New setter pup

Last week I bought a 13 week old setter pup from Sheldon Twer and Jeff Gilbertson. Breeding is Tekoa Mountain Patriot X Iron Mistress (she by CH Gridiron). Having fun with him - be is pointing quail and is very birdy. Looking forward to taking him (and all the dogs) to Montana in late August for a ton of bird exposure.

We have given pup the call name Andy..

Breaking At Nine Months

Indian Head Outlaw - Jessi

Months seven and eight were spent polishing-up the work in the yard which included her recall, heel, and whoa.  New to Jessi was the arch-handle which is shown in the picture.  At first she was heeled around the yard in it and walked onto boards, then she was run dry in the field with it, and finally she was introduced to birds with it.

In the bird field we worked on shortening her chase.  At first I let her chase at will, building her drive but also letting her realize she wasn't going to catch the birds.  After a couple weeks of that I began to nick her with the e-collar, which started to shorten-up her chase but kept her style and intensity up.  After a few weeks of nicking her, the intensity of which was increased to help take out the chase, she began to hold well.  After she started holding well I began to run her with the arch-handle on birds, and she became fairly steady to wing and shot.  If she did decide to chase, I would nick her to a stop, pick her up with the handle, and put her back in place.

Now we go back to the yard to begin the breaking process, no more birdwork in the field until she is perfectly steady in the yard.

Things are starting to come together for Maggie.  We did some work on pigeons this morning and she handled each bird perfectly, coming to point on first scent, showing nice style, confident and staunch.  Mike and I are talking about a trip to Saskatchewan this fall for huns and I think Maggie will be ready to rock and roll.

Maggie seems bent on self destruction

I spent the weekend with family at my folks' cabin near Tehachapi (southern sierra nevadas).  Each day I walked with the pups from their place (5700') to the top of Bear Mountain (7,000'), a very pretty hike and good exercise for all.  Saw several mountain quail, always a treat.

Maggie as usual was a walking disaster ...

First day she got a bit lost, not a big deal, that's why I have the Astro on her.  Took 20 minutes to run her down though.

Second day she was out on a cast for longer than usual so I whistled her back before continuing down the mountain.  She came back slowly, and when she got close she looked "punch drunk", staggering and tripping as she walked.  It was way too cold for snakes so I looked her over a bit and then headed down the mountain.  Looked more carefully when we got back and found a 1/2" gash under her left armpit.  Cleaned it up well with betadayne, applied some antibiotic ointment, and used three staples to hold eveything in place.  Not really a bad cut, skin was not pulling, everything pretty clean, it should heal up well.

She recovered completely by the end of the day and now I'm wondering what happened.  Maybe she was running hard, catapulted off a large rock, and landed in brush / more rock?  Can't really know, but glad that she seems to be OK.

Thank goodness for the Astro.

Less protein, more fat, better nose?

A new study reported by Science Daily suggests that decreasing protein to 18% and increasing fat intake improved dogs' detection ability. AKA, the sniff test.

Veterinarian Joseph Wakshlag, chief of nutrition at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine, and his team found that decreasing protein intake to 18% and increasing fat intake improved dogs' sniffing abilities. Less protein results in a faster return to normal body temperature after activity, which translates to better olfactory ability, according to Dr. Wakshlag. The study used a new research technique, completely evacuating residual fumes from testing areas, that contributed to higher detection accuracy, suggesting dogs' detection abilities are better than previously thought.

This suggests that the high protein kibble options so often preferred may be a contributing cause to slow recovery to normal temperature after exercise. Might be worth some study if it would improve recovery rates.

Thanks to Charlie Hjerpe DVM for sending along the link.

Jessi at Seven Months

Most of month six was spent on yard work: working on her recall (here), healing, and whoa.  A pinch collar and e-collar were introduced in the process, for correction, after the here, heel, and whoa commands had been used many times in preliminary yard work.  At this time Jessi is responding well to these commands in the yard and in the field.

I have been running Jessi regularly in the bird field.  Initial bird work was begun on pigeons planted in launchers.  I will generally only put birds out for her one in every three times in the field.  By running her "dry", between her sessions with birds, it reduces the likelihood of false points, and when I do put birds out it's always in a different location.  She is holding her point well, waiting for me get to the front before rushing in to flush, then chasing for quite a distance.

Shadow Oak Bo article on Strideaway

An interesting article on Shadow Oak Bo by Tom Word on Strideaway...