It’s Follow-up Friday.  The blog hop that:

Let’s you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.

Thank you to Jodi from Heart Like A Dog and Flea from Jones Natural Chews Blog for hosting the hop!

Friday is the day to answer questions from the previous week and believe it or not, hunting season is upon us already.  Early Goose season opens September 1.  Grouse season will be opening the 15th of September.  Woodcock on the 21st and duck in October.

Today I am sharing some pictures of the dawgs hunting through the years in addition to answering questions.

Follow-up Friday 8-23-13

Jodi asked: At rally tests besides being marked the dog is timed, this is in case two dogs get the same grade. But in hunt testing they are not assigned grades right, they either pass or fail?

Yes it is pass/fail, but they are actually numerically scored on various requirements to determine whether or not they pass.  I think that is similar to what they do in Rally, except no one keeps time at a hunt test.

Thunder & Stella Jan. 1, 2010
Thunder & Pal Stella Jan. 1, 2010

becomingcliche wrote:  Those geese look like they need to be fluffed back up!

They sure do.  Those decoys are sort of like wind socks and fluff with the wind.  Unfortunately there wasn’t much wind that day.

Thunder On A Pheasant Hunt At 9 Months Old
Thunder On A Pheasant Hunt At 9 Months Old

jank1961 asked:  since you mentioned Storm coming into season, I wondered if/when she will be having puppies again? Was that last litter her first?

Storm only had one litter which was this past April.  As you know she was spayed on Tuesday so no more puppies for her.  Hopefully now that her breeding years are behind her, we can enter her in more hunt tests next year.

Storm Grouse Hunting October 2011
Storm Grouse Hunting October 2011

Freighter’s First Attempt At A Senior Test

raisingdaisy asked:  I was wondering – and this may be a really dumb question, but until I started following your blog I knew nothing of what hunt training consisted of – is a freshly shot duck ever just so lightly wounded that it fights back when the dog tries to grab it?

Not a stupid question at all.  Hunt tests are to evaluate the skills a dog might use while hunting.  From time to time both at tests and while hunting, you may have a bird that is only wounded.  One of the things the dogs are being tested on is their ability to pick up a wounded bird or pursue a strong cripple.  This skill is important because hunters do not want to lose game in the field because a dog won’t retrieve a bird which is wounded.

Thunder With A Mess Of Ducks
Thunder With A Mess Of Ducks 2011

From time to time, I have actually seen a dog that will not pick up a wounded bird.  That is not a problem with any of our dogs.  🙂

Storm's First Pheasant Hunt 2008
Storm’s First Pheasant Hunt 2008

At times wounded birds might still be moving and “fight back”.  Ducks are not too fearsome.  Although not used in tests, geese can be intimidating to a dog and at times mean.  Pheasants can also be nasty if they are still alive when the dogs retrieve them.  Freighter’s first pheasant was wounded when he retrieved it, but it was no issue for him.  He picked it up and brought it right back.

Freighter's First Pheasant Hunt 2012
Freighter’s First Pheasant Hunt 2012

Robert asked:  What is the reason for pulling your dog off the line during a hunt test rather than allowing them to continue, even though they have failed the test?

Freighter’s trainer told his handler that if he broke, don’t let him get the bird.  So he didn’t.  😆  But seriously, we do not want Freighter to think that breaking will get him to the birds.  It is all about control with Freighter right now.  I think it depends on the dog and where they are in their training whether to send the dog or take them off line.  In this situation, based on Freighter’s reaction (as if he knew he messed up), it was a good choice.  Freighter needs to learn to be steady so in training, we will go back to long delays before he is sent and taking him off line and coming back on line before allowing him to get the bird or bumper.  Hopefully it will teach him to remain under his handler’s control.

Thunder 2007
Thunder 2007

This ‘N That Thursday

weliveinaflat asked:  Did {Storm} really howl for a whole hour? I don’t think I could stand it, hearing Donna howl for an hour…

Yes she did.  One thing you have to know about Storm.  She is a drama queen.  When we go out to train she howls and wines when a dog gets a turn before her.  Eventually, after she has run enough to be tired, she quiets down.

Sunny and Freighter With Their Birds And Their Hunters
Sunny and Freighter With Their Birds And Their Hunters 2012

Jodi asked:  Does it get held against the dogs when there are issues with the birds? Somehow it just doesn’t seem fair.

No if a dog gets a “no bird” it is not held against them.  But in Storm’s case, she is running a Master level test and her marks were fair.  You would think by now she would understand “sit” and that she has to wait to be released.  In a hunting situation, it is not uncommon for several shots to be fired at once, especially if there are multiple hunters.  When Storm gets back to training, she is going to work on her steadiness.  A lot!

Storm at Harsen's Island 2010
Storm at Harsen’s Island 2010

Jan K commented:  I am glad that Storm’s surgery went well, and that her recovery period won’t be too long. It sounds like she really enjoys the hunting, and I’m sure she wouldn’t want to miss out on that!

You got that right!

Have a nice weekend!

This is a Blog Hop!

Hosted By Heart Like A Dog
Hosted By Heart Like A Dog

Many thanks to Jodi from Heart Like A Dog and Flea from Jones Natural Chews for hosting the hop!

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19 thoughts on “Follow-up Friday 8-30-13

  1. What a great collection of past hunting photos. I really like the one of Thunder at 9 months, the back ground was great. Have a wonderful weekend and good luck hunting if your going early goose. We are going, we are going to see if we can take Norman.

  2. Hi Y’all!

    Oh what a great follow up. Can’t wait to hear about the hunt!

    Y’all come by now!
    Hawk aka BrownDog

  3. Great follow-up!! As you were explaining about the crippled birds I was remembering Storm and that Canadian Goose! LOL That is one determined little lady.

    Thanks for joining us in the blog hop, I really enjoy your recaps.

    Have a great weekend!

  4. Oh wow. Wow. I appreciate that there were no Canada goose photos in the mix. The thought of my Ryan having migrated … so the season opens this weekend? *sigh*

  5. Loved all your beautiful pictures. My human mommy has a friend who is getting his Lab into hunt testing, and thanks to you and all she has learned from your blog she was able to have (what she thought was) an intelligent conversation with him. Thank you for all you have taught my mommy!

    1. You are welcome. Best of luck to your friend’s lab. I hope you will be able to go and watch some tests. It is wonderful to watch the dogs work.

  6. They look so proud with their catches lined up in front of them. They really do know their jobs!

  7. Thanks for answering my question! That’s so interesting that some dogs don’t want to pick up a wounded bird. I must say that Thunder looks VERY proud of his huge line of catches! Have a nice holiday weekend!

    1. Chessies don’t normally have that problem…lol. Believe it or not some of that is breeding. A “birdy” dog doesn’t usually have an issue with it because their drive is good enough to overcome any hesitation.

  8. +1 to the comments that the pictures are good 😛 It’s interesting to hear Storm is a drama queen… I guess I sort of assumed (wrongly!) that all the brown dogs won’t give you any “problems”… although it sounds more like interesting moments to me :P… because they are so well trained… compared to our Donna. 😛 But it’s good to hear about their different personalities 🙂

  9. I always learn so much here. I completely see why you all enjoy this sport so much. It makes me sad to think a bird is injured and not dead. But I agree it is good for the dogs to try to pick it up anyway. You wouldn’t want the bird to get away and suffer. It makes sense for Freighter to not be allowed to get his bird if he didn’t sit still. Smart! I did something similar with Maya and Pierson when teaching them to sit and wait for dinner. The longer it took them to stay, the longer it took before they got their dinner. 😉

  10. A question – seeing the dogs standing over their hard work – do they get to eat the ducks/pheasants? what do you do with them – refreeze them? Am I asking a silly question?!!!:)

  11. Thank you for answering my question, and including my comment. That is kind of funny that you called Storm a “drama queen”. 🙂 It sounds to me like she really enjoys her work and her training….that is such a great thing!

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