Posts from — October 2007

Today was greeted with high winds at the So. KS trial.  Our first two gun dogs ran far edges in the long tree lines and both were lost early into their braces.  The first 5 braces didn’t have clean bird work.  Anyway it was fun watching my puppy ‘Tula’ run in her very first puppy stake at age 9 months.  She ran big and had fun doing it.

I think about windy wild bird hunts of past and its effects on hunting wild bobwhite quail… [Read more →]

Gunner ran well this a.m. in the hour stake Championship here in Kansas.  He was found standing point after being absent … [Read more →]

Yesterday was a disaster almost literally.  There were thunderstorms that made it too dangerous to run braces.  Today we were greeted by sunshine.  The trial resumed.  Brandon runs Gunner last brace which was suppose to be today but is most likely to be tomorrow afternoon.  This weekend my puppy Tula will run, I am excited for her!  She’s out of Nubbin’ and Pete Price’s dog ‘crazy’.

Question, is it possible to camp in a nice trailer and keep things from getting all muddy … [Read more →]

In Kansas.

Dave

I’m in Kansas at a trial.  Will try to find a connection to make daily entries if possible.

Give yer dog a treat for me!

 Dave

I will be changing the page colors, designs (themes) for this web journal (blog) from time to time to keep a fresh look.  If anyone would like to see a fresh theme now, let me know!

I will be at a field trial all this week so daily posts will be difficult as I do not have a wireless card through my cell phone service so I will have to depend on motel/restaurant wi-fi connections.

If possible, I will report how Brandon’s dogs are doing in Kansas this upcoming week.  I hope to continue training while in Kansas if at all possible.

That’s it for now.

Dave

Happy training and hunting!  P.S.  I’ll see all my Montana dog owners back in Texas sometime after the 23rd.  If anyone wants me to stop and drop off their dog on the way down, please let me know as soon as possible.

We have 4 dogs living with us in our seasonal dwelling, a tiny house in Montana.  One thing I have learned over the years is that they are quick to figure things out.  Some of the things they figure out shows how smart they are and how cunning they can be.

Take for example the fact that they know when we are hunting vs. just doing chores.  I can get dressed … [Read more →]

Today was an excercise in patience and understanding. 

The reason being that the birds were  … [Read more →]

Today was fun.  We ran trial dogs in addition to hunting dogs.  Granted that all but one of the trial dogs are out of my lines but many trial dogs are ‘cultivated’ differently to encourage the big independent run.  I couldn’t tell the difference between gun dog and hunting dog that come from good lines.  The genetic ability of the dog shines through every time.

Surprisingly, experienced and inexperienced hunters accept ’hunting dog stereotypes’ and look for that stereotypical dog when shopping around! 

What is a stereotypical pointing dog, specifically an American Brittany?

The stereotypical hunting Brittany is … [Read more →]

The pheasant opener is this Saturday so folks whose dogs are here for training are trickling in to begin the hunt.  In the last two days, 4 dog training clients with 6 additional ’sidekicks’ arrived to briefly pursue sharptails and huns prior to the pheasant opener.  They hunt on their own as I do not guide folks up here. 

I’m here to work on training dogs and would not take advantage of the land owners (block management) by guiding on their place.  I do have clients who are more friends than clients and will hunt my personal dogs with them just as anyone else would do with a friend.

After sorting through my clients hunting maps, I determined that two parties needed to visit the region 7 office in Miles City (Town of Lonesome Dove fame if you’ve seen the movie or read the book).  Twice this year clients have had to go to the region 7 office because the region … [Read more →]