Search found 34 matches

by Thunder
Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:50 pm
Forum: Please Welcome New Members - Introduce Yourself Here!
Topic: New Hampshire Hunters
Replies: 4
Views: 2347

Re: New Hampshire Hunters

Alrighty then.
by Thunder
Wed Feb 11, 2015 8:35 am
Forum: Please Welcome New Members - Introduce Yourself Here!
Topic: New Hampshire Hunters
Replies: 4
Views: 2347

Re: New Hampshire Hunters

I know you are out there... I can hear you breathing.
by Thunder
Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:31 am
Forum: Please Welcome New Members - Introduce Yourself Here!
Topic: New Hampshire Hunters
Replies: 4
Views: 2347

New Hampshire Hunters

Hi everyone,
I haven't visited for quite a while, a lot going on.
But now I am retired to Hillsborough County, NH and I am looking to find people to Train and hunt with in the southern NH area.
Anybody out there interested. I own two English Setters and I have plenty of time :-)
by Thunder
Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:06 pm
Forum: Legislation & Hunting Rights
Topic: The NY SAFE Act
Replies: 3
Views: 6201

The NY SAFE Act

For those of you who live in NYS the SAFE Act is the most draconian gun control legislation to date. I for one, as a born and raised New Yorker, am Livid. I have started a blog to vent, preach, and spread news about the progress of the opposition. http://whydoweneedgunsanyway.wordpress.com
by Thunder
Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:08 am
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: Mouse/Rat Poisoning in Dogs
Replies: 10
Views: 3909

Re: Mouse/Rat Poisoning in Dogs

I have a question that maybe someone here can answer. Clearly it is dangerous for our dogs to eat rodent poison... but what are the consequences when a dog eats a mouse that has succumbed to the poison? Is there enough residual poison in the mouse carcass to harm a 70 lb dog??
by Thunder
Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:05 am
Forum: Health and Nutrition
Topic: Mouse/Rat Poisoning in Dogs
Replies: 10
Views: 3909

Re: Mouse/Rat Poisoning in Dogs

It is Ipecac syrup. It was used in small doses as an expectorant (to force up phlegm). In larger doses it is a powerful emetic agent (causes vomiting).
Not recommended for humans anymore though.
by Thunder
Sun Mar 11, 2012 4:45 pm
Forum: Polls
Topic: What gauge do you shoot for upland birds?
Replies: 110
Views: 123744

Re: What gauge do you shoot for upland birds?

I have done most of my upland game hunting with a Browning Citori 20 ga for the last twenty years. I have a Citori in 12 GA also and switch off with it from time to time but the 20 is very light and short and swings like a dream so I always end up going back to it. It is also perfect for dense grous...
by Thunder
Sun Dec 19, 2010 3:26 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Could use some advice on retrieving to hand
Replies: 25
Views: 7629

Re: Could use some advice on retrieving to hand

I started with a wooden dowel about 1 inch diameter, but I suppose it would work just as well with a retrieving dummy. I put it in their mouth and said "Hold". If they spit it out I gently and patiently put it back in and repeated the command. When I wanted them to release it I would pinch their low...
by Thunder
Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:45 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Could use some advice on retrieving to hand
Replies: 25
Views: 7629

Re: Could use some advice on retrieving to hand

I always taught my springers the "Hold" command. I could do drills in the living room while watching TV and once they learned that hold meant until I personally "Take" whatever they have in their mouth the transition to the field was easy.
by Thunder
Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:37 am
Forum: Training
Topic: Not Pointing Grouse
Replies: 58
Views: 15622

Re: Not Pointing Grouse

[quote="Ryman Gun Dog"]For the Gentlemen who wanted snow Pictures http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/pine-creek/Roxie014.jpg http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii174/pine-creek/Roxie010.jpg Even a Puppy in the snow picture for ya Hi RGD, Beautiful dog... looks a lot like my female "Feather". W...
by Thunder
Tue Dec 14, 2010 5:36 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Not Pointing Grouse
Replies: 58
Views: 15622

Re: Not Pointing Grouse

No problem really. I have pretty thick skin. :)
by Thunder
Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:51 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Not Pointing Grouse
Replies: 58
Views: 15622

Re: Not Pointing Grouse

I have hunted grouse in just about every terrain there is and, yes they will run a bit depending on the situation.... the point I am making is that they do not handle being pressed by a dog without taking flight. Pheasants handle it quite well by running like heck and in even moderate cover can outr...
by Thunder
Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:47 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Not Pointing Grouse
Replies: 58
Views: 15622

Re: Not Pointing Grouse

To those who disagree with me, you are doing so based on the exceptions. Relative to Pheasants grouse can hardly be considered runners. They will run from time to time but it is not their first choice as a defense and they seldom run more than a few yards before blowing out. The odd pen reared pheas...
by Thunder
Sun Dec 12, 2010 3:21 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: Not Pointing Grouse
Replies: 58
Views: 15622

Re: Not Pointing Grouse

Hey RottnBritt... One thing is something you cannot undo at this point. If you intend to hunt a dog on grouse it is advisable to avoid pheasants until he has learned Mr. Ruff. More than any other game-bird pheasants run ahead of a dog. For a dog to point one he has to press it until it gives up and ...
by Thunder
Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:37 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: AKC Field Trials
Replies: 31
Views: 8726

Re: AKC Field Trials

That is why I like spaniel trials..... they shoot actual shotgun rounds and kill actual birds. Who'd a thunk it. :D NSTRA? English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association ESSFTA. It can be leisurely compared to horseback trials but it is a pretty fair approximation of how many people actually hunt...
by Thunder
Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:47 pm
Forum: Hunting
Topic: Wolf or Coyote???
Replies: 53
Views: 17395

Re: Wolf or Coyote???

It is hard to tell from a single photo. In the next frame it could look entirely different... cameras are funny that way. It is probably a coyote. I suppose it is "Possible" that it is a coy-dog or a red wolf but you know the saying. When you hear hoof beats think horses not zebras (unless you are i...
by Thunder
Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:32 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: AKC Field Trials
Replies: 31
Views: 8726

Re: AKC Field Trials

That is why I like spaniel trials..... they shoot actual shotgun rounds and kill actual birds. Who'd a thunk it. :D
by Thunder
Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:17 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: When Was Your Breed Developed?
Replies: 49
Views: 11899

Re: When Was Your Breed Developed?

Exactly.... even today the best bloodlines of gun-dogs are kept high quality by selectively bringing in genetics from outside the line. While most current day bloodlines are not Inbred, per se, they are often quite "line-bred". As you stated, inbreeding to a great extent and line-breeding to a lesse...
by Thunder
Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:31 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: When Was Your Breed Developed?
Replies: 49
Views: 11899

Re: When Was Your Breed Developed?

I am well aware of the different strains that have been bred but none were bred by inbreeding. By it's very nature inbreeding can not bring any new genes to the table. The different strains have to be developed by out breeding or mutation and then is kept in the line by inbreeding so it won't be lo...
by Thunder
Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:13 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: When Was Your Breed Developed?
Replies: 49
Views: 11899

Re: When Was Your Breed Developed?

I disagree that inbreeding doesn't happen in the wild. There have been many isolated populations of animals that have existed i.e. the galopigus islands, and the example that I already gave is well documented. Mother nature is just more brutal in her culling process. Horses on an island is not an e...
by Thunder
Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:53 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: When Was Your Breed Developed?
Replies: 49
Views: 11899

Re: When Was Your Breed Developed?

I disagree that inbreeding doesn't happen in the wild. There have been many isolated populations of animals that have existed i.e. the galopigus islands, and the example that I already gave is well documented. Mother nature is just more brutal in her culling process. Horses on an island is not an e...
by Thunder
Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:17 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: When Was Your Breed Developed?
Replies: 49
Views: 11899

Re: When Was Your Breed Developed?

I've read a book or two on breeding (Which makes me dangerous) and the author indicated that inbreeding does not have to be the death sentence of a breed but can be used to strengthen it. He gave an example of an island off the east coast where horses have lived for many generations and have develo...
by Thunder
Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:11 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: When Was Your Breed Developed?
Replies: 49
Views: 11899

Re: When Was Your Breed Developed?

The term Hybrid means a number of things depending upon the context. However, when using the term Hybrid Vigor it specifically means that when two highly inbred strains or bloodlines of the same species are crossed the resultant offspring are generally stronger, healthier and often larger than eithe...
by Thunder
Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:14 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: all postive training>>
Replies: 52
Views: 10118

Re: all postive training>>

I would love to attend a workshop on conditioning and basics or use. I really do not know enough to even start.
by Thunder
Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:07 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: all postive training>>
Replies: 52
Views: 10118

Re: all postive training>>

Thanks Charlie, My name is Mark, by the way. Thunder was the finest dog I ever owned and I tend to use his name on forums a lot. His full name was Ruchar's Rolling Thunder. He was a freight train... watching him work could bring a tear to your eye. I was offered an obscene sum of money for him after...
by Thunder
Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:29 am
Forum: Training
Topic: all postive training>>
Replies: 52
Views: 10118

Re: all postive training>>

Charlie, Twentyish years ago when I was first introduced to training collars the people I saw using them were pretty heavy handed and, I suspect, the collars themselves were not particularly kind. The collar that I was shown out at DeCoverly was so mild even at mid-range settings that I was skeptica...
by Thunder
Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:41 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: all postive training>>
Replies: 52
Views: 10118

Re: all postive training>>

I don't understand why people who do not believe in using an e-collar, think that those of us who do, are lighting our dogs up like a christmas tree. It just ain't so!!!! There will always be people who abuse it, but those same people would use extreme measures whether it be with a training tool or...
by Thunder
Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:29 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: all postive training>>
Replies: 52
Views: 10118

Re: all postive training>>

I think some of the contention here is precipitated by the fact that we each have a slightly different lexicon. I don't use the word correction the way some do. I have never used an e-collar on a dog and while I have picked a dog or two off the ground like a bag of dirt and shook him a bit a few tim...
by Thunder
Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:26 am
Forum: Training
Topic: all postive training>>
Replies: 52
Views: 10118

Re: all postive training>>

I think there is a HUGE correlation between raising kids and dogs.... You would be hard pressed to find an active psychologist, either animal or child, to agree with that statement. There are studies of children raised in the wild, and the lower primates raised as children that substantiates my pos...
by Thunder
Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:21 am
Forum: Training
Topic: all postive training>>
Replies: 52
Views: 10118

Re: all postive training>>

Ezzy, I am sure you have heard it before, but dogs are not little people in fur coats. Child rearing and dog training have nothing in common. Let's help the guy train his dog, Neil NOTHING?!?!? Sorry, but I disagree. The most basic fundamental training axiom of all applies to both. "What you allow ...
by Thunder
Sat Mar 06, 2010 3:51 pm
Forum: Training
Topic: teach/train/test
Replies: 36
Views: 6556

Re: teach/train/test

I have read my way through this thread and I am coming in here at the tail end. After 20+ years of training my own dogs and watching all manner of other folk train theirs I have observed that, for the most part, well bred dogs don't require a lot of correction. When I and my friends were training Sp...
by Thunder
Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:34 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Whats Style to you ?
Replies: 451
Views: 183914

Re: Whats Style to you ?

Style is a lot of things... and different things to different people. I used to run Springers and the differences between Pointers and Flushers gave rise to different opportunities for style. When a pointer gets into a scent cone it starts to ratchet down so it doesnt bump the bird but a springer hi...
by Thunder
Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:59 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: A Fun Way to Spend a Saturday
Replies: 8
Views: 3671

Re: A Fun Way to Spend a Saturday

Great pictures... excellent way to cure cabin-fever. Question... do you train your dogs specifically to back / honor another dog's point or do they come by it naturally?

( I am new to pointing dogs)
by Thunder
Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:52 am
Forum: Please Welcome New Members - Introduce Yourself Here!
Topic: New Member From the Hudson Valley New York.
Replies: 4
Views: 1231

New Member From the Hudson Valley New York.

Hi all, I am brand new to the GDF. I am just now at 56 making the shift from English Springer Spaniels to my first pointing dog, DeCoverly's Owl Feather. "Feather" is a sweet orange belton female who is just now starting serious field work. If there is anyone on this forum who lives in striking dist...