Exercise and training

To keep the dogs in shape and let them burn off their excess energy in a positive way, we’ve been putting them on the treadmill twice a day,
once in the morning and then again when I get home from work. Elvis still has a little trouble walking on it, I think that it messes with his
mind and he has a little trouble keeping his balance. Mia and Dakota love walking on it and sometimes try to get on the treadmill while one of
the other dogs is walking on it.

We keep them to 12-minute sessions and the speed down to where they walk at an average pace. On an occasional session, I’ll speed it up for
Dakota and Squirt to give them about 3 or 4 minutes of jogging.

When Elvis was 5 months old, we decided that he no longer needed to be crated at night and let him sleep on the floor with the other dogs but
now that Mia will be going into heat in several months, started getting him used to being crated again. At first we only crated him roughly
several hours a day several times a week. Talk about throwing a fit! We’d come back into the house to find his bedding torn up and wet with
slobber, even slobber splattered on the nearby walls.

After about a week of it, we began crating him at night as well. This helped quite a bit and there were only a few nights that we either had to
quiet him or let him outside to do his business. A couple weeks of retraining him in this manner, he takes to kenneling up without any problems
and no longer throws a fit.

Black Friday pheasant hunt

After trying half-a-dozen video conversion programs, I found that Apple Quicktime allowed me to edit and save the helmet bullet cam video, so I purchased a copy and now have included the video for this post.

Sophie with Elvis and Mia in the background 11-27-9

Mia, Elvis and Sophie at the reservoir while Pheasant hunting 11-27-9

While most people were hunting bargains, I took Sophie, Elvis and Mia Pheasant hunting, since it closed this weekend in this region of the state. And like a lot of bargain hunters I came away empty handed but enjoyed the experience.

Sophie has been on a diet since the September seminar with Mike Gould, who recommended that she drop about 10 pounds in order to ease the problems with her dysplasia. She’s dropped from 74 to 66 pounds and ran the field like a pup. Elvis is a nonstop hunter and didn’t slow down the entire hunt – Spinone are known for their endurance, and he proved that to be true. Mia hunted the field like a natural pro, and didn’t slow down until late afternoon, which I find impressive for a 6-month old pup.

We hunted one area during the early afternoon and Mia found and flushed a hen Pheasant. I took the dogs to another area where I usually found roosters and Elvis flushed two of them. The first was out of range and the second I missed the shot. At least it showed me that Mia isn’t gun shy. The rooster flew several hundred yards and we went after it without luck.

Back at the truck when I loaded the dogs up, I noticed that Elvis had a nasty cut on his leg; earlier I noticed him trip over a downed barbwire fence, and it that’s when it must have happened. I called our vet and made an appointment to drop him off on our way home. They were busy with some cows so I dropped Elvis off and my wife picked him up a couple of hours later; it took half-a-dozen staples to close the cut and the vet also found a grass seed in his eye.

Elvis is on antibiotics for the week and due to get them removed on Friday, and through it all has proven himself to be quite a trooper. It also gave me an opportunity to experiment with my helmet bullet cam.

The Spinone’s first snow

Here are a couple of videos I shot of Elvis and Mia’s first experience in snow.

Mia’s first hunt

Mia's first hunting trip, 11-25-9 photo from cell phone

Mia’s first “official” hunt was really nothing more than a walk through the brush since we saw no birds – but of course on the way home, I nearly ran over a rooster and there were others strutting around in private fields. I hunted with both Mia and Elvis, and starting out, we had gone about 100 yards when Mia turned and raced back to the truck. Elvis did the same thing his first time out. In both cases, we went back to the the truck and collected the dog, started out again, and everything was fine.

I tried out my new helmet bullet cam but didn’t get much video. The camera didn’t come with instructions and I didn’t get the batteries completely charged. I think that it’ll be an improvement over the PI Cam Stick which I previously used since I can mount it under the bill of my hunting cap where it’s protected from snow and rain.

Pheasant season ends this weekend in this region of the state so I may get one more day of hunting before having to switch back to grouse and partridge.

Notes from a “cold blind”

The following is a “pass along” newsletter article from the Retriever Journal.
Pass Along RJ
November 09

Notes from a “Cold Blind”

by Chris Smith

A cold blind. No, this is not in reference to a type of retrieve; rather, I mean a cold, uncomfortable, icy, snowy, sometimes dangerous, duck blind. If you’re a diehard waterfowl hunter, you’ve spent your share of November, December, or January mornings shivering as you wait for the sound of wings or the glimpse of an approaching flock. Some parts of the country can provide us with more miserable hunting in terms of weather than others, but no matter where you are, if you hunt much in the second half of the season, you’re going to experience some nasty days.

Some of us have differing opinions on what constitutes “nasty.” Here’s mine: temperatures below 25 degrees; sustained wind of least 15 knots; snow flurries to accumulating snow; ice forming on decoys, gloves, waders, boat, and the dog; and increasing levels of everything I just mentioned. Some days the wind might not be as strong but the temps are in the single digits. Other days the winds are gusting to 30-plus and there’s a foot of snow at the boat launch with more coming. But you get my point — rough weather that makes even you question your sanity while putting your socks on, knowing full well that the ducks will be looking for company. It’s the weather we hope for; but when we get it, it makes us reconsider the whole sport entirely.

Well, it just so happens that if you hunt in the North country as often as I do, you get more than your share of days like this. With these wonderfully long duck seasons lately, it makes it easier to enjoy them again and again if you don’t get turned off by one really tough hunt. And not just enjoy them, but doing so in a safe manner for you, your hunting buddies, and your dog. Every year — every year — duck hunters somewhere are killed, and the culprit is, more often than not, the weather. So here are some notes to consider, followed by a checklist, for the next time you’re taking pains to cover exposed skin to chase ducks in a sub-freezing-snowstorm-gale.

First and foremost, consider your personal threshold for cold and inclement weather — basically, the weather you’re willing to sit in for several hours of hunting time. Then consider what it is that usually drives you to pick up early — cold hands, wet clothing, you ran out of coffee, whatever, and address that thing(s) first (hopefully it’s a limit of mallards that causes you to leave, but we can never bank on that).

For a lot of us, it’s cold extremities: hands, head, feet, and things attached to those — fingers, ears, and toes. With the variety of effective undergear, fleece-lined pants, and windproof sweaters, we should be able to dress ourselves accordingly. But three areas too many of us tend to skimp on when we pore through the waterfowling catalogs are waders, handwear, and headwear. Easy remedies — make sure leaky waders are replaced or reliably patched, bring at least one or more extra pairs of gloves, and some sort of warm hat (they all look dumb, but when it’s 14 degrees out, who cares?). In short, with today’s gear and modern fabrics, if you’re getting cold, you aren’t buying right. I know, a hundred bucks for a set of state-of-the-art underwear isn’t most wives’ idea of a sound purchase; but when the snow is sideways and the sun hasn’t come up yet, you’d pay twice that without flinching.

Directly after (or perhaps before) your own personal care comes the care of your dog. Do not be fooled by the stories of dogs staunch in a noble pose on the bow of their craft, every hair ringed with icicles like the ones hanging from winter eves. Sure, if you hunt in rough weather long enough, you’re dog’s going to experience something like this, but that by no means makes it right. Dogs can get cold-related problems just like any other animal, and they’re usually wet on top of it (field hunting the exception). A good vest for warmth, dryness, and flotation can overcome most of a retriever’s problems for a day’s hunt. Toweling off after each fetch is a great way to prolong their endurance since they typically sit for a period of time after a retrieve. And finally, have a reliable propane heater on hand.

The full article “Cold Blind” by Chris Smith appears in the upcoming December 2009/January 2010 issue of The Retriever Journal. If you are a subscriber, stay tuned! That issue will soon mail!

Legislation to support

I received a letter from Congressman Simpson (R-ID) who again reiterated his opposition to H.R. 45 (The Blair Holt Act). He also recently signed on to legislation that supports the Second Amendment and I encourage everyone to call their senators and congressment to support this legislation.

H.R. 17, the Citizen’s Self-Defense Act, asserts that a person has the right to obtain a firearm for security and defense.

H.R. 442, the Veteran’s Heritage Firearms Act of 2009, rectifies current law that would punish a World War II or Korean War veteran for not registering a war relic firearm. It provides limited amnesty to these veterans and allows them to register without fear of prosecution for thus far failing to do so.

H.R. 1071, the Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act, would remove several unnecessary prohibitions and would restore the right of law abiding citizens to sell firearms to those who live in other states. The bill allows all firearm licensees to transfer firearms at gun shows to any individual, regardless of home state, in compliance with other state laws and after proper criminal background checks.

New toy – a helmet bullet cam

I haven’t been posting much these last couple of weeks due to some computer problems, and have additional photos post. You may also notice that I haven’t posted many videos – the Micro SD card on my PI Cam Stick failed, so rather than buying a new one, I purchased a helmet bullet cam from the U-Spy store. I think that it will be a big improvement over the PI Cam Stick when it comes to hunting.

Briefly, my computer problems were thus:
We purchased a laptop, however the store was out of that model so we took the demo laptop. Big mistake! The wireless card didn’t work well and when I finally connected, a handful of viruses were installed on our desktop. Took the demo back and purchased an out-of-the-box laptop, then took our desktop in to get it cleaned up. The hard drive had to be reformatted and reinstalled from scratch.

Back to our new laptop. I uninstalled some of the useless pre-installed software such as online shopping and Internet games. They shared drivers with other (necessary) software and as a result, the laptop shut down immediately after starting up to prevent data loss. After a few days of troubleshooting and futile attempts to reinstall software from Safe Mode, I did a complete system rebuild from the recovery disk.

In any case, the problems seem to be resolved and you can expect more hunting video from my helmet bullet cam – no more video from my digital camera.

Elvis points his first bird

I took Mia and Elvis out with me to shoot off my shotgun and check whether or not Mia would be gun shy. Elvis was there for Mia’s moral support, and I left both dogs in the truck with the windows partially rolled down. Walking about 50 yards away, I shot once which excited Elvis and piqued Mia’s curiosity. My next shot was about half that distance from the truck and my third a little closer still. Mia didn’t appear frightened, but watched with interest.

I took Elvis and Sophie partridge hunting later that afternoon and Elvis pointed his first bird – that is, pointed and held his point for about 5 seconds before a hen Pheasant flushed from the bush he was pointing. I had fitted them with hunting boots to protect their feet from the cactus with mixed results. Sophie lost one shoe twice and one of Elvis’ boots developed a small tear along the zipper; the sage and lavas, snow-covered as they were, was still rough.

We flushed a flock of partridge but they were real jumpy and took off about 75 yards away. Elvis is beginning to develop his own hunting style and we’re communicating quite well with each other. One thing I noticed this weekend is that Elvis will stop periodically and wait until we make eye contact, a non-verbal conversation between us, and off he goes again.

Late afternoon hunt and a lost bird

I took Dakota and Elvis for a late afternoon Pheasant hunt, braving a cold wind and cloudy skys. Upon the advice of another hunter, I took hip waders and we hunted in the cattails for an hour or so with no luck. The sun was dropping but I figured there was time enough to hunt another nearby area – minus the waders.

We hunted a dry ditch bank for a bit when Elvis flushed a rooster Pheasant, but I never took the shot. In the low sun I couldn’t see any color on the bird and since it was flying directly away from me, couldn’t see its tail feathers well. I couldn’t tell if it was a hen or not until it clucked as roosters do, but by then it was out of range.

A little farther we flushed another rooster and this one I dropped. On the upside, I think my shooting problems are behind me. On the downside, we lost the bird. It must have been a runner because we searched for a good 45 minutes and finally gave up when the sun set and it started getting dark.

Last week I discussed my shooting woes with a co-worker. He thought that perhaps I was focusing on the bead rather than the bird, relating it to his bowhunting and how a person will miss if they focus on the arrowhead instead of the target. I took his advice and dropped the Pheasant with one shot, but ended up losing it since Dakota doesn’t know how to track and Elvis is just learning.

Elvis gave us a scare tonight while he was eating. He began coughing and coughed up some blood, and had some running from his nose as well. We immediately called our vet and after going through a checklist of symptoms, determined that Elvis had either scratched his throat on some dog food or perhaps bit his tongue. We kept an eye on him to make sure that he didn’t become lethargic, droopy, or continue bleeding; if he did, the vet wanted to see him immediately. However he recovered, played with Mia for a bit and then went to sleep.

Mia’s first day in the field

We’ve been without Internet access for several days but are back online. We had our roof re-shingled on Saturday and our cables were damaged – which all ties into Mia’s first day hunting.

When the shingles were delivered last week, 2×4s were nailed into the roof to brace the stacks of shingles. The hammering scared the crap out of Mia and she hid in her crate shaking. I was concerned that this might make her gunshy, so Saturday I took her and Elvis hunting. I left my gun at home, relying on the shooting of other hunters to desensitize her. The day before, I took Dakota and Elvis Pheasant hunting but didn’t flush a single bird.

Both Mia and Elvis proved themselves to be serious hunters. Mia found a patch of feathers where something had killed and eaten a Pheasant, and later on nearly tripped over a hen Pheasant that she flushed.
Elvis got real birdy a couple of times and did a good job of hunting, finding a bush that a Pheasant had previously been hiding under.

The re-roofing continued for about 4 hours after we returned home, but the constant hammering of the pneumatic hammers didn’t seem to bother Mia this time – the exercise of hunting helped drain her energy, and rather than hiding in her crate, she slept on the bed with the other dogs.

On Sunday, I took Elvis and Mia each out into the pasture for some training. While working with Elvis, three hen and one rooster Pheasant flushed. He briefly pointed the hens on his own, as they flushed, and although he never saw the rooster, he tracked it to the spot that it flushed.