Gun Dog Magazine is the best magazine for hunting enthusiasts who are owners of retrieving breeds. Each issue is guaranteed to be filled with useful information devoted to you, your dog and the sport of upland bird and waterfowl hunters.
THIS ISSUEÕS GORDON setter breed feature by Brad Fitzpatrick triggered some happy memories. I’ve never owned a Gordon setter—most readers know my personal gun dogs have always been Irish setters—but my cousin, Randy Clark, owned two of them, females named Brenna and Bonnie. This was back when we were both much younger— decades younger—and we lived in central Illinois, where wild bobwhite quail were still relatively abundant. My dog at the time was a male Irish named Toby and we frequently ran him with Brenna, Randy’s first Gordon, giving us a brace that looked like they’d stepped right out of a late 19th or early 20th century painting or firearms advertisement. But our outings weren’t limited to bird hunts; we often took both dogs along on any excursion just for…
I have been a long-time reader of your magazine and have always found the articles to be fair whether a breed of dog or another piece of equipment was being reviewed. I was shocked that you would publish such a one-sided article about a breed as Chad Mason’s “On Condition of Anonymity” in your June/July issue, quoting someone who would not allow their name to be used. I have owned tollers for close to 30 years. My dogs are hunting dogs and family pets. Although some of the comments are accurate I do not believe they were put in the proper context. I don’t know about the USA but here in Canada tollers pass the CKC Master Hunt tests all the time; my male’s mother and grandmother are both GMH.…
I have enjoyed your magazine for many years and with a great amount of pride I now share with you that there is a new AKC Dual Champion English setter. We are the breeders/owners/trainers/handlers of this dog. Her call name is Tessa (DC AFC WINDSORS FIELD HARVESTER JH). She is just 4 years old and the first DC AFC in the breed since 1997. Thanks for letting me share the news! Frank Luska, via email Congratulations, Frank! We’re always pleased to hear about another dual champion being crowned. Tessa is a real beauty! –The Editors…
Six-month-old French Brittany MOE pointing a quail in Missouri. — Ron Wynn, Winthrop Harbor, IL BUSTER is a 9-year-old Llewellin Setter owned by Mike Deshore. He gets his kicks in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. — Justin Karnopp, via email Nine-week-old German shorthaired pointer RILEY with her first bird. — Toni Liljedahl, Inver Grove Heights, MN This is our 41/2-month-old wirehaired pointing griffon pup ELI having a fireside chat with his buddy Macadoodle Schnoodle, maybe telling him about all the birds he’s going to find next fall? —John & Sherry Walter, Campbellsport, WI PHOTO SUBMISSION GUIDELINES ❑ Please send digital images (not print-outs) by e-mail, or online archives, such as dropbox.com or hightail.com; or they may be submitted on disc to: GUN DOGMagazine Attn: Snap Shots 2 News Plaza. 3rd Floor Peoria,…
I COULD BE the world’s biggest fan of GPS collars for pointing dogs. I was introduced to them shortly after they came out, and I’ve used them ever since. Yes, I’ve heard the complaints, and I sympathize: They’re too gadgety, just one more thing to go wrong. They run out of juice when you need them most. And sometimes they just don’t work. I won’t argue any of those points. But I’d still rather have them on my dogs than not. When I got my first GPS collar, which was something like 10 or 12 years ago, I used it in conjunction with a beeper collar until one day when one of the more perceptive men among the misfits, legerdemain artists and outright charlatans I hunt with asked me why.…
IN PART 1, I stated the city is an ideal place to train a retriever gun dog. I need to clarify that remark.You cannot complete a retriever gun dog’s training entirely within the city. There are certain training tasks for which you will need to make an occasional trip to the countryside. The city generally lacks three important features for gun dog training: birds, complex cover and the freedom to discharge a real firearm. However, a large portion of a retriever’s education can be accomplished without these resources. Several common urban features can be put to good use to simplify retriever training. If you lived in the country, you’d have to create these features artificially in some way, but they already exist in the city. In fact they are likely…
