

Then I put a short check cord on Annie and lead her to the whoa barrel. She has been on the barrel enough that she jumps on with a little help from me. I have a couple of ropes dropped down from the beam at the top that I snap to her collar and one around her flanks. I style her up telling her whoa over and over. I walk out front and all around her telling her whoa in a calm manner. Some of the time I use a clicker and give her a chunk of hotdog.

I whoa her and flush the pigeon from the release trap. Until she got over her fear or whatever it was of the release trap I put the trap right in front of the whoa barrel. I flushed the bird from the release trap several times. With the neck and flank straps she couldn’t step back. This may have helped get her past her problem with the release traps. I flew the bird tied to the PVC pole right in front of her. After a few times with both birds I took the strings off and let the pigeons fly away from right in front of her. I think all of this builds desire.

Boss loves the retrieving bench. He jumped on it so I would pet him there.

When I set her on the ground I whoaed her. I style her up just as I did on the barrel. I tap her head and we go hunting the birds hidden in the bird field. It’s hard to get pictures of Annie on point because most days she doesn’t point for very long. Although I want pictures, it’s more important that I keep an eye on her to flush the pigeons when they need to be released. Annie is really hardheaded, which is not a bad trait for a bird dog. Some days, as I closely watch, she will just turn toward the bird when she smells it. I flush the bird. Other days she will point just as soon as she hits the scent cone. She looks great, with a high head and straight tail. But she seldom points for very long. This is not a big problem. She will learn to hold for longer periods of time.

On the way back to the chain gang we pass the retrieving bench. I help her up on it and pet her. Most times, I click the clicker and give her a chunk of hotdog. Then I whoa her and style her up. When she stands for just a second, I click and give her a piece of hotdog. I walk to different spots on the retrieving bench and style her up. After 5 or 6 times I put her back on the chain gang.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

Then it’s Stormy’s time. After I reload the release traps, I put a couple of pigeons in a bird bag. She’s young enough to be right under my feet until we start to the bird field. There is no reason for a check cord. I put her on the whoa barrel. I style her up but she is still learning and still wants to move. She has fallen off the barrel, but it didn’t make much of an impression. I do style her up and walk around her telling her to whoa.

Getting her to stand still is a challenge. But she’s young. She will come around. I turn a pigeon loose from the bird bag right in front of her. I style her up after she quits watching the pigeon as it flies away. Even at this young age she watches the birds fly off with all of her attention. I let another bird fly from my hand. I set her on the ground and whoa her. I tap her head and we start to the bird field.

Bodie again.

I walk these pups, usually, twice a day. There is a distinct difference when there are birds hidden and when we just go for a walk. There is about 10 weeks difference in these two pups, but Stormy is more aggressive with the pigeons, when she catches one, than Annie. Stormy also holds her point for a longer period than Annie. Just difference in puppies. Doesn’t necessarily make one better than the other.

Stormy is just over 10 weeks old and she already checks each place that I have hidden a bird for her in the past as we go through the bird field. But she is using her nose. She doesn’t point the spots but just slows down and uses her nose. I run the side by side on both sides so there is a lot of tracks. I don’t want them to learn to follow the side by side to find the birds.

After she finds the 3 birds that are hidden in the bushes we go back by the retrieving bench. I set her on the bench and style her up, saying whoa over and over. Usually, 5 different places on the bench. Annie was much easier to get to stand still than Stormy. Stormy is pretty hyper but she’s learning that she has to be still to get some hotdog. It’s amazing how hard all of the dogs work for just a little sliver of hotdog.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

It’s going to be really hot even early in the morning for the next couple of days so I may not work them on birds but I will still walk them a couple times a day. Not only is this good for them it’s also good for me.

I came home with another puppy last night. This one is a stud fee puppy from a litter bred by Mann out of a sister to Abby. I was out of kennel runs so I doubled her up with Annie. It will take them a couple of days to get used to each other, I think. A lot of people put different aged pups together and it works well. This is my first time. Usually, I don’t have this many dogs.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

Boss on point.

Bodie pointing a covey.

I apologize for having to re-use pictures. My computer, for some reason, hides the new pictures from me. I may have more than the computer can handle. I don’t know. I’m a low tech guy in a high tech world. I hope to get this worked out soon.

When I clean pens I turn the older dogs into a big pen. Last night I turned Annie and the new puppy out in my yard before releasing the other dogs into the big pen. I scooped up the poop and bagged it with the new puppy whining to get back with me. As I started washing the first kennel down I saw the new puppy about 4 feet up the fence around the big pen. She was unsteady but not showing any fear. I grabbed her and put her back in her kennel, alone.

After I cleaned pens I took both puppies into the back yard. I sat in a chair in the shade and let them play. The new puppy, I’m thinking about Stormy for a name, didn’t want to be near Annie. Pretty soon Annie went to check on some of her hot spots and Stormy was fine. She investigated the area. Shouldn’t be long before she’s used to the routine.

I worked Bodie and Annie 5 days last week but only got in 3 days this week. Sunday night when it was pretty hot my air conditioner quit. We did without air Monday and about 2:30 Tuesday the heating and air guys had us back up and running. Having air conditioning is way better than not. But anyway for 2 days I didn’t have time for working dogs.

I work Bodie first and Annie is hooked to the chain gang. She can see me work Bodie on the barrel. That let’s her see a lot of birds. For Bodie I flush a bird out of a release trap, with a string tied to the bird and the trap, and I have one on a string from a short PVC pipe. I fly each bird several times for Bodie and Annie sees them, also.

Annie finding dog food in the grass.

After I work Bodie I reload 3 release traps on the training grounds and 1 in front of the whoa barrel. I also put another pigeon on the string from the PVC pipe. But before I put the pigeons on the string and the release trap in front of the whoa barrel, I put a bird to sleep right in front of her on the chain gang. She smells and sees the bird as I’m hooking the other birds to their strings. When I come to take her off the chain gang I wake the pigeon up and let it fly away.

For Annie I move both pigeons real close to the barrel. I flush the pigeon from the release trap several times and let the one on the PVC pipe fly several times. With the 3 birds hidden on the training grounds she gets to see several flushes each day.

When I’m through flushing the birds for her on the barrel I bring each of them near her on the barrel and release the pigeon from my hand. Then I set her on the ground and have her whoa again before turning her loose. This morning she was on whoa but decided to leave before I tapped her on the head. I grabbed her check cord, set her back on whoa and made her stand a few seconds longer than usual before tapping her head to release her.

Mann honoring the backing dog.

Annie stayed in front of me pretty well until she hit the scent cone of the first pigeon. It was hidden on the very back fence line and Annie was in the thick stuff when she got the scent. She pointed and I could just see about half her body. After just a few seconds she took a step and I flushed the pigeon. Annie was 10 yards or more from this bird and she went toward the bird. We went back to hunting.

On the second bird, she smelled it, then the wind changed a little and she lost it. Since she was a long way from the bird I let her move. She moved the right way and got a good line on the scent and pointed. Her head was hidden by a tree but her tail was up and she wasn’t moving. I waited, watching for her first movement. As soon as she moved a foot I flushed the pigeon. She hardly moved. Just watched it fly away.

When we got near the third bird she smelled it and went toward it. I flushed it before she got close. She chased a short distance and went back to hunting. That’s all of the birds we had out so we went to the retrieving bench.

Sally, Abby and Bodie honoring Boss.

I’ve been styling Annie up and telling her whoa on the retrieving bench. Then I feed her a chunk of hotdog. It’s sometime amazing what these dogs will do for a chunk of hotdog. This morning I introduced something new for her. I used a clicker. In the past I’ve tried the clicker but when I watch the videos on how to use a clicker, I can’t hear the clicker. So I’m just winging it.

Annie is doing so well, with me just styling her up on the bench, that I think I will stick with the clicker for a while and see if it will help. I style her up and she does real well holding her tail up but wants to drop her head or move it around. I had the clicker in my left hand which was the hand under her chin and since it was new she wanted to watch it. After a couple of times getting bumped under the chin she quit watching the clicker. When she stood with a high head and tail for just a few seconds I clicked and gave her a chunk of hotdog. I styled her up in 5 different places on the bench.

We went back close to the chain gang and I sat in a chair for a few minutes and let her play. I fed her a few pieces of the hotdog and clicked each time. I put her in the kennel and brought Stormy out.

Another shot of Bodie honoring the backing dog.

Annie wasn’t too happy about me paying attention to another puppy. She could see us just sitting there with me having the other puppy in my lap. This puppy climbs. She climbed up the side of my chair to get in my lap. After a few minutes sitting we walked to the back. Stormy explored pretty well for a puppy that won’t be 8 weeks old until tomorrow. I took her back to the kennel.

A little bit about working Bodie today. I worked him on the barrel and then turned him loose to find the 3 birds I had hidden in the release traps. He pointed the first bird and I thought he was way off the bird so I tapped him on the head. He moved a little and went back on point. I still thought the release trap was a long way from him but I tried to flush the bird and it didn’t go. I had forgot to turn the trap on. I looked for the trap but I had done a really good job hiding it. Finally, I saw it and turned it on. I flushed the bird and he stood as it flew away. We went back to hunting.

I came around a patch of brush just in time to see Bodie point. I took about 2 steps toward him and he started in. Fast. I flushed the pigeon and it came right over his head as he was going in and lit in a tree just a short distance away. He followed and stopped under the tree. I whoaed him, picked him up and set him down where he should have stayed on point. Then I found a shady spot and made him stand there for 2 minutes. I timed him on my watch, 120 seconds. When you are actually timing it, it seems longer. I lead him away then tapped his head to release him.

Mann pointing a single.

He found his third bird and looked good on his point. I walked in front of him kicking the ground and he didn’t move. I kicked some of the tall weeds and he moved a hind foot. I set him back. I kicked the tall weeds and he moved a half step. I set him back. I kicked the tall weeds and he didn’t move, finally. I held his check cord and flushed the pigeon. He didn’t move. I stroked him up and lead him away. I tapped his head to release him. When we got to the kennel I put him up.

I really enjoy watching the young dogs learn. It would be a lot better at 60 degrees rather than the upper 80’s to low 90’s. But we will work with whatever we have.

It may have been, and probably was, more than a week from the last post I did with Annie. But I do work with her most days at least one time. Most of the days, I walk her morning and evening. Miss Annie is extremely hard headed. If she wants to do something she is very easy but when she doesn’t she is extremely defiant. I think some of this will make her a good bird dog but it’s a real pain to train her.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

Abby honoring Sally.

I have to recycle some pictures for a while until I get my pictures figured out. For some reason my computer decided to store the pictures in a place I can’t find. Hopefully, I will get this figured out soon. But I’m really low tech in a high tech world.

Now back to Annie. When I first got her she wouldn’t come to me at all. I had to chase her down to do most anything with her. I tried a lot of different things but the only thing that worked was cutting a hotdog in about 20 pieces and goiving her a chunk. I got her coming pretty good until this week. When I’m going to let her run of the evening I put a short check cord on her. I, also, put one on her of the morning. For the last few days she doesn’t want the check cord.

My routine of the evening is to let her play in the shade near a chair that I sit in. I throw some adult dog food in the grass and she has to use her nose to find the food. After she finds most of the dog food we walk to the back and return to the chair. She plays with sticks or anything she can find while I sit and occasionally call her to me. I save a few pieces of the adult food and let her eat it from my hand.

Most of the time she goes back to the kennel when I walk that way. A couple of days ago she wasn’t ready to go back and instead of coming with me she went toward my house. Or the garden. Or across the fence. She has figured out how long the check cord is and how to keep it just out of my reach.

Monday, after I turned all of the dogs into the big pen and fed and cleaned their runs, Annie wouldn’t let me put the check cord on her. After trying to catch her for a minute or so, I opened her kennel and she went right in. I went to my chair in the shade and sat for a while. She could see me from her kennel. She barked, wanting me to come release her. After a while I walked to the back and then came back to my chair. She barked some more. After a while I went to the house.

Yesterday evening I had the same thing. So I put her in her kennel and sat in my chair. This time she didn’t even bark, although she watched me. I ignored her. After a few minutes I walked to the back and then back to my chair. A child may have figured out what I was doing to it but she hasn’t. This evening I will try something different. I’m just not sure what.

Annie pointing a pigeon.

Both dogs, Annie and Bodie, are hooked to the chain gang when I work them both, each morning. I work Bodie first on 2 pigeons, one tied to a release trap and one on a short pole, and she can see what we are doing on the whoa barrel. Then I have 3 pigeons hidden for Bodie to point. We work them then I reload for Annie.

I have been letting the birds that we use on the barrel fly away before I take Bodie off the whoa barrel. Annie didn’t pay a lot of attention to the pigeons once they quit flying, before this morning. Today, I noticed that she was watching the pigeons that I was using with Bodie so I put one in a release trap and tied one to a pole. Annie stills shows a little reluctance to be aggressive with a bird in a release trap. Not every time but occasionally.

So this morning I put her on the whoa barrel with the two pigeons right in front of her. I picked up the short stick and let that pigeon fly around her then land right in front of the barrel. She was really watching. I flushed the bird from the release trap. No adverse reaction from Annie. I flew the bird on the short pole. I put the pigeon back in the release trap and flushed it 5 or more times. I flew the one on the short pole several times. Then I released the birds from the strings and let them fly from my hands right in front of her. She was excited.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

I took her off the barrel and we went hunting for the 3 birds I had hidden on the training grounds. She was running down an edge when she hit the scent cone. She pointed then moved away from the bird. Then she circled around and hit the scent cone again and pointed. This time when she moved I flushed the bird. After the bird flew away she went to the release trap. We went on to the neighbor’s side of the training grounds.

We had a pretty strong wind and she pointed from a long distance but then lost the scent and moved closer. She pointed again and when she took a step I flushed the pigeon. It flew into a tree just above the trap. She watched it for a while then we went back to hunting.

The next bird was hidden in a big clump of brush. The wind was from the south west and her first point was a long way away on the west side of the clump. The way the wind was blowing she couldn’t have been getting much smell. After a few seconds she went around the clump and the next time she was in the scent cone. She pointed hard but then took a step. I flushed the bird and it fluttered out of the release trap. It landed right beside the trap. Annie was after it. When she got close the bird flew but slowly and real close to the ground.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

This must have been a young pigeon. It tried to land on a bush about 2 feet tall but it wouldn’t support the birds weight. All the time Annie is trying to catch it but it’s staying just a short jump ahead. The bird flew to the north with Annie right behind. Pretty soon the pigeon came flying back where I could see it and Annie was right behind. Finally, the pigeon got some altitude and lit high up in a tree. That was really good for Annie.

I have been putting Annie on the retrieving bench and styling her up and saying, “whoa” to her. She knows that she will get a chunk of hotdog several times on the bench so she is usually ready to be placed on the bench. In fact this morning she reared up on the bench.

When I placed her on the bench I styled her up and she did it pretty well. I gave her a hotdog chunk and went down the bench and did it again. I styled her up in 5 different spots on the bench, telling her, “whoa, whoa” over and over. Then when I take her off the bench I make her whoa on the ground. I tap her head and say, “Okay”. Now, she expects to whoa when she goes to the ground from the whoa barrel or the retrieving bench. We went back to my chair.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

After a while I wanted her to go back to the kennel. I started walking that way. She started toward my garden which is not the way I was going. I knelt down with a chunk of hotdog in my hand and called her to me. She came close but not to me. I cut the distance in half and held the hotdog out toward her. She reluctantly took the hotdog and I picked up the check cord. Had I not grabbed the check cord she would have left. I took her to her kennel and gave her another chunk of hotdog before she kenneled.

I worked Bodie on the whoa barrel then heeled him close to his first bird. I had been turning him loose at the whoa barrel and he would be on point by the time I got to his first bird. I wasn’t sure whether he was moving before I got there or not. This morning I heeled him close before turning him loose. He was running down the edge when he hit the scent cone and whirled and slid to a point. He looked good. I waited behind him, without moving, for several seconds before going to him. He never tried to move.

Annie finding dog food in the grass.

I went to him and stroked his sides. Then I kicked the cover in front of him. He never moved. I stroked his sides then held the check cord and flushed the pigeon. He never moved. I thought, “Boy, you are getting this. Almost steady to wing and flush.” I stroked him up and led him away.

When he got to the next bird it was almost a repeat of the first. He slammed into a point and looked good. I started toward him and he jumped in and I flushed the pigeon. But I was too slow. He caught the bird. I grabbed the check cord and the pigeon got away. I stood him where he should have stayed on point and told him to whoa. I walked around him kicking the cover. Then I stood in the shade for a while. Two more times I walked all around him kicking the cover and telling him to whoa. I made him stay on whoa for about 5 minutes before leading him way.

I was watching when he hit the scent cone on the next bird. He hit the scent cone and just locked up. I look at how the check cord is laying when I get to most of the points. Sometimes, I can tell whether the dog moved or not. This check cord was straight. He slammed on the brakes without turning either way.

Annie with a pigeon.

I stroked him up then kicked in front of him. He was steady. I held the check cord as I released the bird. And it’s a good thing I did. The bird hit a limb and fluttered a little and Bodie tried to pull my arm off. I set him back and whoaed him. After a few seconds I tapped his head and lead him away.

I don’t know why he decided to catch that pigeon in the release trap when he had been doing real well all week but he did. Maybe he was just mad at the pigeons. When he was on the whoa barrel I had flown several birds close to him and he couldn’t catch those. Maybe he knew he could beat me and catch one. I don’t know but we will keep working on it.

I have been working Annie most days, when it’s not raining, on pigeons hidden, in release traps, in the cover on both sides of the training grounds. Annie shows a little fear of the release traps. Some of the time she starts backing up as soon as she smells the bird. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to bother her. The more birds I flush the better she acts about the trap.

Annie pouncing on a pigeon.

Annie finding dog food in the grass.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

I have started carrying some pigeons in the bird bag with me. When Annie points I toss a pigeon in front of her and then flush the bird from the release trap. She is hard focused on the pigeon from my hand and the release trap doesn’t bother her. But the last time I hid 3 birds in the release traps I left the bird bag, with 3 pigeons in it, on the side by side.

We were already to the training grounds when I remembered I didn’t have the bird bag, so we went on to the first bird. Just as soon as Annie showed that she smelled the pigeon I flushed it then encouraged her to chase it. She didn’t back up or try to get away from the release trap, at all. But she didn’t chase either. Just watched it fly away.

We continued down the training grounds then onto the neighbor’s side. The wind was wrong for us on this pigeon. She could go on three sides of the hidden bird but the wind didn’t let her smell the bird the first pass. Then the wind shifted just a little and she pointed. As soon as she pointed, I flushed the pigeon. It fluttered a little then flew real low in front of her. She thought she could catch this bird and I thought she would too. But the pigeon stayed just out of reach.

We had one more pigeon in a release trap hidden on our grounds. We started toward it. When she hit the scent on this bird she started trying to get behind me and I started backing up to keep her from it. I backed up for about ten yards then some brush stopped me. I started back toward the pigeon and Annie went in front and pointed. I flushed the bird and it just flew a few feet and landed on a low limb. She followed and jumped several times trying to get the bird. But it was a little too high.

We went back to the side by side and got the bird bag with 3 pigeons inside. Back to the training grounds but Annie is smart enough to know that I have birds and I will put one to sleep and hide it in the grass. She stayed right by my side for quite a while. Finally she got a little way ahead and I hid the pigeon. When she came back she smelled the bird and went straight to it. When she got close it flushed and flew away. She chased a short distance.

Bodie with a pigeon asleep in front of him.

We went on toward the back on the neighbor’s side. She got far enough away from me that I hid another bird in the tall grass. She pointed and stood for maybe 20 seconds before pouncing on the pigeon. She had a good grip on the pigeon but without breaking the skin. She partly kept it from getting away by lying on the bird with her chest. Then she moved a little and the bird got away. She chased this one quite aways.

I hid the next pigeon in the edge of some brush. Annie smelled it from quite a distance but just as she got close the pigeon awoke and flushed. It flew to a low limb and Annie was right behind it all the way. When the bird landed it fluttered a little and she tried to jump high enough to get the bird. I walked back toward the kennel and she followed after a few seconds.

On Saturday, June 1, I went to a puppy seminar in Toronto Kansas put on by Bud Moore and Justin Crook. I took Annie with me. This was about 2 hours and 45 minute’s drive, for me, each way. Annie has only been for short drives since I have brought her home. She needs to get used to riding in the dog box.

Sally

I got to the seminar a few minutes before it started and met a few of the people that were attending as well as Mr. Bud Moore. I had brought a tie out stake with me and tied Annie close to where 4 pointer pups were tied. Two of the pointers were a little older than her and two about the same age.

Bud talked about the Early Neurological Stimulation program for puppies from 3 days to 16 days which I have used on my last several litters. According to the literature the benefits of stimulation is (1)Improved cardiovascular performance (heart rate). (2) Stronger heart beats. (3) Stronger adrenal glands (4) More tolerance to stress, and (5) Greater resistance to disease. If you are interested in learning more about this it can be found on the internet under the Super Dog program. But if you are going to raise pups you need to know this.

Another shot of Boss honoring the backing dog.

Something new, for me at least, Bud talked about using different smells at the same ages as the Super Dog Program. The first sense puppies use are their noses. They can’t see until their eyes open at 10 days or so and they can’t hear until about 3 weeks. They find their mother and their litter mates by smell.

From 3 to 16 days put different things in the whelping box with the puppies. He saved a dry cow patty to put in the whelping box, 2 or 3 times he put a quail right in the whelping box with the puppies, a chunk of saddle blanket and anything he could think of to stimulate their nose. I’ve never done this with the puppies, but my next litter will have a lot of different things in the whelping box with the puppies.

Abby pointing Bodie honoring.

After discussing several other things, they, Bud and Justin, put a couple of pointer pups on a barrel and flushed pigeons in front of them. They had one pigeon tied to a pigeon pole and another on a short PVC handheld pole. They worked the older two pointer pups first then they put Annie on the barrel. Her attention span, although she really liked the pigeons, wasn’t as long as the older pups. In a couple more weeks, of her seeing pigeons several times a week, she will be as birdy as they are.

After working her on the barrel they had another bird on a pigeon pole out in some higher cover. I took Annie around where she was able to smell the pigeon although there was almost no wind. She pointed and I stroked her up. As I stroked her she wanted to move in and I restrained her with the check cord. Justin, when she moved flushed the pigeon. I lead her 180 degrees away from the bird then back to the barrel.

Bodie pointing a covey.

As we passed the barrel, she made a nice point on one of the pigeons that were resting on the ground. I didn’t know but Justin took our picture and sent it to me. I will try to get it into the post.

After lunch we watched as they put some more dogs on the barrel and worked with them. I have used a barrel some in the past, but this was the first time I had seen how someone else used the barrel. It’s been several years since I have used the barrel but I’m going to get mine going again.

When we got home, about 4:30, I put Annie in her kennel. About 5:30 I went in her kennel and she wouldn’t come to me. Usually, she comes to me and I pet her for a minute or so then put a short check cord on her and turn her loose. I left her in the kennel, turned the other dogs into the big pen and cleaned kennels and fed them. I went into Annie’s kennel and she came to me but wasn’t happy about it. I turned her loose, cleaned her pen and replenished her food pan.

Abby on point.

She usually eats some adult dog food that I toss in the grass in front of my chair. On this day she ate one piece then stayed away from me. She would play with a stick but keep her back to me. After a few minutes I started to the back of my yard. The very back is where I hide the pigeons for her. She stayed off to the side until we got all the way to the back then she finally came to me. I think she was mad because I had made her ride in the dog box for 2 hours and forty-five minutes each way.

There were people from several states, Texas, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, and maybe from other states, for sure and I think they all were ready to get going as soon as they got home. Bud and Justin did a really good job with the seminar, and I feel like I learned a lot. If you ever get the chance to go, do it. Thanks again Bud and Justin.