Gun Dog Forum

Question for you spaniel guys. I was really hoping to have Bo as my buddy and hunting companion, but his energy level is just too much when he's indoors. Every time I bring him inside, he is just a nut case. He will slow down a little bit, but he will never sit still and just "lie down by the fire." I could deal with it, but my wife gets very frustrated with it.

I've tried exercising him before I bring him in to wear him out, but it doesn't help. He is only 18 months, so I expect that has something to do with it. What can I do to help it? Will he relax any as he ages? Would neutering help?

love2hunt wrote:Question for you spaniel guys. I was really hoping to have Bo as my buddy and hunting companion, but his energy level is just too much when he's indoors. Every time I bring him inside, he is just a nut case. He will slow down a little bit, but he will never sit still and just "lie down by the fire." I could deal with it, but my wife gets very frustrated with it.

I've tried exercising him before I bring him in to wear him out, but it doesn't help. He is only 18 months, so I expect that has something to do with it. What can I do to help it? Will he relax any as he ages? Would neutering help?

Not to say that the horsepower's out of the barn, but this is why you crate-train gundogs and then give them the opportunity to "earn" their freedom indoors. You will never wear out a spaniel enough to make them sedentary in the house, you train them to accept "genial incarceration" as the cost of doing business with their master, who would be you.

MG

crackerd wrote:

love2hunt wrote:Question for you spaniel guys. I was really hoping to have Bo as my buddy and hunting companion, but his energy level is just too much when he's indoors. Every time I bring him inside, he is just a nut case. He will slow down a little bit, but he will never sit still and just "lie down by the fire." I could deal with it, but my wife gets very frustrated with it.

I've tried exercising him before I bring him in to wear him out, but it doesn't help. He is only 18 months, so I expect that has something to do with it. What can I do to help it? Will he relax any as he ages? Would neutering help?

Not to say that the horsepower's out of the barn, but this is why you crate-train gundogs and then give them the opportunity to "earn" their freedom indoors. You will never wear out a spaniel enough to make them sedentary in the house, you train them to accept "genial incarceration" as the cost of doing business with their master, who would be you.

MG

Exacto Mundo! The crate is your friend and your pup needs to learn that it his place of solitude. Where the pup can relax, safe and quiet.

I'm not understanding the correlation. He's great in the kennel, would happily stay in there all day. What does it have to do with him being calmer inside though?

love2hunt wrote:I'm not understanding the correlation. He's great in the kennel, would happily stay in there all day. What does it have to do with him being calmer inside though?

Well obviously you have one that does not have an "off" switch! and I have seen that before. Our current field trial dog stays in with us she is an absolute monster in the field. Rumor has she is the fastest dog on the spaniel circuit at this time. One National judges query at the water test last week "Is she as fast in the water as she is on land" after she made her retrieve he got his answer. He "Yup she is"! She can be an absolute blur in the field, yet stop on a nit!
when she comes in she has her bean bag chair and that is her domain while she is in the house. Normally she lays until directed to be some where else in the house.
Try giving your dog a precise "place" to be in the house and that is it. Google "Place Board Training" on Youtube It's all there.

The dog has learned to settle in the crate (good sign!). He has also learned that he can be a wild man out of the crate apparently. So he has to be taught to settle in the house outside the crate. As Crackers alluded' it's easier to prevent wild indoor behavior in pups than it is to 'fix' the behavior in adults. I agree too with the concept of time out of the crate needs to be 'earned' with calm behavior...so now, how to teach it? I like to snap a short leash on my belt so I can guide and manage an active dog out of the crate. Praise for calm behavior. Some place a six foot tether into the baseboard out of the way...again praise and give attention for calm behavior. You can move a tether around by putting it under couch legs or whatever. Ultimately teaching and enforcing the 'place' command is very useful but the dog has to prove he can be trusted with each increasing level of freedom. The crate is always there for a fallback. Don't let him practice any behavior inside that you or your wife can't tolerate.
.

love2hunt wrote:Would neutering help?

Training would help!
Gotta love these little ones that 'squirm' ?////Not!
Some very fine posts and posters before have the 'cue'.

Welcome to cockerhood. My guy will be 2 yrs old in another month and if you go back through these pages you will see me remarking here and there about what a terror he is in the house. Lucky for you, you are close to a turning point (somewhat). I noticed the past couple of months my guy is finally starting to settle down more in the house. I'm not saying he is a dog that is ever curled up on the floor, but he will entertain himself with his bone and sit for a few minutes here and there. Crackerd nailed it with the crate - they are a godsend. We use our's all the time to give both him and us a break. We also have another dog (also uses a crate) because in our small apartment having the 2 of them out for long will just about give me a stroke - and out of me and the fiance, I'm definitely the more laid back. Generally we rotate them - one is crated for an hour or 2 then the other comes out and the first is crated. That being said, we were not very intelligent and got 2 puppies within 6 months of each other. The dachshund is now over 2 yrs and as I mentioned Jake is nearing the 2 mark. Both are starting to settle down so going forward the plan is to allow them out together more often (the reason we haven't so far is that they never settle down if both out - constantly playing and wrestling). In all honesty if we only had the cocker he would most likely be out most of the time as he is now turning into the easier one. The wiener dog (who belongs to my better half) is an evil heck-dog that I find difficult to even allow her time out on her own. Stay strong, they do calm down. It just takes a little longer. They don't really come with an "off switch" from what I've seen and heard, its more like dropping a gear. In the meantime, when he gets too wound up put him in the crate. Mine is superb in the crate and would lay down in it all day long. Its like he gets over stimulated when he has more space LOL. Provide structure and add lots of training. Give him a place to go to and make him sit there for periods of time. That way you're killing 2 birds with one stone. Trying to tire him out physically won't help much - mentally is where you need to get him.

polmaise wrote:

love2hunt wrote:Would neutering help?

Training would help!
Gotta love these little ones that 'squirm' ?////Not!
Some very fine posts and posters before have the 'cue'.

+1

It's our responsibility as handlers and masters to teach our dogs manners.

Alright, now I'm getting the picture! I brought him inside this morning after letting him use the bathroom and leashed him while I drank my morning coffee. At first, he was spinning in circles, trying to chase our cat, etc. I made him sit, and whenever he was calm I would quietly pet him. If he broke his sit, I corrected him and made him sit again. After about 15 minutes, he was finally settling down and laying on the floor!

Does that sound like the right thing to do?

that sounds pretty good! he must be getting the idea already.

my Brittany will misbehave -- mostly chewing on shoes, clothes, etc. -- when she needs exercise. so she's my motivation to get out every day for a good hunt or hike in the woods, and her daily off leash time is absolutely essential to her sanity.

she also loves to have a good bone to chew on. we buy smoked kneecap bones in bulk and let her work on one for hours at a time.

You got it, and your dog sounds like a quick learner, love2hunt. If as a handler, you think of this situation as "teaching and requiring calm behavior in the house" - then you are off and training for in-house behaviors just like you train for hunting, OB, or retrieving behaviors. Leadership, consistency, repetition, reinforcement, management...all come into play.

Just a couple quick thoughts.

Set the dog up for success, not failure. When (if) it becomes time to let him off the leash in the house, can you restrict his space (e.g., only in the family room) and lock up the cat in another room while the dog is off leash? Then walk him around, reinforcing calm on leash and eventually just slip off the leash and attend to the same calm behaviors. Use your verbal negative ("no" or "achh" or whatever) if/when he starts getting ramped up and quietly praising or hands-on him for calm/quiet. Honestly, many dogs with high pray drive have a real hard time laying off of cats, indoors or out. If he's still chasing the cat at this point, it will take awhile to get him to leave it alone - and initially, no access to cat at all will remove that distraction for him.

No games of excitement in the house, ever. No tugging, tossing balls, bumpers, etc. in the house. EVENTUALLY you may be able to return to these if you want, but you are in the teaching phase now and want to set him up for success. Agree that a chew bone or something to do with his mouth is a good idea to give him once he starts to demonstrate that he is getting what you are teaching.

Just let him be free for short times, then leash/tether/crate him up again. As he is calm and quiet, you can begin to lengthen the times he is 'free.' Never leave him 'free' if he is rowdy, period. "What you allow, you teach." This is what Crackerd was getting at when he said "make him earn his time out of crate (with calm behavior)."

As the poster above stated, an exercised dog tends to calm down easier than one full of 'boogeries." Also, some OB yardwork outside before you bring him inside for a 'calm' period can help set him up to attend to you inside.

If you are interested, the Huntsmith Puppy Development DVD's do a nice job of describing how to set up a young dog to accept restriction, and make it "trainable" in my opinion. Though your dog is older, the same concepts apply, really.

This is from the jacket on Puppy Dev. I: "This is not a puppy training video, but rather a video to teach you how to develop your puppy's behavioral patterns. Conquering behavior at a young age means a better behaved dog later. Working through the steps in this video will prepare your dog to listen to orders so that you can train him successfully. Puppy Development reviews six opportunities to gain your dog's willing acceptance of restrictions which is necessary in training. This willing acceptance behavior will be demonstrated in six sections: Crate conditioning, Care and Maintenance, Table Work, Puppy Drag Line, Stake-out Chain, and The Short Lead." Linky: http://www.huntsmith.com/product.php?id=13

Have fun.

love2hunt wrote:Alright, now I'm getting the picture! I brought him inside this morning after letting him use the bathroom and leashed him while I drank my morning coffee. At first, he was spinning in circles, trying to chase our cat, etc. I made him sit, and whenever he was calm I would quietly pet him. If he broke his sit, I corrected him and made him sit again. After about 15 minutes, he was finally settling down and laying on the floor!

Does that sound like the right thing to do?

Every minute you are with the dog you are training him
Even if you are doing 'nothing ' !

DudeRN wrote:that sounds pretty good! he must be getting the idea already.

my Brittany will misbehave -- mostly chewing on shoes, clothes, etc. -- when she needs exercise. so she's my motivation to get out every day for a good hunt or hike in the woods, and her daily off leash time is absolutely essential to her sanity.

she also loves to have a good bone to chew on. we buy smoked kneecap bones in bulk and let her work on one for hours at a time.

This brings up another question. I have an off-leash dog park less than 5 minutes from my house. If I bring him there and let him burn off some energy running free, could that negatively affect him hunting, or will he be able to know the difference? The problem I could see there would be him learning at the dog park that he can run wherever he wants, and then having him run out of gun range in the field.

Every minute the dog is doing something without you it is being trained
Even if it's doing nothing

AzDoggin wrote:You got it, and your dog sounds like a quick learner, love2hunt. If as a handler, you think of this situation as "teaching and requiring calm behavior in the house" - then you are off and training for in-house behaviors just like you train for hunting, OB, or retrieving behaviors. Leadership, consistency, repetition, reinforcement, management...all come into play.

Just a couple quick thoughts.

Set the dog up for success, not failure. When (if) it becomes time to let him off the leash in the house, can you restrict his space (e.g., only in the family room) and lock up the cat in another room while the dog is off leash? Then walk him around, reinforcing calm on leash and eventually just slip off the leash and attend to the same calm behaviors. Use your verbal negative ("no" or "achh" or whatever) if/when he starts getting ramped up and quietly praising or hands-on him for calm/quiet. Honestly, many dogs with high pray drive have a real hard time laying off of cats, indoors or out. If he's still chasing the cat at this point, it will take awhile to get him to leave it alone - and initially, no access to cat at all will remove that distraction for him.

No games of excitement in the house, ever. No tugging, tossing balls, bumpers, etc. in the house. EVENTUALLY you may be able to return to these if you want, but you are in the teaching phase now and want to set him up for success. Agree that a chew bone or something to do with his mouth is a good idea to give him once he starts to demonstrate that he is getting what you are teaching.

Just let him be free for short times, then leash/tether/crate him up again. As he is calm and quiet, you can begin to lengthen the times he is 'free.' Never leave him 'free' if he is rowdy, period. "What you allow, you teach." This is what Crackerd was getting at when he said "make him earn his time out of crate (with calm behavior)."

As the poster above stated, an exercised dog tends to calm down easier than one full of 'boogeries." Also, some OB yardwork outside before you bring him inside for a 'calm' period can help set him up to attend to you inside.

If you are interested, the Huntsmith Puppy Development DVD's do a nice job of describing how to set up a young dog to accept restriction, and make it "trainable" in my opinion. Though your dog is older, the same concepts apply, really.

This is from the jacket on Puppy Dev. I: "This is not a puppy training video, but rather a video to teach you how to develop your puppy's behavioral patterns. Conquering behavior at a young age means a better behaved dog later. Working through the steps in this video will prepare your dog to listen to orders so that you can train him successfully. Puppy Development reviews six opportunities to gain your dog's willing acceptance of restrictions which is necessary in training. This willing acceptance behavior will be demonstrated in six sections: Crate conditioning, Care and Maintenance, Table Work, Puppy Drag Line, Stake-out Chain, and The Short Lead." Linky: http://www.huntsmith.com/product.php?id=13

Have fun.

I'm starting to see some of my mistakes now. I've definitely rough housed with him inside, so that sure didn't help. My last dog I could do that with, but she wasn't nearly as high energy, either.

I do have a gate, so I'm going to try your suggestion about separating him from the cat. That should help him focus. Eventually, he'll have to learn to leave it alone, but one step at a time, right?

Thanks everyone for the help. Having some steps to take is really helpful!

polmaise wrote:Every minute the dog is doing something without you it is being trained
Even if it's doing nothing

So exercise should be more structured, too? I do have a local pond as well that we could work on some water retrieves...

love2hunt wrote: This brings up another question. I have an off-leash dog park less than 5 minutes from my house. If I bring him there and let him burn off some energy running free, could that negatively affect him hunting, or will he be able to know the difference? The problem I could see there would be him learning at the dog park that he can run wherever he wants, and then having him run out of gun range in the field.

Dog parks are just a horrific incident waiting to happen. They are not your friend.

CDN_Cocker wrote:

love2hunt wrote: This brings up another question. I have an off-leash dog park less than 5 minutes from my house. If I bring him there and let him burn off some energy running free, could that negatively affect him hunting, or will he be able to know the difference? The problem I could see there would be him learning at the dog park that he can run wherever he wants, and then having him run out of gun range in the field.

Dog parks are just a horrific incident waiting to happen. They are not your friend.

Yes. I have coworkers who constantly invite me and my pooch to their dog park. I politely decline.

crackerd wrote:

love2hunt wrote:Question for you spaniel guys. I was really hoping to have Bo as my buddy and hunting companion, but his energy level is just too much when he's indoors. Every time I bring him inside, he is just a nut case. He will slow down a little bit, but he will never sit still and just "lie down by the fire." I could deal with it, but my wife gets very frustrated with it.

I've tried exercising him before I bring him in to wear him out, but it doesn't help. He is only 18 months, so I expect that has something to do with it. What can I do to help it? Will he relax any as he ages? Would neutering help?

Not to say that the horsepower's out of the barn, but this is why you crate-train gundogs and then give them the opportunity to "earn" their freedom indoors. You will never wear out a spaniel enough to make them sedentary in the house, you train them to accept "genial incarceration" as the cost of doing business with their master, who would be you.

MG

"Otis, kennel". When ever my hyperactive dog is out of control. They learn quick, want to lay on the couch? Don't be a jerk.

I made the mistake of bringing in a high energy spaniel puppy into my home with a 9 year old and 2 year old dog that are both very calm while in our home and are not at all amused by my spaniels antics. For the first 5 months of her being here my 9 year old male spent a good part of his day wanting to correct my spaniel for her silly behavior (he just is the kind of dog that does not like silly behavior from other dogs....cranky old man I guess). I kept them crated and let them out one or two at a time with decent results. My little spaniel has three crates (two in the house and one in the car) that I use for my own sanity and that of my lower key dogs. I would be hard pressed to say that my three dogs live in perfect harmony but my low key dogs are getting use to the spaniels energy as months go by and the spaniel is being forced to be little calmer while in the house. Now at 10 months old it has gotten to the point that if I am sitting on the couch watching TV she will lay down next to me and my other two dogs for up to an hour without movement. If I get up and start walking around the house she starts her antics (she is a work in progress still). I honestly cannot imagine life without the dog crates but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and hoping to have her out of her crate for longer durations as the months go by.

I have no doubt that if you follow some of the suggestions you have gotten on here you can get some great results with your dog.

Hey a big shout out and a Tip of the hat and a hearty Hie-on to Danelle Oliver and her Acey dog for winning the 2014 National Amateur Champs

2014 ESS National Amateur Field Champion


NAFC #15 Acey
Ferndelle's Flying Cloud of HCR MH AJP AXP
Owner: Lawrence and Danelle Oliver
Handler: Danelle Oliver
Breeder: Mark Nix
Sire: 2X NAFC FC AFC Beggarbush Clipper
Dam: HCK Ivy's Joyous Chaser MH

Complete list of placements and CM's http://www.essft.com/2014nac/placements_nac.html

gundogguy wrote:Hey a big shout out and a Tip of the hat and a hearty Hie-on to Danelle Oliver and her Acey dog for winning the 2014 National Amateur Champs

Bravo! How many womenz has won spaniel championships in the US as handler-owners, gundogguy? (Polmaise, how 'bout on your side - any womenz won the ESS or cocker champs?)

Not counting Boykin championships of course...not yet anyhow -



as they may have to run with retrievers to get "eligible" for field trials and true FTCh's.

MG

crackerd wrote: Polmaise, how 'bout on your side - any womenz won the ESS or cocker champs?)
MG

Natalie Cannon with 'Countryways Alice of Craiwarn' has qualified for this years Cocker Championships and Wendy Openshaw is usually there
Sally Jenkins with 'Chinachgook Kayashi' has qualified for this years Springer Championships ,I believe Margaret Cox with 'Marshwood Rhona of Carkness' also ?

OUR FIRST BIRDS!

I went out with a friend this morning to find the quail I found last weekend. We got rain 2 days ago, so the birds were not gathered around the water hole today. We worked up a wash that feeds into the water hole. Bo flushed a rabbit, then I flushed another. 30 seconds after, we moved our first covey. I didn't have a shot through the brush, so no birds down. We went after the covey and flushed a few singles, but most of them flushed very low and didn't give us a safe shot.

We worked back to the wash, and Bo was quartering great in between us. As he moved back in front of me, he flushed a bird less than 10 yards from me, but I didn't have a shot. My friend saw it land, and we hustled over to flush her again. Bo worked into some brush, and as he stuck his nose in a clump of brush, she flushed again. I had an easy straight away shot and nailed it! When it landed, it was flopping around, which I thought Bo might be intimidated by. Nope! He was on that bird and grabbed it quickly. After picking it up, though, he dropped it with a look of "what the heck is that?!" This was his first bird besides a dove that I showed him last year. After some verbal encouragement, he picked the bird up and brought it right back to me. I couldn't believe it went that easy!

After working down the wash, we turned up a hill and moved a covey of 15-20 birds just a little out of shotgun range. They flew to the other side of the hill. We followed up and had a couple better shots, but did not think we connected with any of them. The last single that I flushed, Bo had a clear view and gave chase. As I waited for him to come back, I walked to the bottom of the hill. Bo worked back to me, and as I bent down to give him a pat on the head for coming back, he spun 180* and stuck his nose under a bush. Out he came with a dead bird, our second! I never would have seen that bird if not for him.

We worked back to water hole, flushing one more bird and 2 more cottontails. My friend missed the bird, and I missed the rabbits

All in all, I'm very happy with Bo's performance so far. I really don't think I could ask for anymore considering the amount of birds I've had him on. I have no clue if he's doing it with "style" or proper pattern or whatever, but I know we're having fun!

crackerd wrote:

gundogguy wrote:Hey a big shout out and a Tip of the hat and a hearty Hie-on to Danelle Oliver and her Acey dog for winning the 2014 National Amateur Champs

Bravo! How many womenz has won spaniel championships in the US as handler-owners, gundogguy? (Polmaise, how 'bout on your side - any womenz won the ESS or cocker champs?

-


MG

Mrs Julie Armour was the 1st brilliant handler in 1960 and she won the NOC. She was also a world class Skeet shooter.
Dr. Janet Christenson DVM is the driving force for women in the sport winning her NAFC in 1970 and subsequently winning the NOC Her Husband and she literally were the foundation of the sport out in the western states of the United states. They imported many Welsh and UK Springers . Brenda Falkowski who was also a splendid trainer handler having won the National Open and I believe the National Amateur as well.
National Amatuer Champian Ladies
1970 NAFC FC AFC Misty Muffet Janet Christensen Janet Christensen
2008 NAFC AFC CFC Pheasant Feathers Black Powder JH Janie Haworth Janie Haworth
2014 Dannelle Oliver


National Open Ladies
1960 NFC FTCH Carswell Contessa Mr. And Mrs. P.D. Armour Julia Armour
1980 NFC 2XNAFC CNFC Saighton's Scud Dr. C. A Christensen Janet Christensen UK Import
1960 NFC FTCH Carswell Contessa Mr. And Mrs. P.D. Armour Julia Armour
1990 NFC AFC Morgan's Agatha Brodrick Brenda Falkowski Brenda Falkowski
1993 NFC AFC Greenbriar Raider Dr. C. A & Janet Christensen Janet Christensen

If you planned on running against these ladies you had better brought your "A" game!

love2hunt wrote:OUR FIRST BIRDS!

I went out with a friend this morning to find the quail I found last weekend. We got rain 2 days ago, so the birds were not gathered around the water hole today. We worked up a wash that feeds into the water hole. Bo flushed a rabbit, then I flushed another. 30 seconds after, we moved our first covey. I didn't have a shot through the brush, so no birds down. We went after the covey and flushed a few singles, but most of them flushed very low and didn't give us a safe shot.

We worked back to the wash, and Bo was quartering great in between us. As he moved back in front of me, he flushed a bird less than 10 yards from me, but I didn't have a shot. My friend saw it land, and we hustled over to flush her again. Bo worked into some brush, and as he stuck his nose in a clump of brush, she flushed again. I had an easy straight away shot and nailed it! When it landed, it was flopping around, which I thought Bo might be intimidated by. Nope! He was on that bird and grabbed it quickly. After picking it up, though, he dropped it with a look of "what the heck is that?!" This was his first bird besides a dove that I showed him last year. After some verbal encouragement, he picked the bird up and brought it right back to me. I couldn't believe it went that easy!

After working down the wash, we turned up a hill and moved a covey of 15-20 birds just a little out of shotgun range. They flew to the other side of the hill. We followed up and had a couple better shots, but did not think we connected with any of them. The last single that I flushed, Bo had a clear view and gave chase. As I waited for him to come back, I walked to the bottom of the hill. Bo worked back to me, and as I bent down to give him a pat on the head for coming back, he spun 180* and stuck his nose under a bush. Out he came with a dead bird, our second! I never would have seen that bird if not for him.

We worked back to water hole, flushing one more bird and 2 more cottontails. My friend missed the bird, and I missed the rabbits

All in all, I'm very happy with Bo's performance so far. I really don't think I could ask for anymore considering the amount of birds I've had him on. I have no clue if he's doing it with "style" or proper pattern or whatever, but I know we're having fun!

[ ]

As long as it fun you just keep doing it.

Love2hunt, well done! He's a good looking pup too! Your account and pictures reminded me just how versatile spaniels are... especially when contrasted with my experience today.

Very nice! Bo looks like my Jake's doppelganger - black with a white blaze on the chest. He'll be on fire now that he knows what you're after. Where is Bo from?

love2hunt wrote:

DudeRN wrote:that sounds pretty good! he must be getting the idea already.

my Brittany will misbehave -- mostly chewing on shoes, clothes, etc. -- when she needs exercise. so she's my motivation to get out every day for a good hunt or hike in the woods, and her daily off leash time is absolutely essential to her sanity.

she also loves to have a good bone to chew on. we buy smoked kneecap bones in bulk and let her work on one for hours at a time.

This brings up another question. I have an off-leash dog park less than 5 minutes from my house. If I bring him there and let him burn off some energy running free, could that negatively affect him hunting, or will he be able to know the difference? The problem I could see there would be him learning at the dog park that he can run wherever he wants, and then having him run out of gun range in the field.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I take my dogs to the dog park once every 2 weeks . When there is a big row it is usually among some owners not the dogs. Never had a bad experience and the dogs have a great time playing with other dogs. Has never affected their field trial/hunting work.

gundogguy wrote:As long as it fun you just keep doing it.

+1.

That's a proud pup right there (and handler too). Well done!

CDN_Cocker wrote:Very nice! Bo looks like my Jake's doppelganger - black with a white blaze on the chest. He'll be on fire now that he knows what you're after. Where is Bo from?

I had booked a deposit with Jim Karlovec, but Jim's dog ended up not having enough puppies for me to get one. He had a friend in CA who had pups related to his dogs, so Jim transferred my deposit. Stand-up move on Jim's part!

Appreciate the kind words everyone. Excited to get back after them this weekend!

Mine is from Jim as well lol

Looking forward to our Championship .
I was privileged to be up close and personal to the action last year.
I wish every one and their dogs the very best for just being there.
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/activit ... mpionship/

Switched things up today and hit the duck blind with fellow forum member Krakadawn and a couple of his retrievers in search of some divers. It was a cold day out on Lake Ontario and the ice is creeping in but it was all good times nonetheless. Who says a spaniel can't do late season waterfowling?

CDN_Cocker wrote:Mine is from Jim as well lol

I thought I remembered you saying that! Very cool.

CDN_Cocker wrote:Switched things up today and hit the duck blind with fellow forum member Krakadawn and a couple of his retrievers in search of some divers. It was a cold day out on Lake Ontario and the ice is creeping in but it was all good times nonetheless. Who says a spaniel can't do late season waterfowling?

That's awesome. How does he handle the cold? Like that black vest, too.

Only the chest and stomach is black - the rest is camo. He's pretty good with the vest. I wouldn't make him break ice for retrieves, but open water is good to go!

CDN_Cocker wrote:Switched things up today and hit the duck blind with fellow forum member Krakadawn and a couple of his retrievers in search of some divers. It was a cold day out on Lake Ontario and the ice is creeping in but it was all good times nonetheless. Who says a spaniel can't do late season waterfowling?

Excellent, Cass - that Krakadawn is a godsend for gundogs that ain't Labs, ain't he? What a gem (Jim) of a chap. Jake looking good on the big lake - was about to say buffies are the perfect-size duck for him, but as they say in the NFL (and CFL), upon further review, looks like he got himself a bigger bird in an eider!

MG

PS Also, please post this over on rtf replete with photos and with the proper kudos to Krakadawn - how lucky can a boy (and his dog) get?

polmaise wrote:Looking forward to our Championship .
I was privileged to be up close and personal to the action last year.
I wish every one and their dogs the very best for just being there.
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/activit ... mpionship/

Ah thanks for link Robert, January is such a a magical time in the UK. I do like the way the trialing year begins with a Championship in the UK. Here the Champs are a culmination of the season. Has to do with our winter and the our two seasons of trials,Spring and Autumn. Dog begin the qualification period for next yrs Champs, Now until Oct 30th 2015.
Nat. Amateur Champs in New York NOV. 9th and Nat Open Champs California Nov 19th, 3000miles apart.

MG - kraka made me take that photo specifically for you haha.

gundogguy wrote: Ah thanks for link Robert,

I'll get a few pics

polmaise wrote:

gundogguy wrote: Ah thanks for link Robert,

I'll get a few pics

Get more'n that, thy interloper thou - me'n ol' farmboy (and gundogguy) need documentary evidence of your involvement and greatly anticipate your account.

MG

crackerd wrote:

polmaise wrote:

gundogguy wrote: Ah thanks for link Robert,

I'll get a few pics

Get more'n that, thy interloper thou - me'n ol' farmboy (and gundogguy) need documentary evidence of your involvement and greatly anticipate your account.

MG

"Release the Crackerd"!

In the link to a prevue of the Clash of Titan at 1:50 mark in roughly 2 minute video

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800320/?re ... lmg_act_34

crackerd wrote:

polmaise wrote:

gundogguy wrote: Ah thanks for link Robert,

I'll get a few pics

Get more'n that, thy interloper thou - me'n ol' farmboy (and gundogguy) need documentary evidence of your involvement and greatly anticipate your account.

MG

If it's anything like last year at Dunira it will be a show for sure !..This year is Lauder where they had the retriever championships last year. Great ground !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4JAE4csFh4

We had Russian guests at the estate ,so they wanted to see how we train the spaniels for the shooting field.
So we used the .22 blank adaptors in the shotgun and planted a live pigeon with another planted pre-shot pheasant unseen by the dogs . Hey presto ,they got a good view of what we do with these little guys in the shooting field .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av41yFJ ... e=youtu.be

polmaise wrote:We had Russian guests at the estate ,so they wanted to see how we train the spaniels for the shooting field.
So we used the .22 blank adaptors in the shotgun and planted a live pigeon with another planted pre-shot pheasant unseen by the dogs . Hey presto ,they got a good view of what we do with these little guys in the shooting field .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av41yFJ ... e=youtu.be

Ah ha! I'll have another bowl of Borscht and vodka please very nice demonstration of style and manners.
So simple when one trains with a goal and plan on how to achieve. Nice touch having the retriever honoring the whole affair!

gundogguy wrote:

polmaise wrote:We had Russian guests at the estate ,so they wanted to see how we train the spaniels for the shooting field.
So we used the .22 blank adaptors in the shotgun and planted a live pigeon with another planted pre-shot pheasant unseen by the dogs . Hey presto ,they got a good view of what we do with these little guys in the shooting field .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av41yFJ ... e=youtu.be

Ah ha! I'll have another bowl of Borscht and vodka please very nice demonstration of style and manners.
So simple when one trains with a goal and plan on how to achieve. Nice touch having the retriever honoring the whole affair!

Na zda-ró-vye!" Cheers!

We went on to have the spaniel honour the Retriever ..well it was only polite !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv-0QC7Q7IE

polmaise wrote:Na zda-ró-vye!" Cheers!

We went on to have the spaniel honour the Retriever ..well it was only polite !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv-0QC7Q7IE

Robt., is it still "nyet!" from the KC at recognizing the "Russian spaniel" as a breed that everybody Anglo-Saxon seems to think of as a sprocker?

MG

crackerd wrote: Robt., is it still "nyet!" from the KC at recognizing the "Russian spaniel" as a breed that everybody Anglo-Saxon seems to think of as a sprocker?

MG

It's taking most folk to recognise the ''American'' Spaniel in the shooting field. So we showed the Russians that they are well capable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCmoEn0tziI

CDN_Cocker wrote:Switched things up today and hit the duck blind with fellow forum member Krakadawn and a couple of his retrievers in search of some divers. It was a cold day out on Lake Ontario and the ice is creeping in but it was all good times nonetheless. Who says a spaniel can't do late season waterfowling?

wow, what a good pup! he's a hunter if he's willing to get in that icy water! nice retrieve