Braggin' Rights

[GoodToGo]

I was grouse hunting with my 3 yr old GWP this weekend up north. We were bushwacking through some heavy wet buck brush. I happened to see Tara locked on point facing right back at me only 10 feet away. I couldn't see anything but got ready and kicked out a woodcock a couple feet in front of me. As far as I know this was her first woodcock, three more were to follow over the weekend. This is my second season with her, it sure makes it fun.

[Guest]

It sounds like you all have great dogs.

Bryce, I love the pic of that little hunter carrying that Teal. The pup is so small it makes that Teal look like a regular sized duck!

It reminds me of my dad's dog, a 100 pound male black lab named Thunder who was a joy to hang around and hunt with.

We once got into a flock of ringnecks. We dropped 5 ducks out of one flock. Actually 4 ducks and a coot that got caught in the crossfire. The last 3 retrieves were blind and well over 100 yards.

Or he time we lost a goose we hit but it glided about a half mile out into open water. A couple of hours later back on shore I saw a black speck about 200 yards out from shore. I sent Thunder out after it and was a little concerned because it ended up being even further out than I had thought. Well he retrieved the goose. It actually ended up being a partially filled black plastic garbage bag. I guess we all do our part to clean up the lakes eh?

I miss hunting with that big old hound. I miss his enthusiasm and his excitement, his drive, weather it would be grouse hunting, pheasants or ducks.

My dad called me this spring to give me the bad news. Old Thuderbones died. He was 13 years old, old for a male lab that big. He had the good life though. He was my dads best buddy. He got better treatment than my brothers and I got.

Hunting just isn't the same without him.

[Ray Esboldt]

I am proud to say that little hunter carrying the Teal is now my little hunter. She loves fetching feathers.

I can't wait to have a story next year at this time.

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Ray Esboldt

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[bart simpson]

Hey Labs, I thought I would give you a little feedback on some advice you and others gave me about a year ago. I posted saying my 10 month old didn't like being in the duck blind after gunshots even though he wasn't bothered by them in other situations. It got so bad in Canada last year that at one point I thought I had lost him when he decided to bolt down the shoreline and out of sight. He was missing in the prairies of Manitoba for about 3 hours. I had finally given up looking for him and just sat down. About 10 minutes later he came trotting up the trail, tail wagging, as though nothing was wrong.

Anyway, after lecturing me for not introducing the dog to loud noises the proper way, you had me work with him while others were shooting quieter guns at a distance away from them. They'd shoot, and I would throw a dummy for him to retrieve. After awhile I'd get a little closer and repeat till he was finally comfortable being right next to the shooters. I am pleased to say this worked very, very well!

We just returned from Manitoba and he was a hunting machine! After the first day I knew I wouldn't have to worry about him bolting anymore and was able to take the leash off and let him sit in the blind. He got to retrieve many ducks and got along well with the other older dog in the blind. Makes the experience a lot more fun for all of us.

It's kind of wierd though. He still gets skiddish during a thunderstorm, or when fireworks are going off in the neighborhood.

Now, for my next question: What do you do about a dog who has a completely neurotic hatred of flies? It got kind of warm up there later in the week and out came the flies. He spent all his free time in camp making sure not one of those millions of bugs would touch him. To me it looked like pretty hard work for a dog who just wanted to sleep after a hard days hunt, so I'd end up putting him in the trailer so he could relax. I told my wife when I got back I was gonna lock him in her cousin's dairy barn for a week but she didn't think that was too funny.

Also, this is one of those dogs without much hair on the underside, and he got himself a pretty bad kind of rug burn looking situation down there after a couple of days. Is there anything a guy can use to prevent this from happening in the future? I ended up using some udder creme to help heal it up but would like to avoid this in the future.

Thanks again, Ken (and others).
Nick

[LABS4ME]

Nick, I'm glad to hear your dog has turned the corner as far as gunshots. I really feel most "gun shy" dogs can be broke if done at an early enough state. I wouldn't worry to much about the fact he's skittish around fire crackers and thunder... I've seen dogs who show know ill effects towards gunshots get turned inside out by fire crackers and thunder. It must have something to do with how they percieve the sound.

I have one of those nuerotic fly hatin' labs also! He does what ever he has to, to rid the immediate area around him of flies!

I think your use of utter creme would help to heal that chapped skin. I'm not sure of a way to increase hair, maybe a high fat content in your dog food to help thicken up his existing hair.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Bushwacker]

I thought my pooch was the only one crazy about flies. She is so obsessed by them that one day she was in the middle of going #2 and a fly landed on her that she did a two legged sprint about 50 feet. It still makes me laugh just thinking about it. Maybe she will get used to them with age.

[stayman79]

My lab HATES flies, and any other flying insect for that matter. He tries to bite them, snaps at them when he can. He's had a few near misses on bees, boy would he be surprised!! Glad to hear he's not the only one.

[fivebucks]

Took my 8 1/2 month old yellow out Sunday eve. for his first pheasant hunt and I couldn't be happier. Hunted public land waiting for the birds to leave the corn. Early on he was on a jumpy hen and he flushed 20 yards ahead of him. There was a couple of times I think he was birdy but hard to tell with a new, young dog. He then worked hard in some thick stuff and flushed up a tight sitting hen. Finally towards sunset he got on a bird again that he followed for about 25 yards and got up a nice rooster. I missed the first shot but downed him the second. I only broke a wing and leg but he went to the bird right away and after a little mouthing he finally secured the bird and brought it back. It was hard to not go to him right away but I needed him to do the retrieve. He wasn't intimidated by the raking spurs and I'm sure he got it a couple of times cause I got a scratch on my wrist from the bird as I rung his neck. I was a proud papa once again!

[kjgmh]

Spent the weekend hunting with my Yellow Lab, he turned 1 on Friday. He really suprised me, put up 10 grouse and 20 woodcock. Ranged really good and really used his nose. Now my shooting that is a different story.

Only problem is that when I shoot a bird he does not look for it, just keeps on hunting. If I get him in the area it went down he has no problems finding it. Any thought on how to get him to mark and retrieve the bird.

[Snag]

This is my first year hunting with my Golden, so if he does anything well, I'm impressed. We were out at the game farm last week for a his last tune up. He had flushed five birds when we hit a dry spell for an hour or so. He then proceeded to flush a sparrow and then looked at me like,"Aren't you going to shoot it."

After that we worked back into the wind to try and scrounge a few more birds and I could see him starting to really use his nose. He came up on some heavy brush stopped and pointed. I've never seen him do this, so it was a surprise. It looked like he was trying to keep one eye on the bird and one eye on me. I kicked up the bird and shot it. He didn't mark it at all. I lined him up and sent him on a blind and when he got to the bird, you saw the bird go up and he jumped and caught it in the air. He then pointed another bird about 10 minutes later.

[Bushwacker]

Here is my year old female lab. She has retrieved her first duck and pheasant this fall and here are the pics of both of them. She got her first pheasant last night! A little excitement about that one. Its nice to know that after months of training she actually can find and retrieve birds. Hopefully I can figure out how to post them here.

[jegerjack]

I think my boy is finally getting it.... The lab Jack, finally started to retrieve downed waterfowl in a timely manner. But more importantly he has been doing quite well upland hunting. Last year he flushed some birds but I think it was more of an accident (I.E. ran into them). This year though, he is working the ground well and has sniffed his way to a couple of hens… No roosters but I am sure that will come as the corn goes out….

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Last year my 6 month old golden was typical for a dog her age. She did flush a few but I did not get her on enough birds to really get it. She screwed around and just had so much input learning the outdoors in general. This year...different dog. After another year of growing up and a couple trips to the game farm she has it. My first real bird dog. My last golden was a complete dud and health case. No hunting instict. This one is going to make me a pheaasant hunter again for several years I hope. She already knows how to scent the wind and I thought that would take alot longer. Numerous times she located birds that way then tracked them on the ground to flush. She runs them down too just like a lab!! I took a freind last time and told him if he wanted that shot he better start running. He did and got it. She locates, flushes and then finds downed ones quick but she won't retrieve. Not really sure why because she's a good retriever on dummies. I think she'll pick it up with more experience and encouragement but I really don't care if she does or not. I can walk 40 feet to her. At least she finds them and holds them if they are still alive. I'm completely satisfied at this point. It should only get better.

[BLACKJACK]

Need to revive this post and brag about my pup. She'll be one year old on Nov. 17. Did a lot of work over the summer on obedience, dummies, and pigeons and now its starting to pay off. Was out to SoDak on the opener. The first lesson she learned was that the only whistle she should listen to was my whistle, when the other guy whistles (my brother likes to blow his whistle a lot) she should check on on the Boss and not run over there right away. By the third day I could see that she was getting birdy and she even retrieved a couple of birds. The otheer big lesson she learned out there was that hitting barbed wire fences at full bore hurts!! Now she slides right thru them.

Last Friday took both her and my old lab hunting. We got out of the truck and started walking, even before the old dog finished her dump, the pup was hot, I picked up the pace, up came a rooster, I tickled it on the first shot, nailed it on the second long shot (need more practice on my Run, Stop, and Shoot), both dogs were after the bird, the pup brings it back! Sweet! Her first bird that I can call all hers! The dummies and pigeons this summer are paying off! Now I have to work on control, shes actually too hot and aggresive - aggressive to the point where she takes it away from the old dog. And I'm back to when both dogs are hot I have to decide who to follow! Gotta love it!