Utah Hunting Dog Training Blog

Stuff we should be doing right now and probably aren’t.
By Steve Smith

It’s almost March, which means in parts of the country it’s, we hope, turning toward spring. Other parts, those far north or buried in snow — usually the same thing, but not this year — there’s still a good portion of winter left. In any event or anyplace, the hunting season is a long way off. But there are things we should be doing and attending to that will make the final preparations for opening day easier.

Keeping/getting the dog in shape. In most of the country, spring is a cool time of year. Dogs don’t overheat like they can in the summer, so you can work them longer, and where there’s a will…. In Michigan, running a dog in the winter, especially a pointer, just isn’t in the cards: The snow’s too deep, and I personally don’t think it’s good on connective tissue to have a dog drag the back legs against the resistance of deep snow in a full-out run.

I found a place near home that works well enough — it’s a parking lot for snowmobilers near a groomed trail. The county or somebody plows it, and I go after work — my dogs meet me at the door and insist that we go work out. It isn’t like Sam can get much exercise just cruising the lot, so I toss bumpers for her (and my Lab) to retrieve. I toss them like 40 or 50 yards, and each dog gets a couple dozen fetches. Do the math: That’s over a half-mile of flat-out running. I know; that’s not far, but in the middle of the winter, it’s better than nothing, which is what I have done in past years. Sam looks good and feels good. If you haven’t worked out the dog since the end of the season, don’t wait until August to start. The days are getting longer. It won’t hurt you to get a little exercise, too.

Check out your gear and guns. If anything needs work, repair, replacement, or you wished you had one last season and didn’t, now’s the time. The gunsmith is going to only get busier and more backlogged the later it gets. If it’s something you need or want, you can sometimes get good deals on big items if you negotiate a little because it’s usually a long way between sales of fall stuff in the spring. I need a new framework for the blind on the duck boat; the one I want is on sale now, but I’ll bet it won’t be in September. I should buy it soon.

Need a new e-collar or maybe you’re going to a GPS or telemetry tracker of some sort and A Close Relative By Marriage would rather use the cash for hallway carpeting? Start saving now so you can pick it up mid-summer, in time to learn how to use it. Or buy it and get the grief out of the way so that when you pull it out next fall, it’ll be old news. That’s what I do. It isn’t the old, “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” because you aren’t going to get either. It’s just the way it is.

You should also give some thought to shooting some clays on a more or less regular basis, even fewer than a half-dozen afternoons spread over from now to the opener will keep you relatively sharp. One thing to be aware of is, as we get older, we lose our eye faster if we don’t shoot, and we get it back slower when we start. I was in Georgia hunting quail in mid-February — I got to hunt with Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, who is a crack shot — and I hadn’t pulled a trigger since Thanksgiving, and for the first time in my shooting career, I could see where the layoff really hurt. I only hunted two days, and I didn’t start shooting like I know I can (which, admittedly, isn’t all that great) until the afternoon of the second day; until then, I got cheerfully outshot by a politician.

By Steve Smith (Editor)
The Pointing Dog Journal
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Dog Training Journal Gun Dog Training, PDJ, pointing dog journal

This past week I was able to attend the 2010 American Brittany Club Western Futurity competition in Sonoita, AZ. There is a field portion and a show competition to evaluate the litters from 2008 brittany breedings. While some dogs were owner handled and trained, many folks prefer to pay someone to handle and show their brittany dogs in competitions. These professional trainers/handlers are good at what they do and have all the gear and knowledge to do it right. I was able to meet a few of these pro trainers and see what they were like in person. What a fun trip it turned out to be.

Ben Garcia owns and runs Hideaway Kennels in Colorado and is a respected handler and gun dog training expert. It was great to meet him and ask him about some ideas I have had on putting on a skill level based training seminar with 2 or 3 dog trainers. Can’t wait to pick his brain some more and develop a curriculum for a 3 day seminar to be held in Utah.

One of my hero’s in the dog training world is California based pro trainer Paul Doiron. He has handled and trained an astonishing number of field champion brittany dogs. You couldn’t go wrong sending your brittany to Paul for a few months of training.

Another California brittany man is Tom White who ended up winning quite a haul in the Amateur All Age stakes in Sonoita, AZ. He and his partner in crime Margaret Hostmeyer are know for their tireless efforts in their local brittany club as well as for their brilliant brittanies.

Last but not least is my good friend David Downing of Blueridge Brittany Kennels in Texas. He is one of the few trainers that is actively paricipating in both show and field competitions handling and finishing several dual champions. Dave introduced me to Hank Hartnek of Sunquest Brittanies in Arizona. Hank was in charge of securing the field trial grounds and greasing the wheels for future use of the property.

Dog Training Journal AKC Hunt Tests, American Brittany, Dog Training Supplies, field trials, Gun Dog Training

My custom dog box arrived today from Diamond Deluxe, it was a pleasure working with Warren Brown and his team. The box was exactly what I had specified and better quality than I had hoped for. I am excited to have the last part of my dog training truck and get it all put together. I tried to design it to leave room for an ATV (four-wheeler) on the back of the flatbed. It looks like the fit is gonna be just perfect. I still have to go to Home Depot and get some bolts and L-brackets to permanently mount the aluminum dog box. I was really surprised how light it was and how well-built the dog box is. I’ll try to take another picture when everything is installed.

Dog Training Supplies aluminum dog boxes, Dog Training Supplies, Gun Dog Training

We are so proud of Lizzy and how she is doing in the early stages of her bird dog training. She is a joy to be around and is great with my kids and other dogs. She likes to retrieve things and play fetch, and man is she one bird crazy dog. I have some bird pens in my barn where I keep chukar and quail and she will stand there for hours watching the birds. I usually have to physically remove her from the bird barn. It is worse when we go to the pheasant farm because the flight pens are quite lengthy and she goes round and round it pointing birds.

We have introduced her to clipped wing pigeons and some quail and she has the bird-drive in her. Can’t wait for a few more months when we can get a little more serious and start introducing the gun. She follows me around the yard when I do chores and loves to ride in the truck.

Choosing a Puppy American Brittany, Gun Dog Training, Hunting Preserves, Puppy Names

A few months ago I sold my Polaris Ranger and have been looking around for a new dog training/hunting outfit. My neighbor helped me find this little Ford Ranger V6 4X4 at auction that had rear-end body damage. We got a good deal on it (2004 with 74,000 miles) and popped the bed off. After a bit of searching we found and ordered this aluminum flatbed from a company called Aluma in Iowa. It was hard to find a flatbed for a small truck, but I wanted to be able to have access to all sides for loading and unloading dogs and gear. I am waiting on a custom dog box from Diamond Deluxe to finish the truck. I enjoyed the Polaris but was disappointed with the gas mileage and buying new front tires all the time from driving on paved roads. I thought a light truck with a flat bed would be just right. So far, I love it. Thanks to my neighbor from JRS Auto Repair for helping me find the truck at auction and mounting the flatbed for me.

Dog Training Journal Dog Training Supplies, Gun Dog Training, Hunting Gear

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

After a few months of loafing and enjoying the lazy days of summer the dogs tend to lose some muscle and get pudgy like their owner. With the fall pheasant hunting season only 2 months away it is time for our daily runs to get back on track. With temperatures reaching into the high 90’s during the day we usually go for our run first thing in the morning when it is still cool out. The dogs are a little soft so it will take a couple weeks to get back in shape and running hard.

Yesterday we picked up this white and liver brittany dog named Buster. He is a nice sized 4-year-old male out of Dave Walkers brittany kennels. Buster’s sire is FC Ricoche-T or “Rico” and his dam is Sweet Dreams who is a Beans Blaze bred female by DC Chick’s Blaze’N Sawtooth Sam JH. We are excited to add Buster to our brittany kennels and look forward to shooting a lot of pheasants for him this fall at the pheasant hunting preserve.

Dog Training Journal American Brittany, Breeding, Dog Breeds, Gun Dog Training, Health and Nutrition

This is Tony from Blueridge Brittany kennels in Texas. He was purchased this week and will be going to training camp in Nebraska with David Downing to get ready for some fall hunting. David will be competing with Tony in a few trials to get some puppy points if all goes well. We are looking forward to watching Tony’s progress in his bird dog training. You can see Tony’s (Blueridge’s Race-N-Win) complete pedigree here.

I was hoping for a puppy out of this same breeding, but the repeat breeding didn’t take. After talking with David he mentioned that this male brittany was available from last years litter. After thinking it over I decided to go ahead and get this good looking male brittany from the futurity nominated litter between Rob and Kelly.

Choosing a Puppy American Brittany, Breeding, Gun Dog Training

This week we shot a pigeon over Mowgli and he did very well. I was using my single shot 20 gauge and I was about 20 feet out shooting away from the dog. Luckily, I actually hit the bird (I usually miss). Mowgli went right to the downed bird and brought it back in a round about manner. We will likely shoot a couple more birds for him before we go into getting him to hold his points. I think the goal with a young pup is to make sure they are excited about birds and have no sensitivity to gun fire.

Chris Colt of Cove Mountain Kennels is helping me get Annie steady to wing and shot. She caught a few birds and that set us back some. She believes she can catch any bird that she points and we are trying to break her of that. When she sets up on a point, she gets stimulation if she even lifts a leg. It is challenging to learn the body language and suttle cues.

Dog Training Journal American Brittany, Gun Dog Training, Professional Trainers, Shotguns, Steady to Wing

Mowgli is the latest addition to our kennel. Mowgli was whelped on June 13th of 2008 and is a liver and white American Brittany. He was placed with us by some nice folks who found him to be more than they bargained for. He is a very high energy dog and has a little more size to him than the average brittany. He may be a little bigger than the brittany standard but after speaking with brittany expert Ben O Williams about hunting the open country I have been leaning towards the larger brittany males. Chasing chukar here in Utah requires a dog that can really cover some ground.

Mowgli was started immediately on bird introduction with a clipped wing pigeon and he showed excellent bird/prey drive. A few days later we fired the starter pistol over him while he was chasing a carded pigeon and he showed no signs of noise/gun sensitivity. We will try a 20 gauge shotgun fired at a distance and work up to a 12 gauge at closer ranges to be sure there is no problems with the gun. He loves to get out and cover ground and has won the hearts of my children. He handles well for my 6 and 8 year old daughters on walks to the park and is patient when they insist on combing his thick coat.

I sent in his AKC registration papers today and look forward to learning more about the pedigree and breeding which was from a small family kennel in Alpine, UT. Mowgli is at the perfect age to get serious about his hunting dog training so I am excited to have a second dog in my kennel while I am working on breaking Annie to be steady to wing and shot.

Choosing a Puppy American Brittany, Bird Introduction, Breeding, Gun Dog Training, Puppy Names