Genuine steady

Maybe it's been my time running Zelda or maybe it is something inside Larsen himself, but there is a genuine connection in our outings.  This connection was electric today when Larsen was steady - - sitting, no less - - to two birds at Tim's.

Tim's plan was as follows:

First, we quartered Larsen on an empty field.  The field turned out to be not empty after all, as two of Tim's pigeons landed and strutted about.  Larsen got wound up as he got closer to the birds, but we continued to quarter.  The birds flushed themselves, so we heeled Larsen off the field.

This led to step two.  Larsen was put onto the place board and we walked around him.  A radio played in the background, and kenneled dogs whined.  The effect was to disturb tranquility.  Tim shot his starter pistol and, on occasion, tossed a pigeon into the mix.  Larsen was interested and eager, but ultimately settled down.  That was important, Tim said.

Now for step three.  I kenneled Larsen in the car.  Tim and I visited with Tim's little boy, Carsen, and we let Larsen cogitate on everything that had occurred.  Tim said that spaniels are thinking dogs and that Larsen would consider the events of the day.

Finally: step four.  Tim put out a bird and I quartered Larsen.  The wind was at our back, so Larsen found the bird coming in to me, not far off.  Tim shot and missed and I pipped the dog in.

On the second bird, Larsen flushed the bird and sat, as he had done on the first.  I kept my eye on Larsen and Tim shot the bird, which came down a good 40 yards off.  Larsen lost sight of the bird, so we enjoyed a hunt-dead.

This was an outing with two genuine sits-to-wing-and-shot, a hunt dead, and a successful retrieve.  This is real progress.