Here’s a good video of summer training from Hi Five Kennels. Besides the nice dog work, what I liked most about this video of how it shows you the kind of covers grouse & woodcock like. Watch the whole thing and you’ll see the places where these birds hang out.

The history of the modern pointing dog is convoluted and tangled. The further into its past you go, and the more clouded its lineage becomes. People believed that Spain’s Burgos Pointer was the great-great-great-great grandaddy of them all, a dog that could trace it’s origin back to the beginnings of pointing breeds over 600 years ago.

A Burgos Pointer

While that’s a great story, it’s not true. The reality is that the Burgos Pointer is a much newer breed of pointing dog. But that doesn’t make its story any less interesting. I suggest you check out this post from Craig Koshyk’s blog to read the whole story on the Burgos Pointer. For the full story on fifty other great breeds, buy Koshyk’s book Point Dogs Part One: The Continentals. It’s well worth the money.

The English Pointer lays claim to ancestors throughout Europe. Dogs from Spain are said to be the beginning of the breed, and an earlier version of  the modern Portugese Pointer probably added a few bricks to the EP’s foundation.

Portugese Pointer, from Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals

Portugese Pointers can be traced back to the 18th century and today, these hard hunting, short haired dogs are still chasing game. Craig Koshyk tells their story here and in his book Pointing Dog, Volume One : The Continentals.

Pics courtesy Craig Koshyk. All rights reserved.

Portugese Pointer, from Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals

Bruce Minard’s HiFive Kennels has been around since 1996. In that time, it has gained a reputation for quality bird dogs. I’ve seen Bruce’s dogs on the trial circuit and they’re always impressive.

This video shows an 11-month old English Pointer named HiFive Unlisted. Watch how nice and easy this dog handles. Also, check out how dynamic and snappy he is on the ground. That athleticism is what makes English Pointers such impressive dogs. Once you get used to all that drama and grace in a dog, it’s hard to hunt behind another breed.

Double-barrel nose on a Pachón Navarro

I’m interested in side by sides — that’s pretty obvious. So when I came across the Pachón Navarros, a  Spanish pointing dog with a double barrel nose, I was intrigued.

According to Craig Koshyk’s Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals, the Pachón Navarros trace back to the very first sporting breeds to appear around the Pyrenees Mountains, way back in the 13th century. The dogs almost disappeared in the early 20th century, but today a growing group of hunters and enthusiasts are rebuilding the breed.

You can go hear to read more about Pachón Navarros. And for the full story, along with tons of great info on a lot more hunting dogs, pick up a copy of Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals today.

A Pachón Navarro in the field

Over the last 12 years Craig Koshyk has been on a mad pursuit. You should thank him. Koshyk has dedicated thousands of hours and even more $$$$ to create a beautiful new book titled Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals.

Buy this book now

You’re probably thinking breed book, great (eyes rolling, fight back a yawn). But please understand this: Pointing Dogs is much, much more than that.

While it is filled with original research on 52+ breeds, Pointing Dogs book is as much about Koshyk’s passion for these dogs as it is about their ancestry, coat colors, and hunting styles. This passion is what makes the book such a great read.

Starting tomorrow, I’m going to feature a bit about each breed in the book: one dog a week, 52 weeks. To get the full story behind these dogs, purchase a copy Pointing Dogs, Volume One: The Continentals for yourself.

BTW: I want to ask you for a favor: Spread the word about this book. Email your buddies. Talk it up. Give it as a gift and buy multiple copies for yourself. This will help Koshyk complete his next book — Pointing, Dogs Volume Two: The British Pointing Dogs.

My dog’s tail says a lot. A couple of weeks ago Puck and I were hunting in Maine and we got into a bunch of grouse. Over almost 2 hours Puck had 6-7 solid points (not including follow ups).

I snapped a few pics of her and later as I was thinking back on things I wondered what Puck’s tail and body position were telling me about each point and situation.

A couple things about the scenting conditions: It was about 40 degrees out, no real air movement, and the ground was moist to wet; there had been a hard frost in the AM and the sky had been cloudless all day; we were hunting the last few hours of the day.

4-5 grouse, 20 yards ahead

In this first pic, Puck’s pointing a group of 4-5 grouse. The birds were about 20 yards ahead of her, feeding under some apple trees. While it looks Puck caught the scent high in the air, her tail is showing some diffidence. She’s not 100% sure of the situation, and I’m not sure why.

Single grouse, moving right to left

This next point was a single bird, located on low ground in a mix of poplars, cedars, and spruces. The bird seem to be running to Puck’s left, and from the time I spotted her to the time I took this pic, her head turned 45 degrees. This time, her low, crooked tail shows even more diffidence. I released Puck and she relocated this bird after a few minutes. The second point was fifty+ yards away from the first.

The third pic is of a single grouse in cover crowded with poplars and cedars. Again, Puck’s tail is low and hooked. Her head, ear and body indicate a positive contact with solid scent, but for some reason she’s not 100% sure of it. This bird flushed pretty far out — 40+ yards — so maybe the scent was dissipating and this caused her to loose confidence in it?

Single grouse, straight ahead 30 yards

Overall, I’m thinking that these grouse/points had a one big thing in common. The birds were moving away from Puck. This may have caused the scent to diminish, or  shift. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t 100% convinced of the grouse’s location.

Anyone else have any ideas? I’d love to hear them.

BTW: if you’re wondering how many birds we killed, the answer’s zero. I’m a shitty shot.

Bird scent – I can’t see and I can’t smell it. But when it comes to upland hunting with girl, it’s important that I understand how works. With that in mind, I’ve been trying to learn more about how scent works and how weather affects it. This recent post from Steady with Style does a good job of summing things up.

“Bird dogs use the wind to hunt and find birds. Hunters use the wind to determine the best approach to birdy objectives, and dog trainers like us use it to help our dogs navigate a variety of bird set-ups. Basically, there are four wind situations: upwind, downwind, crosswind, and no wind…”

Read the entire post on Martha Greenlee’s excellent “Steady with Style” blog.

Here’s a short video of a GSP working the scent on a running pheasant:

Here’s a cool look at a search-and-rescue dogs working a “scent cone” to locate its handler:

You’ve heard it before: England and America are two countries separated by a common language. They have bespoke, we have custom. They have lorries, we have trucks. Differences like this occur in the gun world, too. The Brits shoot; we hunt. They wear tweed; we wear blaze. And their pointers and setters point with flat tails, while our dogs hold there tails high and straight.

This hasn’t always been the case. Our dogs mimicked used to mimic their ancestors in the UK. Take a look at the engraving on this old Parker and you’ll see old-timey American hunting dogs with their tails level with the ground. But in the last 50-60 years, new, American style pointers and setters have emerged. One of big differences in these dogs is their tails – how they hold them and how long they are.

English Pointer - Old time tail

Pointer & Setter, tails starting to rise

Modern English Pointer in US, Nitro's Elhew All American

Modern English Pointers in Scotland

If you would like to see a bunch of great dogs this weekend, the Maine Spaniel Field Trial Club is having their 2011 trial this weekend in Hollis, Maine. Here are the details. Springer trials take place on open fields, so they’re easy to view. The people are always nice and the dogs are fun to watch. I’ll be there on Saturday taking it all in. I encourage you to stop by and do the same.

English Springer Spaniel