I’ve been wanting cool weather and we have it today but it’s raining. I would like to take my dogs and go somewhere on a hunt but some of my dogs aren’t ready.
Lucky
Lucky this morning in the kennel.
Luke this morning.
Luke pointing quail.
Tur Bo this morning.
Tur Bo backing Sally.
Betsy this morning.
Sally this morning.
Dolly this morning.
Sally has been doing a good job on birds since she was 6 months old. When I took her to Kansas a few days ago she did real well. She pointed and honored from wherever she saw the pointing dog. When the bird flushes I can stop her with a whoa. Now, but before the season starts, she is in heat. Not good to run her with male dogs, right now.
Lucky was 13 years old the last part of May and is deaf and nearly blind. He still eats good but his body doesn’t metabolize the food right. He is really skinny. When we went to Kansas a couple of weeks ago he showed me he can still go for a couple of hours. I must have a GPS on him because he can’t hear me call. On trips for just a day I may leave him home but on longer trips I will take him with me. He’s been a good hunter his whole life and he deserves to be hunted for whatever amount of time he can go.
When we hunted in Kansas Tur Bo started carrying his right back foot. The first thing I think about is the ACL problem that a lot of dogs have. When I took him to the vet, Dr. Becker said the ACL is tight and in good shape. Everything felt good. He gave him a shot of cortisone and I brought him home. Eleven days later, he was still carrying the foot sometimes. I started worrying about a problem with the hip. Back to the vet. As Dr. Becker felt of the leg he heard or felt the knee cap pop back in place. When I went in Tur Bo’s kennel to take him to the vet’s he wouldn’t jump onto his house and he loves to jump on his house. When we got back he jumped onto the house. Now I have to rest him for a while.
Dolly was 11 years old in February but is still able to do a days hunt. She’s not as fast as she used to be but neither is her owner. When I was in Kansas a couple of weeks ago I hunted her all 3 days. She’s a tough dog. It was warm so I didn’t hunt her all day but she gave me at least 2 hours each day with no problems.
Betsy was 2 in April. We are still working on her pattern in the field. She points, backs and retrieves when she gets the chance. When I can get her to go with me she does a good job.
Luke was 7 in April. He’s my go to dog. I can’t remember him ever being sick or hurt and the only time I’ve ever seen him slow down is when I ran him the second and third days with a dropper chain on his collar. The third day he came in and walked in front of me back to the truck but in those three days he had covered a lot of ground.
When he gets on an edge I just hope the edge turns when he gets to the end of the property. If not, he will go to the end unless I can get him called back. I had him trained to come back on the tone on the e-collar and somehow he started ignoring the beep. I worked on that some in Kansas and we are going to work on it all of this season if that’s what it takes. One thing about it, when he goes on point he will hold as long as the birds do. Last year he pointed almost 500 yards ahead of me and I walked all the way. When I got to him he had a covey of quail. But not all birds will hold that long.
I only have three dogs that can go right now and I have dog boxes for six. Seems like a waste.