Cove Mountain Kennels

This particular brittany pup, Sadie, I am currently working with seems to like birds, but is fairly noise sensitive and a bit skittish of novel things and people. It is important to provide a proper introdution to birds. Some of the keys are using a live bird, not initially letting the pup get wing whipped by the bird, and using the pup’s natural chase drive to get her keyed up about birds. This is also the time to help reinforce natural retrieving instincet. Don’t take the bird away when she brings it back, praise her by long-stroking pets when she holds the bird and stop petting when she drops (the idea is you want to reward her for bringing the bird back and holding it). 

 

When you introduce gunfire, start with a starter blank or .410. The key is to shoot when the dog is reallly keyed up and chasing, not when they have stopped or are hesitant. The dog’s mental state here if far more critical than the distance to the gun. (Note: avoid 12 guages and autoloaders during this stage – they are too much noise and can break through the dog’s focus on the bird.)

Have you ever thought about the term dog pile? There’s a reason. Puppies love the comfort of a pile of siblings. The puppies are all doing well, growing rapidly. We are expecting eyes to start opening anytime now (day 10 – 15). A few of the pups are starting to lift up on their front legs and bear weight. Though they still look like prairie dogs dragging themselves around.

I love spring – beautiful weather and morels!

Utah is not really known for its mushrooms, but if you know just the right spot, you can come up with a few treasures like these black morels. When I can’t hunt upland game, morels do quite nicely. They are every bit as tasty as a buttery chukar. Don’t let the secret out. Happy Hunting!

The pups are doing great. We are mapping their daily growth and weight gain and everyone is happy and healthy. We are really pleased with Allie’s mothering instincts. She is taking good care of them. They are a pleasure to watch. The kids love to sit in the box with Allie and hold them. They are starting to see some individual characteristics. Last night Sarah was petting Yellow and she started kicking her back leg in response, just like her mom does. We have an even number of males and females. We are looking for quailty hunting homes for these pups.

Sam, our 7 year old is so excited about the upcoming litter of Labrador retrievers. We told him that the puppies would be coming this weekend and he couldn’t stop asking questions and pestering us as to when it would happen. We all put in our guess as to how many pups there were. Then this morning when we got up we found Sam sleeping with Allie in the whelping box. It was so cute.

Here is the whelping box I put together for our litter of Labs. It cost around $30 and took about an hour to put together. It requires the following:

(1) Sheet of good quality 1/2″ plywood
(1) 4′ x 2′ additional piece of 1/2″ plywood
(2) 2″ x 4″ x 8′ for bumper rail
(2) 2″ x 2″ x 8′ for supports
(1) Roll of contact paper

We cut the plywood in half and formed the floor, then we cut the remaining half into thirds (3 pieces at 16″ less the saw kerf). Next cut the 4′ x 2′ piece of plywood to the same 16″ width and save both sides. Next cover the inside of each piece with contact paper. Contact paper is relatively cheap and makes messes easy to clean up. It is easiest to cover before it is put together and the pieces are flat. Next, cut the 2″ – 2″s to go around the outside of the floor base and up the insides of the box (see photo) and assemble with screws from the backside of the plywood. Next, stand three of the 16″ walls around the inside of the floor and screw them down. For the front of the box, while the pups are small use the 8″ piece of the plywood so the dam can more easily step into the box. When the pups are a little older and more adventuresome we will replace the front with the 16″ side. Finally cut the 2 x 4s and notch for the 2 x 2 edges and screw in at the level of the dam’s backbone when she is laying on her side (for my lab it is 4″ from the bottom). I use several rubber backed bathmats for the flooring, when they are damp or soiled, just toss in the washing machine.

The design is fairly light and can be moved when and where needed. The dog took to it right away. The small size seemed to be just the right next she was looking for. Because it is screwed together I can take it apart into a few stackable pieces when we are done with the litter and save storage space.

I wanted to let folks know about a scam someone tried on us the other day. We are only a few days away from Allie delivering her puppies. I posted a litter expected ad and immediately got an email response saying that this person was ready to buy a puppy. The email was a little odd, as it didn’t really fit a litter expected ad, plus the grammar was poor. I am not trying to make money selling puppies, but rather want to produce excellent dogs that will be cherished in hunting homes, where they go is critical to us. Therefore, I sent an email back saying to contact me and we can discuss the litter over the phone, and a list of questions for they to answer by way of application for the dog. The next morning I got a call from a supposed deaf person talking through an interpreter. They didn’t seem to care about the dog or even the cost; they were more concerned about getting me the payment. They later sent me an email stating that they would send me a certified cashier’s check for the dog, plus fees for their shipping company and I was to pay the shipper via Western Union from their check. There was an urgent undercurrent in the message, plus things like “God bless” and “your brother in Christ”. I blocked all further contact from this address. Here’s the kicker, a day later, I posted the same litter expected announcement on another site and again, within minutes, I got an identical email to the first one, from a different address. Beware that these people are lurking. The addresses were both gmail accounts. I read somewhere that this scam (or similar) is being run out of Nigeria. Watch out.

Max, my pointer and I got it tonight.
We were working on heeling on a checkcord in shin-high grass and WHAM!
Before I could blink, we got it right in the face. It was so strong it about made me vomit. So strong that it almost doesn’t smell like skunk; more like onions. Max didn’t know what hit him. Julie wouldn’t let me in the house. I took care of Max on the front lawn and then had to strip and dash for the shower.

This isn’t the first time, but I had forgotten just how bad it is. Man, I hate skunks!

The recipie we use to wash the dog is the following:
1 quart Hydrogen Peroxide
1/4 cup Baking Soda
1 tsp dish soap

Stir together and bathe dog with it like a shampoo and rinse thoroughly with a hose or buckets of water.
Don’t store the mixture. Mix fresh and use. I bathe the dog about three times in a row. If necessary you can follow up with another washing the next day. (Here’s another tip: don’t use your wife’s good bath towel to dry the dog. The next several times you wash the towel it spreads a mild eau-du-skunk through the laundry.)