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 co-host Sue from The Golden Life for hosting the hop.

Let’s get right to this week’s questions.  If you missed yesterday’s post where I answered questions about upland hunting, it is here.

Emmadog wrote:  Those antlers have saved us with Bailie. They are like a pacifier for a puppy. She gnaws on it like a mad dog and then falls asleep after about five minutes. Mom gives it to her whenever she starts chewing on anything and it works like a charm. I like my antler on occasion, but Bailie loves it!

It was the same for Freighter.  As he got older he would chew up all the toys and kongs, but the antlers would at least last a while.

FleaByte asked:  I love your follow up! And hunting season? Do you only hunt birds? Or do deer factor in? If deer, what do you do with the hides?

Hubby does hunt deer, but he was not lucky enough to get one the last couple of years.  The last time we got one, it went off to the processor, hide and all.

Rosa Caldwell asked:  Do you brush your dog’s teeth for them? I know there are (bones) that help aide in cleaning their teeth. I never could get in the practice of brushing a dog’s teeth, finding it impossible really and I hate having to have them go through sedation at the Vets. I guess it would be ok with younger dogs, but not at the ages of 15-19, like I have had.

No we don’t brush.  We should, but we don’t.  The bones do a good job of teeth cleaning and as our dogs get older they have their teeth cleaned as needed.  (A work of caution with antler bones.  They are very hard and so you have to be careful the dog doesn’t crack a tooth on them, especially as they get older.)  The newer anesthesia is much better than the old and we have blood work done ahead of time to make sure there are no issues.  When Storm was spayed, the vet made sure to ask the date of her last heart worm check since he was not her regular vet.  They did not want to put a doh under anesthesia if there was a chance that the dog could be heart worm positive.

We try to time teeth cleaning so that it is done before the dog is too old, or if they have to be under anesthesia for any reason.  Storm had a benign growth removed from her gum last year, and the vet cleaned her teeth at that time.  She didn’t need much so she didn’t even charge us.  Thunder had his teeth cleaned earlier this year.

Jan K asked:  Do Chessies make good all around house pets? Or are they better suited to having a job such as hunting or being shown? Yours seem to do it all, but I just wondered if that’s important for them, or if it’s also because you just enjoy all that.

Chessies are not for everyone because they can have very strong personalities and need a strong leader.  Our dogs have high energy levels because we have always asked for hunting dogs with a lot of drive.  They need exercise to keep them happy and out of trouble.  However, you can find “couch-potato” Chessies that may have less drive and are a bit calmer.

We are very lucky that our dogs really can do it all and are limited by the amount of time we have to work with them.  They hunt both waterfowl and upland, run hunt tests and can compete in the show ring, (Storm’s show days are over because she is spayed.  I think she is OK with that.  She would rather be hunting and training.)

Tenacious Little Terrier asked: Do the dogs have a preference for upland hunting or waterfowl?

I think Thunder prefers waterfowl, but don’t try to leave him home if you get the gun and gear out for upland.  I think Storm prefers upland, but don’t try to leave her home if you get the gun and gear out for waterfowl.  Freighter just likes to go.

Rosa Caldwell asked:  How much food do they eat before and after a hunt? Is it dry food, wet food or mixed?

They are fed twice a day, morning and evening.  Because of our work schedule, they usually eat very early in the morning.  They get their normal meal before a hunt, but we make sure they don’t exercise for a couple of hours after.  That is not difficult because shooting hours are not until daylight which is later every day.  They get dry kibble which we soak with hot water and a bit of yogurt with each meal.

Long time readers might remember that last year at this time Thunder was in a cast from a ligament strain he suffered during hunt test season.  He missed all of hunting season.  This year is much better.  He is healthy and even ran some 250 yard marks last night.  No limp.

In case you missed it on Facebook.  Here is Freighter’s official picture from the Supported Entry where he took Reserve Winners Dog.  I am glad I decided to give the photographer another try.  This is a nice picture, (although there is still a bit of a Great Gazoo on his back ;)).  Please tell me if you can’t see it.  I am trying something new.

Finally thanks to Cindy for this great picture of the three litter mates who all earned their Junior Hunter titles this past summer.

Unfortunately the brown dawgs are going to miss out on hunting this weekend because the temperatures are predicted to be in the high 70’s.  That is much too warm for grouse hunting.

Have a nice weekend!

Thank again to Jodi from Heart Like A Dog and co-host Sue from The Golden Life for hosting the hop.

Check out who else is hopping, or better yet, join in!

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