• Winter training (5): keeping dogs in fresh water during the winter

    Our pack of snow dogs - Winter time training

    Thank goodness it is staying light a little longer now. Tonight it was light until about 6:10. I was able to make it out and train with several dogs this evening. It’s cold though. The cold makes it tough to keep them in water. It is surprising how much water a dog needs in the winter. If you don’t have heated buckets, here are a couple of ideas of how to deal with the cold. Bring the water buckets inside overnight so they thaw out, then in the morning only put about 3″ in. Then right when you get home from work you can add another 3″ of water to the ice in the bottom, then later in the evening you can add another 3″. This way, they can regularly have plenty of water, yet it is fast for you to give them more water. I have found that if you have to go inside and melt out the ice every time, you just don’t do it as often as they can use it.

    As far as evening training during the winter when it gets dark so early, another thing that you can do is to use the dark to challenge the dog to use their nose. Tie a long length of string on a freshly killed bird, or a frozen one and drag it trough the snow, laying down a trail. Try not to drag the bird where you are walking so the scent on the bird’s trail is as unique as possible. Drag the bird out to a spot and plunk it down in the snow so it is hidden just a little bit. Then bring out the dog and put them on the scent trail with the “search!” command. Help them work out the trail and find the bird.

     


  • Winter Training (4) – Exercise

    Dog Pack Romps in the snow

    During the winter when it is snowy and cold it is especially difficult to get out and exercise and train. It’s often dark, cold, and let’s face it, it’s hard to get motivated. Right now it is probably more critical than ever that you get your dog out and exercise. The dog probably spends most of her 24 hour day either curled up keeping warm in the dog house or laid out on the living room floor in front of the heater vent, either way they aren’t getting any exercise or mental stimulation.

    It may be tough to go, but just do it. Put the leash on and go for 30 to 45 minutes. When you get back, spend 10 minutes on a training exercise. It will do wonders for your dog, not to mention both your own mental and physical wellbeing. Go do it!


  • Roading Dogs for exercise

     Roading Dogs for exercise

    Continuing with our previous theme about training during the winter when it is dark, I thought I’d share my roading outfit. Exercising dogs is critical to their overall mental and physical wellbeing, and very important for training. Another reason to get them in shape is that you can take them on a several day hunting trip and they can hunt the whole time, but in the winter when it’s dark before and after work it is difficult to get them out and exercise. When it’s light out, I typically like to take the dogs out on a dead-end back road and let them run free while I run from 2 to 5 miles. They’ll get out a ways from me then I’ll call them back and we all get our exercise, but when it’s dark, I just can’t give them that much freedom.

    My solution was to build a roading rig for our 4-wheeler. I saw one advertised for $170 through a hunting dog supply outfit, so I built one for about $25. I made it from the following items:
    (1) 10’ length of chain link fence top-rail pipe ($10)
    (4) Eye bolts ($2)
    (4) Swivels ($5)
    (4) Heavy bungee cords ($3)
    (4) Brass leash snaps ($5)

    I drilled holes 2” and 20” in from each end and installed the eyebolts and swivels, then I cut the ends off the bungee cords threaded the snaps through and tied them in a circle using a zeppelin bend knot. I tied the bungee together so it would be double the strength and so that there were no sharp wires or anything to get cut on. I use 3 nylon straps (NRS) to attach it to the front rack. It holds tight and takes just a second to attach or detach it.

    As for harnesses, you have to buy pulling harnesses just for roading. Don’t try buying the walking dog harnesses at the pet store. Trust me on this one, they don’t work. Gun Dog Supply.com has a 1” wide nylon roading harness for $17 that works great. Strap these on the dogs, clip them to the snaps and you’re ready to go.

    Most dogs take to it very quickly. Start slowly and make sure the dogs are with you and you are not dragging them. (They will hurt their pads very quickly if they are fighting you and you try to pull them along.)

    I find that the dogs do best between 8 and 12 miles an hour. Just this morning (before taking the above photo – notice how calm the dogs are) I ran them a full 4 miles non-stop at 10 miles an hour. When I run them first thing in the morning, they get a great work out, are ready for training and are much calmer all day.

    Thankfully we have passed the winter solstice and the days are getting longer.


  • Merry Christmas

    Merry Christmas!

    For Christmas we got a new German Shorthair from Jerry and Kathy Jordan of Kojac Kennels. Man are we pleased with this pup. He has a wonderful personality, is very social and seems to be very keyed up on birds.

    Jerry & Kathy, Thanks for your hard work and excellent breeding! We’re enjoying the pup.

    German Shorthair puppy


  • More Late Season Chukar Hunting

    Utah Chukar Limit

    Today was one of those days you’ll remember for seasons to come. We got a skiff of snow overnight, so I had to get out chukar hunting. I took Allie my yellow lab, a client’s one year old German shorthair (Abby) and another client’s 5-month old black lab puppy (Sophie). The weather was sunny, calm and mild; you couldn’t ask for nicer. I have been roading all of these dogs for a month now and it really showed. The older dogs got out and covered ground and found birds. The puppy stayed at my feet all day, but she climbed over and through some of the roughest terrain without complaint. All of their feet held up well.

    My hunting partner and I had to work hard and cover miles of nasty, rocky, steep terrain but we each were able to shoot a limit. Abby (GSP) was my star today. She had four beautiful points, one that she held for a long time; my buddy had just shot his fifth bird and we were standing there telling stories and I didn’t realize she had moved off and found birds. When I found her, only 20 yards away she was locked up, standing on a rock looking down into a small sagebrush-grass patch. As I waded in two birds came up. I connected with the first one and saw a double coming together. In my excitement, I snap shot the second and of course, missed.

    A funny thing happened when we were crossing a talus boulder slide following a covey. All three dogs got birdy and started digging down a crevice in the rocks. I thought for sure it was a rabbit. Just as I got over the hole, out came a chukar right in all of our faces. Luckily I was able to connect and all of us had a good laugh. Sophie, the pup, really got keyed up. You could see the wheels turning on that one. It was great to see her visibly getting excited at the sound of the shotgun. She is starting to catch on.

    The day ended with a beautiful sunset as we were cleaning birds enjoying a great day.

    Chukar Hunting - Perfect end to a great day


  • Late Season Chukar Hunting

    Abby (German Shorthair) on point (Utah chukars)

    Late season chukars can be difficult. I know, I have had a tough time putting any in the bag the last two weekends. They get really wily later in the season when there’s snow on the ground. A week ago Saturday was fun, because of the snow and bad weather It kept everyone away. The intermittent snow flurries and fog made me feel like I was the only one ever to set foot on the range. The chukars, however, were smarter than I was.

    Yesterday, I did hear another couple of shots, but never saw anyone else hunting. The chukars time and time again got the better of me. They love the game of ” you chase me to the top of the mountain and then I fly away” game. The dogs would get birdy and track birds up and up, I would know we were on hot running birds by their tracks in the fresh snow. Three or four times their tracks would run just over the top of the hill and take to the air. The only way I was able to get the jump on some birds was to pull the dogs off some running birds, circle around to the back side of the mountain and come over the top on to them.

    I have decided that chukars aren’t gentlemen like bobwhites. They are low down guerrilla fighters and that’s all there is to it. We still have 6 weeks left of chukar season left, and I intend to make the most of it.

    Utah Chukar Country


  • Wintertime Training #2

    Another idea for training during the winter, when it gets dark even before you get home from work is to move your training table inside the garage. If you don’t have one, build one along one length of the garage wall. If you like, you can put shelves under it, face it with panneling and have a new storage place for your decoys and other hunting paraphernalia.

    By moving the training table inside the garage it provides a warm, lighted place to work on lots of commands, including, hold and fetch (trained retrieve), over, down, whoa, and anything else you would otherwise have to bend over for. Plus, having them off the ground and on a narrow runway helps the dog focus on the task at hand.

    My table is 2′ wide and 14′ long. I would have made it 16′, but it was too long for the space I had available. I framed the table with 2×4’s and made 2×4 legs. I used one sheet of 3/4″ plywood, cut in half for the deck. Julie likes to use a piece of shelving as a ramp to walk the dogs up, whereas, I either have them jump up or lift them up.  It makes one more place you can train when it’s dark out.

     


  • Wintertime Training

    Winter Dog Kennels

    Wintertime can be difficult when training a dog for a number of reasons. First, it’s cold and it can be difficult to motivate yourself to get out and train. Second, it’s not always fun to stand around outside and freeze your ears off. Also, one’s patience is often shorter when it’s cold out. Lastly, it’s dark. It makes it difficult to get much field training done when you get off work at five and the sun has already set.

    One idea for wintertime training is to work on the “search” command. Dogs that have been force fetched or are natural retrievers can strengthen their search effort by planting a dummy out in the dark and sending the dog to find it with a “search” command. For some of the hunt tests, dogs are required to search unassisted for up to 10 minutes. Now is a great time to get them started.

    Start by tossing the dummy into the dark to the same spot over and over so the dog comes to expect the dummy in that spot. Then plant the dummy there unseen by the dog. Bring the dog out and give your “fetch” command and have them go out and get it. Do it again, except use the “search” command spoken with exactly the same intonation as you give the fetch command. Do this several times. Then start to toss the dummy a little ways away so the dog has to search for it. Doing this in the dark or into 3 or 4 inches of snow forces the dog to use their nose. Intersperse searching for dog bumpers with frozen and thawed birds. You can gradually make it more challenging, so the dog learns that on a search command their target is out their, they just need to stay out and use their nose until they find it. Then, the next time you down a bird into thick cover unseen by the dog, you can confidently give your dog the search command. I guarentee this training will pay off come next season. 

     


  • An old dog's last retrieve

    Proud old wirehair. Not bad for someone who's over 100 yrs.

    I went out with some new friends today at the Rooster Valley Pheasant’s shooting preserve. Kent of Snow Canyon Outfitters brought his 15 year old German wirehair pointer (“Gubby”) for one more hunt.  It was a really touching event for me, as it reminded me of my wirehair that recently passed away. Gubby ambled along like Eeyore and teetered a bit on point, but proved that she still had it.  

    Old Wirehair Pointer retrieving pheasant

    This series of photos are of what was probably Gubby’s last retrieve. She is deaf and mostly blind, nevertheless, she marked the bird well and slowly made her way out, picked it up and shuffled back toward us.  

    Old Wirehair Pointer making her way back with a pheasant 

    She had to rest several times on the 50 yard trek back, but she never set the bird down.

    A proud wirehair owner. The old girl proved she still has it!

    It was all smiles. We knew this was a moment to be remembered.  Afterwards, you could read her body language, Gubby was proud of herself.

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