some dog training pics

[Vaughan]

I had the young dog out in the forest next to the house on Sunday to practice retrieving, and the wife was there with her iPhone. I used a poorly shot grouse from the freezer and set some trails through the forest for 100m or so and then sent him off. The boy done good!

Open class is 200m so he needs some more practice but at least he didn't sneak off with the bird to have it for lunch, which is what our older dog would have done

[skeetshot]

Very nice, Vaughan. Looks like a champion in the making

[Corjack]

My little dog Sophie will retrieve small birds I have shot, but then you have to chase her around for an hour until she is tired enough to give it to you.

[Sophie]

My little dog Sophie will retrieve small birds I have shot, but then you have to chase her around for an hour until she is tired enough to give it to you.

And, you have a problem with this?

[Vaughan]

And, you have a problem with this?

[thechamp]

1st - Vaughan... You do live in some very pretty country there. I've always loved the piney woods. Hear the wind blowing through them and the tall trees swaying in the wind. Spent some of my best days fishing in a lake set deep in the piney woods.


2nd - Corjack.... If it weren't for Sophie you wouldn't get any exercise at all! Skeeter just comes to you without hestiation. That's no challenge.....

[Vaughan]

You do live in some very pretty country there.

It most certainly has its moments, or places... It is also mostly clearcuts..... However, as a forester by training and forest researcher by profession I don't suppose I can complain about living somewhere with a strong forestry sector.

Was just out with the wiff and the dogs at the back of the timbered ridge near the house. The dogs put up two nice capercaille hens. The breeding season should start any day soon so maybe they will nest nearby and raise a couple of nice broods Of course, then while having dinner a sodding fox walk right past our kitchen window, calm as you please. The seaons is over but I know where her den is - and it is not far from where I saw those caper hens. I can see an accident developing...

[dinsdale]

Good pics of the pooch.....

[skeetshot]

Vaughan

Any predators in the area ? Wolves or bears or wolverine ?

[Gun Barrel Ecologist]

Lovely country Maybe I should have spent more time studying trees rather than the things that eat them

Open class is 200m so he needs some more practice but at least he didn't sneak off with the bird to have it for lunch, which is what our older dog would have done

I gather that is for open class of what is (or was ) known as a 'Non Slip Retrieving Trial' here in Australia?

How do GWPs fare? I ran my GSP in a couple of Novice stakes but soon found she had the lazy habit of picking a line through the scrub to the pigeon and back which usually avoided the obstacles the judge expected her to cross - the labs who lacked the brain capacity to realise that tunnelling through brambles makes for a slow retrieve would get the points

[Vaughan]

Any predators in the area ? Wolves or bears or wolverine ?

There is the occasional bear in our hunting area. I've seen scat but never the animal. I expect we will encounter one during th emoose hunt one of these days but it has not happened yet. I guess there are also the occasional transient wolf but they are rare in this area, thankfully since they have a nasty habit of killing and eating hunting dogs. There are a few lynx around, I've found tracks in the snow when bird hunting in winter but never seen one. The wolverine population is futher inland towards the mountains.

When I first came here in the early 90's the bear population was so low few people had ever seen one and the wolf population was a single inbred pack of maybe 6 animals or so. Hunting for lynx was also banned I believe. There is hunting for all 3 now, particularly bear and lynx. The wolf hunt remains controversial. Mostly I believe becasue the wolf population is remote from the main cities. They start sneaking into back gardens in Stockholm to snack on Fifi and Rover and that might change To be fair though, it is not an easy issue. I've seen only a single wolf in the wild, and that while on foot fishing a fairly remote stretch of river inland and to the south of here. Impressive animal and it feels right to have them in the forest - but I would not want a pack in MY hunting area or where they might kill MY dog...... The bear issue does not seem to fraught. The population seems now to be quite large and robust and they aren't as emotive a species anyway.

[Vaughan]

How do GWPs fare?

Generally I believe they do quite well but I claim not real knowledge or expertise here. This is only my 2nd bird dog and I've never had any interest in competitions of this sort. I'm doing this training with the idea of putting him in competition mostly because the dog finds it exciting, the wife is interested and is getting his half-brother in a few weeks and the breeder is ambitious so I'm trying to get the dog to a level where he can get some merits regiestered. As I understand it, for birds it is not required that the dogs follow a scent trail precisely, just that they retrieve and deliver correctly. This fellow has completed one trial as a young dog for tracking wounded game - and for this he did need to follow the trail (it was 600m I believe) and overcome some obsicles (such as a dead moose next to the set trail, breaks in the trail, right angle turns etc) and he passed this test brilliantly, so we know he has potential.

[Pigeon]

nice forrest, nice dog, nice pictures...

I hope You get him trained well...

[deerhunter338mag]

Vaughan a cracker of a place you have there super nice thanks for sharing