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DesO'Neile · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 8:35 pm Post subject:

Tuesday 22nd July 2008

Black Mountain.
20c. Dull but not humid. 0 - 1 WWSW.
Chris,Roxy & Judy.
This was hard work. Not physically. but mentally. To save time we ran all the dogs at the same time and run is exactly what they did. Roxy and Judy handled when required as did Chris for the first ten minutes but he then waved bye bye and did what suited him. I reprogrammed his sat nav and he was ok after that. They ran for twenty minutes under starters orders and we then ran down wind for about another twenty five. They got a real work out. Ross had to lift Chris into the Jeep.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:30 pm Post subject:

Wednesday 23rd July 2008

The Signal Centre.
Another attempt to get Gina to stumble over a bird and maybe even hunt on the scent or heaven forbid point the bird. I tested The O’Neile Patented Silent Bird Releaser. It worked, Gina didn’t. I thought she sort or acknowledged the second bird but Ross says, No! I have to pay attention to him as he’s much bigger than me. We will try again on Friday.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 9:34 pm Post subject:

Thursday 24th July 2008
Black Mountain.
WWNW. 3 - 4. 20c. Bright.
If it hadn’t been for the breeze this wouldn’t have been possible as it would have been just too humid. As it was Judy and Chris were pulled up after ten minutes when we ran out of ground and not run again. Roxy ran for fifteen minutes as she was on the windward side of the hill and it was noticeably cooler. Again Chris needed his sat nav reset mid run but he was running beauitfully. He is very smooth when he is up for it and to watch him really reaching for ground is exciting and a trifle scary.
Counting Saturday, vehicles permitting, and a trial in Dublin on Sunday.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:34 pm Post subject:

Saturday 26th July 2008

The Hill Farm, Glenwherry.
20c. 0 - 1. Variable. Bright sunny, and a lot warmer than what the thermometer said.
Sit back and put your feet up, this might take a while.
This was one of those days where what makes my dogs what they are came together and paid dividends. Take Jalad for example. As a big gangly pup I used to take him to the hill with the older dogs and he would be let off to run on his own while all the others did their bit and then I would pick him up…………eventually! Net result bottomless stamina.
Well in the context of today bottomless equates to about an hour, more or less flat out. Then there is Roxy who was given so much bird work that she can find then in her sleep. I saw at bit of that today as well.
We gathered at the Keeper’s House at nine o’clock and by the time we had waited for the mist to at least start to disperse it was just after ten by the time the dogs were running. Roxy was the first of my team up and she started in good style handling well and running nice lines. She then had a stunningly simple but effective find in a gully nearly as deep as she is tall with the birds at the same level as her head. First she produced a chick and stood while she watched it away. Then she roaded forward to produce the other six birds. She made it look really simple, which it was for a supremely talented performer, which she was today. Chris and Judy ended up running at the same time but on parallel beats and they covered a lot of ground with a 90 degree cheek wind. They covered the ground but there was nothing to find. As they are to compete tomorrow they didn’t go out in the afternoon. The afternoon team were Jalad, Bess and Basso.
We must have been out for the best part of three hours. I ran the dogs in rotation and they all put in a lot of effort particularly Bess. Basso had a few lark hunts and Jalad wasn’t steady to a grouse that flushed loose but other than that they were fine. This was Jalad at his best. When he puts his mind to it he can cover a heap of ground and quite neatly at that.
So we are back home and Ross is preparing the tea. We have embalmed ourselves with exotic ungents. (Nivea after sun) and are looking forward to tomorrow. The only real casualty is an area about the size of a fifty pence piece on my left heal. When the shower water hit is it stung. When the soap hit it it was worse and when the shampoo hit it , I said bad words.
Ned is going to tow the trailer from his house tomorrow as the water pump on the Jeep is weeping so it will be an even earlier start. I bet my legs will be more than a bit stiff.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 6:38 pm Post subject:

Sunday 28th July 2008

Trial Day.
Glencree.
Hot and sunny variable breeze.
Chris.
Got an awful bit of ground and didn’t really get going. Perhaps showning signs of fatigue after counting the previous day.
Roxy.
Got ground slightly better than Chris and ran a lot better but did it to please herself and wouldn’t handle.
Judy.
She saved me from a whitewash. She ran two really good rounds in the good ground up the hill. (That’s the luck of the draw.)She handled consistently and took direction when required. She took an awful tumble in the first run but just like when emerging from water she shook herself and restarted if anything more fired up than before. Just like Jump, her sire, Judy is at her best when she is calm. She was extremely so today and I wonder if the Kronch played any part in that. They say that form is temporary but class is permanent. When you have a class act in form it is nothing short of exhillerating. Very pleased with ‘Owd Bitch.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:32 pm Post subject:

Monday 28th July 2008
Newtownards Airport.
Chris.
Really simple and really quick. Ross takes Chris out of sight and gives the big dog a few drops. I plant a pigeon. The bit of ground, a bit of summer meadow, isn't any more than thirty yards wide. We take him back about seventy yards and let him off. He works the ground at a bit of a trot. There are a few spots requiring a sniff but eventually he comes out from behind a bush, across what wind there is, and when he hits the scent cone he points. Ross holds him for a bit and I flush the bird at his signal. The dog remains in the down position until released to go forward to the launcher. The second bird is done the same way but the dog is more focused but in trying to be smart and revisit the old haunt he at first goes the wrong side of a whinn bush and pases the bird. You can see him become almost desperate as he runs back to Ross but on the way back he crosses the scent cone and spins round into a classic point. Ross leaves him on point for a bit and then I release the bird on his signal. Again he is dropped, although he would nearly do so on his own, held for a time and then encouraged to work forward to the launcher, sort of clearing his ground.
Why are we doing this? Several reasons.
1# We are teaching the dog our regime for handling birds.
2# Ross is perfecting his routine as well. Whistle in mouth inpreparation, Point/wait, flush/drop, wait/clear.
3# The dog is learning that good things happen round Ross, his handler. This will help foster the team ethic.
It is interesting to note that tone of voice is everything to this dog. I have seen Alex giving verbal commands and they are an instruction, not an invitation. They are in essence very precise and clear but they are also given, nearly shouted(Not in volume but in emphasis) in what could be described as a bad tempered manner. Almost as if they are being repeated for non compliance, and it was considered the non compliance was a very, very bad thing.
Sit therefore becomes "SITS" with the emphasis on the second S.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:54 pm Post subject:

Tuesday 29th July 2008

Black Mountain.
ENE.
Chris.
Ross took Chris on his own. He had two runs, twelve minutes and twenty minutes. He handled ok but had a tendency to pull forward. Pace was good as well. There were two snipe on his second beat but unfortunately Ross sent him to the left down the hill and the snipe were on the right. In an event they would have been on the right hands dog’s beat and not really there for Chris. The result was that even though at this stage of his run Chris was flat but he would have had to cut back to have any chance of the birds. Nice to see game but a pity not to make use of it.

Later.
Basso & Chris.
Millionaires Field & The Signal Centre.
This was a mistake. I already know that Basso knows when we are going to place pigeons. I reckon it is a combination of the place and the pigeon scent. I also know that Chris can find and point pigeons for fun. The idea tonight was that we would test Chris’ backing with Basso on point. In the event Basso was on point from almost the moment he was let off and Chris ended up on point with Basso backing. We even moved to the Signal Centre and a more open piece of ground with the same end result, even though they did run about a bit more, Basso backing Chris.
I will need to use Jalad if I want to test Chris’ backing.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:53 am Post subject:

Wednesday 30th July 2008

Black Mountain
18c ENE 2 - 3 Dry and dull. Slightly humid.
Chris got ten minutes into the wind. He handled well enough but he did need a fair bit of handling. In addition he took slightly too big a bite on some occassions. Pleased with his effort and pace. He had a nice find on the top of the shoulder. He roaded in to fairly close to the bird, dropped when it flushed and then worked in to the seat.
Roxy got ten minutes schooling. I hardly moved at all and made her quarter back and forth the length of the Big Valley (400 yards) I made her come to within ten yards of me each time she crossed. She was looking good at the end. If I can tighten her up on her dropping then she is in good nick for competition
Next I ran Roxy in hope of a find for her which would enable us to see if Chris backed. Sure enough Roxy pointed and Ross let Chris off. I had told Ross, no matter how tempted he was, not to try to control Chris before he backed. I wanted to see if he would back naturally. He did, from about twenty yards. he did close the gap to about five yards but he showed no further inclination to steal the point. He did repond to Ross’ whistle when the bird flushed but he might have dropped anyway.
The competing dogs, Chris, Judy and Roxy will now rest up as they will run three days in a row his weekend.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:51 pm Post subject:

Friday 1st August 2008.

Trial day.
Morning hot and sunny, afternoon persistent heavy rain.

Chris.
He ran in the morning in the heat and heavy ground. I am prepared to give him 100/100 for effort but that’s about all. He was terribly one sided operating on the left and only crossing the right hand judge on three occasions. He was running a slight cheek wind and a negative camber slope that affected his pattern but whatever excuses you put up a dog turning back, as opposed to back casting, of which he did a few as well, looks bad especially if it is every time. Eventually his brace mate pointed a lark and Chris, at first, came in to back. He then flashed on to point before either running in to flush the lark or at least give it a bit of a chase as it flushed. Ross was a bit disappointed with this performance but I still feel the big dog is making progress.
Judy.
Morning run in a two sided beat. The left perfect running ground , the right high grass. She did a good job. Eventually our brace mate had a fairly unconvincing find on a snipe so the run terminated at that point. Afternoon run was in the rain. Our brace mate had another, I thought, unconvincing snipe find and I presume the judges decided it was there for Judy as well and her run was ended. As Judy hadn’t up to that point pointed a snipe I don’t understand how the judges could exclude her for failing to point a snipe as this was a grouse trial.
Roxy.
Two great bird-less rounds. First in heavy ground in the morning and the second on better running ground in the afternoon rain. She did her ground almost to perfection with nice lines combined with pace and a good wide beat. Star performer of my team today.

DesO'Neile · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:53 pm Post subject:

Saturday 2nd August 2008

Trial day.
Chris.
Got bogged down at the start in very high rank heather but when he got on to the better ground he gave it a fair go. I thought this dog mightn’t be that fast but today disproved this theory. He must be nearly fully fit and he really reaches when he runs. In addition he was hunting hard. Eventually he got too far forward and the judges asked for the dogs to be put together again. It took a while for Ross to get Chris back on the lead and when he was walking back to the centre of the beat a bird got up behind thereby eliminating him for missing it. Chances are no dog would have hunted this patch of ground because of the condition of the heather but that’s not the point.
Judy.
In the whole of her career Judy has never performed to this level before. She was wide, fast, flat and hunting hard. But what do I know? She didn’t get a second run?????????
Roxy.
Got avery difficult down hill beat in the first round and ran very hard if a trifle wild. Second round she started off in great style with several nice wide even casts only to eliminate herself for a nonproductive. Bugger!