Dog Training | Bluestem Kennels

Alpha Male 2010 “Whiskey” and Huns

October 24, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Puppy Update Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Hunting Nevada, Korthals Griffon, Nevada Hungarian Partridge, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

The dog news just keeps pouring in tonight! Just got a great shot of 2010 litter alpha male “Whiskey” and Pete out in Nevada who got into some Hungarian Partridge over the weekend. Great job guys!

Pete and Whiskey with their Hungarian Partridge

We’ll be out visiting my grandparents near Yosemite, California the summer of 2011 and I hope we get a chance to swing by to visit Pete. I really want to have a good look at Whiskey. It excites me to see the rough sagebrush country that he has to work in and his coat doesn’t show any signs of wear and tear. Weak coated dogs would have balding or bare patches on the shins of their front legs, but I see no sign of that here. His head furnishings are beautiful. I am very excited for what Sue and Sam have produced and absolutely ecstatic about the great job Pete is doing with the dog.

North Dakota: Day 1

October 24, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Sire and Dam Ability Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Duck Hunting, Ducks, Gadwall Ducks, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Hunting North Dakota, Korthals Griffon, Sharptail Grouse Hunting, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons 1 Comment

When I talked to Charles on the phone at 5 PM and he told me about his success in the field, I told him to take the picture before the sun went down. Somewhere in North Dakota, hanging from a tree in the dark are two gadwall ducks and a sharptail grouse.

A little too late for a good shot...

He called while I was cooking supper and he knew not to call back and interrupt the premiere of “Sherlock” on Masterpiece Mystery, so I don’t have the details of the hunt. The full text of his e-mail about the birds was as follows:

“Not bad for a short afternoon hunt. 1 sharptail and 2 gadwalls. A double on the ducks. Skeet pays off again.”

If you are not familiar with gadwalls, here’s the page on the Ducks Unlimited website describing them: http://www.ducks.org/news/1069/duckofthemonthgadwal.html

We’ll see what they come across tomorrow!

Pupdate, Litter 2010: Alpha Male “Whiskey”

October 20, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Hunting Tales, Puppy Update, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Duck Hunting, Ducks, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, Water Retrieve, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

The pups will be six months old on the 30th and our good buddy, Pete, out in Nevada gave us an update on Spring 2010 litter’s alpha male without us even asking. I will be getting e-mails out to my other owners over the weekend to try and get other pictures and updates, but this is enough to make a dog mama proud! Thanks, Pete!

Whiskey’s first water retrieve at 6 months

“A little update on Whiskey. Chukar opener was on the 9^th and was one of the most disappointing in years. I only harvested 9 birds in three days. Whiskey was outstanding. It rained all week and birds were scattered and if it weren’t for the dog I would have come out of that hunt with no Chukar. We retrieved every bird that I shot and a half dozen for one of my hunting partners that didn’t have a dog. All birds that Whiskey recovered for my hunting partner where done on scent alone. We got into the Quail on Sunday and Whiskey was hunting with two older very accomplished dogs and my 6 month old pup performed like it was his 5^th season.

Last weekend was Nevada waterfowl opener and since the Chukar hunting was so bad I decided to give the Ducks a try. I have had Whiskey in the water several times retrieving dummies but he has never even seen a duck before Saturday. After only hunting for a few minutes Saturday morning I dumped a pair of huge mallards at first Whiskey was not crazy about retrieving something that almost outweighed him but after dragging the first pair of ducks back to me by the wing he was hooked on Duck hunting. Sorry for the lack of pictures, like a big dummy I left my camera at home for the chukar opener and only had my blackberry for duck. I promise better pics in the future. Whiskey is doing great on all of his verbal and e collar commands and is picking up hand signals very fast. We are still working on holding point, he is creeping on birds but for 6 months old I am amazed on how well he is doing. On the home front Whiskey is a terrific companion and one of the funniest personalities I have ever seen in a dog.

Whiskey is making me look like a genius. Just get these dogs on birds, teach them commands, and socialize them properly and 90% of the battle is won. There is so much potential with these dogs, I was kinda dreading this hunting season, breaking in a new dog but I can’t wait until Friday when I throw all of my stuff in my truck and get him hunting again (5 weeks in a row now). Pheasant season opens in November.”

Whiskey’s first duck hunt — he looks like Sam Jr. to me!

Eastern Nebraska Prairie Chicken 2010

October 19, 2010

Charity Upchurch Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Sire and Dam Ability, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Prairie Chicken Hunting, Southeastern Nebraska, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Southeastern Nebraska’s prairie chicken population has recovered to the point of having a limited season. Hunters who apply for the tags are limited to three prairie chicken for the whole season, Sept. 18-Jan. 31. Charles, Sam and Sue ventured down last weekend and were able to scare up a few flocks.

What surprised me was to hear his report of the habitat that they occupy. I assumed that the prairie chicken would be the same as pheasants, favoring heavy bunches of tallgrass. They actually are more commonly found in the shorter, more sparse brome grass. Similar to the chicken and grouse in the Sandhills, they are most commonly found on the sides of hills.

Here are Sam, Charles, and Sue, with a couple of prairie chicken roosters, while Caleb looks on.

Some great Wirehaired Pointing Griffons!

Sandhills Duck Opener 2010

October 13, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Hunting Tales, Kennel Update, Sire and Dam Ability Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Duck Hunting, Ducks, Hunting Dogs, Jump Hunting Ducks, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Sandhills, Sharptail Grouse Hunting, Water Retrieve, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, Wood Ducks Leave a comment

It was a very rainy Saturday morning in the Sandhills, with plenty of hunter activity due to antelope and duck season being open simultaneously. We started out heading into a normally productive grouse dunefield, but our efforts were thwarted by a large scattered herd of cattle. Essentially, we spent our first hour and a half of the day pushing cows around some high dunes. I have been doing lots of urban hiking these days, working on the 7th floor of a high rise, so I was feeling pretty good about keeping up with the crew.

We stopped at a couple of ponds on our way to a creek that we wanted to jump shoot, but didn’t see anything except truck tracks on the road. With my new level of fitness, I was relegated to pushing the far sides of the ponds.

The rain continued to come down, so that by midday, most of our gear was pretty well soaked through. We walked this creek for a mile or so, when the dogs went on point. When we walked in to flush a bird, nothing came up. It was a skunk and I spotted it first. I raised my gun and asked Charles if I should shoot it, but he took the liberty. Of course, we shoot the skunk and 40 yards over, a group of four ducks gets up and flies away. So we continue our march down the creek and see nothing for a couple of miles but a green heron. The next single duck to get up was way out of range.

The creek petered out, so we turned back around to head for the truck for a break. We got a few good points from the dogs on some porcupines. We’re checking in with our Native American friends to see if there is a viable market for porcupine quills, but the porcupines are safe for now. The dogs have had some valuable past lessons in the pain of porcupines, so they only pointed them and didn’t mess with them this time.

Luckily, I had brought a change of pants, because I learned from our last rainy adventure in the Sandhills, wet brush-buster pants weigh a ton. Right as we get back to the truck, I spotted a pair of birds flying over my head and I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I should have just taken the shots, but I had to turn and ask Charles first, “Is that a snipe and a dove?!?” Sure enough, it was a snipe and a dove, flying together right over my head. I shot at them and missed. It felt like a beginning of a joke, “There was a snipe and a dove flying together one day…”

I changed my pants, fed the dogs a funky old fried chicken thigh from the truck and we started back on what was starting to feel like a death march to me. We trudged a couple of more miles down the creek and saw nothing. Now, I have some pretty hardcore hunting boots, the kangaroo skin Cabela’s kind, but even they were no match for rain, swamp and a few unwieldy creek crossings (also known as just walking through the creek).

Since we knew the creek was empty, we headed up into the dunes to try to find some grouse. We had one get up for us, way out of range. I was starting to feel pretty dizzy at this point and had fallen behind Charles and the dogs considerably. The winding creek in the valley, the wind in the grass, rosehips on the stem…it was all just becoming a pseudo-psychedelic blur of nature being high on my own endorphines. I was on my own (Charles knew that I was aware of the location of the truck) and began hearing voices.

I caught up to Charles and the dogs talking to two men on an ATV. The ATV guys reported that three other guys on individual ATV’s had been through the valley earlier trying to hunt for antelope. Hence the lack of game.

Back to the truck we marched. Finally the rain had stopped, after six hours of hard hunting in the rain. After a few miles of driving along the trail, we split off to try a pond that we knew existed over in some trees a quarter mile or so away. What we didn’t know was that in between the road and the known pond was another, smaller pond that we drove up on and blew a flock of about 7 ducks out. There were some curse words flying on that one.

I made one last attempt to jump shoot the pond, but by that time, my feet were raw, I was soaked, my muscles were sore and my hands were going numb when I was holding the gun. I was done. I went back to the truck and let Sam and Charles try for that pond. Still nothing.

Down went the gun and I grabbed my camera. These shots were taken while I was standing on the road barefoot about 50-75 yards away.

Charles and Sam sneak in for a jump

Too many eyes...the flock of ducks gets up out of range

Sam and Charles heading back in

Charles has a second visit with the ATV chaps

I really want to insert a diatribe here about how guys on ATV’s ruin the good time of the foothunter, but I will save that for another day when it isn’t hunting season. There are more hunting tales to tell.

Saturday we were skunked. Literally. All we shot was that damn skunk. What really impressed me was that the spirit of the dogs never wore down. The picture of Sam and Charles returning up above was after 8 hours of rainy hiking with the dogs quartering. Sam still wears a doggy smile on his face and is full of spirit. These hunting Wirehaired Pointing Griffons are truly amazing athletes.

We didn’t drive six hours to go home with nothing, so Sunday morning I sent Charles and Sam out on their own. Sam and Charles stalked a creek through very thick cover, with Sam working the oxbows while Charles walked the straightaways. The stream was backed up with beaver dams in spots. The first group of six wood ducks got up and Charles shot a young drake. Sam didn’t see the duck drop, so Charles gave him the “fetch” command so that he knew to search. He retreived the duck from the far side of the creek and swam back to Charles to deliver to hand.

They continued to work down the creek, avoiding the herd of deer. A drake and a hen got up out of range at the end of a narrow clearing. The stalk continued, working the bank and creek bottom close together. Another group of five wood ducks flushed from the creek and Charles picked the mature drake out of the flock to harvest. Once again, the duck landed on the far side of the creek where Sam had to search hard to retrieve. Sam did require some direction on the retrieve, but he worked hard to find the bird and once again delivered it to the hand.

Due to the dense vegetation and the lay of the land, they yet again came upon another flock of wood ducks by surprise. Charles shot a hen and again it landed on the far side of the creek, in heavy brush. The “fetch” command was repeated and Sam really got it at this point. He didn’t require any location direction, retrieved the duck, and crossed a beaver dam to the hand.

I was very happy to see them return to the house with a full game bag after the comedy of errors we had on Saturday!

Sam, Charles and three wood ducks

This weekend I will be recovering from yet another hard hunting trip of getting skunked, while Charles and Sam head out for Eastern Nebraska prairie chicken.

Patriots’ Day Teal

September 13, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Hunting Tales, Sire and Dam Ability, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Bird Hunting, Cass County Nebraska, Dog Evolution, Dog Training, Duck Hunting, Ducks, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Sandhills, Patriots' Day Hunt, PBS Nature, Teal, Water Retrieve, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

Wirehaired Pointing Griffon and Blue-Winged Teal

Sam, Charles and a pair of blue-winged teal

On this past Saturday, September 11, Sam and Charles went down to the private pond that we frequent in Cass County, Nebraska and bagged a couple of blue-winged teal. I was occupied entertaining family who were visiting from out-of-town, but Charles was able to slip out for a few hours, only after he put a pot of really awesome turkey chili on the stove.

He really had the Canadian geese who normally hang out at the pond in mind, so the teal were a pleasant surprise. As the story was told to me, Charles put Sam on heel and sneaked up on the teal at the pond. Charles missed on his first shot attempt, but he and Sam dropped down in the grass, so the teal circled and landed back on the other side of the pond. It took them about 20 minutes to sneak their way around the pond and the final approach was made with Charles crawling and Sam next to him (still on heel). By a strange bit of luck, Charles shot the double of blue-winged teal with one shot and both of the ducks only took pellets to the head (yum…no bits of steel surprise while we’re eating them).

Sam swam out into the pond and tried to retrieve both ducks at once, but figured out that he could only get one at a time. True to the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon’s versatile talents, they were two successful water retrieves with no additional coaxing of the dog required, he just did it.

Speaking of the amazing talents and abilities of dogs, PBS Nature is currently running a two-part special about the evolution of dogs. Last night’s episode was about the transition from wolf to proto-dog and the symbiotic relationship between dogs and primitive societies. Next week, they are going to be talking breed specialization and the world of dog fancy, so I’m excited for that. There’s additional information on the PBS Nature website if you are interested: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/dogs-that-changed-the-world/introduction/1273/

Only four days until sharptail grouse and prairie chicken opener back in the Sandhills…

One more trip to the pond

August 23, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Kennel Update, Regional Update and/or Misc., Sire and Dam Ability Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Korthals Griffon, Nebraska Game and Parks, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Teal, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Wirehaired Pointing Griffons Leave a comment

We had to celebrate our return home with a trip to the pond, possibly our last swimming trip for the year. I think these pictures do a good job of showing what devoted family members our dogs are.

Sue and Sam watch attentively as dad winds up to throw Conrad in the water (by request)

Splashdown!

Caleb and the dogs muck about

Dad, dogs and kids

Sam is neck and neck with Dad, while Sue trails not far behind

Nebraska is more of a river state than a lake state and this time of year our lakes and ponds do something we call “turn over”. My hydrologist friends tell me that it isn’t actually that the water “turns over”, but the warm conditions and runoff create blooms of algae and bacteria. I knew I should have called a “no go” to our trip when I saw the water, but I couldn’t resist the warmth of the sunshine and coolness of the water.

I exchanged e-mails with Greg Wagner of Nebraska Game and Parks and we won’t know if we get an early teal season for Labor Day weekend until August 31st. We are ready!

Book Review: Gun Dog by Richard A. Wolters

July 22, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training, Book Reviews Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, Richard Wolters, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon 7 Comments

“From his prehistoric beginnings man has possessed two things: woman and dog.”

The humorous (if slightly misogynistic and outdated) first sentence of Wolters’ iconic training manual gives you a hint as to what lies in store in its concise 148 pages. It is a starting point. It is basic.

For Wolters, a hunting pup’s training life begins at 7 weeks. Based on my experience with a litter of pups this year, I would agree. I actually began working on crate conditioning and other basic commands at 5 1/2 weeks.

These are not advanced techniques. Wolters takes you through the beginnings of the basic commands of sit, stay, come, and whoa. There are other techniques provided to assist in bringing out the dog’s natural pointing and retrieving instincts. The book has as many instructional photographs as words taking you through the process.

He then covers the second phase of training: quartering a field, the use of hand signals, fetch on command, introduction of the gun, water retrieve and honoring another dog’s point.

If you plan on training your own dog and need a place to begin, this is it. I would estimate that his process takes you through the first 6-12 months of yard/close field work. The time frame depends on how much time you put into it: the more time spent, the shorter the process.

Random aside: Turning to the advice of your local chapter of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association chapter is something that I also recommend. This is a resource that we did not take advantage of in the past, but plan to utilize to the fullest extent with any new dogs in the future. Here is the list of chapters and contacts: http://www.navhda.us/chapterinfo.aspx)

Wolters was not a professional dog trainer. He was educated as a chemist but had a passion for hunting dogs that shows in his writing. His goal was to produce a text enabling the amateur with limited time to effectively work with his or her dog, and I believe that Gun Dog succeeds in achieving that goal.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Gun+Dog+by+Richard+Wolters&x=0&y=0

Whiskey Update

July 13, 2010

Charity Upchurch Puppy Update Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, Puppies, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Leave a comment

Pete and Deborah in Nevada have been sending me some cute pictures of Whiskey (Alpha Male) that I had to share!

Basco, a fellow Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Yogi the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Whiskey with Andrea, and Dewey the Golden Retriever

Say what?

Growing up fast

Chilling out after ice cream on a hot day

Chewing up a pine cone

Two griffs on a bed after a day of chukar training

Thanks to Pete and Deborah for the great pics!

NAVHDA: A whole new bird game

July 12, 2010

Charity Upchurch Bird Dog Training Bird Hunting, Dog Training, Gun Dog, Hunting Dogs, Korthals Griffon, NAVHDA, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon 1 Comment

To use an analogy, NAVHDA is to hunting what rodeo is to ranch work. Both rodeo and NAVDHA training/testing take a practical skill set and turn it into a technically judged event. As Chuck Johnson says in his book Training the Versatile Hunting Dog, “You can successfully train your dog and end up with a brag dog without participating in one of these (NAVHDA or VHDF) tests” (p 124). A few members and trainers at the Heartland NAVHDA Chapter’s training day even said that NAVHDA testing takes away skill from the field and vice versa (the field takes away skill from the testing).

Sam is starting the NAVHDA process at the age of two. I think this works to our advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is that he has solidified his natural field skills hopefully to a point where any training we do on the table or in the yard won’t have an adverse impact on his natural ability.

Yet this also proved to be a disadvantage on our first run at the NAVDHA training. Sam had never been trained using pigeons or bird traps (or bird flingers, whatever you want to call them). Once he found a trapped pigeon, he wasn’t even sure if he was supposed to be pointing it. The decision was made to take the pigeons out of the traps and replant them. The pigeons were replanted, but when Sam approached them, they didn’t move. The only birds in the hunting field that don’t move are either dead or wounded, so naturally (in his mind) he grabbed it.

Further adjustments were made to the training scenario, because at that point we all realized that Sam was confused. A pigeon was flushed by kicking the grass, then a shot was fired, just to attempt to impress in his mind that we are actually trying to “hunt” these things. We then broke it down further, to where one of the trainers played with a pigeon about 5 feet in front of Sam, while Charles was giving the “whoa” command, to show that he is not allowed to grab the bird.

Sam watching the pigeon while on "whoa"

Another challenge in the training field was the number of dogs that had passed through and scent marked. Sam thought that he had to “mark” as much as possible. This isn’t something that we’ve ever had to worry about, even at our dog training wildlife management area. Yet as it is a display of dominance, we need to correct him for “marking” at inappropriate times.

Even though there is a part of us that is wondering if this is something that is truly necessary, we really want to push ourselves in this direction. The Heartland NAVHDA Chapter is full of breeders and trainers who have multiple decades of experience under their belts. As an example, we worked with the folks out of Rufnit Kennels (http://www.rufnitkennels.com/) who are probably the #1 breeders and trainers of the Bracque du Bourbonnais in the country. They have 20 dogs who live with them in the house!

Sheri Stueck of Rufnit Kennels and "T"

So even though Sam has hunted up and retrieved 75+ wild birds in his first two seasons, we have set up a new challenge in trying to get him ready for testing. Due to the special situations that are presented in NAVHDA training/testing (even having a large group of people walking behind him was confusing for Sam), we will need to start from the beginning in many ways. We’re already looking forward to the September 11th training session, where as an experiment I plan on taking Sue out in addition to Charles running Sam. We truly appreciate the opportunity to learn new things about versatile hunting dog training.

Bluestem Kennels