Innehållsförteckning för March - April 2017 (Puppy) från Gun Dog

IF MY EXPERIENCE is any indication, few people have realistic expectations of the time it takes to train a bird dog. But here’s the kicker: most people overestimate , not underestimate, the time it will take. Of course, to a certain extent, asking how long it will take to train a dog is like asking how long it will take to learn to juggle. There are a whole lot of variables involved in both the dog and the trainer. There’s the bare minimum of training on one end of the spectrum and the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach on my end. Somewhere in the middle is where most of you will end up. Either way, a couple of commands are absolutely required: “whoa” and “come.” No pointing dog can be considered trained without…

“THERE WERE 15 dog trailers and six truck-mounted dog boxes in the parking lot. And more than half of them were made by the Jones Trailer Company of Woodson, Texas,” a dog owner reported after looking over the parking area of a field trial last spring. He was trying to decide what brand of trailer or truck box to buy for his four field trial dogs. “Those trailers and trucks had license plates from all across the United States, so I guess the popularity of the Jones products is pretty well spread across the country,” he added. The same conclusion about Jones Trailer Company’s popularity was reached last fall at a huge pheasant hunting contest in South Dakota where hunters from more than a dozen states brought their gun dogs…

SO NOW YOU’RE home with a new pup on your lap and suddenly you’re hit with a sobering question, often initiated by your spouse. It’s usually something along the lines of “What the hell were you thinking?” I hope you’ll stick to your guns. I’m sure you thought it through for a good while, researched the breeds, family groups and ultimately settled on an outstanding litter to choose from. Now you have a great looking pup with paperwork to back up its potential as a top hunting, trial or test dog. What’s next? While you still have options with the breeder, I recommend a complete physical exam and general health check to make sure your pup is sound, in good health and up to date on shots. I feel it’s…

I’ve chased spring snow geese enough that pretty much nothing about their pursuit surprises me anymore. So when John’s track-equipped four-wheeler died only a third of the way out into the field, I wasn’t shocked. Though that probably can’t be said for the rest of the crew riding with me on the trailer it was towing. After several agonizing minutes and no small amount of cussing, the balky machine coughed to life and we resumed our course.That dubious start put us behind the eight ball, so we really had to hustle, racing daylight as we set the rig. After pulling on the obligatory whites, we settled onto our backboards sweat-soaked, but relieved. Calm, clear and with only the slightest drift of a westerly breeze that had us looking east, it…

ON A DELIGHTFUL spring morning some years back, I went through the rituals of filling a Thermos, fixing a sandwich, and gathering more gear than I could possibly use for casual refresher training. I loaded a young springer spaniel and drove to one of my favorite grouse and woodcock habitats. I found this beautiful piece of earth years before, and since that discovery hunted grouse in its aspens that sloped down to a silvery ribbon of creek and woodcock—especially woodcock—in its alder runs framing the creek banks. I walked its hills and trails at all seasons, often with no set goal in mind. I relaxed, always with a dog at my side, on the cover’s slopes listening to drumming grouse and in fields along one edge watching nuptial flights of…

Mat Solution Hey Rick, to deal with those mats on your Irish setter (“Passing Shots,” November), get some Show Sheen and use it before going out or spray it on afterwards before combing her out. I’m an English setter guy and it works great! It’s in the horse section of farm supply stores. Jeff Witmer Via email Thanks, Jeff! I took your advice and picked up a bottle and you’re right; it made combing out the mats much easier. Appreciate the tip! –RRV Re-charge Your Pup I just finished reading Dave Carty’s article entitled “How Much Rest?” One thing to add is several years ago my hunting buddy started using a post exercise (post hunt) supplement called Glycocharge for his griffons. At the time I was running young dogs and…

SPRING IS FOR puppies. That’s how we tend to think, because so many of the wild things in the natural world give birth at this time of year. We think of spring as a time of new beginnings and new dynamism after the long quiet stasis of winter. Truth is, we can buy puppies just about any time of the year we want, but there’s something magical about getting a new puppy in the springtime. Therefore it makes perfect sense that GUN DOG would become a showcase of cuteness in the spring issue. This column is for all of you who are presently in the market to buy a puppy. I shall dare to tell you what kind of retriever puppy you should buy. No, I’m not going to tell…

QUESTION I have an 18-month-old springer that is on heartworm preventative year-round. My vet still wants to do an annual blood test. Is this necessary? —B ANSWER First, it is great that you are giving heartworm preventative all year round. This is one of the main points of the American Heart-worm Society (AHS) recommendations. Continuous use of the most common preventatives also helps fight intestinal worms on a monthly basis. These include roundworms, hookworms and whipworms. They are more common than heartworms and a more significant threat to young puppies. The second main point by the AHS is the recommendation for annual testing for canine heartworms. The short answer is yes, it is necessary to test. The long answer is as follows. Heartworms have been found in all 50…

FABARM HAS EXPANDED its selection of semi-auto field guns with the addition of the slick L4S Hunter. This lightweight 12-gauge is perfectly balanced and shoots everything from 1-ounce loads to 3” magnums. Fabarm is a branch of the famous Caesar Guerini, and as part of that august lineage, you expect quality—and get it. There are three variations in the new L4S Hunter series. First up is the Initial, followed by the Grey, and finally, the most ornate of the trio, the Deluxe. The receivers are different colors on the three models: black, grey, and silver, respectively. GUN DOG received an L4S Deluxe for review, a gorgeous gun. It has nicely figured Turkish walnut, very fine-line checkering, and a classy titanium silver finish on the receiver. The 28” barrel has a…

Springer spaniels induce more action out of released pheasants than pointing dogs because of the birds’ propensity to run rather than hold for a point. The dog raced back and forth, his boundless energy all out of proportion to the simple, almost lackadaisical, hand signals of his handler. The dog was so responsive that he could read the slightest shift in body position, the inkling of a dropping hand, a simple flip of the fingers. He was mostly white, save for the liver colored patches on his head and a few indistinct spots on his legs and thighs. All the hunters could see was a white streak kicking up pine needles as he darted among the scaly barked loblolly pine trunks, ducked into deer-trails tunneling into the thick Carolina bay…

THE HEAT IS ON There’s no way around it; the best hunts take place on the coldest days of the year. The dogs we hunt over are tough but they need to warm up too, especially on long trips to the field. These durable kennel covers are made from 600-Denier nylon and a 210-Denier Oxford waterproof liner with YKK zipper and six pockets. The covers are easy to secure. You just set the kennel inside, pull the top cover over and zip it closed. A mesh-covered gate allows for ventilation, but keeps out most rain and snow. easyloaderkennels.com TIME TO UPGRADE D.T. Systems revolutionized the e-collar with the R.A.P.T. 1400, which allows hunters to slide the remote on their hand, making corrections easier. It was then upgraded to the 1450,…

ALTHOUGH I SPENT my childhood surrounded by flushing dogs, I did not get my own pup until I was in my early 20s. At that point my Uncle George decided that both he and I were ready to see just what I was capable of as an amateur trainer. George, who was always a salesman, had been offered the pick of a local litter of springers from one of his hunting buddies. He’d hunted with both the sire and dam a number of times, and I’d have to guess now that he had a pretty good sense of the bloodlines we were dealing with. Back then, however, I just did whatever George told me to do, especially if it promised to make me a better dog trainer. George and I…

PROBLEM THE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE director of an obedience training center where I frequently consult asked for help with two golden retrievers, one six months and one seven months old.The pups were in separate beginner’s classes, owned by different families and from different breeders. Both pups were dog friendly and people friendly, appearing normal in every way except one; they were unable to respond to any training, couldn’t learn and retain anything new. The description was, “There is a light on in the house, but no one is home.” They could not respond to training, wouldn’t play with toys or chew on chewy things, essentially emotionless. When playing with other pups in class, they seemed to go through the motions but lost interest before other pups did and would lie down,…