Boss, Bodie and Gus are in Nebraska/South Dakota. The guy that has them showed some pictures of the cover and it was really green. Last year he had a lot of birds and he’s expecting even more this year. Should be really good for the young dogs. Hopefully, all of this last litter of puppies will be with their new owners and I will be able to take a trip or two to the same area that these dogs are at now. I would like to check on their progress.
Puppies with the formula mixed with softened puppy chow.
They love to chew on my pants leg.
Gracie pointing a pigeon.
Most of the recent pictures I have are on my phone. I haven’t figured out how to move them from my phone to the blog so I take a photo of the pictures on my phone, with my camera. That works but it’s not always as good as a picture from the camera.
I have been only putting Abby with the pups a couple of times a day. Early morning and late evening for about 30 minutes. They were 5 weeks old Friday, 7/7/23. That’s old enough to start eating food, especially, softened puppy chow. I soak it in water before adding it to the formula I mix for the puppies. Just about a week ago they weren’t eating all of the formula but in the last few days they clean the pan of formula and the puppy chow.
This morning for the first time I locked the wings on a pigeon and let the puppies find it. Actually, I locked the wing on 3 pigeons for them. The first one got it’s wings unlocked before a puppy even saw it and flew away. The second one had 2 puppies next to it when it got it’s wings unlocked and flew away. But the third one worked perfect and a couple of the puppies really enjoyed the bird. The pigeon, probably, didn’t enjoy it that much.
We had our monthly brunch for the kids, grandkids and great grand kids last weekend. There were probably about 15 people out petting the puppies. Also, I had two guys, at different times, bring 2 grand kids each to see the puppies. Then I had a couple bring two little girls over. So this last week has been a busy one for the puppies.
Abby has been fighting a problem with her eye for over a week. I thought I had found something in it and expected it to get better. No such luck. I didn’t want to wait through the weekend to get her checked so I took her to my vet. He checked her eye and couldn’t find anything. Vets dig in to find anything. I can’t do that to them or me. Just as he was getting ready to quit he saw just a little bump that he thought was a small tumor. When he touched it it came off. A really small grass seed near the corner of the eye. He checked it with some dye but that little seed must have been the problem. I’ve been putting some drops in the eye but it looks to be completely healed. That little seed wasn’t as big as a head of a straight pin.
Gracie and a pigeon staring each other down.
This morning I put the formula and puppy chow in the puppy pen and cleaned their pen while they were eating. If I don’t do it this way they are underfoot or in my pan that I scoop the poop into. Then I turned all of the older dogs out and cleaned their pens. I’m still feeding Abby twice a day. I let all of the dogs back into their kennel and when Abby was through eating I let her in with her puppies. I turned Gracie out and tied her to a stake.
I had also put bark collars on Sally, Mann and Abby. When the pigeons come back to their coop the older dogs bark a lot without the bark collars. I hid 4 pigeons on the training grounds for Gracie. I hid 1 pigeon on my side, but I rode the complete circle, and 3 on my neighbor’s side. I like to put plenty of 4-wheeler tracks down so the dog doesn’t learn to just follow the 4-wheeler tracks to the bird.
Gracie pointing a pigeon.
Gracie would like to jump on me when I come to take her off the stake but I stand back until she sits. I don’t say anything I just wait. She’s used to it now and sits pretty quick but it wasn’t always that way. I make her sit for a few seconds after I drop the chain as I pet her. I don’t want the dropping of the chain to be her cue to take off.
At 3 months old she stays right in front of me on the way to the bird field. When we got close to the first bird she started slinking around. I don’t like this but until she learns to trust her nose she will do this from time to time. With her slinking around I walked past her. This got her to moving again and she hit the scent cone on the first pigeon and pointed.
When she pointed I stopped and just watched her. She is really steady. I don’t like to leave her on point very long at this age. After about 30 seconds I flushed the pigeon. It hit some brush that it was hidden in and she almost caught it. It came out right over her head and flew away. She seldom slinks around after the first pigeon.
Bodie
We went all the way to the back on my side and back to the crossing to the neighbor’s side. For some reason she could not place this next bird. She knew there was one close but never pointed. When she got close I flushed the pigeon. I think flushing some birds before they point is very important. It makes them more cautious around bird scent and it will happen to them if they get too close to a wild bird.
She was a long way from the next bird, but had the wind in her face, when she pointed. I watched her for about 30 seconds and she didn’t move. I stroked her sides and belly telling her what a good dog she is. I don’t say anything or touch them very often but still they need some of it. But mostly they need me to stand still and be quiet. Again, after about 30 seconds I flushed the pigeon. It fluttered around a little and landed next to the trap.
Boss honoring Sally.
When it fluttered she was charging. She chased it through the brush for just a few seconds and caught it. I knelt down and called her to me. She wanted me to see it but not to have it. She came close but wasn’t stopping. I got her turned to my side and I petted her. I petted her for over a minute, probably, while she held the pigeon. When I reached for it she turned it loose. I think she was tired of having it in her mouth.
The bird wasn’t hurt but was probably a really young pigeon. When they get about 3/4 grown it’s hard to tell them from an adult bird. Since it didn’t fly well or at all I carried it back to the pigeon coop.
But we still had one more bird out. We were walking into the light north east wind and she smelled this one a long way off and pointed. After catching the last one I thought she might try to move but when she hadn’t moved in about 30 seconds I flushed the pigeon. This one, too, fluttered around and she was right there but it flew away with her right behind it.
Gus.
I like for them to be chasing at least 50 yards before I introduce the blank pistol but she’s not old enough or fast enough, yet. I’ll wait. There is a long time before bird season.