The cooler weather is here and it is time to move the kennels again. During the warmer months we move the kennels facing east under two huge shade trees. During the colder months, we move the kennels to a spot that faces directly south for the maximum amount of sunlight. The dogs really seem to like the change. We also like the direct sun for the steriliztion of the kennels. They stay fresh and clean and helps the dogs stay healthy.
Â
Aryia (Brittany) on point!Â
The flush!
And the shot!
Â
    
Nothing helps ease the loss of a dog like another dog. We are hurting from the loss of our 13 year old pointer, but the labs are helping keep us in the present. Especially the puppy, she is so fun and full of life. Just looking at her makes me happy. If you have reciently lost a dog, my recommendation is another dog. They don’t take their place, but they force you to move on and make another place in your heart.
Â
After 13 years, our Aika (Deutch Drahthaar) passed away. It was bittersweet. It was definitely her time to go. I was so glad that she did it on her own and in a very dignified way. She had been going downhill for several months. I considered having her put down several times, I even called the vet twice, but I just couldn’t bring myself to schedule it and take her in. Thursday early morning Julie checked on her and she had passed, curled up on a blanket in the kitchen. We lovingly buried her under the big tree in the back. She has been such a part of our lives for so long. Julie and I talked late into the night about all our memories with her, her VJP and HZP ability tests (hunt tests), the many wonderful outings, memorable retrieves, and most of all, her constant companionship. It’s hard to see her go.
 
I got a this great email and photo from a friend and client in the Salt Lake Area and thought I’d share it. Duck hunting is a great opportunity to take the kids out and spend some time with them.
“Chris,
“I was just reading about your duck hunt on Saturday. I thought you might enjoy this picture (not the best since I took it with my phone). I took my kids out Sunday afternoon duck hunting. I had just planned on it being a day to mess around with the kids since the weather was so nice. I left my lab home thinking he wouldn’t be getting any work, which was a big mistake. We ended up with seven ducks in about 1 hour of hunting. A couple of canvasbacks and the rest were gadwalls.
“It didn’t seem to matter what I did the ducks just kept coming. This was my daughters first duck hunt and I let her have the duck call and she is convinced she had called them all in.”
As you can see from the photo, they had a ball.
Another friend of mine once told me that the best conversations he ever had with his teenagers were on slow days in the duck blind. So, take your kids out with you.
Tomorrow is Halloween. (I hope you remembered to buy some candy for the trick-or-treaters.) Before they start ringing the doorbell, think about the upcoming visitors and what’s best for your dog. Do you have a puppy that you are trying to socialize; you may want to have the dog with you on a leash when several groups come to the door. Along with the Halloween candy for the kids, you bring a dog treat and ask some of the kids (or parents) to give the puppy a biscuit, thereby providing the developing puppy a new experience with a positive outcome. (Concept: all novel experience are good! Build confidence in your pup!) Teach the pup that it is not ok to bark at people coming to the door. You are the one in charge of the house, not the pup. However, don’t overwhelm the puppy with too many visitors.
On the other hand, if you have an older dog, or one that is not comfortable having lots of people come to the door, in order to minimize stress, you may want to kennel the dog out of earshot of the door. Also, think about dogs outside in kennel runs. It may drive them crazy hearing myriads of people filtering by and them not getting to see what’s going on. Their most common response is non-stop to barking. Your yelling at them to “shut-up” every time only reinforces their barking. It may be best to put the dog in a kennel box in the house during the trick-or-treaters and work on their barking at visitors later when you have more control of the situation. Happy Halloween!
This Saturday I had an invite to go duck hunting up north. I had a great time and saw some great dog work. Saturday was a warm blue-bird day and the ducks weren’t moving around too much. Despite the lack of birds flying, I was able to shoot six ducks; a mixed bag of gadwalls, and teal. My hunting partner even shot a wood duck, a fairly uncommon duck in the area. That kind of made the day. We tried our darndest, but couldn’t get the last few ducks to fill our limits. I guess that was ok though. That just means I don’t have to eat as many ducks!
One of the best things was the dog work. DJ, my hunting buddy has a well trained chocolate lab (Casador), that was a pleasure to hunt with and a lot of fun to watch. We had a wing-tipped duck that sailed several hundred yards off before going in. It was fun to watch DJ direct him into the area with hand signals then Casador worked the scent and retrieved the duck. Numerous other ducks tried the diving game, but Casador knew how that game was played and would wait patiently on the duck, then would dive under after them. We had a great day on the marsh. I look forward to our next duck hunt.
Sam & Travis were great help while training yesterday. We are working a young black lab (rescue dog) getting his first experience on birds. He did a great job and was really keyed up on game and would readily find the downed bird. My concern with the dog was his cooperation and willingness to bring the bird back. He’s pretty focused on looking out for himself. We’ll see if we can work him through this.
I read a great quote today: “If your dog is overweight, you need more exercise!”
As far as birds went, Saturday was tough. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a worthwhile day. I had a long-time friend from Montana down, a good friend from Cedar City, (UT) and a new friend and his 12 year old son, Tristan, from North Salt Lake (UT). Tristan had just passed Hunter’s Safety and gotten his license and this was his first hunt. I was really looking forward to getting him into birds.
We started out chukar hunting and flushed one covey just out of gun range. They flew across the Grand Canyon and sat there taunting at us. Aryia, (Brittany) worked up another small group a little later, but they seemed to understand the range of a shotgun and made their escape. By late morning the wind was kicking up and by lunchtime the winds were howling. We knew there were chukars around because the dogs got birdy several times, but the gale force winds made it too hard to work them up.
We had seven hours of light left and we didn’t want to quit bird hunting. We thought the weather might not be as bad 90 minutes away so we took off for ruffed grouse. We got up there and 30 minutes into the covert the storm caught up with us. Before long it was snowing hard. We pressed on and hunted through the snow until five, when we were all wet and ready for the truck. We ended up flushing three grouse and getting one.
Despite the difficult weather and the lack of birds in the bag, it was an enjoyable day. I typically do most of my bird hunting along, not necessarily by choice, but necessity “ I hunt a lot. So the companionship was enjoyable. I have to say that I was really impressed with Tristan. This 12 year old kid was very safe with his shotgun, kept up through some really difficult terrain and thick cover and never complained about the weather or lack of birds. The most rewarding thing was when we got back to their car and were transferring gear, Tristan looked at me with a huge smile and said, “Thanks, I had a great day!” That absolutely made the day for me.
The All-You-Can-Eat Crab dinner and chocolate cake at Hoover’s Cafe in Marysvale canyon was the perfect end to the day.
