Wrapping Up Some Loose Ends From The 22/23 Season

Normally, I travel to several states to hunt during the bird season but I only hunted Kansas and Missouri this year. Part of the reason was that Sally was in heat for most of January. She went in heat on January the fourth. I wanted to get one more litter out of her so when she was ready I bred her to Mann. As I write this she is big with pups and is about 3 weeks from delivering.

Sally pointing Bodie honoring.

Sally. The good ones always have a bloody tail.

Mann pointing a single, Boss honoring.

This is a repeat breeding. Several of the people from the last breeding from 2 1/2 years ago have kept me informed on their pups. Boss is out of that litter and he is doing well, as is at least 3 of the females, that I know of. Boss was the only male. That is the reason I named him Boss. Of that litter he was the boss.

I have about a dozen people on my list, who are wanting puppies, so when Abby comes in heat, which should be right away, I will breed her, also. I didn’t have any litters last year but when they come in heat I wrote it on a calendar, so I could remember. They were about 6 weeks apart. The first of March will be 8 weeks since Sally’s first day. Abby is due anytime.

I did have a hunt in New Mexico planned for February but the people I was to meet canceled. They had about 10,000 acres of private land to hunt but when it came time we heard the bird numbers were way down. My thoughts were to hunt New Mexico for a few days then go on to Arizona for a Mearns quail hunt. This was a really good year for Mearns, I think. When the New Mexico trip fell through so did the Arizona trip.

With the border wide open or controlled by the drug cartels, it’s probably not safe for one old man and a truck full of dogs to be that close to the border, either. But if I had of gone to New Mexico I was going to try a couple of days in Arizona. Oh well, maybe next year.

We were able to find quite a few coveys in the last 6 weeks or so of the season in Missouri and Kansas. It really made a difference in the young dogs. They gained a lot of confidence in their self. Once they figured out they could find birds on their own, they really started hunting hard.

Boss honoring Sally.

All of my male dogs hate riding in the truck or the truck boxes. Sometimes I load the dogs just to go to another place after I’ve hunted an area. Boss will usually come back close to the truck but he will hide. Most of the time he’s really close but sometimes he’s a hundred yards or so away. With the GPS I have no trouble finding him but it’s a pain. Our last hunt Bodie didn’t really hide but I had to call him several times to get him to the truck. Mann is reluctant but he’s easier than the other two.

Now, all of my dogs go into their box when I get them to the truck but when I first got dogs I had to force them to load up. After wadding the dogs up and forcing them into their box I saw a guy tell his dog to kennel and the dog went right into the box. I thought, “I can do that”. It never occurred to me, before seeing this, to train them to kennel. Now once I get my dogs to the truck they jump onto the tailgate and go right into their box. Getting them to the truck is my problem.

Boss pointing a single, with Abby in the center with Bodie closest to the camera, honoring

When I load dogs at the house to go hunting I pull around back, drop the tail gate and then turn all of the dogs loose and expect them to go to the truck. Sally and Abby do. Boss is better about going to the truck but Bodie and sometimes Mann will go back to the kennel. I have to walk back down to the kennel and put a leash on them.

I’ve always told people that if your dog is doing something you don’t like, train it out of them. After the season I had to follow my own advice. I started working each of the dogs on loading up. I went back to square one. I heeled them to the truck, had them jump onto the tail gate and gave them a chunk of hot dog.

That worked really well for Abby, Sally and Bodie. They will do about anything for food. Boss and Mann could care less. Neither of them will take a chunk of hot dog during training. When they are back in their kennel they love the hot dogs. Boss will sometimes smell of it but won’t take it. But both of these guys love to be petted. So I lean against the tail gate and pet them for a while then set them on the ground so they can do it again.

Bodie pointing real close to where Mann is on point.

After a few days of heeling them to the truck I started just turning them loose, one at a time, and expecting them to go to the truck. They would rather go to the back of the yard but with their e-collar on them they come to the truck. After a couple of days they knew what was expected of them and they go right to the truck. Sometimes, Boss is standing on the tail gate when I get there. Bodie too.

Sally has always went to the truck but she wanted me to have a hand on her collar when she jumped onto the tail gate. She’s now jumping on without me touching her. She will do anything for a chunk of hot dog.

Abby loves the hot dog, too. I don’t let the dogs jump off the tail gate. I set them on the ground to keep them from hurting a bone or muscle from jumping down. As soon as Abby hits the ground she jumps right back on the truck. I cut that one hot dog into 18 or 20 pieces so they don’t get much, but it’s enough. Bodie is quick to load back up, too. He likes that hot dog.

Boss pointing a single that John shot and Mann retrieved.

After a few times, normally 3 times jumping on, I heel them near the kennel, whoaing them a couple of times then whoaing them near the 4-wheeler. I get on start the 4-wheeler, put it in gear then say, “okay”. They can run to the back after I say, “okay”. All but Bodie were used to this and waited pretty well.

As soon as the 4-wheeler started Bodie took off. I yelled, “whoa”. He turned to look at me but kept moving. I have run dogs down on the 4-wheeler and made them ride back to the starting place but this time I just waited. Pretty soon he came back and I whoaed him again in the same place. This time I had the e-collar transmitter in my hand. I started the 4-wheeler and he started off. I yelled, “whoa” and hit the transmitter on level 2, his normal training level. He stopped. I made him stand for several seconds then said, “okay”. He took off. The next time was easier and now he’s waiting for the “okay”.

Mann honoring Sally after I had walked by him.

After the dogs run to the back and around to the front yard and to the back again I sit on my tree stump and pet them. Some times I give them a chunk or two of hot dog but I mainly pet them. Boss and Mann really like this. Boss still tries to crawl into my lap. And I encourage them. The other three like the petting but they want hot dogs too.

I think this sitting on the stump and petting them is pretty important. I want each one of them to think they are my favorite. I don’t know whether that is working or not but I enjoy the petting as much as they do, maybe more.

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