Article Database
Timing is everything - by Scott Linden
Some day I’ll talk about “tells,” those little signs that clue you to when your dog is getting birdy, or ready for direction, or in need of correction. We’ll also talk later about timing your commands, praise and correction for that “golden moment,” when he’s amenable to them. But just like those indicators of readiness, there are times when you’re wasting your breath and your emotional energy. You can yell, scream, jump up and down, or do cartwheels and your dog will steadfastly ignore you.
What you must understand about dog containment systems and e-collar training
Just like modern e-collars, the newest in-ground fencing systems, also known as containment systems, have improved life for dogs and their owners. A containment system helps keep your dogs from wandering out of the yard, which is great for their safety and your own peace of mind.
Rare breeds vs Popular breeds - By Craig Koshyk
Breeders of the more popular gundog breeds sometimes use the term 'popular' to promote their breed; the implication being that 'A million owners can't be wrong'. And sometimes breeders of less common breeds use the term ‘rare’ to promote their breed; the implication being that their dogs are super cool ‘one in a million’ hunting machines.
How your dog thinks … I think - by Scott Linden
“If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.”
Joe and Denny and Me—and Lucky - by Tom Word
In the summer of 1973, when I was thirty-five and a striving Richmond lawyer, I got an amazing gift from a more striving life insurance salesman hoping for referrals from me, an introduction to his brother, Joe Prince, perhaps Virginia’s most striving grain farmer, and after his crops of wheat, peanuts, soybeans and corn were up, most striving quail hunter.
COVID-19 in Our Bird Dogs - By Shawn Wayment DVM
The current status of our world today resonates like a Hollyweird thriller...I remember frighteningly reading the Hot Zone by Richard Preston while in veterinary school and thinking to myself how scary...good things that will never ever happen! Well...Hello 2020 hold my Corona!
Running Spring Woodcock - By Tom Keer
A pro trainer recently asked me about my training bird bill.
Long Distance Runaround - By Craig Koshyk
In a perfect world the pup of your dreams, from the breed of your dreams, would be whelped by an awesome breeder living just down the street. And when the happy day came for you to bring you puppy home, all you'd need to do is walk half a block to get him.
Whatever you do, don’t panic if you accidentally shoot the dog
My liver and white pointer Gep stood staunchly on point on a covey of scaled quail on the Colorado prairie. I hadn’t seen my 6 month old coverdog-setter Gretchen for almost an hour since I turned her loose on the shortgrass prairie. My last check on the GPS showed her 700-plus yards out to the west. As I approached Gep, a large covey of scalies erupted in a whirr from the cholla as I raised my Parker GH 16 bore to pick an escaping bird. The first bird folded and I swung to pick another bird out of the covey. I pulled the back trigger just as I detected motion from the corner of my right eye...Gretchen appeared out of nowhere and it was too late. I had already fired the second barrel on a late riser just as she arrived on the scene. I was pretty sure she got peppered by the tail end of my pattern.
Advice on a Dog Sale - By Tom Word
Ben Reach religiously followed a policy, preached to him by his father, not to get involved in law suits involving dogs. But ironically, he was asked for advice on bird dog matters constantly. This was because Ben had many friends in the bird dog world and was trusted. He had judged trials over many years and never shown favoritism. Nor did he ever decline to try to help a bird dog professional trainer-handler in distress, and there was never a shortage of them. The profession was by its nature highly risky.
Whatever you do, dont shoot the dog - By Tom Keer
I've never seen a bird dog get shot, but I hear of at least one instance per year. When the stories roll in I get sick to my stomach. They unfold in pretty much the same way. A group of folks review the pre-hunt safety talk. All have heard it before, all are in agreement. The dogs are cut loose, the hunt is underway, and spirits are high. Jokes fly around, conversation is light, and everyone agrees they are more happy in the field than at work.
Shadow Oak Bo Remembered by Tom Word
I treasure many memories of Shadow Oak Bo, the first and clearest (I can watch it like a movie in mind’s eye today) at Coney Lake in the Lee County All-Age when Bo was a first year. I was riding with Luke Weaver in his pickup, following in the course path. Bo had a pretty find just ahead and we both said, “Wow, that’s a handsome setter.“ A couple minutes later he had another and got too close, bumping the bird. Luke stopped where we could watch Robin after judges and gallery moved on. Robin administered a stern correction with a rein to Bo’s chest, and an instant after, Bo, undaunted, was licking Robin’s hands, with tail wagging, happy as could be.
The Joy of Cover Dogs - By Tom Keer
Places in snow country are reported to have lots of words to describe the white, powdery flakes gracing their winter countryside. Maybe that's true, but at home in New England we have the same with stone walls. Scratch farmers in our country's earliest years had to clear rocks struck by the point of a moldboard plow. They'd hump the granite, soapstone, flint, and quartz to the field edges and toss 'em in a neighborly fashion. These low-to-the-ground structures were called dumped walls and they served no purpose other than to allow for more successful tilling.
Skin Laceration Repair in the Field by Shawn Wayment DVM
There is nothing finer than being afield in autumn’s country with bird dogs. The whir of wings as a covey of scaled quail erupts from the sand sage can stir the cholesterol from the morning’s greasy-spoon-country-dinner breakfast. Gun smoke clears the air as the setter climbs through the taut five-stranded barbed wire fence retrieving the first bird of the day. This is the Wild West, and ranchers want assurance that their livestock are protected. As you reach down to take the bird your well trained setter delivers gently to hand, you notice fresh blood on the dorsal surface of her back. A nimrod’s classic morning has now turned into a trip to the local vet…which in this case is 150 nautical miles from where the event occurred and it is Sunday.
Beware the Twins - By Tom Word
They were twins, and identical, at least every one said they were. Of course white folks would have said identical anyhow, they couldn’t have distinguished between them if they were just cousins, let alone twin brothers. They could each ride like the wind, and scout a bird dog, which Ron did for a living, working for the all-age handler, Sparrow Bates.
