Two dogs dining

What's it take to get service around here?

A room of my own

Or at least a work space of her own. We moved a closet and expanded the area of where a small built-in desk was located. We'll put a very nice desk in the nook - - about five feet long. This will give Aki a spot to work in without trying to out-maneuver the round kitchen table.

The new study nook is in the den, near the kitchen. Larsen and study desk-to-be are in the foreground.

Signs of summer

We're way past azelea season.  The perfumy jasmine is blooming.  Magnolia buds are bulging and those big creamy flowers should reveal themselves in a week or so, in early May, and will be with us almost until Labor Day.

Larsen enjoys the late spring blossoms on his morning outing.

Gator

Lake Allatoona is a hydro power lake that laps at the base of Red Top Mountain in Emerson, Georgia. The lake fills in some very steep gradients in that mountainous foothill. The lake has a deceptively long shoreline because of the numerous fingers that run and and out of the steep grades.  It is not a bayou or lowland by any means. In short, this is no place for a gator. 

Yet on a hike down the old Chattanooga-to-Atlanta railbed, that's what Larsen and I saw. Two gators, in fact, each about three feet long. I took a video, but I'm afraid it has all of the clarity and demonstrative power of the Sasquatch photos. It might look to you like a big carp preambulating along the placid retention pond on the lee side of the rail bed.  I think it was a gator.

Ready for Galena

Humphrey and Zelda are ready for the Spaniel Hunting test in Galena, Missouri next weekend (4/28 and 4/29).  Humprey is hunting as well as he ever has, and, even more importantly, is happy doing it.  He brought the bird to Cathy on a very long retrieve and just loved it.  He was steady as a rock on the flush and shot.  Cathy took extra time with Humphrey to calm him (and herself) and get set for the next bird.  She will try more or less to control the pace and not let the judges push her or the dog too fast.  Zelda likewise was good on some difficult fly-offs.

Larsen is not going to Galena, but he seems ready for the next step in his training regime.  We introduced a live bird this weekend, and he stayed steady.  We sat him, then put up a clip-wing.  I called him to me and made him sit.  I did not send him for the bird.  We did that twice.  Larsen started whimpering -- sort of coming unglued a little, but he stayed with me.  I sent him for the bird to be fair.

We also continued with our other training regime, which is heeling, sitting, and staying steady when I tossed a dead bird around.  Larsen stayed steady even when I tossed the bird over his head and away from me.

Larsen's sits are getting better and more responsive, but we need to spend more weekday time on it.  I will consider a few games that will make it interesting for him.

Larsen comes to the whistle.

Lost opportunity

I forgot the e-collar on our Saturday hike at Lake Allatoona.  Larsen's "sits" are getting better, but are still slow and begin first with a tentative crouch and not with a committed sit.  The e-collar makes an instant correction from afar, no different than the pop on the 6-foot lead when doing heeling work.  As with the 6-foot lead, the trick is in timing and being fair.

Training notes

We started at the water.  The swamp, really.  The dogs had to traverse water, mud, and mudholes in search of the bird.  The bird might be on higher ground or more usually in a bog.  All three dogs are experienced and were unfazed by the changing and boggy terrain.  In some instances, the dog needed some additional handling to find the bird, but in all instances the dogs persevered and brought the bird back nicely.

On land, we heeled and hupped Larsen.  I came away from the Sunday session with a renewed understanding that I've got to improve Larsen's sits.  Time is a factor now, with the November Hunt Test faintly on the horizon.  Now is the time to work Larsen and improve his whistle-sits.

In the field, we quartered Larsen down the field.  He paid attention, turned to the whistle and came when called.  At times, Cathy and I stopped to chat and visit and Larsen stayed attentively in his sit position.

We released a little tension with some hunt deads.  Short ones that were not challenging.  Larsen's first retrieve was messy: he had a mind to pass me by and take the bird to an undisclosed location.  His delivery was not to hand.  On a subsequent hunt-dead, I gave him a very firm command, and his delivery was much better, as were subsequent deliveries.  Time for table work, which has been drifting by undone.  For the week:

• Five minutes, twice per day, some concentrated heel-sit work.  This is a minimum.
• On the table at least 3 times this week for some fetch-hold work.

Humphrey continued to hunt with vigor.  He paused to hypnotize the bird a little longer than he should, but he was not really pointing.  When a bird moved, he went in.  I think with livelier birds, his flush would improve.  He needs a bird that is a challenge to him.  Humphrey circled back when we did not move up the field quickly enough for his tastes.  Zelda was very good.  She broke once at the end when I missed an easy flying bird that simply tempted her too much.

The pair are ready for a Missouri Hunt Test.

The unpopular spaniel

The AKC rankings show that in 2011 the most popular types of dog:

• Pointers (10 breeds with an average rank of 65.2)
• Retrievers (6 breeds with an average rank of 67.0)
• Misc (Schnauzers, Dalmations, and Chinese Crested) (average rank 67.6)

On average, the least popular type of dog as registered at the AKC in 2011 was the merry little spaniel with the 11 breeds having an average rank of 107.2.

Row Labels	Sum of Count	Average of 2011
Guard	27	71.2
Herding	27	99.8
Hound	20	103.8
Hunting	6	75.7
Misc	5	67.6
Pointer	10	65.2
Retriever	6	67.0
Setter	4	99.5
Spaniel	11	107.2
Terrier	34	98.4
Toy	23	69.0
Grand Total	173	87.0

You are here - - no, way down here

AKC dog registration statistics were issued at the end of February of 2012.  Welsh Springer Spaniels are way down here, at 130, and this is a drop of 18 places  from a rank of 112 in 2001.  Labs remain the most popular breed in the land.  Some other points of note:

• American Water Spaniels dropped 33 places from 124th to 157th between 2001 and 2011.
• Irish Water Spaniels dropped 19 places from 131 to 150 between 2001 and 2011.
• Sussex down 16 from 145 to 161.
• Cockers down 13 from 14 to 27.
• Clumbers down 13 from 120 to 133.
• Field down 8 from 133 to 141.
• English up 2 from 27 to 29.
• English cockers up 13 from 76 to 63.

No change analysis for Boykins (ranked 138 in 2011 and 133 in 2010) since they were not part of the AKC analysis in 2001.

	RANKING
BREED	2011	2010	2006	2001
Labrador Retrievers	1	1	1	1
German Shepherd Dogs	2	2	3	3
Beagles	3	4	5	5
Golden Retrievers	4	5	4	2
Yorkshire Terriers	5	3	2	6
Bulldogs	6	6	12	19
Boxers	7	7	7	8
Poodles	8	9	8	7
Dachshunds	9	8	6	4
Rottweilers	10	11	17	11
Shih Tzu	11	10	9	10
Miniature Schnauzers	12	12	10	13
Doberman Pinschers	13	14	21	24
Chihuahuas	14	13	11	9
German Shorthaired Pointers	15	16	20	22
Siberian Huskies	16	18	25	21
Pomeranians	17	15	14	12
French Bulldogs	18	21	36	64
Great Danes	19	17	24	28
Shetland Sheepdogs	20	19	19	16
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels	21	23	27	44
Boston Terriers	22	20	15	18
Maltese	23	22	18	20
Australian Shepherds	24	26	34	35
Pembroke Welsh Corgis	25	27	22	26
Pugs	26	24	13	15
Cocker Spaniels	27	25	16	14
Mastiffs	28	28	32	37
English Springer Spaniels	29	29	26	27
Brittanys	30	30	31	31
Havanese	31	31	38	75
Weimaraners	32	32	30	29
American English Coonhounds**	33	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bernese Mountain Dogs	34	39	41	54
West Highland White Terriers	35	34	33	30
Collies	36	38	37	33
Vizslas	37	41	43	45
Papillons	38	35	35	40
Bichons Frises	39	37	29	25
Bullmastiffs	40	42	40	49
Basset Hounds	41	36	28	23
Miniature Pinschers	42	40	23	17
Newfoundlands	43	44	44	50
Rhodesian Ridgebacks	44	46	54	57
Border Collies	45	47	56	61
Chesapeake Bay Retrievers	46	48	50	41
Akitas	47	49	53	39
Bloodhounds	48	43	45	48
St. Bernards	49	45	39	36
Chinese Shar-Pei	50	50	47	38
Bull Terriers	51	53	61	80
Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers	52	59	62	56
Shiba Inu	53	63	65	55
Scottish Terriers	54	52	42	43
Airedale Terriers	55	54	55	46
Portuguese Water Dogs	56	55	69	78
Whippets	57	60	60	67
Alaskan Malamutes	58	58	57	53
Cairn Terriers	59	56	48	42
Australian Cattle Dogs	60	64	67	72
Chinese Crested	61	57	52	62
Lhasa Apsos	62	62	46	34
English Cocker Spaniels	63	66	74	76
Pekingese	64	61	49	32
Italian Greyhounds	65	67	59	51
Dogues de Bordeaux	66	68	N/A	N/A
Cane Corso	67	51	N/A	N/A
Chow Chows	68	65	64	52
Samoyeds	69	72	76	66
Irish Setters	70	77	68	59
Great Pyrenees	71	71	58	47
American Staffordshire Terriers	72	70	66	63
Dalmatians	73	69	85	58
Belgian Malinois	74	76	90	94
German Wirehaired Pointers	75	73	73	73
Staffordshire Bull Terriers	76	74	80	95
Brussels Griffons	77	80	63	77
Japanese Chin	78	75	72	74
Irish Wolfhounds	79	79	77	86
Border Terriers	80	83	81	87
Cardigan Welsh Corgis	81	84	79	85
Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs	82	88	97	101
Bouviers des Flandres	83	85	86	81
Old English Sheepdogs	84	81	71	68
Silky Terriers	85	78	70	60
Tibetan Terriers	86	90	95	91
English Setters	87	101	98	89
Afghan Hounds	88	86	87	90
Norwich Terriers	89	100	94	99
Flat-Coated Retrievers	90	103	100	98
Standard Schnauzers	91	95	99	97
Wirehaired Pointing Griffons	92	93	105	115
Basenjis	93	89	84	71
Gordon Setters	94	98	88	84
Giant Schnauzers	95	94	83	82
Norwegian Elkhounds	96	106	92	83
Parson Russell Terriers	97	92	75	70
Keeshonden	98	87	93	79
Welsh Terriers	99	105	91	92
Wire Fox Terriers	100	97	78	69
Toy Fox Terriers	101	99	89	N/A
Borzois	102	96	96	88
Leonbergers	103	33	N/A	N/A
Finnish Lapphunds**	104	N/A	N/A	N/A
Schipperkes	105	102	82	65
Cesky Terriers**	106	N/A	N/A	N/A
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers	107	107	110	N/A
Belgian Tervuren	108	108	107	106
Black and Tan Coonhounds	109	91	131	125
Neapolitan Mastiffs	110	113	112	N/A
Anatolian Shepherd Dogs	111	109	111	119
Bearded Collies	112	112	104	96
Smooth Fox Terriers	113	110	102	93
Tibetan Spaniels	114	104	101	102
Pointers	115	111	103	100
American Eskimo Dogs	116	114	109	103
Salukis	117	115	116	107
Belgian Sheepdogs	118	116	121	108
Manchester Terriers	119	121	106	105
Norfolk Terriers	120	117	115	114
Australian Terriers	121	123	113	104
Tibetan Mastiffs	122	124	51	N/A
Spinoni Italiani	123	118	117	122
Kerry Blue Terriers	124	120	114	109
Briards	125	125	118	113
Redbone Coonhounds	126	122	N/A	N/A
Miniature Bull Terriers	127	130	129	132
Black Russian Terriers	128	135	134	N/A
English Toy Spaniels	129	126	120	116
Welsh Springer Spaniels	130	127	124	112
Petits Bassets Griffons Vendeens	131	129	119	114
Irish Terriers	132	128	123	110
Clumber Spaniels	133	131	122	120
Bedlington Terriers	134	140	128	118
Lakeland Terriers	135	137	127	126
Bluetick Coonhounds	136	119	N/A	N/A
German Pinschers	137	138	143	N/A
Boykin Spaniels	138	133	N/A	N/A
Affenpinschers	139	136	125	117
Greyhounds	140	139	136	123
Field Spaniels	141	132	126	133
Scottish Deerhounds	142	141	135	121
Icelandic Sheepdogs	143	82	N/A	N/A
Beaucerons	144	153	N/A	N/A
Plotts	145	134	108	N/A
Entlebucher Mountain Dogs**	146	N/A	N/A	N/A
Irish Red and White Setters	147	150	N/A	N/A
Kuvaszok	148	144	130	127
Ibizan Hounds	149	151	138	140
Irish Water Spaniels	150	148	139	131
Pharaoh Hounds	151	156	141	135
Lowchen	152	147	132	134
Swedish Vallhunds	153	142	N/A	N/A
Curly-Coated Retrievers	154	146	137	129
Xoloitzcuintli**	155	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pulik	156	145	140	130
American Water Spaniels	157	143	133	124
Glen of Imaal Terriers	158	157	153	N/A
Polish Lowland Sheepdogs	159	149	142	128
Dandie Dinmont Terriers	160	164	144	141
Sussex Spaniels	161	155	145	145
Pyrenean Shepherds	162	162	N/A	N/A
Sealyham Terriers	163	152	149	142
Skye Terriers	164	160	146	138
Norwegian Buhunds	165	159	N/A	N/A
Komondorok	166	154	148	139
Finnish Spitz	167	158	147	136
Canaan Dogs	168	163	150	137
Otterhounds	169	161	152	147
Norwegian Lundehunds**	170	N/A	N/A	N/A
English Foxhounds	171	167	155	144
Harriers	172	165	154	143
American Foxhounds	173	166	151	146

Easter 2012

We spent a few days at Kiawah during Easter weekend. The weather was cold and gray on Good Friday, finally breaking through to delightful and clear weekend.

The coffee was hot and inviting on cool mornings.

We hiked to the end of the island and saw the eluvial flat at the confluence of the river and the ocean.

The troops enjoy some downtime in the afternoon.

Sunrise service on the beach.

Easter dinner: rack of lamb.

Range finder

Sure, the electronic range finders are flawless, but if you want to try to locate a bird that went down somewhere yonder try this:

The human eye is good at finding the middle.  If you are tryingto estimate to something along ways off, pick something in the middle and estimate to that.  You'll find that you are more accurate estimating smaller disatances You might even cut that distance in half again and estimate on that quarter and then multiply out.

Frontline

I applied Larsen's Frontline yesterday around noon.  He was spitting up (heaving & light vomiting) in the early evening before dinnertime.  I want to keep track of this to determine if I should switch to another flea & tick preventative.

Now it can be told

On Sunday, I hit each and every bird until the last pesky quail shot out at ground level and did not attain altitude until nearly (or rather, actually) out of reach. I felt much vindicated for my miserable performance the week before, in which I barely nicked enough birds to bring to the water.

 Cathy V. was nothing if not gracious, insisting that practicing fly-off birds is ever more important than an actual fetch.  True or not, it was nice to give poor Humphrey, who felt the brunt of my poor shooting, some nice invigorating retrieves.

I went a few rounds of skeet at Wolf Creek on Saturday. I shot with some guys who were better than me, which improved my concentration. I also thought about shooting when the gun touched my cheek, and not riding the target into the sunset.

On Sunday, with Cathy, I had some challenging shots, and I moved my feet with the birds as they arced toward the treeline or across the field. I consciously maintained a large margin of safety and only shot when I knew the field of vision was completely clear.

Later, Humphrey wriggled between my legs a few times, just as Larsen will do. This seems to be a big compliment from a spaniel.

And more drills

Some ideas for home:

• Front Larsen.
• Toss the bumper over his head.
• Send him.
• Pip him to a sit midway to the bumper. This is a big challenge. Stop that dog!
• Hit the ecollar if he fails to respond to the sit whistle.

Another idea:

• Get a short "city lead".
• Walk him around the driveway, the street, and out.
• Stop and expect him to sit immediately. Pop the lead if he dallies.
• Pip the whistle and expect immediate sits. Pop the lead if he dallies.

The goal is immediate, unthinking response to the whistle to sit. Only when he is sitting can you give the dog a new command. He has to sit, let the energy drain out of him, and refocus on you. Now you and he can hunt again.

Drills

We worked on drills, and I kept an eye on his tail. If Larsen's tail is wagging, you can go another round, if it's not, you'd better think of something new.

We were at Circle W with Cathy, Humphrey, and Zelda. I took Larsen out and heeled him around. I pipped the sit whistle and popped the lead if his sit was desultory. Round and round we went. I changed direction and if he didn't follow, I gave him a pop.

Finally, I sat him and walked a few feet away. I tossed a dead bird over my shoulder while I faced him. I called him to me (and toward the bird). I stopped him at my feet and hupped him. We did that a few times. One bird tossed, or two. He waited, I called him to me, and hupped him at my feet. Tail wagging. If he crept forward on a sit, I gently pushed him back by his chest to get him to the spot where I pipped the sit whistle. Again we did the toss, call, sit. Toss, call, sit. We finished with a hunt dead. Larsen was sent to fetch the downed bird, and he brought it back. A vocal correction brought the bird to hand.

Now to the field. I started him and quartered him. Pip-pip, two quick pips to turn him. If he turned at a good spot, no pips at all. Just let him go. Larsen was pretty sticky in that he stayed close to me. That will loosen up over time. Then I'd pip him to a sit as he quartered in front of me. If he slid, I gently pushed him back to the point of infraction by his chest. That correction works much than trying to grab him by his collar to correct him. He's much more accepting of the correction and did not jump away as I reached out.

Down the field we went, back and forth on the quarter. Pip sit. Pip-pip-pip, come here. Pip sit. Go on out again, I'd send him.

I had his e-collar on and used it if he strayed out too far and ignored the whistle. Pip-pip-pip, come here. If he continued to hunt, he got corrected. It took only one correction on 1.5, a very low correction. (I can hold the collar in my hand and give myself a 1.5 jolt. It feels odd, not really pleasant, but also not unpleasant and it certainly doesn't hurt.) More quartering.

Larsen did a very good job on a the hunt dead. No tricks here. We put the bird down 60 yards away in full view of the dog. He ran out and came back at the same speed, which is what is desired, and brought the bird to hand.

He cheated an inch on the water retrieve. Cathy thought that the infraction did not warrant bringing him back to the car (he deserved the bird), so I backed him up by pushing his chest, and reset him and recast him. His retrieve was quite nice and to hand with only a little harumphing on my part to encourage him to bring it all the way in.

For Cathy, I finally hit all of Humphrey's birds so he had honest retrieves. Humphrey hunted with vigor. Zelda came out of her shell from last week and also looked good in the field. She is more biddable than Humphrey, but I like Humphrey's work. He seems to be a thinking dog with a spaniel way of thinking, if it can be called that, which is charming when it is not exasperating.