Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Slow days

Well, just about every female in the kennel is in season - so we are roading and running dogs on alternate days - girls with girls - males with males.

Lately we have been concentrating on yard work with the young dogs. All the dogs are doing well and we are looking forward to cooler days this week to run dogs again.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Took the big dogs to the rolling hills

Loaded up early and went south of camp - Took our biggest running dogs to let them roll in the wide open and get some bird work.

Duc and Gus - Ran big and wide - over an hour they were on the ground. Duc has the most endurance I have ever seen in a viszla - multiple contacts on birds but no points for either dog - running way out there and handling well.

Buddy - Ran him by himself and watched that dog go in the country over a mile on several occasions - Daniel and I both had to ride hard to keep in touch with him - gonna start keeping him close and bird hunting him - ran big enough that it was exciting to watch

Knikki and Hondo - Knikki ran well - shooting dog race mostly forward. Two finds that he mishandled - one he had to be cautioned to stop, or he crowded a bird and it flushed, was able to flush several more and fire the blank. Another he took a big step forward on a flush and was corrected - Hondo did a nice puppy race and ran in there nice - pointed briefly before knocking and chasing a bird.

Primo - Ran big - got out of touch a couple times - had a find that he held through the flush and then moved on after a short time.

Dolly - Had two finds and a nice race - she took a hop on the first find but was corrected, held well for the second find and finished well.

We have several dogs at camp that are hormonally challenged - Annie, Dot, Jessie, Sadie, Dolly are all in season or appear to be coming in.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Got hot today

We ran 10 dogs in 5 braces over the morning.

Lucy and Kona - Up first and each had a find that they held until the flush. This was awesome and I enjoyed watching them.

Mali and Jake - Nice races in the hottest part of the morning. Mali had 4 broke finds and Jake had 3 broke finds.

Rocky and Tio - Rocky had 3 broke finds and a nice race. Tio had 2 broke finds and a nice race.

Trevor and Chance - Trevor had a short race but had 4 nice finds. Chance ran well had 3 backs and 2 Finds - some movement at the shot but not bad.

Millie - Ran well, short but had a nice find.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Monday, August 22, 2011

Puppies having a good time

Well, we ran puppies today - all off horseback and they had a blast.

Stubby - Nice gun dog race, he had a find - and was in near vicinity to close to 50 flushing birds the other pups kicked up.

Callie - Running all over the place - Had two puppy finds - What a great running dog - wish I could field trial her.

Hondo - Big run, mostly forward with 1 derby broke find. Plenty of birds moved this brace.

Taz - Had a nice puppy race - had contacts with 10 birds (pointed briefly on some and knocked and chased)

Gus - I love this dog - big run - easy handling just a breathtaking performance

Preston - Had finds on pheasants and sharp tails this afternoon during our daily run. He pointed a group of 5 pheasants, another group of 10 sharp tails and numerous single contacts

JuJu - Ran a nice puppy race - got to chase about 5 pheasants and she looked like she was having a blast.

All in all a nice group of pups having fun today.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Friday, August 19, 2011

Early and cool





We got an early start today - very cool and moist - even wet mid day.

Rocky and Callie - Rocky had a stop to flush - nice race. Callie had a few contacts with birds and ran well

Buddy and Duc - Duc had a great race and multiple contacts with sharp tail grouse. Buddy had a huge ground eating race and one brief point before knocking and chasing - it was a really fun brace to watch.

Dolly and Dot - Dot may have been a bit hormonally challenged but she had a great race with a find on a big bunch of sharp tails near the end - she broke at the shot. Dolly had a nice gun dog to shooting dog race - with a find on sharp tail that we had to ride a few hundred yards to get too - she was broke through the flush but at the shot was hopping around a bit.

Knikki and Kona - Kona ran very short and was unable to produce birds. Knikki ran bigger but was plagued by non productives.

Chip and Primo - Ran nice races - Chip had a contact with pheasant - Primo uncharacteristically came up with no birds pointed. Still a fun brace to watch and work.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Early in today

We got out and ran 5 braces very early today - good thing heat came on quick and we ran into two rattlesnakes.

Lucy and Taz - Ran around hunted - had opportunities to point birds but knocked and chased instead.

Kane and Mali - Ran great intelligent races - each dog had at least 4 broke finds on pheasant and handled well

Mac and Chip - Ran well - multiple contacts on birds - Mac had two pretty finds broke on the flush or shot - Chip pointed briefly a couple times before knocking and chasing.

Tio and Red - Tio ran a pretty race and had 4 broke finds. Red had a couple contacts and flushed some birds - and we were able to fire some blanks around him will no ill effects.

Sam and Trevor - Ran well, a few contacts - did not see either dog establish point - but there were a couple times we saw birds in the air and rode over a hill to see one or both chasing.

Keith - Posting From Under the Rusty Windmill

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Another Day working field trial and hunting dogs

Well, it was good day working dogs today. We got a few good pieces of dog work and alot of good running dogs today.

Knikki and Primo - Nice race, worked the wind well and handled well - no birds produced.

Dolly and Hondo - Nice race, handled well - Dolly had a find on sharp tail took steps on the shot - corrections made - Hondo ran a nice forward puppy race and chased sharp tail all over the place.

Dot and Duc - Big nice running shooting dog races for both dogs - Dot had a find, took a step and corrections were made - more flushing produced more birds that she maintained composure on the rest. Duc chased and had a blast

Rocky and Gus - Nice race - easy handling worked cover well - no birds produced.

Jessie and Buddy - Nice shooting dog race for Jessie - worked cover well - intelligent ground pattern - no birds - Buddy huge shooting dog race - handled well at times a half of a mile in there - had bird contacts but did not handle them with manners.

Kona and Red - Ran a nice puppy race - they had some finds and chased birds. Kona runs a pretty nice puppy race.
Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Cool Day yesterday

Teamed up with a couple friends and ran 5 braces of dogs.

Chance - Ran in heavy cover - had 3 broke finds, a mishandled stop to flush - and after corrections went on to have 2 more broke stop to flush.

Taz - Ran all over the place - had a couple contacts with birds - overall a nice job

Stub - Ran and hunted intelligently but was not able to come up with any bird work.

Callie - Ran a nice race - had 4 or 5 contacts with birds including a puppy point or two on pheasants.

Jake - Ran a nice race - had a couple broke finds and did a nice job on pheasants.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Got warm quick yesterday

We only got 4 braces in -

Dot - Ran a smokin race - and had a great find - she was running an all age race for sure yesterday.

Duc - Ran a very nice puppy derby race with no bird work but was in the vicinity perhaps working birds when they flushed.

Gus - Ran a decent puppy race - with no birds

Amos - 3 backs and a shorter race than usual.

Keith

Friday, August 12, 2011

More prairie work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_wEFCqk5ZA

Well, we had a great day training with all but one dog having birds.

Knikki - Ran a more forward and nicer shooting dog race. He had 3 finds and a couple non-productives

Jessie - Ran all over with a nice shooting dog race - unfortunately we had no bird work during her brace - she was down with a couple other dogs who also did not have bird work.

Dot - Ran a nice shooting dog or all age race with a nice broke find

Primo - Ran a short, moderate shooting dog race with 2 finds.

Dolly - Ran short in heavy cover 3 stop to flush, 2 broke finds on pheasants

Hondo - Ran a short race in heavy cover 4 or 5 contacts with birds including a nice puppy find.

Gus - Ran well - a really good puppy race with 2 contacts and a puppy find.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Slow day today


Well it was a slow day training today. We went to an area that sometimes holds birds but after two braces and limited contact we moved to an area that has more birds.

Chance - Ran well but had no finds that we saw - he did get out of pocket and we had to track him down - Lucy had 1 find.

Tio - Two finds on sharptail nice race. Charlie had a nice find on sharp tail and a bit of a better race - she stayed in front and that was an improvement.

Stub and Taz - Ran all over - had great runs - no finds

Trevor and Jewel - Trevor found a skunk - ran a nice intelligent race - no birds. Jewel - had a nice back on trevor's non productive - ran a short puppy race but it was an improvement.

Kona and Red - Ran a pretty nice puppy race with nice points on pheasant broke and chased - having wonderful time

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Working on the prairies with plenty of sharp tail




We loaded up and headed south yesterday and worked an area of prairie, rolling hills and deep draws.

Annie - Annie ran a nice forward shooting dog race with a derby broke find on a large bunch of sharp tails. She was put down with some young derbies and puppies of Jim Michaletz and Scott Chaffee. As were all the other dogs, it was nice to look at dogs that these men develop and train and gives me an idea of where my dogs are falling in whether they might be competitive.

Gus - Ran a big puppy race, had no finds but ran all over and chased some - very impressed with this young puppy yesterday.

Buddy - Ran so hard we corralled him and put him up before we lost him.

Put Dot down for the rest of the time we had allotted for Buddy - She ran a big shooting dog/almost all age race and had a nice find.

Rocky - Ran a nice moderate shooting dog race, moving easily in front of the other dogs and had 3 broke finds on sharp tail and had one back that he had to be cautioned into.

Primo ran a short to moderate shooting dog race, searching objectives intelligently and he had finds that he was broke through the shot but moved before released by me or collared - still working on that but making lots of progress with this first year dog. He is the finest looking dog on point I have ever trained.

Mac and Knikki - Put these two dogs down together for the last brace - both ran through the country well, worked the draws nicely but were not able to produce any birds.

Additionally, we saw antelope, white tail deer and fawns and 3 bunches of turkey with poults.

Keith = Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A ton of bird work today





Well, I got out early this morning and got to work. Dogs had a blast.

Primo and Millie - Were the first dogs down and kinda set the pace. Primo ran a nice race with great application - He had 3 broke finds. Millie ran a nice intelligent hunting dog race and had 2 finds - breaking on the flush.

Amos and Kane - The brace to measure all the other braces this summer. Kane had a far reaching and searching race - He had 10 broke finds and one non productive. Amos ran a shorter hunting dog race and had 6 broke finds and 10 backs for 16 broke pieces of dog work - WOW! I got tired of getting on and off the horse!!!!!!!!! LOL

Mali and Hondo - Mother and Son combo - Mali had 6 broke finds and 2 stop to flush. She ran a short to moderate field trial gun dog race. Hunting intelligently. Hondo ran a big puppy race - he had 5 finds that he held from 10 to 30 seconds before breaking and flushing - plus another 3 or 4 that he was working and flushed on him. He had 3 brief Backs of his Mom.

Stub and Charlie - Stub ran a nice reaching hunting dog race - he had 3 finds that he held until the flush. Charlie had one find and a short foot hunting race.

Taz and Sam - Taz had 3 puppy finds - holding point from 10 seconds to almost a minute. He ran an intelligent puppy race and worked cover well. Sam - Had one bump of a hen pheasant - ran a searching gun dog race.

All told I had close to 40 points of birds and many more that were worked and flushed or bumped by inexperienced dogs.

I ran out of blanks - and felt like I did 2 hours on an eliptical machine at the gym - I climbed on and off the horse at least 30 times.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill



FIELD TRIALS AND FIELD TRIAL DOGS

We are now less than 2 weeks from the first field trials of the season and my evaluation is almost complete and I have identified the following dogs as field trial prospects/field trial competitors.

Whiterock Gus (Puppy) - Dutch Shoultz

Whiterock Smokin Hondo (Puppy) Chuck Wilson

Whiterock Blazin Buddy (All Age/Shooting Dog) Ernie Hardman

Copelands Dolly Parton (AKC Gun Dog/All age) Stan Copeland

Duc (Puppy/Derby) Ryan Rykoff

Blackhawks Dot (All Age) Bourke Harvey

Whiterock Cordite (Shooting Dog) Dutch Shoultz

Whiterock Mali (Gun Dog) Chuck Wilson

We are still evaluating and will continue to train those dogs towards this end.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill



Monday, August 8, 2011

Well another day training is almost done





We got a late start because of the thunder and lightning this morning. We got 5 braces done and had some good work.

Chance and Callie - Chance had two contacts with birds and he mishandled them. Corrections made - ran a nice gun dog race and had a back and a non productive later. Callie ran a nice gun dog puppy race - with one non productive and a find on pheasants.

Rocky and Kona - Rocky ran a very nice race - with four broke finds and a intelligent application. Kona ran well - trailed some - corrections made and he had a nice find, broke at the flush and had several nice chases on flushing birds.

Knikki and Gus - Knikki - Ran well, had a nice gun dog race - had 2 finds and a non productive - Gus ran well had a flash point and got to chase a bunch

Chip and Buddy - Big races - no finds - but listened and handled well.

Preston and Dot - Dot put down a nice all age race with no finds. Preston ran a nice puppy race with no finds.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Good Day training today




Well, we switched things around a bit - we are running our bird dogs from horseback first thing in the morning now and roading in the afternoon - this worked out wonderfully today - as it got warm quick and we were able to catch birds before they went into deeper cover in the morning.

Chance and Duke - Chance had a mishandled opportunity first thing and knocked the birds - he then went on and had a find a couple minutes later - corrections made. Duke had 2 bird contacts and knocked and chased.

Dolly and Chip - Dolly had two contacts with birds - first was a stop to flush - a single sharptail flushed as she was making a cast - she stopped I rode up and flushed more birds and she stood steady for the shot. The 2nd contact she was making game and got too close and a bird popped - she once again stopped and I was able to make a correction and flush more birds - she stood broke for the shot. Chip had a great run and pointed briefly and knocked a couple groups of birds.

Knikki and Dot - Knikki had a find and relocated and birds popped way in front of him (I did not call this a bump) he stopped and I fired a shot - which he stood for - he had a couple non productives after - his race was short and lateral but making improvements in range. Dot mishandled a bunch of birds and corrections were made - she ran a nice all age race that caused Daniel some handling challenges. She had a broke find on sharptails near the end.

Rocky and Annie - Rocky ran a short shooting dog race and had a broke find. Annie honored briefly and corrections were made - Annie ran a forward moderate race and had a find - she broke on flush and corrections were made - Improvement in her forward race and handling is steady.

Mac and Gus - Mac had a good gun dog race, moderate at times and lateral. Mac had a find on a hen pheasant - broke on the flush - corrections made. Gus had a nice forward puppy race with a couple of contacts with birds.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Started slow finished strong



We got out today on the prairie in search of the elusive sharp tail - We had 3 braces with limited bird work.

Sam and Jessie - Both ran a forward searching pattern - Jessie got birdy and self corrected and moved on once. Sam had no contacts

Primo and Charlie - Primo ran an intelligent and searching shooting dog race with no contacts. Charlie was short and needed encouragement to stay forward - no bird work.

Buddy and Trevor - Buddy ran a far flung all age race - I had to ride hard to keep him on course and go get him twice - he started responding very well late in the brace - good thing - because Lacy was well lathered by then. Trevor - Ran a very nice and big gun dog race - Daniel had to go get him a few times - neither dog had birds.

Stub and Lacy - Ran well - hunting and searching and Stub was rewarded with a find - he stood broke and it was fun - Lucy did not have a contact.

Hondo and Mali - Had the last brace and ran very nice races - Mali had 5 pieces of broke dog work - finds on sharp tail and pheasants. Hondo ran a great puppy race and had 3 finds - he knocked and chased and had a great time running up bunches of birds.

Keith - Posting from Under the Rusty Windmill

Cooling off a little










Rocky and Callie - Rocky had 2 finds on pheasants, moderate race - need to stretch him out more on short grass prairie. Callie had a couple nice contacts and ran well.

Mac and Chip - Nice run - working the cover well, Chip had a contact with hen pheasant. Mac got birdy a couple times but was not able to pin the birds.

Knikki and Annie - We working on patterning with both of these dogs, working them fast keeping them on edges, correcting lateral casts. Both did super - with a divided find
on pheasant.

Jake and Dolly - Nice to big running races. Jake running the bigger of the two and more forward, Dolly ran a more moderate forward race. Each had a find and a divided find on pheasants.

Chance and Kona - Big to moderate gun dog race - working well in there patterning and searching of objectives - no bird contacts.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Making money today








Well, today was a great day training. We got an early start and it stayed relatively cool until we finished.

Our first brace was a decent one. We ran Sammie with Chance - Chance ran a nice moderate paced ground race - he had two finds - the first one he mishandled badly and corrections were made as he failed to stop to flush. The 2nd find was much better held until the flush and broke - but corrections were made and he finished strong. Sammie ran a short well paced gun dog race with no birds.

Kane and Trevor - This was a great brace - Trevor ran a well applied and moderate gun dog race making casts to objectives and using the wind well. He had two finds - his first was on a brood of pheasants and hen - he maintained composure even though they were in plain sight and running around - he broke at the flush both times. He did have a non productive. Kane had a beautiful ground race, well applied and big. He had 3 finds and one of the best relocation's on a rooster pheasant I have seen recently. He was steady to wing and shot on all finds.

Lucy and Stubby - Lucy ran a short gun dog race - she had opportunities to back and she did well after cautioning. Stubby ran well he had 4 finds - his first find he pointed well, but on relocation bumped the bird and corrections were made. His 2nd and 3rd opportunities were much better and his 4th find he stood broke for it.

Primo and Charlie - Primo ran a very well applied shooting dog race and had 5 finds - and although he made mistakes and was corrected and then on the last find he stood broke - whooo hoooo!!!!!!!! Charlie had two finds and a short race.

Mali and Taz - This was our final brace - Taz ran well got into a brood of pheasants to chase - Mali had a nice find of sharp tails - she stood broke and Taz got to chase some more birds. The race was well applied and big at times with both making casts over 200 yds.

Keith - Posting From Under the Rusty Windmill

Monday, August 1, 2011

Short Day today


Today was a short day. It was very hot and humid. With heat indexes approaching 100F by 9:30 am we called it a day. In my opinion it was dangerously hot to continue.

Knikki and Gus - Knikki ran a short to moderate shooting dog race, very lateral. He had one find he mishandled and one non productive. Gus ran a big puppy race.

Dot and Callie - Big well forward shooting dog race with no birds. Callie ran all over the place and had a great time.

Keith - Posting Under the Rusty Windmill