I like to run more than one dog at a time. Besides the fact that you can get twice as much accomplished, it is just plain fun. Dogs seems to work naturally as a team, the whole pack mentality shining through I am sure. I was running these two young female brittanys on quail and it felt like honoring and backing seemed to happen naturally. Intelligent pointing dogs will stop if they see another dog on point, even if they can’t smell or see the bird. I feel that this is as natural and deeply ingrained as the pointing instinct itself.

Of course, for one reason or another you will have the dog that developed the bad habit of stealing points. That is the maneuver of going in past the original dog on point to claim the point for himself. This can be avoided by establishing the ground rules early on. Even when working very young puppies, if they can point they can honor. I like to bring a pup in on an adult dog that is holding point and watch for the young dogs first reaction. If you watch carefully they will honor, even if just for a moment. This is where I stop them and keep them until the bird is flushed by my training buddy. Teach them the rules early on and bad habits will not be as big a problem.

Chased some pheasants this morning before going to work. Abby was in fine form and was slamming her points with style. My buddies dog Biff was getting the hang of backing Abby when she would find a bird. Biff is a good hunter as well but hasn’t had near as many birds as Abby. It has been amazing to watch Abby progress over the past few months as she has gained more experience on both wild and released birds. Each bird pointed is so valuable to the growth and development of a pointing dog.

She backed Biff on one of his points but today it seemed that Abby brought her “A” game. She retrieved 3 roosters that were shot over the water and dropped into the river. We had one that dropped on the other side and she didn’t see it fall. Couldn’t get her to do the blind retrieve thing. She kept looking at me like I was an idiot. Besides the blinds on water, her retrieves are to hand every time. Abby is really shaping up to be a classy hunting dog.