19 November 2008 by admin.

Tuesday I got to meet DogBoy. Who would have thought that would be so much fun?

It’s gotten cooler here in Texas.  It is really nice weather now and me and my sisters’ stay outside allot.  It gets down in the upper 30’s or low 40’s at night, but warms up to about 70 during the day.  The days too have been sunny. Perfect weather for romping and taking hikes.  Mom took us on a short hike to our green belt on Sunday.  We met mom’s best friend Marcia.  Marcia is really nice and likes us kids.  Mom and Marcia had a good talk while we walked and us kids got to sniff and do doggy things.  Belle and Halo were off leash, but I still have to be on leash.  Mom usually puts me on a flexi so I can hang out with my sisters some.  Belle and Halo do come and sniff stuff with me too. 

We had a big surprise at the beginning of the walk.  We had just met up with Marcia and were walking back down to the creek area when this big 8 point buck came racing across the field right at us.  Marcia grabbed for Belle and Halo because they were off leash and she was afraid they would chase the buck.  Mom told her not to grab them because if they decided to pursue they could jerk her off her feet.  Mom quickly told them to stay.  Me, I was all excited and wanted to chase that buck.  I think Belle and Halo did too, but they stayed. A few minutes later we found out why the buck was running.  There was a dog that had been chasing him.  It was really exciting.  Mom told Belle and Halo they were good and we kept walking.

Toward the end of the walk though, Belle and Halo got in big trouble. They went across to the other side of the creek bed and were yelping and barking.  Mom hadn’t brought the whistle so my sisters couldn’t hear her.  She gave me to Marcia and went across to the other side.  I wanted to go and see what happened, but mom said no. I think what happened though wasn’t pretty because Belle and Halo came hightailing it back toward us.  It took mom a little longer because there was allot of undergrowth and bushes.  I heard mom tell Marcia that the girls had treed something, probably a squirrel, but you never know.  We have all kinds of critters that live in the green belt, foxes, skunks, squirrels, deer, opossums, coyotes…. Mom said there even used to be bobcats in the area along time ago.  She told Marcia though that she hasn’t seen one since she was, well, allot younger.

That was Sunday, but it was the first time I heard mention of DogBoy.  As we walked back to the trailhead, mom said now that the weather was cooler it was time I met DogBoy.  Belle and Halo already knew DogBoy, but they wouldn’t tell me anything about him, just that he was really cool. Mom said she would make reservations for us to meet DogBoy on Tuesday.

We got up early Tuesday morning and got dressed.  I was a little nervous about meeting DogBoy.  Well, it was almost time to leave when mom told us we had to get our DogBoy collars on.  Belle and Halo knew what that meant and went right up to mom and sat nicely while she put on some old leather collars that looked pretty worn to me.  Now mom didn’t have a DogBoy collar for me, so I got to wear the bright orange collar I wear when hunting.  Once dressed, we all loaded in the GSP mobile and off we went to meet DogBoy.  We drove for what seemed like forever.  Then we turned a corner and Belle and Halo woke up.  Halo started whining like she does when we go to the lake or hiking, so I new we were close.  Then we stopped and got out of the car.  There was a small building near where we parked and about 15 acres of land that was fenced in different ways.  I learned later that those were for the play groups. Anyway, we went in the building and met a nice man by the name of Jay.  Mom knew Jay and they talked a little about me.  Jay seemed really happy to see Belle and Halo and came over and said Hi to me too. Mom signed us in and Jay called the nice lady from the back to take Belle and Halo to their play group and me to my orientation. Mom must have left at that point, but I was so excited I don’t remember.  This was DogBoy’s place.

Once out back, I finally got to meet DogBoy.  Here is a picture of DogBoy.  He and mom went to the same high school together. 

He is really nice and loves dogs.  His place is DogBoy’s Dog Ranch.  He can board dogs and he also has doggy daycare.  There is also a huge training area and mom says he wants to put in a pool so that we can do dock diving.  He also does Search and Rescue with his dogs on the side.  Mom also says you have to be a good dog to come to DogBoy’s. She explained that they evaluate the new dogs for temperament and compatibility, that way they can place us in play groups with other dogs that we will like.  That is what they did with me at my orientation.  They told mom I was a green like Belle and Halo which normally means I could play with any dog I wanted too.  But for me, since I am not neutered they will have to be careful with some of the other male dogs.  They were worried that some of those other males might not like me. 

After orientation I got to spend some time with Belle and Halo and some other dogs in my first play group.  That was allot of fun.  What I didn’t know (but soon learned) was DogBoy switches the play groups periodically during the day so we get to meet new dogs and also so we don’t get bored.  I can’t imagine ever being bored at DogBoy’s place.  Well, my turn to switch play groups came and I really didn’t like leaving my sisters, but I went anyway and I was glad I did.  We went to a bigger play group and I met some other really nice dogs.  We ran and played and played and ran. Later in the day (because we were good) we all got to go on the afternoon hike.  That was really fun because Belle and Halo came too.  The hike is on the back 9 acres of the ranch and has a huge swimming hole in it.  Right now it is more a mud hole than a swimming hole because it has been so dry, but it is still fun.  (Mom always puts on the sign up sheet to rinse us if needed, because she knows we will need it.) Here is a picture of the swimming hole from this summer. I don’t know the dogs in the picture, but Belle and Halo say they have met some of them.

That lady in the picture is one of the ladies that works for DogBoy and she takes allot of the dogs on hikes. This next picture is one of the play group areas.

If you haven’t figured out by now, DogBoy’s ranch is a great place for us dogs.  I had a ton of fun at DogBoy’s and didn’t want to leave, at least not until we heard the GSP mobile coming up the road.  The lady that was watching us told mom that we sure had good ears.  She said Belle and Halo knew when mom turned on the road. We love DogBoy, but there is no one like mom and no place like home.  We had had a good day, but we were all really happy to see mom and ready to go home. Mom was happy too because we were all sacked out in the back of the GSP mobile sound asleep the whole way home.

Mom says we get to go back to see DogBoy again soon.  Maybe for daycare before Christmas, but definitely for camp (that means boarding) for a whole week in January when mom goes skiing in Colorado. I can’t wait.

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18 November 2008 by admin.

Mom took me to a Fun Hunt Day on Sunday and it was the most fun I have ever had. I was really tired when we were done, but boy was it fun.

I wasn’t too happy with mom this last weekend, because on Saturday Halo got to go with mom to school and then Belle got to go with mom to do therapy dog work (I will tell you about Belle’s first day as a therapy dog in another post.). Anyway, I was feeling pretty left out and sad because mom didn’t take me anywhere.  She kept telling me Sunday was going to be my day and was I going to have fun.  I still felt left out.

Then Sunday morning mom got up even before I got up, and that is really early.  She got us all out of bed and fed us and put us outside while she got dressed.  We could see mom through the window and she was getting stuff together like a cooler and dog bowls and check cords and stuff like that.  Belle and Halo were getting really excited, so I got excited too.  When it came time to go mom came to the back door and called me.  She actually wanted me to go with her, and not Belle or Halo.  Yippeeee!!

So we got in the GSP mobile (mom’s minivan) and we headed out to the lease.  I was in my crate and couldn’t see much so I took advantage of the time and slept.  We drove a really long way to the lease.  When we got there we were in the middle of no where and there were other people there with funny looking grayish brown dogs mom called weimaraners, there were also Vislas which I already know about because I have a cute little Visla girlfriend, and other GSPs. 

Mom put me on a check cord and a bright orange hunting collar, and we went out in the field to introduce me to birds.  I thought mom was kinda crazy because we have lot’s of birds in our backyard.  There was another nice lady they called the bird lady.  Now I didn’t know what she was doing at first, but I did later and I sure liked the bird lady.  Mom and I headed downwind of the planted birds (they were using homing pigeons for this part of the training).  I was supposed to smell the bird and point.  Sounded pretty easy to me. So, I started using my nose and I thought I smelled a bird.  Now I had never seen a pigeon before this so I wasn’t too sure at first about what I was supposed to do, but when I thought I smelled one I locked into a point.  The bird lady then came up and flushed the bird and it flew.  The first time I just kinda stood there, but mon and everyone told me I was a good dog.  We did this exercise several times and I finally was getting so excited I was chasing those pigeons.  They would fly off and then land on the coop.  Well that ended the first lesson of the day and we just hung out to let me watch other dogs on birds for a while. Then it was lesson number two. They brought all the young dogs back out into the field.  The bird lady was there and another guy that went way to the other side of the field.  The bird lady started releasing pigeons and then the guy would fire the blank pistol.  This was supposed to get us used to the gun and also teach us that good things happen when the gun fires.  I wasn’t worried about the noise of the gun though because I was so interested in the birds.  They said I was ok with the gun and they could shoot with me in a brace because I just didn’t pay it any mind, not even when they got really close to me.  Finally, it was our turn to run in a mock hunt test.  I was going to be braced with a more mature dog and we were going to hunt quail.

Mom took me over to the horse trough and hose to wet me down.  She said it was pretty warm and we were going to be working hard so I needed to stay cool.  Then we headed out to the field. My brace mate was named Sprint and there was also a person on a horse. I wasn’t at all afraid of the horse or the man riding.  He kept telling my mom what a nice pup I was, and he also said we needed to be careful I did not catch a bird.  I didn’t understand that one, but mom agreed so I guess all I was going to do today was find and point.  I ran off with Sprint and we started looking. The first three birds Sprint found and then we came up over a hill and I knew I smelled a bird.  I started zeroing in on the bird and then I had it.  Nose down to the bush and tail up and froze.  Mom called point and then flushed the bird.  It was my first quail and I chased it for a while.  When I came back everyone was making a big deal over my first bird. That pretty much wrapped up the morning.  Mom said I did good on the birds and we headed in for a rest.  When we got back I was so tired and hot.  Mom took me over to the trough and I just climbed right into it and stood there.  The water was over my back and if felt so good.  I stood their drinking for a while and then got out.  Mom put me in my crate for a rest and she went and ate lunch.

That afternoon we were again going to run the bird field only this time the birds weren’t planted.  There were allot of birds out there because we had run 5 braces that morning and the birds were scattered everywhere.  This time my brace mate was another GSP named Troy.  He was 4 years old.  So, I went over to the horse trough again and got good and soaked down and then we were off.  We weren’t in the field 5 minutes and I got wind of my first bird.  It was at the base of a mesquite tree in the tall grass.  I locked on that bird and mom called point and they flushed the bird.  So, off we went again and I found bird number 2.  By this time everyone was surprised because the squirt (that was me) was finding all the birds and it was my first time.  Mom said I came from good hunting stock (that meant my doggy mom and dad) and I just had a great nose. She also whispered to me that she knew I was a great hunting dog.  Boy did that make me want to find more birds. About that time I got wind of bird number 3. Bird number 3 was really hard because it was in a cedar, but I knew that bird was there so into a point I went and mom called point and flushed it.  The lady on the horse that was acting as judge for the afternoon said finding a quail in a cedar is pretty hard as the cedar will mask the smell of the bird, but I did find that bird in the cedar. Bird number three flew off and over to some more trees and the lady judge told the other GSP handler to take his dog over there and see if that GSP could find the bird since we kind of knew where it was.  Mom tried to hold me back, but nothing doing. If that other GSP was going to look for the bird then so was I.  Mom did catch up to me though and held me back, but that other GSP just didn’t have the nose I did.  He couldn’t find that bird. We moved on ahead and left them looking for that other bird. We had just reached a new tree line and I wasn’t picking up any scent. I was getting really hot and tired by that time.  Mom said we would try one more area and then call it a day.  We went into another area that looked pretty good, and that is when I found my fourth bird.  About that time the other handler and GSP and the lady judge were coming along when mom said point.  The lady judge asked her if she thought I could hold that point until we got the other dog up there and mom didn’t even hesitate, she said yes.  Of course, she was holding my check cord just in case ‘cause they didn’t want me to get too excited and spook the bird before that other shorthair got up there to us.  It didn’t take too long and they brought the other shorthair up to find my bird and after a bit he did find it and point it. At that point they flushed the bird for the both of us. Still everyone knew that last bird was mine too.

Mom said we were done and were going to head on back so I went ahead of her.  After a little while I was pretty far ahead so I found some shade and laid down until mom caught up with me.  I was pretty comfortable, but she said I needed to get up so she could get back and get some water for me.  That sounded good so we walked the last little bit together.  When we got back to the picnic area I went right over to that water trough.  I was so hot and tired, but I got my front feet up over the trough and into the water, but I just couldn’t get my butt into the water.  I was too tired.  So, mom came over and asked me if I needed a boost and I just wagged my tail. She lifted my butt up and splash I was in the water.  It was heaven.  I didn’t want to get out, but there were other dogs waiting for their cool down so after about 10 minutes I climbed out.

So ended my first day on birds and hunting.  I was pretty proud of myself and mom just couldn’t quit bragging about me.  I slept the whole way home and then when I got home I ate and fell into bed.

I think I dreamed about bird hunting.  I can’t wait to do it all over again.

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