June 2008 Archives

After attending the Dave Walker dog training seminar, I decided I wanted to buy some quail for dog training. Quail are a great bird for training a dog to be steady to wind and shot as they hold as a covey. If your dog creeps in on a point the birds usually flush all together and hopefully your dog learns to be ready for more birds after the flush. I bought these little guys at 3 weeks old from a local Utah breeder named Travis Proctor. For now they are surviving in my small brooder table. Hope to get a bigger pen built for them in the next week or so.

The pheasant and chukar chicks are 15 days old now and are starting to feather out nicely. Yesterday, I removed one of my circles in the brooder room since some are able to fly over it now. I will leave the remaining circle for a couple more days to give the smaller birds a chance to catch up. Also, we had a cold snap last night and we awoke to snow on the mountain. It is supposed to be Summer right now but at least it didn't freeze last night. I did light up the propane heater during the night. I haven't used it in nearly a week since the weather has been warmer.

I have had to raise the nipple waterers up a bit each week as the birds grow. I think it is important to make sure they have to reach a bit to get the water. I think it helps them build up their leg strength and muscles which should all make for better flying birds in a few months. This theory is not very scientific but I do think it helps to keep the birds strong. It is still very difficult to tell the difference between the chukar chicks and the pheasant chicks. As the feathers grow in the distinction will become obvious.

Here you can see the feather coming in nicely. Most of the birds are starting to try flapping their wings a bit and practicing 2-3 foot test flights. It is pretty funny to watch as they are a bit clumsy at this age. As I remove the next circle and give the chicks full access to the brooder room they will start to fly a little more each day. At 5 1/2 weeks exactly we will put the blinders on them and release them into the large outside flight pens.

Had a great time at the Dave Walker dog training seminar yesterday at the Lee Kay Center in Salt Lake City. I was a little disappointed in the turnout from the local crowd, but the smaller group made for an excellent day for those of us that were there. We were all able to get one-on-one training and advice from Dave while he worked with each of our dogs several times. Here is a picture of Dave working with my Brittany dog Annie. I was able to learn several things that will help me and Annie get to the next level which is steady to wing and shot.

Two highlights for me were first winning the brand new Tri-tronics Pro 500 G2 EXP Training collar in the raffle. I have been wanting a 2-3 dog training collar system for quite a while. The Tri-Tronics collar is as good as it gets and is over a $500 value. This is the model that Dave Walker uses as well. The second highlight for me was the privilege of buying Dave Walker dinner after the long day and to just chat with and get to know him better. Besides being a hall of fame dog trainer he is also a real down-to-earh person and a true gentleman. Thanks to Dave and his friend Charles for taking the time to come down to Utah. I took a lot of notes and got much more than my money's worth. Thanks to the folks at the Wasatch Front Brittany Club for hosting the event.

I highly recommend Dave Walker's book "The Bird Dog Training Manual". The book is a culmination of more than 3 decades of dog training wisdom. I didn't have my checkbook at the seminar so I ordered the book online from his website. His methods are sound and humane and when you see them put into practice you will be an instant convert. If you ever have a chance to attend one of Dave's seminars, don't miss it.