I spend a LOT of time with my dogs–most of my time, really. I work from home, and so Lexi and Sky are my constant companions: A run in early am, in the office together all day, a walk in the PM, repeat.
But not this July and August. Both girls went to Wild Apple Kennel at the end of June for summer training, and they’ll be there through this month.
I’m counting down the days.
Only one thing sucks more than planted quail: cold, wet, planted quail.
In the best conditions, planted quail prefer running to flushing. When these birds are cold and wet, they’re as likely to fly as a frog or groundhog.
And cold, wet planted quail, plus a handful of well-trained bird dogs, is what Lexi and I faced off against at the Northern NH Bird Dog Club 2018 Annual Trial.
This trial ran from April 27-29. We were in Sunday’s Amateur Shooting Dog stake. It was a cold, cloudy day. Rain shifted back-and-forth from drizzling to pouring.
Lexi was in the third brace (there were only 4 in the entire stake). She had a great run, stayed in the pocket the whole time, handled perfectly, and, as you can see in the videos, the didn’t let those lousy quail throw her off her game (or make her break point). By the time we finished the course, I thought for sure we would be taking home a yellow ribbon.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. While I was disappointed, Lexi didn’t mind. She just had fun chasing birds.
You feed them. You walk them. You pay their bills. So how do they feel about you?
This quick video helps answer the question every dog lovers have: Do our dogs love us, too.
I love videos of pointing dogs and wild quail.
This is another from Hifive Kennels, and it features a setter named Ginny.
If you hang around the coverdog field trial circuit at all, you probably know Hifive. Located in Beulah, MI, they’ve been breeding, training, and trialing dogs for 20+ years, and they’ve produced a long list of great dogs.
George Bird Evans is one the patron saints of upland hunter. A prolific artist and writer, George wrote a number of classic books about grouse hunting and, along with his wife Kay, created the famous Old Hemlock line of English Setters.
Today, George & Kay’s home and legacy is preserved by the Old Hemlock Foundation, creators of this video: Old Hemlock Setters: The Legacy of George Bird Evans
And check out this blog post to learn more about Evans and his famous Fox & Purdey shotguns.
Shawn Kinkelaar is one of the top bird-dog handlers & trainers in the U.S. He started field trialling in the 1980s, and today he’s one of just two people who have won 100+ Open Horseback Championships–the World Series + Superbowl + Stanley Cup of bird-dog competitions.
He has also won more National Dog of the Year Awards than any other trainer, as well as three English Setter National awards and three National Handler of the Year awards.
For the past 25 years, Shawn has spent his summers training in North Dakota. This year, a local news crew caught up with him and produced this video.
In the video below, you can get a taste for what it’s like training in ND in the summer: Horses, bird dogs, and the space to run both. I’m envious.
Field Trials are great places to see other dogs and meet other dog folks. The New England Bird Dog Club held their August field trial a few weeks ago and plenty of both were there.
I ran Lexi and Sky, but we didn’t have any luck.
Lexi ran twice, but on her first try she broke on the flush. On her second run, she failed to honor. Those offenses got her disqualified.
Sky ran well and found a bunch of birds. Unfortunately, other dogs dig a better job overall than – so no ribbons for her.
You’ve heard of Pointing Labs. Well, I my dog Sky could be the foundation for a similar line of hunting dogs: Retrieving Pointers.
Sky’s nuts about anything round and mouth size: Tennis balls, lacrosse balls, slimy round things that may be shrunken heads. She finds these things on our daily walks and if I throw them, she brings them back–whether I want her to or not–over and over and over…and over.
I’ll be taking orders for pups soon. Like Pointing Labs, the prices will be stupid high. And yes, I’m kidding…
Here’s Sky’s growing collection of balls.
Grouse counting is a game-management technique used on grouse moors across the UK. This beautiful video explains how it works. But the best part of seeing how the dogs point and work the field.
The Untold Story – Grouse Counting
We used to have one big bed for both Lexi & Sky (the green one to the left). But that didn’t work. Sharing was not something they wanted to do. So I bought another bed. Now they fight over the new one, even though the older one is bigger. Go figure.
A lot of hunting dogs find birds, point, and retrieve. Keep trails clear of debris for other hunters? This is my pointer, Sky, last fall at 8 months old.
As I was downloading some pics over the weekend, and I came across these ones of the aluminum Diamond Deluxe dog box I picked up last October.
Back when I just had Puck and then Lexi, I kept my dog in a crate in the extended-cab part of my pickup. But when I added Sky, I needed to come up with a better way to do things.
This box has proven to be a safe, secure way to transport my two pointers. It has lockable top storage, cross ventilation in the back, insulated holes, and lockable doors. The holes are wide and deep, and both of my girls can fit in one with ease. So now I have room for two more dogs.
I was going through some pictures this weekend, and I came across these ones I took last fall. Hope you like them.
My pointer, Sky, loves chewing up shoes and slippers. Since October, she has chewed, chomped, and torn her way through 4 pairs. Now when I catch her doing it, this is her reaction.
This shows she has a conscious and she knows that if she’s super cute, no one can get mad at her.
You have to be a real crank not to love an English Cocker Spaniel, especially hard working little guy. Check ’em out.
Pond Plantation – Oakley: an English Cocker Spaniel bird dog
Sky and I headed up to northern NH on Saturday to say “hello” to Lexi and Craig Doherty. Craig runs Wild Apple Kennel, and this is the second season he has worked with Lexi.
Lexi left for training camp at the end of June, and this was the first time the Sky has seen her since then. After they had a moment to reacquaint, we put took some pigeons out for them and ran a couple other dogs Craig has in his kennel this summer. Overall, a great day.
You hear all sorts of “truths” about Pointers: They’re not personable; they make lousy house dogs; they don’t retrieve (not naturally, anyway). Sky is my third pointer, and just like my first two, she has shown me that all these “truths” are total BS. Watch this video to see her dispel the third.
Lexi and I headed down to Cape Cod on Sat to check out the Setter Club of New England’s spring field trial. I entered Lexi in two stakes: the Amateur Derby and Gundog. She took 3rd in both. Here are some pics from the day.
I never set out to be a Pointer guy. Back before I got Puck (my first pointer), I had never even seen one, except for in books and magazines. Then one day I was flipping through an issue of the Pointing Dog Journal, and I noticed an add from a Pointer breeder near me.
This was Autumn Memory Kennels in Bolton, MA. Ten months after my first visit there, Puck was mine. Today, I can’t imagine owning any other breed of pointing dog.
In The pointers of Northwoods Bird Dogs, you can read a bit more about what makes pointers such great dogs.
“Perhaps no other breed of bird dog has had more selective breeding based solely on their performance in the field than pointers. Even so, pointers are also excellent hunting companions and house pets.
In addition to our English setters, Jerry and I always have owned pointers. We’ve bred, trained, competed and lived with them for more than 20 years and are now producing our fifth generation.”
Read all of The pointers of Northwoods Bird Dogs now.
Running birds can really frazzle some bird dogs. But not this one. Caladen’s DaVinci handles this can’t-stay-still covey of quail like a real pro — not bad for a long hair.
It’s nice to see a handler that lets the dog work, too. There’s no screaming of commands, just confidence and total faith in his four-legged partner.
Back when I first bought Lexi, there was one trainer the breeder recommended to me over and over again: Sherry Ebert.
Sherry is one of the top trainers in the country, and she turns out great bird dogs. Unfortunately, she’s booked up solid. I’ll find wild grouse in Manhattan before I ever get a training slot with her.
You can read more about Sherry Ebert in this great tribute Tom Davis wrote about her in Sporting Classics. And be sure to check out the video below, too. In it, Sherry gives some good tips and advice on training bird dogs.
Sherry Ebert: On Top of the Bird-Dog World for Decades, by Tom Davine, Sporting Classics
In 1963 a 17-year-old New Jersey girl named Sherry married a 21-year-old Pennsylvania man named Harold. Horses she knew, dogs she didn’t, but her husband, a wiry redhead with dreams of making it big in the bird-dog world, was fixing to change that. He took Sherry to Georgia, where since 1959 he’d worked for Fred Bevan, a professional trainer with a considerable reputation and a kennel operation to match.
Soon she was working for Bevan, too—and no employer, ever, got a better two-for-the-price-of-one deal than Fred Bevan did when he hired Harold and Sherry Ray. They worked long hours for short pay, their list of duties and responsibilities was endless, but they were the kind of people who couldn’t bear to leave a job unfinished and knew only one way to do it: the right way…
Read all of: Sherry Ebert: On Top of the Bird-Dog World for Decades, by Tom Davine, Sporting Classics
