In the Woods Again ...
That's Bella, with her second woodcock point on a training run in Vermont this morning. It was cool (mid 50's) and in the shady woods the bird scent must've been strong - Bella whipped around and stopped from a full gallop to point (and hold decently) on this woodcock. Much like the Willie Nelson song ("On the Road Again"), we just can't wait to be in the grouse woods again, and this morning was our first trip to continue the training of Bella and Rocky.
In addition to getting some work on grouse and woodcock, my hope is to work on the commands that are important for what we're trying to accomplish ("Heel" and "Whoa") for a successful day in the woods. Up to this point, we've been reviewing these commands in the backyard, but now we can also work on them where it matters most ... the grouse woods.
For the most part, Bella did a nice job today of hunting close, responding to the recall command on the beeper collar, and even heeling and whoaing when called upon to do so. She pointed two woodcock in her run (a little over an hour) and held decently, but we still have work to do there. Her light is flickering for sure, and I think that she'll be a steady performer this fall.
Rocky, the "wildcard", ran for about the same length of time and managed to establish a point and hold it very well when I gave him the "whoa" command. Unfortunately, nothing was in the spruce thicket he was pointing in, but a short distance down the hill from us, a woodcock flushed - perhaps this was the bird that he was pointing and it had moved ahead of us, but I'm not sure. We also had a grouse flush from a tree in heavy cover - perhaps it had gone to the safety of the tree when it heard us coming through the woods.
He did well but was a little less responsive than Bella to my commands - we have plenty of work to do with him but we have a few months to get there. We'll continue to get out when the temps allow -- more updates to come ...
In addition to getting some work on grouse and woodcock, my hope is to work on the commands that are important for what we're trying to accomplish ("Heel" and "Whoa") for a successful day in the woods. Up to this point, we've been reviewing these commands in the backyard, but now we can also work on them where it matters most ... the grouse woods.
For the most part, Bella did a nice job today of hunting close, responding to the recall command on the beeper collar, and even heeling and whoaing when called upon to do so. She pointed two woodcock in her run (a little over an hour) and held decently, but we still have work to do there. Her light is flickering for sure, and I think that she'll be a steady performer this fall.
Rocky, the "wildcard", ran for about the same length of time and managed to establish a point and hold it very well when I gave him the "whoa" command. Unfortunately, nothing was in the spruce thicket he was pointing in, but a short distance down the hill from us, a woodcock flushed - perhaps this was the bird that he was pointing and it had moved ahead of us, but I'm not sure. We also had a grouse flush from a tree in heavy cover - perhaps it had gone to the safety of the tree when it heard us coming through the woods.
He did well but was a little less responsive than Bella to my commands - we have plenty of work to do with him but we have a few months to get there. We'll continue to get out when the temps allow -- more updates to come ...
