With the upcoming bad weather, and the fact that I never find time to train this poor dog, I've decided to just throw in the towel on hunt test skills until the spring. Between the cold, snow, agility trials and holidays it's just not realistic to try to accomplish anything until March or later.
So instead we will play at real hunting. I've got the opportunity to go pheasant hunting this coming week, and hopefully a few more times in November.
The guy I am going with this week is going to do all the shooting, and I will just handle Tito. I am SO excited about it! Tito will get to track, flush, and retrieve. My friend is even leaving his awesome lab at home so that Tito will get all the birds this time.
I took the monster boy out this morning and reinforced the command, "bird out there, hunt 'em up" by hiding a bird in the field, then taking him out and having him hunt it up. Did it several times. No control, no pressure, just use your nose and go find the bird. (It was a previously dispatched duck, not a live bird). I felt I should do this since he's not used to that type of freedom. He thought it was awesome, and found each bird very quickly.
There's something breathtaking about watching a golden retriever bounding happily through the tall weeds in search of a bird.
Looking forward to our hunt this week!!

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Gibson's Golden Girl, CD, CGC, TDI (born 3-20-1997), a.k.a. "Tiny"

CH Rosewood Little Giant, UDX VER RA SH MXP MJP VCX WCX CCA CGC FFX-OG (born 3-10-2007), also UCH HR UUD UJJ URO1 UHIT a.k.a. "Tito" (the Tito Monster)

and my heart dog
Gibson's Golden Guy, CD, CGC, TDI ( 01-31-1998 - 01-02-2012) a.k.a. "Toby", "HRH"

It's all over now, she's hooked!

You might as well go buy a 20ga shotgun and take a few lessons this winter. You never get over watching a dog "light up" when they know they're close to a bird. Their movement is just poetry to watch.

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"You own what you condone." ~ Mike Lardy

Barb

Sounds like a plan!

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[IMG]http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii215

Tonka & Tucker

SNOBEAR at the Bridge
Dec. 23, 1999-March 27, 2010


SMOOCH at the Bridge.
Feb. 14, 1999-Dec. 7, 2010

You will love spending the day afield with Tito. Don't forget to share your sandwich with him. It increases the bond you will have with him.

I agree...there's absolutely nothing like hunting over your own dog...PERIOD!!!

Have fun Barb...I know you will!


Pete

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Sonny, the black lab, ran ahead to make sure there were no gophers or jackrabbits in the way. If you don't give a dog a specific job, he'll improvise one for himself and it will invariably be fun. There's a lesson there.
John Gierach

Sounds like fun Go for it!

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--Anney
"Fisher" CH Deauxquest Hard Day's Knight UDT VER RAE MH WCX CCA VCX OS DDHF :: www.go-fisher.com
"Slater" Morninglo Wing-T Your Bird Can Sing MH WCX CCA
"Bally" Richwood Wing-T Workin' Like A Dog
anney@k9-design.com

Sounds like you will be having even more fun than training for a hunt test! Enjoy it and take it all in!

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Alison and 2 Furry Kids and 2 non furry kids

Lilly- Golden DOB 1/28/11
AKC name: Goldridge Lights Action Lilly RN CCA
http://k9data.com/pedigree.asp?ID=433352
Sanford- JRT DOB-9/5/06

Bridge dogs
Toby-Boxer 10 yrs. old (rescue) 9/17/2002-11/1/12
Charlie- Boxer (1st "child" together)2/19/02-3/18/12
Julie- golden retriever ( my heart dog) 5/6/96-3/3/07
Ruby- terrier/chow mix (my 1st dog) 8/1/90-1/15/05
Rusty-shih tzu (million dollar dog) 2/5/99-1/20/04

Wow that sounds so cool! And I'm not a fan of hunting anything but sounds like he had and will have lotsa fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App

Awesome! I have plans to go hunting this season too just trying to cement friends and find the time/place to go. We're trying duck hunting but upland sounds like so much fun for the dogs!

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I have a feeling this is going to totally mess up his blinds for a while, but to be honest, I don't care. We'll fix it later if we need to.

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Gibson's Golden Girl, CD, CGC, TDI (born 3-20-1997), a.k.a. "Tiny"

CH Rosewood Little Giant, UDX VER RA SH MXP MJP VCX WCX CCA CGC FFX-OG (born 3-10-2007), also UCH HR UUD UJJ URO1 UHIT a.k.a. "Tito" (the Tito Monster)

and my heart dog
Gibson's Golden Guy, CD, CGC, TDI ( 01-31-1998 - 01-02-2012) a.k.a. "Toby", "HRH"