On guard

Surveying his domain.

Oh Christmas tree

Our tree stands dark in our house.  This beautiful wreath, a gift from mom and dad, is our Christmas tree here, on vacation, at the beach.

Ben Silver

We took a walk in downtown Charleston and past a favorite men's clothier, Ben Silver.  Not only are the duds quite nice, but it is one of two (the other being Beau Ties of Vermont) clothiers that has a wide selection of fine bow ties.

Rep bow ties glow from the rack at Ben Silver.

Merry Christmas from Kiawah Island

Burge tower shoot

The first thing that you need to know about a tower shoot is that there is a hill, but no tower.  A truck filled with pheasants sits on the hill.  A handler tosses the birds into the sky, and they rocket away.  Around the tower in a large circle are gunners trying to shoot the birds as they zig and zag in the wind.

So what were Larsen and I doing at Burge Plantation during a tower shoot?  Someone has to get the pheasant when they fall from the sky, and who better than a black-nosed red & white spaniel?   Larsen fetched up a bunch of birds and had the time of his life.  He was a little confused at first as the sound of the guns came from different points on the compass, but once he saw the birds fall from the sky, he got with it.  Larsen and I hunted the easy ones and the hard ones.  We moved into the briars and got the winged ones and hunt-deaded the dead.

Things got a little wild at the end, with Larsen going rogue in order to flush the live birds in the field, but everyone (except me) had their eyes trained on the skies and it worked out well. The outing more or less "untrained" Larsen from being steady, but it was a wonderful time and the little dog was thankful from the bottom of his heart.

Clint set a Christmas-like tone with his rendition of Jingle Bells played on his bagpipe.

Puzzled but nonplussed by the bagpipes.

Larsen's first bird of the day was a nice hunt dead and retrieve.

The shooting got hot, but the little dog didn't flag. 

This hero shot is interrupted by the cackle of a cock 

Christmas bakery

Maison Robert has moved around over the years, from Roswell Road to some other place, and now across from the MARTA train at the Chamblee Station.  Christmastime or not, Maison Robert is worth the visit.

Aki inspects the tarts, cookies, and cakes at Maison Robert.

Hidden among the sweets: Christmas Stollen.

Chocolates, teas, knick knacks.

Christmas in Chicago

There's no snow this year.  But the lights and displays on Michigan Avenue let you know that Christmastime is here.

Intercontinental Holtel from Wrigley Plaza on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Looking southwest along the Chicago River from the Wrigley Plaza.

Operation North Pole on the Metra North line.

Angels soar above the Christmas tree at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.

You Don't Know Me

Aki's out of town, so it's time to warm up the stereo.  Here's a Christmas idea for you, and that's Willie Nelson's "You Don't Know Me: Songs of Cindy Walker."  Those songs include the timeless "You Don't Know Me," and Nelson can go toe-to-toe with Ray Charles any time.

Was she as lovely as ever?  I'm just wondering.  It's not that I care.  ("Not that I Care").

I'm seeing the past that I've wasted, while watching the bubbles in my beer.   ("Bubbles in My Beer")

I don't care if I'm not the first you've kissed, I'll never ask.  ("I Don't Care")

It's all all your fault when I'm a grandpa if our grandkids don't call you grandma. ("It's All Your Fault")

Is that country music or what?

Ready position

For field gunning.

The ready position is the starting point of your swing and gun mount. The ready position should be a comfortable and fundamentally sound way to hold the gun prior to making your move to the bird. In the correct ready position your gun is held with the muzzles just below the line of sight, with the stock tucked comfortably under your armpit. The gun is at an angle so that the barrels are up slightly. However, the stock definitely should not hang loosely below the right forearm. The right arm should gently hug the stock next to the upper chest and ribs. The left or lead hand should be extended on the forend to enhance your ability to point at the birds. Many shooters will extend the index finger along the barrels to further enhance their pointing instincts.

Tom Deck, The Orvis Guide to Gunfitting — Techniques to Improve Your Wingshooting, and the Fundamentals of Gunfit.

Cocker test at Luke Weaver's farm

I barely remember running Larsen on Saturday.  Sunday stands out in my mind, though.  I was committed to keeping on top of Larsen with the hope of stopping him if he broke.  The plan didn't work out as intended, since crowding Larsen made him move down the field all the faster.  His flush came near my feet, and when he decided to take off to the bird, I made my lunge -- a belly-to-the ground grab of his rear leg.  We were dismissed, of course.  A funny round of applause, probably for the ridiculousness of lunging for your dog in a Master Hunter run.  But it was heartfelt, since everyone in the gallery had been there at one time or the other.

Saturday's run was a bit more stylish.  I started Larsen and then pipped him to a sit almost immediately.  That got into his head.  He stuck to my feet and only slowly started to range out.  He got his bird out on the left side and broke.

I liked that pip and sit.  I'll try doing that with getting him to sit so I can walk up.

Cathy offered to let me run Zelda.  I like the idea.  I'd be able to control for the dog and thereby see how my handling affects the dog.

Larsen enjoys the outing.

Thanksgiving 2012

We hope you had a happy and thankful Thanksgiving.

Practice update

Larsen and I spent an hour or so with Tim Pullian going through steadying drills.  I spent some time heeling him and sitting him.  I also let him run the field and sat him.  A lot of sitting drills that can be transferred to yard work and walks.  I need to sharpen his obedience so that Larsen sits without thinking.

Larsen was steady with live, fluttering pigeons tossed at him and around him.

He broke immediately upon flushing his lone chukar.  Tim was pretty sure that he was ready for a flush, but it turned out to be premature.  Those chukar still provide too much temptation to a wild and uncontrolled flush.

My takeaway for the weekend was to be vigilant on our walks to peeps on the whistle for a quick sit.

Stake out

A stake can be useful during the warmer months.  I hesitate to pop Larsen into the station wagon right after a run.  I'd like to let him stay in a shady spot on some thick grass where some air can circulate.

The stake (or tie out) is handy for that.  You can pound in the stake with a small sledge (which I happen to have) and then just loop the British lead over the stake.  I've found that Larsen, like many spaniels, does not test the robustness of the stake even if he keens to get back onto the field.  In the one pictured below, I pound it in about to the wings.  Not much more.

I find that the straight stake and a small sledge is better than the screw-type tie out (also pictured below) due to the hard Georgia clay.  The benefit of the screw type (which I also have somewhere in the basement) is that you don't need to tote a sledge.

The one pictured below is about $5 at gundogsupply.

Just pound this in and loop the lead over the top.

This stake is handy where the soil is soft.  

The master tap

Your dog flushes the bird and the gunners shoot it.  The judge is satisfied that your dog is steady to wing and shot.  The judge taps your shoulder indicating that you may send your dog for the retrieve.

Judge Susan Willingham tells Marilyn Burke that it is ok to send Graham.

Larsen's WSSCA Hunt Test results

For Larsen and me, the results were discouraging.  Larsen broke through the bird with nary a care in the world on both days, basically erasing from his mind any thought of steadiness to wing and shot.  That was monumentally disappointing, and the reality of a summer of work going up in an instant is only now starting to sink in.

I'll have to revise my methods, somehow.  My immediate thought is to sit him at every opportunity near and far and any time I toss a bumper, even in the most mindless game.

On the positive side, Larsen's delivery to hand of the fetched bird were very good.  He hunted with enthusiasm and with intelligence, using the wind and terrain and responding to quiet whistles.

Also on the positive side, participants seemed to have a good time generally, winners and losers a like.

Steady, boy

This weekend is our first go for a Master Hunter leg.

The little dog has the pieces.  He has flashes where everything is there.  But it is not consistent.  He has not assembled the pieces into a coherent whole, and, as a result, he can explode at any time.  He'll sit on pigeon.   But, sitting to a flushed chukar is another bird altogether.  That difference may be because I've trained him for years on chukar while letting him have is head.  In contrast, he didn't like, and we didn't use, pigeon much at all when he was a pup.

The weekend looks to be bright, sunny, and cool in northeastern Alabama.  Perfect for spectators and participants.  Maybe a little warm for dogs, so we'll have a lot of water around.

Larsen and I look forward to stepping onto the field.

Burge blast

Larsen and I joined other spaniel lovers for a weekend at Burge Plantation in middle Georgia.  Trainer Joe Demarkis was there to help people prepare for the WSSCA test on November 10-11.  As always, the hospitality from hosts Amy and Dave made the event memorable.

Larsen enoys the view.

Plenty of field work for these dogs.

Frank M. and Ryder consider their options.

Larsen says thanks for bringing me here.  

Saturday at Tim's

Larsen and I visited Tim's for another round of one-on-one practice.

Larsen had a magnificent flush & sit.  A pigeon went up, got hung in some brush, and fluttered in Larsen's face while Larsen sat and watched.  Tim shot the bird and Larsen sat.  He keened a bit, but sat.  I sent him and the happy dog fetched the bird.

Tim compared that discipline to Moses, which is the highest of praise.

We did a bucket drill to teach Larsen left, right, and back.  Three buckets are laid out in T formation.  I started up by Larsen and sent him for single and multiple fetches.  I stepped about 3 yards away and did the same thing.  Larsen fetched even the blind retrieves, following my hand signals.  This was a great drill to learn.  I'd read about it in books, but doing it is the best teacher of all, and Larsen had a good time showing us how smart he was.

Case closed

Entries for the 2012 WSSCA Hunt Test closed yesterday at 7:00 pm.  The final entries are in the table below.  We have a nice bump up from last year's 28, even if we lose a few through last-minute pulls.

Let's hope for fine November weather.  Cool dryish and overcast days would help.

2012 WSSCA Hunt Test Nov 10-11, 2012 Heflin, AL
Count of dob	Column Labels
Row Labels	JH	MH	SH	Grand Total
American Cocker Spaniel	2			2
American Water Spaniel	2	3		5
Boykin Spaniel	1	1		2
Clumber Spaniel	1	3	1	5
Cocker Spaniel-Parti		1	1	2
English Springer Spaniel	3	3	2	8
Welsh Springer Spaniel	5	1	1	7
Flat-Coated Retriever		1		1
English Cocker Spaniel		1		1
Flat Coated Retriever			1	1
Airedale Terrier		1		1
Grand Total	14	15	6	35

More Octoberness

Zelda's Wisconsin Pass

Another MH leg for the indomitable Zelda.  Cathy reports that she played the clown, as she has been doing of late.

During one recent practice session, she came in step-by-step, ever so slowly.  In another, she placed the bird's wing over her nose, like Humphrey does, and pranced in.  What goes on in her mind?  Or any spaniel's?

Mid Fall fun

Larsen and Aki enjoy an October afternoon, and Larsen steals a kiss.

Team Bing on the podium

CH Shogun's Blue of the Night ("Bing") got his first two Junior Hunter legs this weekend at the Fox River Field Spaniel Club's Hunt Test at the Ottawa Field Trial Grounds in Eagle Wisconsin.

It's a long drive from Wisconsin to Birmingham, Alabama, but Cathy will have plenty of good thoughts to make the trip more enjoyable on the way home.  Congratulations.

Sunday at Tim's

We trained at Tim's place near Royston, Georgia on a postcard mid-fall day.  I told Tim what I thought Larsen's strengths and weaknesses were.  Tim opted for a few different drills.

• Larsen quartering.  Sit him/control him periodically.  
• More quartering.  Roll in a bird (pigeon).  If the bird flies (and a number of them did), Larsen was pipped to sit.  If Larsen flushed the bird, he was pipped to sit.  
• Same as above, but with random gunfire.
• Same as above with a genuine flush and non-random gunfire (trying to hit the bird to set up a retrieve).

Larsen was attentive and biddable.  He was a little sticky, as often happens when we roll in birds, but he played the game without punching far out or simply hanging around and waiting.  He had a very nice retrieve on the genuine flush & shoot.  The bird went over the driveway, and into the front yard.  There were plenty of distractions in and around the house, and Larsen ignored them all to get the bird.

Tim trained me on how to accept a bird.  I'm to stand up straight and really expect Larsen to bring the bird all the way in and hup.  I let Larsen hold the bird for a bit before gently taking the bird, and then I give Larsen a gentle attaboy on the cheek and chest.  

Time thought that Larsen had come a long way, and and all of us were happy with the day.  

 

Pheasant hunt

It felt like a hunt as Larsen tracked a rooster pheasant.  It was a plant, to be sure, but that tough bird got up and started running and didn't look back.  I quartered Larsen, but pretty soon decided to just pocket my whistle.  What was the point?  That's when the hunt began.  The little dog scented the bird and started after the bird and never let up.  We didn't need whistles or commands to get his attention or keep him in range.  The rooster and Larsen's response took care of that.  This was a field-smart dog and a wily pheasant.  There were no straight lines on this hunt.  Larsen pivoted on his nose, wheeled about, and moved across and deep into the  field.  Bill T. and Al were flanking with the guns, and we lost ourselves in this hunt.

Along the way, Larsen found a downed chukar and started to bring it in, and then got a full whiff of pheasant.  He started toward that scent, chukar in mouth.  I called him in, and Marilyn B, following closely behind, told me to take the bird and immediately release Larsen to the hunt.  On we went.

Larsen corralled the bird in some tall stuff just before the bluffs of the Tallapoosa.  The bird went up hard and Bill brought it down.  Deep in the blind, Larsen couldn't mark the bird.  He got his reward for his hard work as Marilyn gave him a toss into that blind.  

There was fun talk on the long walk back.  We had been caught up in the quick strategic moves of bird and dog.  It was a fine effort all around and made the day worth it.

More on Larsen's day later.

Best wishes to Humpers

Humphrey (Celtic's Always Have Paris JH SH MH) tore his ACL and is undergoing surgery today.  Best wishes to Cathy and Humphrey.  May there be many more falls afield for Humphrey.

New mistakes

I'm tired of making the same old mistakes with Larsen.

On our run last Sunday, Larsen self-hunted and was definitely un-steady.  On one flush of a big rooster, he followed just behind those enticing tail feathers.  Al shot the bird, and Larsen retrieved.

On another, Larsen sat, but only after I read to him from the book.

This marks at least the third Sunday in a row of doing the same thing and getting the same results.  Larsen is not ready for free-range hunting.  He's simply not steady.  I need to back up a step to the drill and the roll-in.  I'll move to a full hunting environment when he gets in closer to me and starts to obey that sit whistle.

I'll make more mistakes.  I'm not fooling myself about that.  But I want the mistakes to be different and show a zig zag forwardward.  Not just treading the same old ground.  Progress will come in fits and starts, built on small successes.  Larsen and I will go back to success and then move forward.

A sunscreen over the dog crate is essential during the summer, and it is useful year round.  The screen keeps the dog cooler and it also blocks the action on the field and thereby reduces the plaintive whining of a dog that thinks the whole is stacked against him if some other dog is in the field.  

I've got sun screens from Gothic Arch Greenhouse in Mobile, AL, which provides greenhouses and accessories to the gardening set.  

The suncreen  is called "Aluminet" and it comes with many options.  

I have two of and each is 7' x 10'.  It seems standard width is 13', so I'm not sure why I didn't just go with the standard. (maybe it was cut for the binding, I don't remember).  You can get other standard and non-standard sizes.  Mine is 70% sun blocking, and that seems to work for me.  I also have the binding or taping with grommets.  

I got a couple of stuff sacks from Amazon.  At day's end, I fold and roll up the screens and stuff them into the stuff sacks.  You can get nylon stuff sacks from WalMart as well.  

My order for 2 of the 7x10 screens was $89 all in and they have held up for several years now despite looking very delicate.  

Better days ahead

Neither Larsen or I could concentrate on practice Sunday, and it showed.  Larsen broke for a pheasant.  He  hunted for himself, caught a few traps, and his deliveries were messy.  For my part, I was distracted and did not give him clear and timely instructions either on the whistle or voice.  In many ways, it's worse than no practice at all, since we practiced bad habits.  Larsen's water blind was more self-hunting and unsuccessful, even though he came back and I re-casted him.

On a curious note, I pipped Larsen to a sit when he flushed up a pheasant.  The knuckleheaded pheasant strutted away like a big pigeon and did not fly.  Larsen for his part continued to sit (he was sitting and not pointing), though he leaned forward and sniffed as hard as he could to the pheasant not more than a yard away.  We were all at a loss as to whether to call Larsen or somehow make the bird fly.  Finally, the bird flew, Shoni shot it and Larsen had a retrieve.

Sunny looked all the more like a Senior Hunter.  Bing quartered nicely.  Humphrey found Larsen's missing bird on the blind.  Zelda found her bird as well and performed well.  

    

Fall Fling 2012

Around 35 people and 30 dogs made it to the Fall Fling at Circle W for a day of training, picnicing, and camaraderie.  

Many thanks to Cathy V. for making the Fall Fling such a good time.  Thanks, too, to Aki, for managing the coffee-klatch and lunch, taking pics, and socializing puppies and baby Greer.   

Thanks also to Bill, Shoni, Al, Roger, Allen, Gary, Johnny for shooting and Susan, Marilyn, and Cathy, for heading up the three dog flights.  

Some memories:  

• Felix's tail was non-stop as he hunted for Jody, who now has two possible entries in the WSSCA test this November!  
• Jan's Skip used the wind with great intelligence, taking several angles and attacks to finally get a bird that had hidden itself in a dense clump of grass, surprising everyone but himself.
• Sunny is really one of the prettiest Welshies in the field.  You need to watch her.  She loves hunting for Shoni.  
• Rowdy hunted with drive, and he let everyone know what an awesome hunting dog he was by parading by all of us with his trophy.
• Cathy knows more than ever that Bing has big attitude.  Once he's been read to from the book, he promises to be one of her best clumbers yet.  
• Larsen is getting more steady-ish, and I was able to amp my "sit" command down from 11 to 9.

And those are just from my group.  Aki told me that Eve, an 18-month old, has it all, and loved being in the field.  Susan W's new puppy couldn't believe her good fortune when she found her way into the canvas tote filled with my bird bags, and so she proceeded to pull them all out.   

More hot days ahead, I'm sure, but that was really the fall kickoff for a lot of us.  

Eve fetches her first bird.

Jody thanks Felix for his fine field performance.

Bill and Hampton take a breather.

Shoni and the others provided safe, reliable gunning.

Frank M. works with a Welsh pup.

Rowdy showed enthusiasm in the field.

Larsen waits for instruction.

A wet and tired puppy.

HP 12C - 31 Years

Iconicism is everywhere it seems, but if you've gone to business school in the last couple of decades, you'll be familiar with this tool of the MBA crowd, which truly deserves to be called iconic.  It's the HP 12C, Hewlett Packard's financial calculator that, among other things, uses Reverse Polish Notation for number entry.  (With RPN you enter A, B, + instead of A+B.)  Once you get used to RPN, all other pocket calculators seem faintly ridiculous.  Need to know how many days between September 13, 2012 and November 10, 2012 (the date of the WSSCA Hunt test)?  You've got 58 days to get your dog ready.

The HP 12C is virtually unchanged, at least on the outside, over the last 3 decades!  According to an AJC article pubished in 2004, the HP 12C is the oldest consumer electronics item still made.  Long ago, geekism might have been a slide rule hanging from your belt.  A pocket protector is still a good tell.  But modern geekism, thy name is HP 12C.

Blue moon

Labor day weekend.  Did you see it?

Blue moon seen from porch in Asheville, NC.

Business Travel

A slice of pizza and a beer at 10:30 pm.  That's one picture of business travel today.  Another, and I recall this from several years back, was a pair or maybe three people sitting on the floor in their business attire at O'Hare airport on a Friday afternoon tapping away at their laptops.  Probably doing expense reports.

 

The New York pizza was very good for a by-the-slice place.  Great crust.

Second outing on the new field

Bill was there, as was Cathy with Humphrey and Zelda.  It was a glorious and surprisingly cool August morning, with temperatures in the mid- or high-50s.  Low, smoke-like clouds ringed the field.  The field itself was wet and heavy, and the grass was cut low, but it was still a fine sight overall and a good day to be out with hunting spaniels.

I quartered Larsen and stopped him to the whistle.  His stops were pretty good considering I had been gone all week and that was the first whistle work he'd heard since the prior Sunday.  He quartered some more, I tossed a dead and Bill gave it a shot.  Larsen sat.  I may have had to correct him a foot or so to make it more perfect.

Then we set up the drill.  I walked 40-50 yards away and planted a bird in full sight of Larsen.  Then I pipped him to me and to the bird.  He found it, flushed it, and sat to wing & shot.  It wasn't pretty, I hit the whistle hard and he started to break but then sat.  Bill shot the bird and we all stood around until Larsen calmed.  I pipped him to me and set him up for a "dead".  His return was messy, off by about two feet.  I grabbed him by the collar and pipped him to me and picked up the bird.

Larsen had a couple more drills and did well.  He broke on one low flyer that Bill could not shoot.  He trapped the bird and brought him in.  Still, 2 for 3 or 3 for 4 (I forget how many we ran) with a steady dog was a pretty good morning's work.

New York Public Library

The sidewalk to the library along 41st Street has embedded in it bronze plaques with pull quotes from authors famous and obscure.  My casual inspection turned up nothing regarding dogs generally and bird dogs in particular.

The Lions in repose at the New York Public Library at 41st Street and 5th Avenue.

NY, NY

Chrysler building from 40th and Madison.

New York

The streets are always busy, but the sidewalks don't fill up until well past 8:00 in the morning.  Let's go people, get up and get going!

Chrysler Building from Lexington and 42nd.

Grand Central Station

Around 8:30 am, commuters pour from the station.