My Hunting Dog Training Blog

The pigeon chick seems to be doing well and is getting less ugly each day. The mother is very attentive and I have to be really sneaky to get a picture of the nest. I am concerned that the temperatures are going to get below freezing tonight. I hope momma will keep her baby pigeon warm enough. Still no action on the second egg, not sure if I should remove it from the nest or just let it be. On the positive side, the one chick is getting all the crop and attention from the mother. Which means it should grow and develop faster than if there were two chicks in the nest.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The parts came in today for my new Polaris Ranger XP. I had ordered the front and rear windshields as well as the molded plastic roof. I chose to buy the lock-n-ride Polaris brand accessories and was very pleased with the fit and finish. Installation was pretty easy and took less than an hour to install all three parts. It went especially smooth since my good friend John helped me, he has the same accessories on his ranger. The kids were very excited about the roof to keep the rain out. The tool racks were my favorite accessory. For only $349 I got the lock-n-ride accessory mount for the bed rails, the garden tools rack and the lockable weed wacker rack. The tool rack comes off very easily by simply removing two clips. Since I will be using my Ranger for a variety of things I am quite pleased with the versatility that all the accessories provide. Two thumbs way up for the Polaris Ranger and the hundreds of aftermarket parts available for it.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The lone pigeon that hatched seems to be doing just fine. He is one ugly little chick. The second egg still has yet to hatch. I am afraid that perhaps this other egg was not fertile to begin with. One chick may be all we get this time around. On the brighter side, more members of the flock are roosting in my barn each night. They are eating the food that I put out, but it drives my dogs crazy to see them walking around barely 20 feet from their kennel. I wonder how Abby and Jake will react to having 500 Chukar Partridge living next to them in the barn. Perhaps it will help to increase their prey drive for game birds.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While checking the pigeon nest in my barn this afternoon I discovered that one of the eggs had hatched. It was an awkward looking pile of skin wriggling around in the nest. I would dare say the second egg will hatch later today sometime. The other pigeons in the flock are starting to come a little further into the barn for the feed I put out for them. Today I picked up the lumber to build a pigeon coop in my barn next to the chicken coop. The spot already has an existing aviary and will work quite nicely for raising pigeons.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 7:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've decided to go ahead and raise 500 chukar partridge chicks this Summer. This will be a partnership with my friend Russ Peterson who runs a Utah Pheasant Hunting Club. He usually raises around 5000 ringneck pheasants each year for use on his pheasant preserve. He says a lot of his clients have requested the chance to hunt both pheasant and chukar. In May I will go with Russ to the hatchery to pick up the day old pheasant and chukar chicks. I have a bit of work to do to get the barn ready for the chukars. I am going to sectioin off one end of my bird barn for the chukars. I can use the existing insulated brooder rooms to get them through the first few weeks of life. After their feathers grow in good I will move them to the big flight pen. I am researching the possibilites of raising some quail also.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My wife finally gave in and let me purchase a new Polaris Ranger XP. It is a great utility vehicle for training dogs, doing yardwork or just heading into the mountains. I have ordered a front and rear windshield as well as a molded roof to keep the bugs out of my teeth and the sun off my head. I was wanting to get a Yamaha Rhino 660 but after several outings with my buddy in his Polaris Ranger there was no question as to what would work best for me. The ample storage compartments were a big plus for me since I am an old boy scout who likes to be prepared. You can fit two large kennel boxes in the bed which means you can haul up to four dogs, three grown men, plus all their gear for a day/weekend of hunting or camping in the mountains. It should be great for going fishing as well. The three seatbelts is a big plus for me as well as the EFI which I am told is essential at high altitudes. I cant's wait to load up the dogs and go get my new ride muddy.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Annie is growing up and getting to be quite a spunky little brittany pup. This week we took her on our run up the mountain with the ATVs. She did well and stayed right with the pack for the first mile or so. Then she got a little tired so I let her ride in her kennel on the four-wheeler with me. She had a little scuffle with my female GSP Abby. They are both very strong-willed and will eventually have to duke it out to see who's boss. She will be one-year old next fall when hunting season comes and I hope to enjoy a great first season with her. The trainer says he likes her boldness and thinks she will be a good hunter.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The weather has been very warm lately. When we took a ride on the ATVs the other day it was around eighty degrees outside. I was amazed to see the dogs actually get tired and seek out the shade. We probably rode a couple of miles up an old jeep trail. I never thought I would find the bottom of the run in these two german shorthairs. It seemed that they had boundless energy reserves. I was surprised when we came to a stop to see them lay down in the shade and actually rest. To help them cool down I got out some bottled water and gave them a cool drink. It was a reminder to keep them watered good as the warm weather heats up. I am also curious if the darker color dogs tire more quickly in the hot desert climates. If so, It makes a good case for all the predominantly white german shorthairs I see in our area.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

How many times do we find ourselves going to the same spot in the backyard to train our dogs? After about a hundred fetches in the same spot the dog may associate the command with the place. How many stories have you heard where a friend exclaims "I don't know what's wrong with my dog, he retrieves perfectly at home"? Sometimes we need a reminder to change the scenery for our training sessions. It can be a vacant field or your neighbors horse pasture, it doesn't matter as long as your not glued to the same spot in the yard. This week we took the dogs out to a flat desert area where we could see for miles in all directions. The only landmark was this junked out old car that had been shot up during a life of thousands of target shooters. The dogs had a ball and it gave us a chance to work on basic commands in a different setting. Best of all, they got some real good exercise and were able to stretch their legs and flat out run.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Throughout the winter we have been feeding a few barn pigeons and getting them to hang out in our barn. A few weeks ago we noticed a couple of pigeons started roosting in the rafters of the barn. The other day I noticed there is only one pigeon roosting in our barn now. She seemed to stay close by, only leaving for a few minutes when we go in to feed the chickens and collect eggs. Today, I decided to climb a ladder and see if there were any pigeon eggs in the nest. Sure enough, the pigeon is setting on two cute little pigeon eggs. We will keep an eye on them until they hatch and then we will capture the babies to start our little pigeon flock. They should come in handy for training our pointing gun dogs.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week Travis and I went on a little run with the dogs. Jake and Abby did fairly well until we surprised a large herd of Mule Deer. Abby decided she would try to herd them into the next County. Needless to say, Abby was long gone. It took Travis, Jake and I about an hour and a half to finally find Abby. She was tired and thirsty after chasing all those deer. Now we have to learn how to curb her appetite for deer. We are hoping to teach her this without the use of a shock collar. As always we are open to suggestions from the pros.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We went to visit my neighbor and Max had to say hi and pet all the guide dogs at the pheasant farm. Since my neighbor is all but done with pheasants I thought I would hit him up for some leftover feed. My laying hens are eating quite a bit and the bags of laying pellets from the local feed store is getting expensive at $16.00 for a 50lb bag. The stuff Russ is feeding his pheasants is a pretty high protein mix that he buys in bulk from our neighbor who mixes his own hog feed. I wanted to see how my chickens liked it before I comitted to buying a ton of this homemade feed. So far the chickens seem to love it.

Max loves to go with me to do chores and run errands. He wears his cowboy boots everywhere and is contantly tasting new rocks and dirt. Russ let Max help feed the horses which he talked about for hours. He will be two years old in April but is already quite a handful. He especially loves animals and has them broke down into three categories. All livestock are considered "Moos", all dogs are called "puppies" and anything with wings is a "Chickie". After gathering the eggs I had to drag Max inside because he didn't want to stop shoveling manure in the barn. Russ is trying to talk me into rasing 500 Chukar Partridge to compliment his pheasant farm operation. It could work out well for me to have access to birds for dog training.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Annie is just over four months old now and seems to be doing well with her training. She is having a fun time at her trainers house and loves to be involved as part of the family pack. She is well-fed and seems to have grown a few inches every time we see her. She is kept on a lead when they take her in the backyard as she likes to wander off and explore the world. I think it is good that she is both brave and curious enough to venture out. She likes to go on runs with the other dogs but mostly she likes people. She will sit still for anyone to scratch her ears or pet her. Chris did get her out on some wild chukar before the season ended and she did well with introduction to gun fire. I am sure that obedience training will be the focus for the next little while.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 7:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Only on a pheasant farm can you enjoy pheasant hunting this late (early?) in the season. My friends from Viewpoint Engineering came up for a business meeting with UDOT and we were able to squeeze in one last hunt at our local Utah Pheasant Hunting Farm. It was fun to bat cleanup for the many corporate clients that miss many birds. We bagged eight birds in all and the only one that got away was a big rooster that I missed. My friend holding the shotgun in the picture above was perfect on six birds. Then he got feeling guilty and let me bag one or two. I left my dogs at home in the interest of time and I must say it was fun to watch the game farm dogs do their work. Jakes littermate "Biff" was along for the ride and did well to watch and learn from the pro dogs. I thought the birds would run a lot harder than they did, but they were darn right agreeable. It helped considerably to have the owner personally guide us into all the right spots. He sure knows where they hold up after a few weeks of freedom. With any luck we can go work our dogs a few more times before the farm closes their season at the end of the month.

Posted by Big Bad Jon at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)