The latest litter, from Abby and Mann, are doing fine. Abby is a good mother and the puppies are growing fast. But they should be. I’m feeding Abby 4 cups of dry dog food of the morning and 4 cups each evening. I don’t know how many calories that is but the pups are staying fat and Abby looks good. That may be more than she needs but as long as she’s feeding this litter I will keep giving her as much as she will eat. There are only 3 females left to sell.
Puppies in their whelping box.
Puppies with their new collars.
Puppies in the grass.
I have been working Gus and Gracie on pigeons, in the release traps. Both of them were doing really well but Gus was getting too fast for me. He really likes the pigeons and when I released him at the kennel he would beat me to the first bird. With him way ahead, when he found the bird, I had no way of knowing whether he was creeping or running around the trap or what, before I got there. So I started putting him on a leash.
Now these dogs are smart enough to hunt harder when I have birds out than when I don’t. I walk them through the bird field maybe 3 times to every time I have birds out. Walking them through the bird field with no birds out makes them hammer the birds when they’re out and keeps them from being so sticky.
The leash worked well for a few trips. To make the dogs really have to use their nose I sometimes put 1 trap on my side and 3 on my neighbor’s side or vice versa. Anything to change it where they have to find the bird. If they point where I had a bird last week or whatever, I just keep walking. I do sometimes tell them, “you’re not smelling a bird. You may as well come on.”
Then Gus, when I unsnapped the leash might point one on my side or even go to the neighbor’s side and I would have to hunt for him. Most of the time when I found him he would be on point but I was back to not knowing whether he had moved before I saw him. The way I work these pups is, they point and I flush the bird at their first movement. But if he’s way ahead of me I don’t know whether he’s moved or not.
The first of June I had taken Boss and Bodie to a guy that was going to northern Nebraska and South Dakota. He will run them from a horse on wild birds. Last year he had a lot of prairie grouse to work the dogs on. I thought that would be good for Boss and Bodie.
I could have maybe kept up with Gus on the 4-wheeler but I called my man that had Boss and Bodie to see if he had room for one more. And he did. So, hopefully, he will be able to keep up with him and get him into a lot of wild birds. The wild birds will not sit for a lot of movement.
Gracie, straight tail but level with her back.
That’s the way we used to train dogs. Just take them hunting and they would chase for a while then start pointing. If they moved the birds flushed. The dogs would rather point than chase so they learned to hold point. That’s the way I try to make the pigeons, in the release trap, work. When the dog points I flush the pigeon at their first movement. If they point with a raised foot, even if they ease the foot to the ground, I flush the bird when the foot touches. I want them to learn that any movement on their part and the bird is gone.
I still have Gracie to work on the pigeons. She hasn’t figured out when I have birds out and when we are just going for a walk. I walk her most mornings and most evenings. I started her by carrying a bag of birds and hiding one in the strips of grass that I have left on both sides of the training grounds. After a few trips like that I introduced her to the release traps.
Gracie, a little better.
To do that I took a bag of birds and placed a release trap about 10 yards from her. I teased her with a bird until she became excited and I let the pigeon fly away. After a couple of pigeons I let her watch me place a pigeon in the release trap and I let another pigeon fly from my hand. While she was watching it I flushed one from the release trap. The trap didn’t bother her so I moved it closer. I kept flushing one from my hand then one from the release trap.
Only when I was sure the release traps didn’t bother her at all did I hide some birds, in the release traps, on the training grounds. For most dogs this may not be necessary but if you’re wrong on your dog it’s much harder to cure them of trap shyness than it is to start them right.
Gus pointing a pigeon.
I have only worked Gracie a few times on birds in the release traps so she hasn’t figured out when I have birds hidden and when I haven’t. But it won’t be long. This morning I hid 4 birds and came back and turned Gracie loose. She checked all of her favorite places on the way down. She was probably behind me as much as she was ahead. I have a burn pile just at the edge of the training grounds and as we passed the burn pile she found a stick to carry.
There was a bird hidden not far from the burn pile. As she ran in front of me, with the stick in her mouth, she hit the scent cone. I wish I had been videoing. She hit the scent cone, from about 10 yards away, and whirled into a point. Her tail was straight and rigid but was level with her back. I watched her for about thirty seconds and she didn’t move. I flushed the pigeon. I don’t like to have them point too long. She’s just a few days over 11 weeks old.
Miss Gracie.
When we got close to the next pigeon, I had hidden one in a grass strip, she was way off, maybe 15 yards, when she pointed. She was just barely getting the scent and wasn’t very intense but she knew where the bird was. She had a foot up and as I watched she started lowering the foot. The moment it touched the ground I flushed the pigeon. She’s too young to chase much but she tries.
The third bird she looked good on. She was closer when she hit the scent cone and her tail was up some. About 10:00 o’clock. I don’t try to brush their tail up at this age. Delmar Smith says, and I believe, that the parents put the tail where it will be. Anyway, so far she has a straight tail, and I think it will come up as she gets more used to pointing birds. She didn’t move for a long time, 45 seconds or more, so I flushed the pigeon.
The fourth bird, she pointed from a long distance. Her style wasn’t great but she was opening and closing her mouth. What I call chewing the scent so I knew she had it. She also was looking right where the bird was. There was no doubt for either of us. I flushed the pigeon after about 30 seconds. A young bird flew into a tree right above the trap. She pointed with more style because she could see this bird. We went to the shed.
Bodie on point.
When we get to the shed I put a check cord on her and grab a small retrieving dummy. This morning she grabbed the dummy before I got the check cord. I carried the check cord to my chair in the shade. I called her to me and put the check cord on her and petted her until she dropped the dummy. I was using a paint roller cover but her and Gus both seemed to like the dummy better. I tossed the dummy about 10 feet away. She is really quick to grab the dummy and most of the time returns to me but sometimes I have to call her as I pull on the check cord. I only throw the dummy 3 times. I want to leave her wanting more. But I do the 3 times both morning and evening.
As warm as it is now she is thirsty when we get to the kennel and ready to go back in her kennel, most of the time. I think this helps teach the kennel command. Each time as she goes through the gate I say, “kennel”.
Bodie honoring.
I really enjoy having the puppies point the pigeons. Although I miss Gus, I think he’s in a better place to learn to be a bird dog. And having Gracie to work with will keep me walking around and I will have one puppy to work with.