We haven’t had this much cold weather in a long time, if ever. I have some places I may be able to work the young dogs on wild birds if the weather ever warms enough. When we get the chance to go it will tell us whether the really cold weather hurt the quail or not. On one of the places we found 7 coveys of quail on the next to last day of the season. Another of the places had at least 5 coveys. I’m anxious to run the dogs to see if the quail survived.
Vince with Sally pointing.
Jim walking in on a point.
Abby pointing a quail.
My dogs have really good, insulated metal dog houses but with the temperature going well below zero I worried about them. I, usually, park my truck in my garage so I loaded the dogs in their dog boxes in the truck and pulled into the garage. The temperature stayed near zero to one night being -10. One day the high was only zero or maybe 1 degree. Then they spent about 40 hours in the truck with a few breaks for feed and I let them clean out every once in a while.
From the first of the cold and snow nothing has melted. We have about 6 or 8 inches of snow on the ground. Where the quail are the snow may be deeper. We will wait for the snow to melt and give the birds a little time to get their strength back before we run our dogs on them.
The first night I put the dogs in the boxes on the truck it took a while to get them to load up. I turned all of the dogs except Boss loose and we went to the truck. I can’t trust Boss to load up. Twice during the season when we got back home, from a hunt, he didn’t come back to the kennel. One night he stayed away over night. The second time he was caught crossing the highway out front by a passerby. I don’t trust him.
The other dogs ran around checking every thing out. Of all my dogs Luke loads up best. He’s the oldest. He may think we are going hunting. After the first night I decided I needed to make them all want to load up. Not only would it help me during this cold weather but it would help during the next season.
We had some ham and cheese sliders in the refrigerator that were getting old so the second night I tossed a sandwich in each dog’s house after I loaded them in the truck. I knew that I should have put the sandwich in the box before loading the dogs.
The second night I put each dog a ham and cheese slider in their box before I even went after them. It was amazing. They knew by the smell, I guess, that there was food in their box. I loaded Boss and Luke was right there ready, also. I loaded him. Sally and Abby were messing around in the front yard but Mann came to be loaded. I called Sally and she came. I loaded her and called Abby. Abby played stay away for a few seconds then smelled the food and came to me. I loaded her.
Two Gamble hens and a rooster.
The next night I was out of sliders but we had some quiche. I warmed it a little in the microwave and tossed it in their box. This time Mann and Abby were the last but Luke and Sally were ready to load, fast. I called Mann and Abby and they came right to me to be loaded.
I didn’t take them back to the kennel the next day because the temperature was only zero or at most 1 degree. I had some regular dog food in a container in the top of the dog box. I mixed some cheese in with their regular dog food to get them to eat. Finally we got a day that the daytime high was about 9 degrees. I took them back to the kennel but loaded them back into the boxes for the next night.
I was out of good stuff for them but I had some hot dogs. I cut them in half and microwaved them. I tossed a half of a hot dog in each dogs box. As soon as I got to the truck with Boss, Luke and Sally were ready to be loaded. I got them loaded and turned around and Mann was ready. I loaded him and had to call Abby but she came right to me. I loaded her.
Sally on point.
I still had some hot dogs for the next night. These were some really cheap hot dogs that I had bought just to train dogs with, but they worked. I tossed half a hot dog in the boxes and went after the dogs. When I got to the truck with Boss, Sally and Luke were there. I loaded those three and turned around and Mann was there. After I loaded him I called Abby and she came right to me. I loaded her.
It’s supposed to get down to 7 degrees tonight and even colder tomorrow night. The dogs would be fine in their houses but I will still put them in the truck for tonight and tomorrow night. After that the low will be in the 20’s. They will be fine at that temperature.
Tonight I had run out of the cheap hot dogs but I had some of the really good hot dogs from Costco. They are really long and half of one of those is still a lot of hot dog. I tossed a chunk in each of the dog’s boxes.
Boss honoring Mann.
I turned the dogs loose, all except Boss and we started through the snow to the truck. I put Boss in his box and as I turned around Abby tried to jump on the tail gate and my elbow hit her knocking her off. I loaded Sally and Luke in the truck. Mann was waiting and I loaded him. When I turned around Abby was standing waiting for me to load her.
Usually, as the dogs figure out that loading into the dog boxes gets them hauled to a place to bird hunt, they learn to load up, quickly. But this takes a few years. My dogs load but they haven’t been happy about it. All except Luke. He’s always ready and seems happy to load.
Boss pointing wild quail.
I have one more of these real cold nights. One more night with good hot dogs and these dogs will be beating me to the truck and that is what I want.
After a hunt, all of the dogs will come to the truck to be loaded with the exception of Boss. He comes to the truck and if he’s dry he will get a drink then go across the road or down the road and lay down. After I load the other dogs I go to him. He never tries to run away but he won’t come to me. I think with feeding these dogs, in the box, all of that is over. I think they will all come to be loaded. Most of the time when dogs learn something they enjoy doing it. I may carry some hot dogs for a while just to make sure. I like having them load up, quickly.
An Update:
I’ve been afraid to turn Boss loose because of him not going back to the kennel and not going to the truck, as he should. This morning when I took the dogs back to the kennel I just turned Boss loose with the other dogs. I knew it would be a warmer day and if he didn’t return to the kennel at least he wouldn’t freeze. He went straight to the kennel.
We are having one more night of close to zero temperatures so I was going to put the dogs in the truck, in the garage. I put a hotdog in each of the dog’s boxes, then turned all 5 dogs loose. Boss has been heeled to the truck for each of these evenings. He walked along beside me until we got out of the big pen and Abby ran by him. He followed her.
The truck is about 75 yards from the kennel. When I got to the truck Sally met me. She was ready for her hotdog. Luke came running next then Mann. After I loaded them I turned around and Boss was waiting to be loaded. I loaded him and Abby came in a run. All 5 of these dogs are now more than ready to get in their box. And all it cost was some left over food and a few hotdogs.