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Flairball

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Everything posted by Flairball

  1. Flairball
    Spaniel. They get way more attention from the ladies when you bring them to the pub.
  2. Flairball
    I know a guy in NH that shoots hares over his wirehaired pointer. Not sure how it all plays out, and if the dog points them, but it does track wounded hares, and will retrieve a hare. I saw a fantastic video on YouTube some years ago about hunting dogs, tests and trials in Germany. Forgot the name, but you may find it interesting if you find it.
  3. Flairball
    Most Americans don't shoot driven pheasant, or any other driven bird, so I would expect them to wear whatever they own which they feel is most appropriate. It isn't terribly hard to find a few pieces of appropriate kit over here. I was able to put together an appropriate outfit thanks to living somewhat close to a Barbour outlet, and a few deals on eBay. Here in the states our upland clothing tends to feature blaze orange, while big game and waterfowl clothing is camo. That said, I have seen people upland hunting wearing some degree of camo. Don't get it, but maybe that's all they have. Of cou
  4. Flairball
    We are the beaters,....too. It's a walk one, stand one shoot.
  5. Flairball
    Most Americans don't shoot driven pheasant, or any other driven bird, so I would expect them to wear whatever they own which they feel is most appropriate. It isn't terribly hard to find a few pieces of appropriate kit over here. I was able to put together an appropriate outfit thanks to living somewhat close to a Barbour outlet, and a few deals on eBay. Here in the states our upland clothing tends to feature blaze orange, while big game and waterfowl clothing is camo. That said, I have seen people upland hunting wearing some degree of camo. Don't get it, but maybe that's all they have. O
  6. Flairball
    After re-reading your original post I see the dog had issues with the .22 blanks, which I had somehow not processed before. I have a question. What gun breaking did you do with this dog before you took it out on a shoot? How long/how many gun breaking sessions? I should have probably elaborated on that. My apologies! His first gun breaking sessions were done last winter, where I would take a starter pistol and fire .22 blanks (shorts). This was done at about 100 yards away by a friend, whilst I would stand with the dog and pet him / praise him if he didn't react. At the start, he never got
  7. Flairball
    After re-reading your original post I see the dog had issues with the .22 blanks, which I had somehow not processed before. I have a question. What gun breaking did you do with this dog before you took it out on a shoot? How long/how many gun breaking sessions? I should have probably elaborated on that. My apologies! His first gun breaking sessions were done last winter, where I would take a starter pistol and fire .22 blanks (shorts). This was done at about 100 yards away by a friend, whilst I would stand with the dog and pet him / praise him if he didn't react. At the start, he never got
  8. Flairball
    After re-reading your original post I see the dog had issues with the .22 blanks, which I had somehow not processed before. I have a question. What gun breaking did you do with this dog before you took it out on a shoot? How long/how many gun breaking sessions? I should have probably elaborated on that. My apologies! His first gun breaking sessions were done last winter, where I would take a starter pistol and fire .22 blanks (shorts). This was done at about 100 yards away by a friend, whilst I would stand with the dog and pet him / praise him if he didn't react. At the start, he never go
  9. Flairball
    After re-reading your original post I see the dog had issues with the .22 blanks, which I had somehow not processed before. I have a question. What gun breaking did you do with this dog before you took it out on a shoot? How long/how many gun breaking sessions?
  10. Flairball
    This has become quite an interesting discussion. Lots of good thoughts being bounced around. I agree with you in theory, but I am not sure all the pieces are in place in the case of this dog. Using this dog in the beating line may allow the dog to better associate the sound of gunshots with work, but what work? The dog may become a fantastic beating dog, but that association (guns in the distance which silence once we approach to within a certain distance) doesn't help the dog associate the sound of gunshots nearby with game to be retrieved. Now, hearing gunshots in the positive environment
  11. Flairball
    Theoretically, yes. But that info is learned in stages. We know that the dog was nervious about the gun shots. We know the dog still, though quite cautiously, made the retrieves. We know the dog does not have an issue with a .22, and dummies. We don't know that the dog equates the report of the shotgun, with the report of the .22. If we could be certain that the dog understands the relationship between gunshot and game to fetch, yes, your method would probably work. We don't know that the dog equates bumpers with game. We don't know why the dog was nervious. We don't know how much gu
  12. Flairball
    I'm trying to get your thinking on that with the greatest respect ?My thinking on it is that the young dog is been shown that the sound of the gun means work , its showing what you want him to do , when you want him to do it and if he grasps that everything in the hunting environment becomes a positive in his mind including the gun shot He associates his surroundings when working with the most positive experience he gets while out I can't see what holding him back would do , I'd push him on through always trying to make the last half hour most memorable and positive while out , the end of th
  13. Flairball
    Forget the shoot in two weeks. You'll just hurry the process and push the dog too much. With what you've described already, I expect the dog will already have some anxiety about gunfire and need more time than a pup normally would.
  14. Flairball
    Take a look at the placements from the trials. I'd think you could find them online somewhere. You'll probably see some trends. Some of the trends will be dogs/ lines which have excelled, another will be handlers/ trainers who can get results out of other lines/ breedings. Both are good to know.
  15. Flairball
    I almost completely agree with Jangles. A dog must be introduced to gun fire slowly. You may well have ruined your dog. I gun break my dogs as very young pups, well before they are a year old. I do this very slowly. I start with loud , startling sounds at meal time. Usually just by clapping two pan lids together. After a week or so I'll start outside with a starter pistol w/ .22 blanks. I do this someplace where the pup can run. I'll throw a tennis ball down a hill with the pup in pursuit, and pop the shot when he pup is far away. I'll not acknowledge the pup's reaction in anyway. Us
  16. Flairball
    That won't help in this case. She is non-slip steady when already sitting. She was rock steady on Friday, and was 1 of 21 dog in the trial that finished. She ran 5 series in 2 days, only 3 days after coming out of her heat cycle. I'm not too worried, and am certain that more of our regular routine will get her back where she was. I've also decided, because she can be sensitive, that if she gets loose at training rather set her back, and pick up the bird myself, and the countless times I toss the dead bird over her, I'm just gonna run her down, snatch her up, and put her straight in her cr
  17. Flairball
    Fixed it.
  18. Flairball
    Headed north for a weekend of back-to-back trials. On Friday the pro trainer I work with, Steve, handled Ginger in the Central Virginia club's trial. They did well and finished the trial, though not without a few heart stopping moments. In the first series she had to make a long retrieve. She flushed a bird on the left hand side of her beat, which flew left to right. It was well over her brace mates beat when a gun finally shot it. Naturally it sailed a bit and fell about 70 meters from Ginger, outside the course, and over a hedgerow. She went straight out, and through the hedgerow, but c
  19. Flairball
    She's 5 1/2 years old. And yes, she knows the training grounds well. She wasn't patterning well at all, nor using the wind. She was just running haphazardly knowing there were birds about. Had a pretty good weekend; our trainer, Steve, handled her through 3 series to judgement on Friday. 11 dogs got called back to the 3rd series, of which only 7 dogs finished. Unfortunately 4 dogs had a better day than she did. On Saturday I handled her through 2 series. She had a couple of smoking hot finds and flushes, and nailed her retrieves, but she was loose in her flushes, so we didn't get cal
  20. Flairball
    Sitting calmly, and stopping on a whistle are nice, but you want your dog to point game honestly, right? you want a dog that is staunch on point, right? How does a dog learn that? It is ingrained in it. It just needs to learn the lesson that it's better to point than to flush. Nothing allows a dog to learn it is better to point than senselessly chasing some birds. That your dog has been able to retrieve game should make it easy for you to reward the dog when it does right, too. After the dog realizes that chasing isn't putting birds in its mouth it will try something different. That's when it'
  21. Flairball
    Due to some scheduling issues, and then coming in to heat I hadn't done any serious training with Ginger. Well, we are back on track, now. Got her out to blow some of the dust out of her head. Her exuberance was a bit much, and she worked harder, rather than smarter, and didn't pattern well. But she smoked a few bird finds, and for the most part minded her manners. We are back in track just in time, as we are entered in 2 trials this weekend, Friday and Saturday. Left her with the pro I train with so she can get a bit more of a tune up, and screwed down a bit before Friday (plus I'm stuck in t
  22. Flairball
    Last year I had the opportunity to shoot driven pheasant for the first time. It was great, and I loved it. I've been invited again, and will be making a trip to shoot pheasant again in December. Here in the US, driven shooting is extremely rare, and elevensies does not even exist. I'd like to bring something for elevensies, my host has told me that he is certain that it would be appreciated by the syndicate. My question is; what is considered appropriate, and inappropriate? Being from the US, and the New England region I'd like to bring something local, and with traditional New Engla
  23. Flairball
    Well, I'd be happy to come to your shoot, and scratch a few down for you.
  24. Flairball
    I'm an idiot. Drove down to the sporting clays club to get some shooting in, today. Well, they were closed as they are setting up for a big tournament they are hosting this weekend. So I wandered into the adjoining outfitter to look at some guns and inquire about selling my Beretta. I've been looking for a new gun, and considering a Rizzini Artemis 20g. Well, they had one, and once it was in my hands,....... Big mistake. Now I absolutely have to have one. Looks like my credit card is about to take a $5k hit.
  25. Flairball
    Well, I've brought my GoPro to the training grounds several times, but have always forgotten about it and left it in the car. I finally remembered, and strapped it on. Here is a short video of some of our training. Forgive the sound issues. I'm not good at editing, and didn't add enough music. https://youtu.be/osRLwkAEC_U
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