My Hunting Dog Training Blog

Later this Fall I hope to breed one of my hunting dogs and have a litter of puppies. With this plan in mind I have been gathering information and researching all aspects of dog breeding over the last couple years. In my research I ran across quite a few different ideas for whelping boxes to keep the puppies safe and sound while young.

This design is by far the cheapest to build and the simplest idea I have found. The whelping box is a plastic kiddy pool that you can get from Wal-Mart or Ace Hardware for less than $10. The side bumpers consist of a small section of 3-4 inch flexible plastic drain pipe. You can get it pretty cheap at Lowes or Home Depot. The drain pipe is attached by drilling holes and fastening to the pool edge with zip ties. The drain pipe should be suspended about 3-4 inches off the bottom of the pool. This keeps the puppies from being accidentally suffocated by the mother or laid on.

This is a square shaped box made out of 2x12x8 lumber. The bumpers on this design are constructed of 2-3" PVC pipe and fittings. The whole bumper assembly is glued together and can be reomved and hung on the wall when the pups get big enough. Some people line the whelping box with news paper or blankets to make clean up easier. The main thing is to be sure the puppies stay warm enough in winter or cool enough in summer depending on your climate and season.

This is a custom hexagon design that I really liked. It is only about 5 feet in diameter and the design has built-in bumpers along the inside edge of the whelping box. You can finish the wood and make it look nice to match your furniture if your litter is going to be born in the house. This is a great design if you plan on having several litters. I like the round or hex shapes better than the square design because there are no corners for a puppy to get trapped in.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just mailed my check in for the upcoming Dave Walker dog trainng seminar. I have heard so many good things about Dave and his training methods I just couldn't pass up this opportunity. It's being hosted by the Wasatch Front Brittany Club and it's only a couple hours drive to the training grounds. The only hard part for me is deciding which dog to take with me to the seminar. Since Annie has been behaving so well I think I will take her, besides Dave Walker is a brittany guy anyway.

Another thing I am looking forward to is meeting some of the folks from the Utah Bird Dog Fourm who will also be attending the seminar. Since I live in a more rural part of the state it is sometimes hard to connect with fellow bird dog folks. I am hoping to talk to the folks at the Wasatch Brittany Club about the logistics of starting a bird dog club in Central Utah. A few of us have been kicking around the idea of starting a club for some time. The only trouble is we don't know exactly how to go about it.

One thing we are considering is covering a broader spectrum of hunting dogs instead of specializing in one breed or breed type like pointers or retrievers. The idea is to welcome all hunting dogs and their owners, to get together and discuss training ideas and gear, and to do some fun hunts to prepare for testing or trialing. It seems like the hard-core guys hit the trialing/testing circuit hard during the summer months, but the casual hunters just kennel their dogs until hunting season. Hopefully, a bird dog club could be useful to both hunters and trialers alike.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that the hunting season is actually over I have spent some time in the woodshop working on upgrading the pigeon coops. I have two seperate coops for raising pigeons for the purpose of dog training. Today I found an abandoned shelf project that was collecting dust in the corner of my shop. With a little work I was able to convert it into some overflow nesting boxes for my white pigeons. The perches on the front are made with 2x2 lumber scraps. I also had to glue in blocker peices to keep any nesting materials or eggs from falling out of the nest. The pigeons seem to like the extra space. This week I hope to explore my options of raising some chukar and pheasant chicks from eggs. When researching such topics about gamebirds I usually consult the folks at That Quail Place Forums.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We went to visit my parents this past weekend in Southern Utah. They live on the edge of the desert and have taken to feeding the local covey of quail. We enjoyed breakfast on the patio and watched as the Quail would come into feed on the free buffet. It was fun to hear them call and I couldn't help but think of grabbing my shotgun and taking the dogs out for a romp. The neighbors would call the cops in a minute, and my parents would banish me forever. But, still the thought did cross my mind. I would guess that some of the best Quail coveys in the southwest are considered pets for the homeowners that choose to live on the edge of suburbia. They bathe in the water features and dine daily on the mountains of wild bird seed tossed into the brush. There is nothing cuter than a Momma quail leading her brood out for a morning jaunt. When your into gamebirds you start seeing them in the darndest places.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Russ was kind enough to invite the fathers and sons in our town for a pheasant hunt. Many of the youth had never shot a pheasant before or had seen pointing dogs at work. Russ always starts with a safety talk and gives some pointers on shooting. Each of the boys in my group were able to shoot a pheasant. A few of my neighbors commented on my dogs "Wow, we didn't know you had this kind of dogs". I was proud of Abby and Annie, they looked sharp. Thanks to John Jacks, Sterling Lee, Wade Peterson and JJ & Jeff Brewer for volunteering as guides and dog handlers. We had a 1:1 adult to youth ratio which helped to keep things safe and fun. It's always fun to bring young people into the field and teach them to hunt. All of the boys learned to clean their own birds and we had a delicious dutch oven dinner with smoked pheasant and taters. Thanks to Tom & Bess Christensen and Russ & Carol Peterson for preparing the meal. The hunt was a big success.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday we snuck over to the Rooster Valley Pheasants hunting preserve to get our fix until next season. We took our new land-lord Jared J. Jensen with us since he loves hunting waterfowl. He couldn't decide which shotgun to bring on a pheasant hunt and I told him a 10 gauge was a little much. After some searching he finally found a couple boxes of number six shot in his arsenal. The hunting was tough since we were hunting "wild" across the river from the preserve. Jared was able to knock down a couple of nice roosters and we had a great time working the dogs. Sterling Lee and John Jacks were also hunting with us. Their dogs Biff and Trigger did well.

It was fun to take some time to visit with Russ Peterson after the hunt, as the owner of Rooster Valley Pheasants he always has some good tips to help us find some birds. He said he had just jumped 3 more roosters while working a puppy of his along the river. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go and chase them down. We hope to get out again next week. The season at the hunting preserve closes on March 31st.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to volunteer as a guide/dog handler at the annual Southern Utah Youth Fun Hunt. What a great experience for young people to be introduced to hunting upland game with pointing dogs. This was my first time participating and I was really impressed by the organization of an event of this magnitude. My hat goes off to the founders, sponsors and organizers of this year's youth fun hunt. The kids had a wonderful time and I was told they ran over 200 kids through in two days of hunting.

This is my friend Robert Well's dog Toby on point during one of the early braces. Robert has been volunteering at this event for several years and invited me to attend this year with my dogs Annie and Abby. Toby was a real joy to watch work and is a classy german shorthair.

Safety was our first concern with each brace we started with a safety talk and went over the rules. When the dogs went on point, the handlers would physically restrain them while the youth hunters were walked around to get ready for the shot.

With the shooters in place another would kick the pheasant out of the bushes. Upon the shot we would release the dogs for the retrieve. We were able to get at least one successful bird shot for each kid. Towards the end of the day a big storm rolled in and the wind cranked up. Kent Forbush is pictured below with the gathering storm.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)