Sunday, September 27th, 2009...1:12 pm
9/21/2009 Dog Training in North Dakota
9/21 North Dakota
Today was the first decent weather we have had on this trip. It would have been perfect if the wind had not been blowing 40 miles per hour.
Cold and overcast. I was wearing a sweatshirt under my jacket.
We started the day with some basic horse lessons for me. Mr. Herman is a cowboy from the word go. He gave me a really good lesson on what to do and what not to allow the horse to get away with when you are riding. Horses are really new to me but I want to learn all I can. I have spent more time in a saddle this year than ever before and I am getting better. I have a long way to go.
We started the morning with Cash and Merle. Cash hunted very close and did a good job. Merle wanted to see what was in the next county and went there quickly. He made a really nice All Age cast and was hunting toward the front. He is going to be a big running dog that will find a bunch of birds. He has a really big motor.
He ended up getting way ahead of us because my horse “Blue Duck” had some issues getting across a creek. Mr. Herman had to come in and work him through it.
I stayed in and worked Cash while Larry and Vernon went up to get Merle back on course. He came in and hunted well for the rest of the round.
Next we ran a puppy prospect of Larry’s, Richard the GSP and Brandy.
Larry’s pointer is a big running dog out of 2008 National Champion Whippoorwill Wild Agin. Brandy and Richard did their best to keep up.
Richard had the best round as far as finds went. He was steady to wing and shot on multiple groups of pheasants. Larry’s dog ran the best. He’ll do well in the future.
Brandy can flat cover some ground for a little bird dog. She busted a few pheasants in a corn field and was gone. We picked her up later and she had found a porcupine to play with. We got to remove about 20 quills. I hope she has learned her lesson.
While we were picking up Brandy, Larry got a bunch of work done with his derby and with Vernon’s GSP. The birds had moved down into the creek edge to get out of the wind.
Next we ran Stud. He did a nice job and handled well with a few strong reminders. He may be the toughest bird dog I have ever owned.
He’s also a big part of why I moved to the SportDOG 1825. The previous system I used was not strong enough to stop him. He would grit his teeth and blow me off. I have never had that experience before. Most of my bird dogs don’t take more than a 1 or a 2 to get them to stop any unwanted behavior.
We headed home as the wind picked up more. We went to Bismark for some supplies after lunch.
Headed home tomorrow. – Steve
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