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Sir Reel
Posted: November 29th, 2006, 7:15 pm
by birddog
You gonna tell us about your hunting trip/Thankgiving in Oklahoma?
Posted: November 29th, 2006, 7:19 pm
by Browning Slayer
I wouldn't mind hearing about it...

Posted: December 4th, 2006, 12:27 pm
by Sir reel
This is sort of late (and long... you ask for it
) but I just saw your request.....actually was waiting to see if folks would ignore my return.
After read’n Bman’s account of the duck slaughter he brought down on Arkansas, I was embarrassed to post anything.
Of course my primary reason for the trip was to see my Son, Daughter-in-Law, Granddaughter, and Grandson.



My Son and I have always either gone for a fishing or hunting trip while we were there and this year it was a half day Quail hunt at Quail Ridge about an hour east of Oklahoma City. In addition, I lost my English Springer in February to cancer and about a month later picked up an American Brittany pup (Dixie). I began some yard training at a pretty early age and although She’s very promising, it’s still a lot of work. It’s been several years since I was in a dog training mode and I’d forgotten how time consuming it NEEDS to be to have any decent results.
I had her kennel trained and familiar (not perfect) with some basic obedience commands like Whoa, Stay, and also responding to whistle commands for "Come Back" and "Attention to a Change in Direction" before I started field work. I was able to work her a couple of times on planted pigeons (thanks to some really nice folks on this forum!)
.


After that we moved on to pen raised Quail but only enough time for 2 sessions which did end up with shooting over her. Now this pup was 6 mo old when I began the field bird work and She turned 9 mo old on the day we left for Oklahoma, so I had less than 3 months to get her ready before the trip to Oklahoma. Trying to work full time and find the time to invest in the process was a challenge. All things considered, by the time we needed to leave, She was doing very well for a 9 month old (age equal to a 10 to 13 year old human youngster). I’ve had some really good experience with pups in the past who were naturals and nearly trained them selves but this little lady was going to make me work for her. The one thing of course that any bird dog owner yearns for is seeing that dog on point and working with you. Although Dixie has already proven that She has a strong ability to scent the birds and find them, She is still intent on getting as close as possible to the bird and doesn’t want to stop and point steady yet. I would not call her aggressive in that regard just extra “birdyâ€
Posted: December 4th, 2006, 5:30 pm
by RodBow
SR, Congratulations with Dixie and glad you had a good time!
It was quiet on here while you were away - well with the regular exceptions.

Posted: December 4th, 2006, 7:09 pm
by AJ
Nice post

. Training your own dog and watching them work is one of my greatest joys. Hope she turns out to be a good one.
Posted: December 4th, 2006, 8:01 pm
by birddog

Good deal, Sir Reel. She's coming along nicely.
Posted: December 4th, 2006, 8:22 pm
by Jumptrout51
I am so glad you had a good trip.

Posted: December 5th, 2006, 4:08 pm
by BlindHog
Boy, the kids and the pup have grown a lot since I saw em last.
