Mowgli has been working with Chris Colt at Cove Mountain Kennels on some basic obedience and introduction to birds. He is a unique dog in that he is so full of energy it has been hard to get him settled down enough to learn. He is getting better at his birdwork and just started really standing his birds this past week or two. We really struggled with his “sitting” problem where he would sit anytime he was under pressure. But, Chris has pretty much brought him through that using Dave Walker’s training method of stand up – stand still.
Chris has recommended getting him out on some wild chukar next month where he can really stretch his legs and never catch a bird. That is the one drawback to dog training with pigeons. Sometimes they don’t flush very well at all and the dogs learn that they can jump in and catch them. Our quail are looking good for this year and we are anxious to set up or recall pen for the fall training season. The picture below is Mowgli’s first real point this morning, I was late on the snapshot but he initially had his front leg up and his tail high.
Dog Training Journal
American Brittany, Gun Dog Training, Hunting Buddies, Pigeons for Training, Steady to Wing
Just sending in Tony’s papers for the Central and Western futurities put on by the American Brittany Club. There were quite a few litters nominated with Tony’s in 2008 but I think less than half will actually be entered in the competitions. There are events for Show and Field and the events are designed to showcase and promote excellent litters bred and whelped in 2008. I am hoping to be able to attend the Western futurities down in Arizona to see Tony run in January. To see the dogs that performed well this year (2007 bred litters) you can click here for the Central, for the Western results click here and for the Eastern Results click here. It will be exciting to see how Tony and his litter mates stack up against other young Brittany dogs.
Dog Breeding
all age, American Brittany, dual champions, field trials, Show competition
Buster came to us as a finished dog and will be a big help as we head into the fall pheasant hunting season. We have taken him out on live birds and he looks great on point and is nearly whoa broke. Buster is a product of Dave Walker Brittany’s and his sire is FC Ricoche-T and his dam is Sweet Dreams who is heavily bred on DC/NFC Ban Dee on the top. We are hoping to use Buster as a stud dog in the near future. He has a great natural retrieve and is a pleasure to have in the kennel and in the home.
A side note: Annie came into heat this week and started spotting today. We are planning a breeding between her and Buster if all goes well. Puppies would be expected around October 17th and would be ready for their new homes right around mid-December. These should be excellent hunting dogs with a calm nature, strong nose and a natural retrieve.
My Gun Dogs
American Brittany, Breeding, NSTRA
