Posts from — September 2008

I get asked that a lot.  What is the right temp to run dogs?  It really depends on what I am trying to accomplish.

If I am conditioning dogs and will run them for just a short period of time to further their stamina and physical abilities, I will run them on days as warm as the 70′s.  I must say though that on days that warm that I like the dogs to be shaven and lots of cool water available.  I may not run them but 30 minutes on a day like that.

Let’s say that it is in the 60′s and I am conditioning a dog.  I will look at the dog and make a decision based on experience as to how hot the dog really is at that moment.  Are they hot or simply out of breath?  There is a difference for sure.  On that kind of day, I will let them catch their breath and drink but may ask them to run a bit more.

Warm days not only make the dog breathe hard but they also overheat internally.  You MUST keep them cool.  It is imperative.  Warm day runs, I stop the exercise at ‘out of breath’ and/or  at the ‘hot body temp’ moment.  I cool them with cool water (allow lots of drinking and splash water on their tummy plus a bit on their ear flaps (not in their ear).  I will stay with that dog until their breathing returns to normal, then I place them on tie-outs that are located on the side of my trailer.  This way they can get free air movement as well as freely drink and splash water on themselves if they wish.

As you can see in the photo above that there are dogs tied out alongside the trailer on the shaded side.  They have run and are cooling off after they have run.  Meanwhile, I am running other dogs that will take their place when they return. By then, the dogs you see will be cool and are ready to go in their respective dog boxes located in the trailer.  Note the vent on the side of the door in addition to windows as well as a vent on top of the trailer.  On warm days, there is an a.c. unit on top of the trailer, run by a generator, to keep the dogs cool inside the insulated trailer.

On days in the 50′s and below, I run the dogs until they are tired.  Dogs can overheat on days like that but with plenty of water they cool rapidly.

Keep in mind that I am a firm believer that Brittanys in warmer climates should be shaved.  This helps tremendously in keeping the dog cool and to help them cool.

Hope that helps you out!

Take care!

Here’s a pic of me after running dogs this year, 2008.

So went my expressions this afternoon while riding big Mike, a nearly 16 hand Tennessee walker.  I was running Gunner and Tula in some big canyon / badland type country.

“Buzzzzzz” HUH? ….that sounds like…. oh crap!  The sound stopped as fast as it started on big Mike.  I reined Mike quickly to the right and circled carefully back.  There it was, dead as a doornail.  I noticed the pinkish white guts first then saw the underbelly.  Mike’s big hoof, shod with horseshoes had expertly disemboweled AND severed the head in one fatal step.  It was a prairie rattler in Montana!

This was the second prairie rattler I have encountered in less than 3 weeks.  The first one was a whopper.  Prairie rattlers don’t get as big as western diamondbacks but they have a terrible temper.  While a western will warn and stand ground, a prairie will warn and chase!

The first prairie I saw was huge by prairie rattler standards.  He was at least 2 foot long and thick bodied.  He stood up tall as he threatened me.  Funny, I have two horses and both times I was on big Mike!  I think Mike has rattler attractant built in.  LOL  (Big Mike stepped on a 3 1/2 foot western diamondback on my farm last year too!)

I was tempted today to get off of big Mike and go fetch the rattles off that little prairie rattler (he was about 12 to 15 inches long) but then thought about what I heard on a snake documentary about venomous snakes “70 percent of snake bites are on the hand”.  I counted the rattles while sitting atop big Mike (about 6 or 7) and left.  Moments later (less than a minute), Gunner stood on the side of a canyon nearly 1/4 mile away on point.  It was awesome.  Fresh on my mind was that little rattler as I dismounted and had to walk several hundred yards to get to the dog.

So, the high today was 80′ish.  If you come here and it’s warm, watch out!

Now I should say that the first snake encountered was by Jason Francis dog ‘Champ’.  Champ gets desnaking by me every year prior to coming to Montana (Champ goes every year!  Thanks Jason!).  Champ was running full tilt, skidded to a halt and jumped backwards 6 feet!  I rode big Mike over and there was the aforementioned big rattler ready to take on big Mike.

Two things made me feel good then about Champ and today about Gunner / Tula.  All are desnaked and all have had snake vax.  In my first aid kit at the truck was emergency meds to take care of an accidental bite.  On my cell phone was the emergency number of the nearest Vet.  Are you prepared?

Tell you Brittany “Good Dog!” and make sure you tell “Dave told me to say Good Dog!”.

Take care,

Dave

Get a well bred bird dog! That’s my number one tip and absolutely the number one best tip I can give. I hear stories of how folks ‘walk em up’ and ‘jump shoot em’. If you have the bird numbers to do that, consider yourself lucky!

The problem with that is inevitably someone will cripple a bird. Cripples are almost impossible to find without a bird dog. Heck I don’t even dove hunt without a dog! Bird dogs not only make fine companions but they have a job to do so why not gainfully employ one?!

IMHO, hunting without a bird dog is unethical. The person without a bird dog permits and participates with wanton waste of lost cripples. If you can’t own a dog, hunt with someone who does.

This is similar to another pet peeve of mine which is shooting a autoloader / pump / any gun for that matter and choosing not to pick up your empties! (this could be labeled as Upland shooting rule #1). When you choose to not pick ‘em up you are agreeing that it is ok to do something irresponsible. It will take hundreds if not thousands of years for those shells to decompose. It’s just flat out wrong. There are a few things we have complete control over that we must do to project the image of being a responsible upland hunter. IMHO, the first one is to pick up your empties! Personally, I shoot 2 hole guns and my empties go directly into my pocket and if I see empties on the ground, I pick them up! I digress…sorry, off the soap box.

Back to why we need a bird dog…So many times I’ve seen dogs track down birds hundreds of yards away from where they were originally shot! Yes, sometimes the best of bird dogs can’t find that cripple but the odds are that it won’t happen very often. There are unique circumstances where maybe a flushing / retriever breed is better than a pointing breed and vice versa but this blog entry isn’t about that; we’ll save that for later.

I fondly remember my old dog Rocket that found a cripple rooster pheasant for clients of mine on a guided hunt. The birds wing was busted but his legs worked well!

Rocket tracked the bird 50 yards through heavy brush and chest high native grasses to a creek bank and seemingly lost the trail. Back and forth Rocket worked the dry creek bed when suddenly his head disappeared as he dove into a small hole in the high water cut-out of the creek bank. He dug to widen the hole like his life depended on it and within one minute was able to force his upper body down into the hole. Soon all that stuck out was his rear legs.

His athletic well muscled body flexed and contorted while buried in the hole and I just knew he must have found a varmint or something! Seconds later he put his rear legs in reverse and plowed the earth in the opposite direction in an attempt to get out. When the back of his front shoulders reached the opening of the hole he was temporarily stuck like a breach baby thus having to work harder to extricate his upper body and head. With the fury of a animal stuck in an unwanted position he fought his way out!

There in is mouth was was the cripple pheasant, still alive and beating / spuring Rocket’s head. I quickly took care of the bird while Rocket sat back with a look of “Oh my gosh daddy, did you see that? Am I good dog?” Knowingly I looked at him and told him “Rocket, you are a good dog!” I offered him water and before I could say “hunt ‘em up!”, He was off doing his job once more. Meanwhile my clients were high fiving one another and I was proud, proud as the day my boys were born onto this earth! Folks, THAT is a bird dog and I would say THAT retrieve is in the top 3 of my all-time favorites. BTW, the top two were by the same dog but that’s another story too.

Yes owning a dog is a huge responsiblity. Yes it costs money. Yes they are a huge investment in time and effort. So be sure you are ready. Assuming you are ready and that you have a safe place for a dog with a way to ensure it gets plenty of daily exercise, go for it!

Remember this about any breed of bird dog: They don’t get good until they have been properly trained and put on lots of wild birds EVERY season for at least 3 years. At age 4, most dogs that were bred well, trained well and hunted often turn into awesome brag dogs!

Give that future dog a treat for me when you finally get it and tell ‘em “Dave says it’s about time I got a dog!”

Happy hunting season,
Dave

Well, my blog is about what I want it to be about so today as I sit through the rains and wind, I’ve decided to make my plug for Senator (Navy Captain) John McCain and Governor (Mayor) Sarah Palin.  I consider myself to be a good ole boy with somewhat of a practical thinking brain.

I’m an old retired Chief Petty Officer and I’ve seen and experienced all kinds of leadership.  I’ve suffered through green Navy Ensigns all the way up to experienced Admirals.  I’ve had to work with officers who were incompetent and didn’t make it in their Naval Career and I’ve worked with those who were darn hard workers and terrific Naval Officers / Leaders.  I believe John McCain to be one of those great Naval leaders.

One thing that is common sense to anyone should be the answer to this question.  Who do I want at the helm of my ship with a finger on the button to launch missles?  I don’t want the ‘green’ ensign with fresh book smarts but no practical leadership / executive decision making skills that’s for darn sure.

McCain knows the ravages of war.  He’ll be far more likely to try to work things out diplomatically because he doesn’t want anyone to go through what he went through at prisoner of war camps in Vietnam.

Executive split second decision making is what makes a leader, not a committee.  McCain / Palin has fundamental experience of LEADERSHIP.  Leadership experience is completely different.  It is something that you need to bring with you to the presidency.  “On the job leadership training” scares the HELL out of me about Obama and hopefully it scares you too!

Folks say that Senator McCain is just a senator too and that he too lacks the executive experience.  Well, uh, wrong.

U.S. Naval Captain McCain was a Navy leader (Navy Captain is the equivalent of a full bird Colonel which is an O-6 in the armed forces) .  In the Navy you don’t get promoted unless you can lead.  As a Navy Captain, you lead.  Navy Captain’s make executive decisions consistent with their rank.  Many Navy Captains are given large commands to lead.  A command can be a sub, ship, flight squadron, shore facility, etc.

Navy Captains have the experience to run a facility, sort of like a mayor of a town except with BIG GUNS.  The buck stops with the Navy Captain.   They are the decision making work horse rank of Naval Officers just prior to admiralty.

Though a Navy Captain has the chain of command to follow as well, he is at the rank where HIS finger is on the trigger and under maritime laws, he can and does make decisions consistent with the intentions and the wishes of the commander-in-chief of the United States.  If he makes a wrong decision, he’s fired.  Run a ship aground? FIRED.  Mishandle a multi-million dollar airplane?   FIRED.  Shoot something with your airplane that your not suppose to shoot?  FIRED.  Make any off duty mistake inconsistent with being a Naval officer and a gentleman? FIRED.

Yeah, McCain’s a leader.  Some of our best U.S. leaders have been Naval Officers.

Now say what you may but I’ll take a retired Navy Captain at the helm of the United States than someone who has made decisions by committee, written memoirs and spent his entire senatorial term of 4 years planning to be the president!

Yes, I’ll take a small town mayor and Governor that is ‘a heart beat away’ should something, God forbid, happen to McCain.  She’s got guts and she’s very smart.  She’ll surround herself with the best of advisors but won’t run our government by committee.  She’ll step up and make decisions like our youngest ever president (Kennedy, another former naval officer) did at the Cuban Missile crisis.

Today it was reported that Russia sent missles to that tyrant down in South America for “exercises”.  We have to be tough to maintain a balance on our continent.  God forbid we make decisions based on whether the United Nations approves!  Remember, Russia and China have full veto authority in the U.N..

Say what you may about how fresh Obama is and how he brings change but I assure you that a democratic president with a democratic congress is a prescription for trouble.  I don’t mind a democratic congress as long as I have a republican president or vice versa.

The way I see it is that they off set each other and real progress can and will be made.  Think about it.  With McCain / Palin being mavericks, they’ll work with democrats on issues that cross the lines of political parties yet they’ll be tough on terrorism and tyrants.  Our government will have a strong leader, not someone who leads best like a coach in a committee.

I’m no political authority but I have good ole boy common sense.  I want someone that has actually been in charge of something!  Someone who already has experience with: Signing off on or denying budgets, work orders, purchase orders, security measures, maintenance orders, troops, covert military missions, having pulled the trigger LITERALLY, etc.  Someone that has commanded both armed forces AND office staff.  You know, that’s what Navy Captains and Mayors / Governors do.  I ain’t no rocket scientist but I have a brain…folks, this is a no brainer.  John McCain and Sarah Palin.  A breath of fresh air and actual real life leadership experience.

Give that Brittany a treat for me, pat your dog on the head and tell ‘em “Dave says good dog!”