Yesterday we made a visit to our neighbor Russ Peterson who runs Rooster Valley Pheasants gamebird farm. Annie is just finishing her basic hunting dog training after spending almost a whole year with Chris Colt of Cove Mountain Kennels. I asked Russ to plant 4 birds in his fields for Annie so we could work on her retrieving and pointing skills. I was very pleased with her birdwork as it was starting to sprinkle and the wind was swirling around every which way. She was quartering nicely and pointed solid on her first bird. I made a nice shot and she was right on the bird. She took a little coaxing to bring it to me, but I let her hold it a few minutes after she came to me. Finally, she simply laid the bird at my feet without any wrestling or problems. The next bird was a little harder as it flushed over an irrigation canal and dropped out of site when I shot it. Annie couldn’t find it, so I called her back and sent her out a second time and she failed again. I called her back a third time and she followed my hand signal a little better and found the bird. She retrieved the bird nicely across the canal and dropped it at my feet after a little praise. The third bird I wounded and Annie ran it down in an open field and retrieved well. We flushed a big rooster but lost it over the river, I was pleased that Annie swam the river and tried to track him down. We ended up with 3 birds in the bag and had a great time. Judging that Annie is barely one year old I am excited about her potential as a long-time hunting partner. It was especially fun to have my son Travis tagging along on the hunt with me.

My son Travis just recently turned nine years old and is starting to show an interest in hunting. He has become more and more involved in helping train our dogs and shooting has become a big part of that training process. Today my friend custom loaded a few 16 gauge shells with not much more than a primer so the boys could try shooting a shotgun. Since they changed the minimum age for youth hunters in the state of Utah I have been trying to decide what is the right age to sign my son up for Hunters Safety classes. Personally, I think 12 is a good age limit and will use that age as a goal for Travis to reach before he hunts. There will be plenty of opportunities between now and then for me to begin teaching him about gun safety and hunting ethics. I look forward to the day when we can hunt side-by-side but first and foremost will be teaching him a respect for wildlife and firearms.

This week I received a shipment from my new friend Joe Shown of K-9 Kondos. Joe runs a great little company out of Nebraska that makes the best dog houses money can buy. These very well-designed dog shelters are constructed primarily of aluminum (chew-proof) and are insulated to provide warmth in even the most brutal climates. There was some assembly required after the boxes arrived, but in about twenty minutes the first box was ready for testing by my daughter Hannah. After passing the child test we hauled the new dog house out to the kennels and let Abby have a look.

I’m pleased to say that my two german shorthairs love their new dog houses from K-9 Kondo. I left the doors locked in the up position for a week or so until the dogs were comfortable and then I let the doors swing freely and the dogs quickly figured out how to go in and out. The removable top is a nice touch for keeping the dog house clean. They even make a larger whelping-box-sized shelter with an available heater. Kudos to Joe and his staff at K-9 Kondos for making such a great dog shelter.

Another great litter of german shorthaired pointer puppies is available in Northern Utah. These are from strong german lines and are solid liver for those that really dig the solid liver puppies like me. This litter of puppies were whelped on September 13th and are currently 18 days old. Three females are currently available from this fine litter of GSP hunting dogs. If you are interested in learning more about this litter of pups you can contact Scott Jacob of Sweet River Valley kennels at (801) 330-3986.