Ballysallagh.
Dry while I was out and bright evening sun. 13c. hardly an air.
Lucky.
I haven’t been to Cairn Wood for years and there was a time I was never away from it. I used to carry Ryan to the top in a cradle on my back with a half a dozen setters running wild. Yes very wild. Hard to believe that that was thirty years ago. Well today it was me and Lucky all by ourselves alone with nobody with us.
I have to admit to being puzzled by Lucky. He’s 3/4 Danish and I can’t help but think that I’ve missed something along the way. I have reared him the same as any other pup but I don’t ever recall having a dog that was as nervy at this age. He is OK with me when we’re out and when I’m not there he’s fine in the kennel with whatever dog he’s left with, usually Basso or Roxy his mother. The problem is when I’m about the kennel. He slinks about like a whipped cur and yet I have never done more than reprimand him verbally and never in a truly harsh way. Perhaps being an only child has robbed him of a lot of the rough and tumble that a pup gets with his litter mates. He would mess about with Coco for hours and with Roxy too but I don’t think that is quite the same as being one of a single aged group for a couple of months. I will soon be able to use the pigeons again and I fancy I’ll see a different dog when he’s seen a bird or two. This sort of dog is usually easily trained as they so want to please but Lucky seems a bit extreme in this respect.
Last edited by DesO'Neile on Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:14 am; edited 1 time in total
Black Mountain.
SSE 7.6 mph 13.5c Rain heavy at first moderating to persistent light rain.
Awful day but a man’s gotta do…………..
Chris, Jalad and Super Blunder.
It can be terribly frustrating this dog training. Even when I know there’s a chance of game, game not turning up is the most common reason for a day without a find. There are however days like today where everything goes right……….nearly.
The wind was coming from the City Hospital so I set out towards the right hand side of the shoulder. I decided to run Chris first to give him a bit of a blow out and then Jalad for a few minutes and this brought us to the down wind side of The Middle Bog. I set Chris off and very quickly he was into his stride. He checked a few lark scents but by the time I reached the centre of the bog he was going quite nicely. There is a path of sorts that runs through the middle of the bog and today it was parallel to the dog’s beat. If there were going to be snipe anywhere it was on this path as it is well churned up and perfect snipe feeding ground. Up to this Chris had had a nice even bite of about twenty five yards. He crossed the bog from left to right about thirty yards down wind of the path. Perfecto! When the big bollocks got to the right side of the beat he started to work some scent. It was a bit misty and I didn’t see anything but I fancy it was lark scent. By the time he was finished messing about he was a good fifty yards up wind of his last cast so instead of crossing from right to left just down wind of the path he was twenty yards up wind of it. There was a snipe right slap bang in the middle of the beat which of course he missed. In fact there were two. Tam winded the second bird, I thought he had just touched on the scent of the first bird but he went in and produced his bird. He does have a good nose by any standard and probably just about as good as any other Blunder. I registered my displeasure verbally with the Chris and have to say he looked suitably ashamed.
By this time I was through the bog so I ran Jalad over the brow and across The Big Valley. Having been beside me on the lead Jalad knew there were snipe about and he really hunted hard and fast and was doing great ground work maybe three hundred either side but the cupboard was bare.
With mist banks wafting about I just ran Chris down wind at the back of the quarry because the road is close bye and I didn’t want him ending up on the road. He worked quite well down wind but there was no second chance saloon for the big fella.
Tam lasted the pace quite well but even with today being a cool 13.5c with the rain and all he still needed about a litre of water in the box. The Clumber’s coat is really amazing and Tam has lain out in the frost from choice on the cow mat bed during the winter. It is however too warm for him on a day like this.
Beechfield.
Remember I spoke about Tam’s coat. Well I tried, unsuccessfully it so happens, to split the dog’s up differently last night. The net result was that at about 23:00 I went out to divide them up in a tried an tested way. It was a poor enough night weather wise, heavy rain and a bit of wind. When I switched on the light there was Tam the Man fast asleep on the bench (cow mat covered) in the rain. For interest sake I ran my fingers through his coat, the top layer was soaking, as you might expect, but the under coat was dry and warm. I suspect he got wetter because I ran my fingers through his coat than he did because of the rain.
The Middle Bog, Black Mountain.
Ross took Jalad and Chris to the hill. The bugger sent me this photograph titled ” Covey of ten grouse”
He thought that was funny.
The Wee Res and The Forest.
Took the Coco monster on his own. I have almost complete control over this dog. He needs game now and a pattern but control is in the bag. Still a very laid back dog.
Beechfield.
Lucky is carrying a paw. Looks like a nail bed infection.
Liffey Head West.
W 18.6 mph. 13.5c High cloud, dull and threatening rain but then a bit of sun.
I was full of hope when I headed for Dublin this morning. I awoke early and was away in good time. Four miles short of the trial a pulley wheel sheared off and left me with no power steering. The day didn’t get any better.
I was third brace with Chris. Not that far away from where he had his find a few weeks ago. He set off in good style with great drive and hunting hard. He cut back and was just past the centre of the beat when he headed right again. At first I thought he was turning to run jealous but then I realised he had his head up. Now Chris runs with a good head carriage anyway, even when stretching for ground but it is still obvious when he takes scent and raises his head. He was going to game. Unfortunately he didn’t actually point but ran between two grouse that were sitting about ten yards apart. They flushed and Chris was out. The twenty mile an hour wind didn’t help but Chris is an experienced dog and there are no excuses.
I was drawn on the right with Jalad. He went off very nicely whipped round and came across nicely as well. He cut back down wind but we were saved by the other dog being a bit wild and we were picked up and put down again. Again away to the right like a lamp lighter. Running beauitfully. On his way out to the left, still going nicely he took the forward cast, accelerated on past the other dog and cut back down wind in front of the dog. Bugger! I was surprised to be picked up and put down again. I even said to Gerald ” Did you take an extra generous tablet this morning.” Again away right, turned nicely, away out left and cut back. Picked up and out.
I always liked Jalad as a dog. I thought he had tremendous talent and potential but I think this back casting on the left must have been looked at with the rose tinted glasses on. I had the idea that it might have been caused by the other dog taking the forward cast and him turning away from it. Well that theory was shot down in flames today when he took the forward cast and then turned round the front of the other dog. I have retired Jalad from competition and he is now for sale.
Beechfield.
It has been a poor enough week and it just got a whole lot worse. First off the Skoda won’t be back on the road till tomorrow so there’s been no training. The Mrs got a bit of a bollocking from the vet who suggested that I hadn’t finished off Lucky’s last course of antibiotics and that this probably caused his toe to swell again. In the first place it’s the other foot from the last time and Lucky actually got slightly more than I had been sold by them. Vets seem to find it hard to believe that resourceful people can buy antibiotics form places other than vets or even as was the case this time that some vets will sell established customers antibiotics without a consultation. Now tonight I see that Chris has another swelling on one of his elbows so I’ll have to pull him for Sunday and put Roxy in instead. God help the vet who suggests tests on Chris’ swelling. The last time this happened £42 pounds worth of tests came up with the suggestion that the nodule the size of a tennis ball on the Big Dog’s elbow contained some, wait for it, “inflammatory cells”.
The only good news is that after a long wait I have obtained a 210l blue plastic barrel so I’ll be dumping the old kennel behind the garage and installing a “Canine Condo”. Only been lying in the garage for two years but who’s counting.
Murley Mountain, Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone.
NE to E. 0 < 5 mph. 20.5 c < ? Dry, bright and sunny after the mist had burnt off early.
Jay and I took Roxy and Basso to the trial to compete and Lucky along for the ride. The Luckster is kenneled with Roxy at the moment so it made sense and even in this dry weather runs are damp and a day completely dry won’t do his bad foot any harm.
This was a bad day at the office BUT, it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
Roxy.
She was second brace (I substituted her for the injured Chris.) and she set off with a fair bit of drive. On the other hand her steering was defective. On about her third cast to the left she reached the horizon and just kept going, over the horizon and out of the trial. She did reappear but by that time the judges had called for the next brace. Having decided only to run a maximum of two dogs in any stake I hadn’t been entering Roxy because she wasn’t running. Well she is now so she’ll have to get the schooling to get her turning again. To some this may seem a paradox but it is very difficult to successfully school a dog that won’t run.
This was Basso’s best opportunity yet to win a stake and it was “Just one of those things” that he didn’t get in among the awards. We got the best bit of ground of the day to run on and one of the best going dogs there to compete against, Desi Linton’s Craigrua Kansas, the Red and White Setter I used to own. The left hand side of the beat was squeezed in by an area of rougher ground that made the dogs set off at a forward angle, not much of an angle but the result was that both dogs, they both went left, were about thirty yards forward of where they should have been when they turned right to come back across. As it was initially only Basso came right across and just as he crossed the middle he pointed. It was plain to everybody that he wasn’t happy though. Desi’s dog then came over and it soon became apparent why he was unhappy for Desi’s dog ran round Basso and two birds flushed ten yards behind (down wind of) Basso. The setter took off after them and so did Mr.B. Desi was very apologetic but he’s not responsible for failings in my dog, only his own. Basso’s failure was my failure, not Desi’s. Even if the setter hadn’t intervened I doubt if Basso would have been able to successfully produce the birds as I probably would have walked them up going to him but birds do run back sometimes and a trial is supposed to replicate a shooting day and they could have been shot. Some dogs have difficulty finding birds up wind of them but this was in effect a down wind find by Basso. He doesn’t get many opportunities to show his nose but it definitely does work.
I was very lucky with both Ryan and Ross when it came to going to trials. Even as youngsters they never whined when the going got tough. I suppose there was no point, I couldn’t carry them so they just got on with it. Well I am equally lucky with Jay. He walked a piece of ground today that hardened triallers both had difficulty with and gurned about having to walk and all he said was ” I’m glad to get sitting down” when we got back to the car. Maybe that’s one of the advantages of being slightly under weight and tall for his ten years. (His dad is six foot three)
Beechfield.
Three times to the vet in a week. Last night Basso was in funny form. He wasn’t interested in his food. He was “Walking the walk”. When I was talking to Tam, or any other dog for that matter, he would come and stand big between me and the other dogs, no growling or anything just standing big. About 22:15 there was an unholy commotion in the dog run. When I got out there Tam had Basso in the deadly inside out hold and was giving him a severe wigging. Chris was standing watching all this barking at the pair of them. I reckon Tam had had enough of Basso acting the big man. Unfortunately I had to be quite severe on Tam to get him to let go and to stay away but eventually but I got Tam into another run. Basso was playing the wounded hero, big style, and Chris was even favouring a paw even though he didn’t appear to have been involved. Maybe a victim of friendly fire. By this morning there was swelling on Basso’s leg but Chris was walking more or less normally. The swelling was going down by lunch but I got him a course of Ceporex from the vet.
Very unsettling for both me and the dogs. The mature males are grumbling at each other through the wire but hopefully they’ll settle down in a couple of days. Basso and Tam were a handy pairing. Looks like I’ll have to rethink that one.
Black Mountain.
18c humid, dull. NNE 5.6 mph.
I took Roxy for a bit of schooling and Lucky for a dander.
Lucky seemed to enjoy himself and ran about quite independently and being off on his own took little encouragement. In fact he took a bit of getting back but oddly enough it was the recall whistle that worked well rather than the voice.
Roxy was nearly perfect. She turned at the first time of asking every time in her first run and for ninety percent of the second. I can read Roxy like a book. I knew she was up to mischief when it took two turn signals to turn her. The next time it took three and the drop and even after our first discussion of her future stock options she still tried it on. I then gave her a pretty severe talking to and after that she wouldn’t go more than fifty yards. Typical Roxy. By the finish she was running and turning nicely but her heart wasn’t in it.
Black Mountain.
Lovely autumn evening though not particularly sunny. SE 4.7 mph. 17c.
Ross and I took all the dogs except Basso and Chris as they are still under doctor’s orders.
Tam was allowed to quarter about on his own. He really is a dog you can take the lead off and forget about. This sort of day is still a bit warm for the big dog and although he hunts the whole time he is off the lead he drops down panting if you stop walking and is constantly looking for water, not that there’s much about where we were.
I learnt something today. Although a smart dog Coco is easily distracted and when Ross and I are walking along and he is running he is always looking back to the other dogs. Lucky on the other hand will go nearly too far away and can be difficult to get back especially if there are larks. I’m not that worried about that at the moment as he is only finding his heather legs and I’ll do his schooling on the lowland for now.
Roxy was only given a relatively short run but it was under control. She still isn’t fully over the bollocking she got the other day but by the end she was, as Ross said “Really going”.
Ross ran Jalad a couple of time up the shoulder and across The Middle Bog. He pointed several times but it was only larks. The back casting didn’t show and he covered a heap of ground at pace.
Black Mountain.
WNW 10.7 mph. 13.5c high cloud but dull.
Roxy, Lucky and Basso.
Roxy got first crack from the side of The Quarry towards The Shoulder. Walking more or less across the wind this was a longer walk than you might think. Her confidence isn’t yet fully restored from the severe bollocking I gave her a few outings ago but by the end of the run she was taking me on. Black Mountain is relatively easily walked but dogs will still take an easier option should one present itself. There has been that much driving by 4wd vehicles that there are paths of sorts all over the place and she made use of these paths to the detriment of her quartering.
Basso pleased me no end with his drive and lines but I was slightly perturbed at the frequency with which he sought out water. Now Basso is quite a smart dog and I reckon that part of the problem is that he knows where he is and more importantly where the water is. That said a desire to find water suggests a lack of fitness that I can’t really reconcile myself to.
Lucky is gaining his heather legs at a pace and this is despite running on his own as for some reason or other I feel a tendency to give tongue. He can really tramp now and chases wee birds with ease. His head carriage is very high. So high that you would suggest that it would affect his ability to run but it doesn’t seem to. Enough is enough for now. I’ll not take him back to the hill until I have re-established the recall and the drop. The only problem is that here at Beechfield he doesn’t have the same distractions so I could very easily believe that I have regained control when in reality I haven’t. After sorting out the recall again he might need a bit of one on one on the heather.
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