Buster has been carrying the load at the pheasant farm this past month as Annie has been out of service while caring for her litter of brittany puppies. The puppies started eating solid foods a week ago and I thought Annie could use a break for a few hours. This was Annie and Buster’s first time hunting together as a team and I was real pleased with the duo. Sometimes 2 dogs just don’t work well together and you can’t fix it. Other times two dogs can seem like they read each others minds and truly compliment the other. We had a great pheasant hunt even if it was a bit cold and snowy, the dogs did well and our clients got 10 out of 12 birds released. It was fun working the ditch banks on these large alfalfa fields and the birds were holding good with the snow cover. All in all it was a fun day but the pups were glad to see Annie when we got back.

This week I guided three days at the pheasant hunting preserve. The birds get a bit silly this time of year and the roosters are running like crazy. The skittish birds and the sparse cover can make for some very challenging pheasant hunting conditions. Annie did well but I decided to take the owners seasoned shorthair pepper to help us out. Pepper has a unique talent that he has developed over 6-7 years of being a guide dog at the pheasant farm. When another dog goes on point, pepper circles around the bird to block their escape. This comes in quite handy when the roosters are running on us.

This is a picture taken after the successful late season pheasant hunt. Pepper’s blocking skills were much appreciated by the clients who ended up taking home a good pile of pheasants (mostly roosters). Another fun thing was a successful water retrieve by Annie when a bird was shot and dropped into the river. She is great with water retrieves as long as she marks the bird down. She hesitates a little still with blind water retrieves. We will work on this during the spring and summer training sessions.

I tried to get some video of Pepper demonstrating his unique skill, but I was a little late getting the camera out. The one thing I don’t like is that Annie won’t fight for a retrieve with a competitive dog. She will just let the other dog have it if they get to the bird at the same time. Sometimes I like to work Annie alone so she can do it all. Pepper is not one to share any of the retrieving duties. With all of our birds sold at the pheasant farm we are winding down for a few months until we get 5,000 day-old pheasant chicks in May and start the whole process over again.

One of my favorite things about training dogs is sharing with others, especially young people. I invited a couple of friends the other day to come and watch my dogs work and to be my shooters. My neighbor and avid hunter John C. (left) with his son had a fun time chasing pheasants while I worked with Annie on being more steady on point. My other friend Aaron came up from SG with his son to see the cover and tour the pheasant hunting preserve where I work as a guide. Aaron raises and trains german shorthairs and is the breeder of the dog Ace that I am currently working with.

Chris Colt of cove mountain kennels was out working with his new english pointer “Max”. It was his first time to watch Max working around birds and he was anxious to see where to start the training. Max seemed to have plenty of bird drive and not much problem with guns and noise sensitivity. It was fun to be the bird man for Chris and to watch him work and train the dogs from his kennel. Chris has been looking for a new pointing dog since he lost his wirehair Aika this past year to old age. This new english pointer just might be the ticket. Watch the video of Max’s first pheasant on YouTube.

Ace did well and had a fabulous back with Annie pointing a covey of wild valley quail that live on the property. We are trying to grow the quail population on the pheasant farm as they are a nice addition to the game birds. We use bobwhite quail for training but the valley quail are much more beautiful. I wish I could have got a picture of it but I was proud of Annie and Ace for their solid bird work.

The Polaris Ranger is my official hunting vehicle. Since I live so close to the mountains I can just load up the dogs and head for the hills. Lately I have been letting Annie ride in the bed with a short leash tied so she can’t fall out. The shorthairs still ride in the kennel box bungy corded to one side of the bed of my ranger. Annie loves to poke her head through the back window and see where we’re going. It’s pretty funny and my kids love to be able to reach up and scratch her ears. Annie seems to be more people oriented and wants very much to be involved in whatever I’m doing. The two german shorthairs don’t really care about people they just want to get out and run. It is interesting to raise the two pointing breeds together and to see the differences in their personalities.

We had a cold snap and a pretty good snow a few days ago that kept me and the dogs from getting out much. Actually, the dogs don’t care about the cold but I try to avoid bird hunting in a white out. The weather warmed up enough on Monday to take a few of our friends out pheasant hunting. Annie performed admirably retrieving several pheasant to hand for me. This big beautiful rooster was the best of her retrieves and she marked it nicely. She had to work efficiently to beat Jared Moss’ shorthairs to the retrieves.

Since she was just 10 weeks old Annie has had a nack for finding stinky smelly things. During our hunting today she brought me a squashed racoon roadkill, a chunk of smelly deer hide and a rotten rabbit’s leg. Each time she brings something I try to praise her for a good find and then get her back to work finding birds. Towards the end of hunt she brought me what appeared to be an old dead hen pheasant from a previous days hunt. When I took it from her, I found that it was still warm with obvious shot marks. Turns out that she had found a wounded bird that some hooligans had shot earlier in the day. They were poaching pheasants on the pheasant farm from a nearby farming road, shooting from their truck. I was pleased that Annie smelled and located this bird and retrieved it to hand.

While enjoying the unseasonably mild weather this week, I took this picture of Annie in the river cooling off and getting a drink. The water is only about six inches deep here, but Annie loves to lie on her belly any chance she gets. She has been a joy to be around and the kids like Annie the best and beg me to let her run free in the yard. This is a pleasant change for me as the kids usually run and scream when I let the shorthairs out for play time. Annie is doing well with her hunting skills and was able to bag a wild chukar while hunting with trainer Chris Colt last weekend.

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.

Went with Chris again last night to work with the dogs a bit. Annie got to work on her retrieving with the dead hen pheasant from yesterday. She did pretty good and finally brought the bird back after a little coaxing. Chris was careful not to snatch the bird away from her until he had heaped on the praise. He likes to let a young pup like Annie hold the bird for a few minutes and enjoy the feel of it.

Chris had his labs and his tennis ball slingshot so I let my german shorthair dogs Jake and Abby out to see how the game is played. They followed the labs after the tennis ball and followed them back when they retrieved. Neither Jake nor Abby had any interest in beating the labs to the ball. They seemed content just to run along side and watch. I was hoping they would get jealous and go after the tennis ball. I’ve heard sometimes that a little competition can help inspire a distracted dog. I’ve still got a lot of hard work ahead of me.

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.