Ghillie's Report Card

[trekmoor]

Forth Estates - 10 -15 a.m. - Bright and sunny but with a cold west to N.W. wind.

Dogs - Kurt

----------------------------------A day out at the dog track ------------------------------

All began well with Kurt hunting well on a cheek wind down the side of a hedge and about 30 -40 feet of rough grass on the side of the hedge. He pleased me by moving out away from the hedge to the far side of the rough grass in order to be able to windscent any birds in the grass as well as in the hedge. That showed good hunting sense as far as I was concerned.

He checked his stride twice during the 150 yards of hedgeline and moved right into the hedge to investigate but those birds had already left that area. We ended up at the far end of the hedge without having seen a single bird. We then turned left to hunt the wide and very rough strip of ground that has the little pond in it's middle . There seemed to be no scent at all on the way along to the pond , Kurt was wanting to pull out on me to hunt where the pond came to an end and an area of broken, hummocky , very rough ground covered in long grass, nettles, thistles and willowherb stands begins.

I let him go into it and almost at once two birds got up but they'd simply been bumped up, I could not see him among all the cover ….but I hadn't seen the cover tops stop moving to indicate to me that he might be pointing. I consoled myself with the thought that at least he hadn't chased the birds.

He hunted on then went through the single stranded type wire fence at the covers far side and into the field beyond ….just as he'd done a couple of days ago when the two men in the vehicle claimed he'd pointed from there. I left him alone to get on with it while watching the tops of the cover to see where he was over there about 30 -40 yards away from me. Then his head and shoulders came into view as he came back nearer to the fence and then he completely stopped moving but still with only his head and shoulders outside of the cover.

I didn't know if it was the fence that had caused him to stop or if he was pointing a bird on my side of the fence so I moved towards him to investigate while telling him to hunt on ….by this time I was fairly sure he just didn't want to move back through the fence. I made too much noise as I approached and up got a hen pheasant ….. I'd bumped it ! I am now reasonably sure that he'd not only found and pointed that bird , he'd held that point for nearly a minute. I now wonder if those two men the other day did actually see him point last time we were out ?

I hunted him on and he went into a big patch of dead willowherb and out flew two more birds ---- bumped birds ! Pups just have to learn the hard way through experience so I didn't really mind that at all and again he'd made no attempt to chase . That pleased me a lot …. if he continues to hunt for, maybe point , flush but not chase birds, it will save me a lot of work !

I was, by now, feeling quite chuffed with this little hunt . I was chuffed with Kurt's work and I was also chuffed with myself for I had now walked much further than I usually can . The hunt had taken me about 70 yards further along the side of the field than I'd managed before and I didn't fancy the 200 yards plus walk back uphill to my car but off I went anyway , casting Kurt off to hunt the big weedy field as I went.

To my surprise he went rather slowly , not even at a lollop. I saw him go nose down once and then begin to hunt the wind again …..but he was still moving slowly and I began to hope he was "on " a pheasant and might get a point on it .

This is where the "Day out at the dog track" begins ! A hare jumped up not far from me that I at first thought he had "missed." It ran off without him ever seeing it and I thought---- "Thank Gawd for that !" But Kurt was still hunting on and he flushed another hare right off the end of his nose and an instant chase resulted ! I now realised that the first hare I'd seen run had been on the wrong side of the wind for him to scent it but he'd scented the 2nd hare just fine !

For a just turned 8 months old pup that bugger of a dog can really shift ! I just had to stand there helpless as Kurt chased the hare , first up towards my car, where he managed to turn it and then towards the fields boundary hedge and wire fence combined about 250 yards away from me. The hare's jink had left Kurt about 20 feet behind it but he was beginning to gain ground again and I only had one hope left . The Good Lord smiles upon the righteous (that's me ) and he heard my fervent prayer.

The hare got to the boundary hedge and fence before Kurt and those two obstacles not only made him slow down a little bit they also unsighted him on the hare. I saw the hare streaking up the next stubble field and then going over the skyline about 400 yards away. Kurt then appeared in that same field but now he could not see the hare and was working on it's footscent.

It was my chance to distract him and I took it . I whistled and shouted for all I was worth . He continued along the hare's footscent for another 40 yards but with the hare no longer in sight the red mist began to clear from what passes as his brain and, after a moment more of me whistling, shouting and waving my arms about, he eventually condescended to return to me ! I praised him while hoping he realised I was praising him for coming back and NOT for chasing that damned hare !!!

The bugger wasn't even breathing heavy ....but I sure was and I put him on the lead and just stood there leaning very heavily on my stick for at least 5 minutes before I and my still on lead dog walked back up that hill for 200 yards to get to my car.

I foresee a distinctly "Olde Worldy" type session of hare aversion training coming Kurt's way !
The problem with hare's is that they just pop up whenever I am not expecting them which makes training dogs not to chase them very difficult .

Wullie

[trekmoor]

FORTH ESTATES - 1.30 p.m. - Sunny, cold, light winds.

Dogs - Kurt.


I was supposed to be dogging in but I was feeling terrible before I'd even left the house . I went anyway but to a different part of the estate. I've dogged in this field before with my Brittany and I knew the field always has a few hares on it and I also knew I did not want Kurt to find and chase another one ! I decided to dog in only one side of the field …. I used to walk over to it's far side over the stubbles a distance of about 400 yards while hunting Libby the Brittany for the hares and the occasional partridges to be found on there.


From where I left my car today I would have to walk downhill covering about 300 yards of hedgeline and wire fence with Kurts nose and then walk back to my car along the same route. I knew right away I wouldn't even manage the 300 yards downhill never mind the 300 yards back uphill again . I decided only to hunt half of the fenceline - - - I chickened out !

Kurt loved the stubbles, it's his first time on them but he was already 50 -60 yards out away from me and the hedgeline ….he was getting into hare territory. With great reluctance I recalled him. I wish I was fit enough to walk behind this dog for he promises to be a bit of a goer - - - - I'm not so sure about the coming back though !

Kurt hunted about 15 feet out from the hedge for about 30 yards then swung in hard for the hedge where a very wise cock pheasant made it's getaway just before he'd reached it. It erupted straight upwards to get over the hedge and the chicken wire type fence shi**ing as it rose and cackled it's alarm call. Kurt did consider chasing but was stopped by the fence. I regained control of him surprisingly easily and hunted on but Kurt went back to where he'd flushed the bird and then pointed.....better late than never I suppose ! He was pointing on it's old scent so I wasted no time in urging him on. Praising a dog for what is certain to be an unproductive point is not a good idea. It can lead to a dog that dwells on scent or which holds points on old scents.


We hunted on but only for another 20 - 30 yards , my breathing was now very ragged and getting worse all the time. I decided to go no further , I'd be bad enough trying to walk 60 yards back uphill to my car , if I'd completed the hedge I think I'd be dead !

I had the camera with me today hoping for some action shots but all I remembered to take a pic of was the unproductive point ! I have a big problem with cameras. I tend to focus so hard on a dog that I clean forget to take any damned photographs !

I made it back to the car ….just ! I had to stop, sit down on the stubbles and regain my breath 4 times as I walked back up that 60 yards to my car. Kurt enjoyed himself though and he behaved himself quite well too .

Wullie

[ips]

I like dogging in tales, i can relate to them more than any other type of dog work

[trekmoor]

I transferred the pics I took yesterday from the camera to the computer but I think Kurts big wet nose must have smeared the camera lens in most of the pics. I have kept only 3 pics of him on the stubbles plus one I took on the road beside my house where I gave him his one and only retrieve of the day on an old stuffed sock. I haven't yet tried giving him a dummy to retrieve during a dogging-in session for fear of him telling me where to stick it - - - sideways !

Kurt now delivers well provided he does not become badly distracted. He will do a "sit present" if asked to but he normally just delivers dummies in the standing position. Although he will retrieve all sorts of dummies his preference is for one I made from an old sock many moons ago ! His deliveries are at their worst when he retrieves hard or firm dummies ...like most canvas ones ! I mainly use just three canvas dummies when training Kurt. I "tenderized" all of them with a big wooden mallet to make them much softer !!!

I cannot remember ever giving any pup of mine so few retrieves to do . Kurt sometimes only gets one or two per week and rarely more than a dozen in a week. It all depends on how frequently my daughter drops him off here and on how I'm feeling health wise and on Kurt's mood from moment to moment .

It has been a bit of a stuggle for me to train Kurt retrieves ...or anything else ...but that was all down to my health problems. He was just being a puppy doing the things that puppies do. I can now , almost always, prevent him from running in during retrieves ---if no other dogs are present. He is not good at off-lead heelwork but is learning how to do "heel on the spot" exercises that will aid me when lining him up for blind retrieves later.

He is quite good at responding to the recall whistle provided there are no distractions, like hares, nearby ! Lesser distractions I can control him on to some extent.

I have decided not to take him to this seasons first driven shoot on the estate....it might deep fry his brain cell ! I will try to bring home a couple of hen phezzies though to get him used to picking them up.

Wullie

[trekmoor]

Wed. 3 oct. - Forth estates - 10. 15 a.m. - Cloudy, drizzly all day long.

Dogs - Charlie, Edge and Ghillie.

I turned up at the appointed time but the guns did not and so the first drive didn't even begin until 10.15 a.m. I had to walk about 140 yards to reach my backmarking position and knackered myself before the drive even started. The winds became stronger as the day went on but during that first drive there was no wind at all and the midges came out in battalion strength . I am one of those lucky people who aren't too bothered by midges but even I could feel the little buggers biting away at me inside those woods.

The shooting started but although I could hear the guns nearly 200 yards away I couldn't see any birds at all . Those woods are thick and most of their leaves are still on the trees. I think the still heavily leafed trees were causing the guns problems too because I wasn't hearing much banging coming from them ….and yet there was plenty of birds as this was the first shooting day of the season.

The end of drive horn sounded and I hadn't seen even one bird ! I released the dogs to sweep the woods more in hope than in expectation and only two minutes later back game Ghillie with a very live hen pheasant. I noticed Edge trailing along behind her though looking a bit downtrodden ….. I could almost hear him say...." She stole my birdy !!!" Ghillie definitely would demand that Edge gave her his bird . I also noticed that this bird , although still very much alive, was a bit slobbery. Maybe because it had been in two dogs mouths ? I am only grateful that it came back alive and not crunched dead after that experience !

During the next drive I did see birds fall but I was out in the middle of the huge deer park and those birds fell far away from me so they were picked by another picker-up. My dogs were sent for no retrieves at all.

At the next drive I was hopeful of a bird or two coming my way but it never happened . I was for once standing in a big, rough field but the beaters dogs were running right through the line of guns to grab the falling birds !!! They were led by a little demon of a liver coloured cocker spaniel that at one point in the drive not only went right through the guns but also ran past within 10 feet of me ….and I was 150 yards or more back from the guns !!!!

It was chased off by Ghillie who took an instant dislike to the little bugger and who ran - in to get to it ! I always knew Ghillie would be useful for something !

Then disaster struck hard. A hen pheasant with a leg down flew between me and the next picker up 80 -100 yards away down the field . The bird pitched into a stubble field nearly 200 yards away from me and the other picker up left it for me to get ! Between me and that stubble field was a game crop nearly the size of a football pitch and it held a lot of pheasants. If I'd tried to send a dog from where I stood it would have sent up a cloud of birds from the gamecrop. I simply had to walk around the game crop then enter the stubble field before sending a dog.

I did the walking but hardly had a breath left in me by the time I'd reached the stubbles. The bird was now "only" about 70 yards out from me though so I sent Ghillie who at once did an about turn and went back towards the gamecrop ! I hastily recalled her and was now well and truly fecked ! I'd have to walk up the stubble fields fairly steep hill to try to find the bird .

Then, thank God, another picker up appeared on the scene and I managed to ask him between my gasps for breaths to go get that bird for me - - - PLEASE ! I now faced a very long walk back to my car and I arrived there eventually on the point of collapse.

The guns then decided to break for lunch after only 3 drives . The afternoon was to have two more drives but I only stayed for one of them ....I was knackered ! At the end of that drive I again sent my dogs off into the surrounding woods to sweep even though I'd only seen one very healthy looking bird fly past. Two minutes later Ghillie returned with a very live cock pheasant.....I couldn't see a mark on it .... I think she'd pegged it !!!

That was my lot for the day. Two birds and the possibilty that both of those birds had been pegged. You can stick early season pheasant drives up where the sun never shines ! Too much heavy groundcover and far too many leaves still on the trees plus too many birds that don't know enough yet to get off the ground and away quickly before one of my pegging machines gets too near them !

Wullie

[Blackjaw]

Let me guess. You wanted to add the liver cocker to your group of hooligans?

[Nickheref]

Too much heavy groundcover and far too many leaves still on the trees plus too many birds that don't know enough yet to get off the ground and away quickly before one of my pegging machines gets too near them !

Wullie

A few days ago I walked two bits of ground I shoot to see how it looked, on one I found some released birds that had strayed from neighbouring ground which I walked back over our boundary to where they had come, they let me get to 20 yards and then ran in front of me along a hedge. On the other bit of ground I came across some wild birds who didn't let me get nearer than 100 plus yards before they took off !!

[ips]

Too much heavy groundcover and far too many leaves still on the trees plus too many birds that don't know enough yet to get off the ground and away quickly before one of my pegging machines gets too near them !

Wullie

A few days ago I walked two bits of ground I shoot to see how it looked, on one I found some released birds that had strayed from neighbouring ground which I walked back over our boundary to where they had come, they let me get to 20 yards and then ran in front of me along a hedge. On the other bit of ground I came across some wild birds who didn't let me get nearer than 100 plus yards before they took off !!

Thats interesting nick. Whilst dogging in this season (my third season) i have noticed that these birds do not respond very quickly if at all to being walked up too or even clapped or flagged. Sometimes you can damned near pat em on the bonce before they start moving. That hasnt been the case in previous years, i have no idea why it is the case ?

[trekmoor]

Let me guess. You wanted to add the liver cocker to your group of hooligans?

Well, I did have a sneaking admiration for that cocker, his stop was non-existent but his go was really good !

Today I have just lazed about the house while making the appropriate groans of pain when I hoped my wife would make me another cup of tea. It wasn't all acting either, I am still totally knackered after yesterday and I do have lots of aches and pains .

On the subject of "pain" on Tuesday night, the night before I went picking up, my labrador "Ghillie" did a bit of counter surfing and got hold of one of my little packets of doctor prescribed, extra strong painkillers. She is a greedy cow but she shared those pills out with my cocker "Charlie" in a "three to me and one to you" split.... I think ? I eventually noticed bits of debris from the pills plastic bubble wrapping and thus began a little session of forcing considerable amounts of salt water down the dogs throats. I combined this with holding wee Charlie up by his hind legs and sort of bouncing him up and down ! Ghillie is far too big and heavy to do that with but I did get her hind legs well off the ground to shake her about.

Both dogs then puked copiously but I was still worried. I watched them for nearly 4 hours but they were neither up nor down .
By the time yesterdays shoot was underway and they started to want to hunt I was wishing I'd fed them more pills ! Those pills are pretty powerful, I cannot swallow two of them and then drive for they make me a bit slow and sleepy. How come dogs can swallow an entire packet and still be so bloody lively ???

Ah well, tomorrow is another day, I brought home a hen pheasant from yesterdays shoot and tomorrow will be the GSP pups first go at retrieving a bird - - - - apart from escaped farmyard hens that is !!

Wullie

[Nickheref]

Can a dog be done for drug dealing? I have heard a lot about county lines recently!