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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.
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.
The Nose Knows: Reading your Birddogs Signs by Tom Keer
If you own a bird dog, let alone a string of 'em, then the odds are high that you know what their every movement and noise means. But if you're hunting over a buddy's dog then you might not be as keyed in to their tells. Here are two common situations that bird dogs encounter and some different ways in which they react.
How to add pedigree to your dog ad
This article will detail how to add a pedigree to your classified ad after it's BEEN created. Once your ad is in our system, you should be taken to the MY CLASSIFIEDS page, If you're not on the MY CLASSIFIED page, you can go to the menu and click on ACCOUNT, then find the link that says MANAGE YOUR EXISTING ADS. This page should have a list of all your ads currently in the system. Beside ( or under, if your on mobile ) each ad should be several links, look for the one that says UPDATE PEDIGREE. Once that page loads, just fill out the form as best you can and submit the page.
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Whats in a name?
I will call this an information session for all of you gundog enthusiasts out there, however some of you will more than likely call it venting and complaining. But nevertheless, here is my story. This article is about duel registration for your gundog. Specifically duel registration with the AKC and the NAVHDA. I will share my story here today with all of you in hopes that you will not run into the same misfortune that I have recently when trying to accomplish this with my new male GSP. First off, just a little bit of back story to set the mood. I had been in search of the perfect male to add to my bloodline for quite sometime. I mean I really did a lot of research, spent hours combing the classifieds, and some real foot work looking for that special litter that contained my future superstar. You know the kind, the pup thats pedigree contains just the right balance of proven master hunters and versatile champions, he had to have the perfect markings, and his tail had to stand at attention like a soldier when he meant business. After forfeiture of a couple puppy deposits due to not getting exactly what I wanted, I had almost given up when a boring day at work and one more scroll thru Gundog Central yielded what I personally considered perfection out in eastern Iowa. I was on the phone straight away and an immediate trip to the post office after work with deposit in hand began the long wait and picking process and picture messages leading up to eight weeks later when my lovely bride would make the not so short journey to pick up our new champion prospect. He was a beautiful pup. Over the years I have had a bunch of good looking German Shorthaired pointers, but this little guy topped em all. Now after waiting for several weeks, of course I had already named him before I had even met him in person. So a quick visit to the AKC website is all it took, and it was official, my new pup had a new name.........or did he?
Go Slow When Introducing a Dog to Gunfire
Sometimes hunters are so eager to develop their new pup into a hunting dog that they rush things. With some training exercises, if you make a mistake and try to teach something too fast, you can fix the resulting problems by going back and starting over. In others cases, such as with introduction to gunfire, you don't get a second chance.
Bending Drills Teach Dogs to Hunt Efficiently
A dog that searches for birds in a consistent pattern covers ground efficiently and hunts with confidence. Whether you're hunting quail, grouse or pheasants, the result is the same: more shooting opportunities.
An American Tradition, Bought and Paid For
Yesterday was opening day of dove season here in Kansas, a day that for me and my shorthairs, could not have come any sooner. We live on a small farm here in Kansas, so a short walk out back is all the traveling we have to do to get down to business, so to speak. We did have some decent shooting in the morning, notice I say shooting. Thats because my disappointed dogs thought that my percentage of kills was rather low. There is nothing worse than the disappointment on their faces when you pull up and fire, but yet the bird keeps right on going. During the heat of the afternoon, I decided to tackle a few items off of my honey do list around the yard. As I worked outside I kept my Franchi 20 gauge leaned up against the picnic table close by, just in case a single or two happened by. I put the chores down in the late afternoon, picked up the shotgun, rounded up the dogs, and headed back to my spot to get down to what I hoped would be some better shooting on my part than I had accomplished earlier in the day. I would like to say that my aim was better in the afternoon than it was in the evening, but my dogs would call me a liar.
Breeding a Better Dog
A pair of wood ducks came screaming by as my dad and I folded the drake. Most likely my dad did the folding, but I tried to help with my single shot 20 gauge. He pulled our springer/lab cross and myself through the cattails and marsh grass searching for the drake.
Topbrass Retrievers for all Reason
The Three "S"s Of Puppy Training: SHORT SIMPLE SUCCESSFUL
