A junior moment

Sunday featured Shoni's Sunny and my Larsen on the practice field at Circle W.

Larsen was steady to wing and shot for his first two pigeons.  The third bird was a chukar, and Larsen broke, pursued the chukar to the ends of the earth despite my chasing him down and correcting him from afar electronically.  He bounded in with the bird in his mouth, his eyes closed with rapturous happiness, and his nose snorting like a pig as he inhaled gamey chukar scent.  This is where I would have liked Cathy to be there to figure out what next.  What correction would have been appropriate?  Brain him or just take the bird?  I did the latter.  I quietly looped him up and took him to the car for a drink and kenneling.  No more birds in the field.

Shoni called the break Larsen's "junior moment," since he'd been pretty good that morning and in weekends before, and this time he acted as excited as any junior puppy.

On thinking about it, I concluded that I should have been more careful about re-introducing Larsen to chukar.  Larsen has been getting steady to wing & shot with pigeon, which we have practiced with for the last few weeks.  Evidently, he has not transferred that approach to chukar.  I can now see that this will be a particularly ticklish transfer because chukar flush just out of the reach of snapping jaws, and stay relatively low and enticingly close for the longest while.  I saw that in Larsen's break, where the bird seemed inches from his frothing mouth for the longest time.  Moreover, Larsen had gone through the entire junior and senior with chukar without being steady and now I am asking him to override those habits and be steady.

After his water work, I re-started the steady program.  I hupped Larsen and took a (dead) chukar and just tossed it about while he watched.  I interspersed this with a few hunt deads, just to give Larsen the chance to get his mouth on a bird.  We played the new games until we were both hot and then we sat under a tree to cool off.

I'm back to square 1 with the chukar and steadying Larsen.  I'll make sure I do some tosses to a steady dog, and I'll be doubly sure to have any chukar flushes under very controlled conditions.

Humphrey's Master Hunter title

Humphrey earned two qualifying legs last weekend at the Cocker Spaniel National in St. Louis to give him five total and a Master Hunter title.  Cathy was pleased.  Humphrey joins his clumber mate Zelda in the Vinzant household as the second Master Hunter.

Every MH finish seems to have its all-star moment.  Cathy described hers, which is a perfect, all-star blend of communication between dog and handler.  It went down like this.

Humphrey quartered, flushed a bird, and hupped.  The gunners took several shots and in the confusion, Humphrey lost track of the bird and did not mark it.  Cathy could see that Humphrey believed that the bird had fallen behind a berm and into a small valley on the left.  Cathy knew that the bird had fallen in the tall grasses to the right.  The judge tapped her on the shoulder and told Cathy to send her dog.

But where?  Humphrey is a smart and opinionated dog.  Cathy concluded that Humphrey would break to the      left.  She would have to handle him to the right.  This was a recipe for over-handling, disobedience, and disaster.  Cathy sent Humphrey to the left.  The dog took off and disappeared over the berm.  Cathy waited.  After some time, Humphrey came up, having concluded that the bird was no where to be found.  Now he could be handled.  Cathy pipped him "over" and to the right.  The agreeable dog took off, found the bird, and brought it to hand.


Cathy's decision to send Humphrey to the left was made in a pounding heart-beat.  Afterward, the judges agreed that the counter-intuitive action was probably the only thing she could have done.  Who among us would have that confidence?  Cathy knows Humphrey, and in fact, we all do.  Humphrey is smart, opinionated, and sensitive.  A spaniel.  And now, a Master Hunter as well.

Humphrey, Cathy, and Zelda flaunt their orange Master Hunter ribbons.  (phto from 2011 Mazomanie Hunt Test.)

Fun at JL Lester

Larsen's training at JL Lester was short and sweet.  We also had quite a bit of fun that morning with Celine, Lissen, and puppy Freckles.

It was Freckles' first experience with birds, a big clip-wing pigeon, and first swim in the muddy farm pond at the old Lester farm.  She also got to soak in the sights and sounds of a dog in the field with the gunfire of a short .22 from a blank pistol.  What a morning!

  Freckles charges into the field on a hot summer morning.

Freckles gets a noseful of feathers from the clip-wing pigeon.

 Freckles is in hot pursuit of the pigeon.

Freckles tracks the pigeon into the tall grass.

Everybody into the pool!  Larsen whispers sweet nothings into Lissen's ear as Susan tries to extricate herself from the muck.

Soaking wet, and covered with pond muck, Sue declares the outing a complete success.

Outing at JL Lester

I met Sue and Gary R. at JL Lester on Sunday morning to steady Larsen a few times and to help Sue birdie up her puppy, Freckles.

We had to manage with only two pigeon.  With the first, I quartered Larsen and let him flush the bird.  The pigeon flew off,  Sue shot the blank pistol, and I hupped Larsen.  Larsen's quartering and flushes are not particularly pretty, but people have told me that that is to be expected while Larsen continues to figure out the new game.  What's probably more important is that Larsen sat and did not give chase to the bird.  I pipped him to me, sat him, and then quartered him again.

Once or twice, Sue shot the blank pistol and I pipped Larsen to a sit, which he did.  Larsen did not cheat much and I did not have to make too many corrections to his positioning, but his sits need to be a little quicker.

I tossed a clip wing pigeon here and there and Larsen sat or stayed sitting depending on the scenario.  I decided he was a little bored, so we quit and went in.

As Vicky D. has done, I dropped the pigeon behind me as Larsen and I walked toward the cars.  At about 40 yards, I halted him, turned him, and did an impromptu hunt dead.  Larsen took the "back" direction well and returned with the bird.

A good outing.  Larsen and I will continue seeing fly-offs until he starts to treat them as routine.  I also will start working with Larsen on directions.  He can do the "back" command.  He now needs to understand the "over" commands.

Other Sunday notes

Freckles (3 mo old) and Lissen (about 2 yo) came to the field to watch the practice.  Freckles is growing into a dog, but is still a wobbly puppy.  Lissen is the dog who visited as a little pup and to whom Larsen provided big-brother protection when she was lonely and whimpering.  Both are Statesman dogs, and Susan R. was along for the ride.  I was roundly criticized for taking no photos of these sweet little dogs.

Shoni's Sunny took to the field for the first time since her return from training in Michigan.  What a fine little dog!  Sunny hunted with vigor.  She returned readily to the whistle on fly-offs.  Sunny fetched the downed pigeon and retrieved to hand.  Sunny has always been a fine hunter, and now the training has channeled that talent to form a good little hunting dog.

Cathy's Humphrey and Zelda got tune-ups in the field.  Zelda ran about and earned some words from Cathy.  Zelda knows better and after a little chastisement became the good hunter she is, although to watch her mosey back from the Hunt Dead was so puzzling that we could only scratch our own heads.

Zelda's nose has really developed in the past year and she is finding birds otherwise passed.

Humphrey was out briefly for a flush, sit, shoot, and fetch.  He handled it like the Master he will soon become.

The day was not terribly hot, considering the practice was in Alabama in July, but it is still plenty hot for the dogs.  Our water work was limited to a couple of retrieves.  None of us were willing to troop to the snaky end of the pond to practice water blinds.

Sunday practice notes (v1)

Larsen's practice had two very good events, one on land and one on water.  

On land, Larsen flushed the pigeon and sat.  Shoni and Al took turns shooting at the pigeon, whose  feather sheathing is a protective armor.  The fourth shot brought the pigeon down.  Larsen sat throughout the fusillade.  I pipped him to me and sat him.  Then I sent him on a hunt-dead.  He came to me and, with a deep-voiced correction, delivered the bird to hand.  The delivery was a bit ragged, but overall, his turn in the field was very good.  Throughout, he did not break.  Larsen quartered at my shoetops, but Cathy and I decided that this was part of the learning process with being steady and the fact that we had in past weeks rolled out numerous birds very close to me.

At water, I steadied Larsen and Cathy tossed the bird while firing a blank pistol.  I had covered my ears and as I brought my hands down, Larsen took that as a signal to go.  He thus anticipated my voice by a fraction of a second.  However, Larsen stopped at the water's edge and milled about.  Maybe he knew he had broken?  At any rate, and at Cathy's suggestion, I took the opportunity to pip Larsen back in and recast him.  He came in, sat, and I sent him again.  Not often do you get a chance to make a correction like that.

Larsen came in, and I gave him a firm, but higher-pitched and sweetly-voiced "here".  He came without shaking or putting the bird down and sat with the bird.  I patted and cooed over this good dog and his nice retrieve.

Cathy reminded me that there will be many practices where nothing will go right but that this was one to remember as one where you could see that however uncoordinated, the pieces were falling into place.

Training made easy

Here is the big secret about training gun dogs: We do not train them to hunt; we train them to be under our control.

The three most important things about training gun dogs are control, control, control. There are few problems you and pup cannot overcome if you can control him.

Aaron Decker, "Be Repetitive, Fair & Consistent When Starting Your Training" Gundog Magazine, May 26, 2011.

Barbi & Ken

Just Ken in the picture (along with Aki) because I've been told that under no circumstances may I name a dog "Barbi."

Aki poses with Ken under the lamplight during her trip to Germany.

Tatum

Susan W.'s Tatum had a litter of 8: 4 male, 4 female.  The little dog and the pups have settled in.  The adventures begin for the little dogs in a welcoming household.

 Tatum comforts two of her pups.  (photo courtesy of Susan Willingham.)

JL Lester

Larsen and I had a lonesome practice at JL Lester this Sunday.  Cathy was at her lake house, Shoni was fetching up her dog, Sunny, and I never got around to seeing if I could invite myself to Tim's.  So, Larsen and I loaded up and headed out to Bremen and the old Lester farm.

I parked at the meeting house and Larsen and I walked to the field behind the west barn, which was always a nice field.  Unhappily, that field has been totally neglected and is shoulder-high brambles and deep weeds with no real pathways.  I picked up our equipment and packed back to field house and then down to the east barn.  We walked along the dirt road around the bend and set up camp in the shade of the trees that overhang the dry creek.

I took Larsen for three turns, and we sat in the shade and reflected upon the day while he cooled off between turns.  The day was cloudless, hot, and humid so I kept Larsen soaking wet and iced down and waited until his tongue returned to normal size before heading into the field with him for his second and third turns.

On each turn, I heeled him to the line (heel, sit, heel, sit).  I quartered him with decreasing success, because he recognized that I had a quail in my pocket.  I periodically shot my blank pistol and commanded him to sit.

These sits were not perfect, and in retrospect I erred severely in not making corrections on the spot and sometimes giving the command twice.  As the saying goes: practice does not make perfect.  Perfect practice makes perfect.

On two of his turns, I released a quail and shot the starter pistol.  He sat both times, and I pipped him in.  I quartered him after those releases, making sure that I started him in the direction opposite the bird's flight so that he understood that he was to resume hunting and not retrieving.  He was reluctant, but he obeyed.

We did three hunt deads of the type where I would drop a bird as we walked back to camp, and then I would turn and send him.  On one of the turns, I had to handle him (push him back) and he understood and obeyed immediately.  His retrieves were quite good, but they generally are on hunt deads.

Larsen takes a breather between turns on a hot July morning at JL Lester WMA.

Luke Weaver's farm

Luke Weaver graciously allowed WSSCA to use his farm for a Hunt Test at the May, 2013 Nationals.  The Nationals will be in Perry, Ga., about an hour and a quarter south of the Jackson, Ga farm.

Larsen and I drove to the farm to meet with Bill T.   We walked the land and talked dogs, hunting, and hunt test.  Bill will be a judge (along with Susan W.), so actually walking the land and talking set-ups was a good way to refamiliarize ourselves with the terrain, as well as a pleasant way to spend a July morning.  Larsen volunteered to show us how a dog would move in the field and help us visualize how the field setups would work.  


The farm has several large and interesting fields, with easy entry/exit for a pick-up truck full of dogs, if need be.  The pond was full and flush and perfect for a water retrieve, if our rain-luck holds out for another 11 months.

My only criticism of the property is that the land should get mowed soon.  If it lies fallow too long, the volunteers will turn to saplings.  As it is, the grass is thick and the birds have too much opportunity to burrow.  We might consider volunteering our own labor to get the field in shape.

The test will be limited to 25 Welsh Springer Spaniels.  To put into a bottle a day spent afield with 25 merry red & whites!

Frank and Larsen pull into Luke Weaver's farm.

Ready to hunt.  Just add one springer spaniel.

The cool pond tempts a hot dog.

That didn't take long.

A few sweeps of the broom will make this open-air shed the perfect place for lunch and awards.

4th of July, final report

Memphis style ribs, cole slaw, baked beans, and blueberry pie were the order of this red, white, and blue day.  Ray and MaryAnne Brown stopped by to complete the festivities.

Ray Brown views the set table.  MaryAnne is in the mirror (click on photo to see entirety).

Aki's Memphis-styled BBQ ribs were a hit.

The blueberry pie put some new notches in the belt.

Fireworks, interrupted.  Larsen glowers at Chance (not in photo) from within his crate.  

4th of July, so far

Aki went off to run the Peachtree Road Race, the 10-K that features over 60,000 of the most elite runners in Atlanta.

Larsen and I snuck off to Lake Alatoona, where a "dogs on 6-foot leash" sign recently had been installed.  I had to chase Larsen from one end of the lake to the other to try and get his lead on him.

Aki pins on her number in anticipation of the road race.

It was cool, 67 degrees, but humid, at 90+ before the  race.

Congratulations, Aki.  Another Peachtree Road Race in the record books.

Midwestern summer

I spent a few days in St. Charles, Illinois.  St. Charles is a suburb of Chicago, in some ways, but it is a long, long way away.  This part of Illinois is more midwestern than the Great Lakes feel of Chicago proper.

The days were at or over 100 degrees, which is the interior continent for you.  The thunderheads that rolled through were massive but brief.

From a conference room: the thunderheads took an ominous form.

Steady to wing and shot

Larsen had his first, solid flush-and-sit to wing and to shot.  This is a milestone.  Larsen can do master-level work.  

The flush came in his first turn.  I had been quartering him.  Once or twice, Shoni shot (with no bird in sight) and I pipped Larsen to sit.  He anticipated the whistle it seemed, which is real progress.  On a funny note, on a different turn about, Shoni shot behind Larsen's back as it were (Larsen was at 2 o'clock, and Shoni at 9 o'clock with me in the middle of the clock).  Larsen "sat" by somehow whipping his rear end about 270 degrees as sat to try to find out what he had missed on the shot.  I was then able to pip him to me.

On that same turn, Larsen was about 10 yards in front of me, and he flushed the bird out.  Shoni, at 9 o'clock shot the bird and it dropped about 20 yards out at about one o'clock, with me, Larsen, and the bird making a perfect line.  This was a perfect recipe for a break since there was nothing between Larsen and the bird but the tender summer-length grass of the Talapoosa river valley.  But the little guy sat and stayed steady.  I looked at Cathy and asked if I should pip him in.  She said, no, go ahead and send him.  I did, and he went to the bird keening with joy.  He made  the fetch and retrieve to hand.  (A little messy on the exchange, but ok.)

As is usual for a practice day, there were mistakes and meltdowns.  In another turn, Larsen balked toward a bird as I pipped him to sit.  I broke toward him, and he broke to the bird.  It was that look over his shoulder where he takes my measure and "digs in" as Shoni said later - - tearing up the turf to the bird as fast as he could.  That was a backward step, of course.  But, there is no taking back that first turn, and it gives us a mental model and measure of confidence to build on.