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A Lost Dog
It was July 15, 2003 and Billy Culp was fixin’ to turn loose for a workout his first green derby of the season. He was training this year on a new place just east of Lignite and south of Route 5. There were twenty pointing dog trainers working within a forty-mile radius of Billy , two hundred or more in the state, some serious pros, some serious amateurs, some just guys with a dog or two and a pickup truck.
How Nutrition Supports Trainability in Your Sporting Breed Puppy
Sporting breed puppies have a lot to learn. Nutrition that fuels healthy brain function and learning supports a puppy’s ability to master a variety of tasks. Puppy diets that contain clinically proven levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can provide a training edge.
First Season Expectations
You’ve built up to your pup’s first hunting season—but what should you expect from your young dog? The experts weigh in.
The Bond
Josh Billings once said, “A dog is the only being on Earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” This is something that has proven to be true time and time again. There is an undeniable bond between owner and canine.
Understanding Bird Scent – Part 4 The Dead Bird
You’ve just made a nice on-the-wing shot on a flushing bird. The bird drops and your dog even marks the drop of the bird. You release your dog for the retrieve. What’s wrong…the dog is searching everywhere but can’t find the bird. Whether in the forested ruffed grouse woods or the prairies, we’ve all seen this scenario over and over. Why?
Revenge
It was a rainy March Friday with more rain forecast for the weekend. Ben and Sam had endured a horrid week in their practices of law and medicine, but it was finally over. They sat in captains’ chairs in Ben’s library-conference room with a fifth of The Macallan 12 open on the table before them and thick insulated short glasses in their hands, each holding three fingers of the bottle’s contents. They had been silent for five minutes. They heard the outside door close behind Ben’s PIC (“Person in Charge”), Joanne, as she left for her weekly dance lesson.
10 Christmas Gift Ideas for the Upland Hunter
Do you have an Upland Hunter that's difficult to buy for? Below you'll find a list of items that would make any Upland Hunter happy.
Puppy or Older dog
So `Goose` is getting older and you are thinking about a new puppy. Or maybe you lost your pet and are starting to look for another one. Remember first of all there is only one `Goose`. Nothing or nobody can replace him. He was the one we have all had or want to have. He may not have been a Field Trial Champion but to us he was better. Goose just fits our family. Do we get a puppy or an older pup out of the puppy stage? Each family must make a decision of what works best for them. I am going to give you the pros and cons for young puppies verses older puppies for sporting dogs. Of course, many decisions must be made like, breed, pedigree, what or how will I use Goose Jr? Will I hunt test, field trial, or just hunt?
THE BENEFITS OF ANTIOXIDANTS IN DOG FOOD
Hunters and trainers might argue about which breeds of sporting dogs are best for their preferred pursuits, but they can all agree on one thing, sporting dogs are driven to work. Whether it's a setter, pointer, shorthair, or retriever, sporting dogs are energetic, focused, and motivated. Off-season conditioning helps dogs maintain their hunting drive all year long. Well-conditioned bird dogs can run for miles without missing a step, and retrievers can run, jump, and swim their way through dozens of retrieves.
And the Birds Whistled Bob-white
Quail hunting in the South has always been as common as sunburn. Due to the fertile soil, flat and rolling coastal plains that are cut by long rivers and dotted with lakes and ponds, made for a perfect farming. Mild winters with hot, humid summers meant crops grew for longer times of the year than just about any other part of the country. Cotton, rice, peanuts, tobacco, peaches, sugar cane, watermelons, and indigo, the blue dye that comes from the plant, were staples. It didn't matter if the farming occurred on plantations several thousand acres big or on 50-acre tenant farms, one thing was for sure. Quail were abundant.
Upland Hunting Vest Round-up
I was on Facebook the other night and saw a post asking about recommendations for an Upland Game Vest. There were so many different brands listed, that I thought it'd be a good idea to list some of them here on Gundog Central for everyone to see, with links to where you can purchase. While researching these Upland Game Vest, I was kind of surprised at how many different ones there were available. It would be impossible for me to list them all here, so I'll stick with the ones I know or might be interested in. I won't be offering any recommendations as to which one you should or shouldn't purchase, mainly because we all have different needs and hunt different types of birds. What's good for someone hunting Quail, might not work as well for someone hunting Pheasant. You might like to travel light, where someone else might want to carry more gear. An older person will have different preferences than a younger person and people in the south would have different needs than someone hunting up north. If you would like to leave any recommendations or feedback, maybe suggest some I missed, you may do some in the comments below.
Socializing your sporting dog
Socializing your sporting dog. Your faithful hunting companion needs proper socializing, people places and things. As soon as you get your new pup start introducing to everything and everyone. At the beginning just things around your home and kennel. Remember your pup has not had all his or her immunizations. After all shots are complete take your puppy everywhere.
Tips for traveling with your Gun Dog
Whether you're driving a decked-out dog hauling rig or crating Rover in the backseat of your sedan, traveling with dogs is a process. Here are some tips and recommendations from two hunters and trainers who spend a lot of time on the road with their dogs.
Understand Bird Scent-Part 2 Diffusion
In last month's column, Understanding Bird Scent-Part 1 - The Bird, we learned about how bird scent is created. We know that there are scent rafts that create four different scent clouds that carry the scent into the atmosphere. Once the scent is airborne, there are numerous atmospheric weather conditions that affect the scent dispersal and the ability of our pointing dogs to locate a bird. In this part, of our three part series, let's examine those weather conditions that affect bird scent diffusion. We'll also look at the effect weather has on bird movement which also produces scent diffusion.
THE WHISTLE
While running a dog at the NBHA National Derby recently, I lost a whistle that I had used in South Dakota back in 1979. It was a special whistle to me. I clearly remember sitting crossed legged on a horse while waiting on a lost dog and looking out across those open prairies. I thought of home for just a moment, and because it was my mother's birthday, I scratched the date on the whistle's side, August 27, 1979. I should not have been using such a keepsake, but it was my favorite. Even good things come and go, I guess. Losing it, and looking for it, and remembering it, reminded me of the following; one of many memories I have of that summer. It's not meant to be a striking work of prose although it may become one sometime in the future. I'm just recounting as it comes to me. However, every word and how it transpired is true, exactly true. (I'll change the names only to save any embarrassment, though no one should be embarrassed by the truth).
