This photo was submitted by Mark and his son, Mitch. The pups were three months old when the picture was taken.

A customer recently had been invited on a goose hunt with some friends. While he had hunted upland with dogs most of his life, he had done very little waterfowling.
 
Here's his question:
 
While everyone was decked out in camouflage and cautious not to let incoming birds see their faces he noticed that the dogs (black labs) did not have any camo on at all. While they did get some geese he was wondering if the labs had been wearing camouflage vests would they have had more opportunities at some birds?

Tell us what you think!  LEAVE A COMMENT

Looking for Camo Dog Vests and other protection gear? CLICK HERE

 

Champion Irish Setter Gets Breed Back In Hunt
By Charlie Meyers
The Denver Post
Reprinted with permission



KIOWA — With a recent snowfall stirring beneath a chill prairie wind, the dog caught the scent from yards away, then assumed the statue pose that marks an animal of high breeding and even greater training.

But something else, more profound, grabs the eye in what might otherwise be an ordinary training exercise. The dog is rusty red, with the wavy, flowing hair of a breed rarely associated with field trial excellence.

Ishkote Animosh, Fire Dog in the Chippewa language and just plain Fred for the crisp and frequent commands of dog training, is a, gasp, Irish setter. He's also a dual champion from the American Kennel Club national breed championship last fall at Boone-ville, Ark.

To Spero Manson, a Native American who owns him, and Steve Bailey, his trainer, Fred is all that and considerably more. As is the case with these oft-maligned red dogs and certain other breeds strayed from their working roots, he represents a return to those elemental instincts that still trickle through the bloodline.

Through dilligent effort, they hope to restore red dogs to proud hunting status, one generation at a time. There is much work to be done. Many decades of show breeding turned Irish setters into something of a canine joke, infamous bubbleheads of great beauty and precious little sense.

"The show population is much larger than for field," Manson said. "We hold no grudge against show people. They have their purposes, we have ours."

A professor of psychology at the University of Colorado Medical Center, Manson might be exercising a bit of his professional craft in what has been an age-old dispute. But at the bottom of it all, his focus is too keen to indulge in needless debate.

"I got into this strictly to improve the breed, plus the personal satisfaction of working with dogs," Manson said of a movement that began in the 1950s when a small group of enthusiasts set out to reverse the trend.

Manson's interest began when he laid eyes on an Irish female named Java a dozen years ago. A love affair at first sight was consummated when the owner expressed a willingness to sell. Java, who died last year at age 14, became the matron of the nation's most prominent Irish trial line.

Fred, now 7, became an even more prominent entry in the American Field Dog Stud Book when he won the dual championship at Booneville. Manson handled the dog in winning the amateur division; Bailey, who has been training dogs since 1965, guided Fred through the open division exclusively for Irish setters.

This marked only the second time one dog has won both. Another Manson dog performed the feat in 2003, further ratifying the Java bloodline.

"Fred is very desirable as a stud," Bailey said.

Thus far, he's been bred a dozen times, a selective process aimed strictly at improving the line.

"We're constantly asking whether the breeding makes sense," Manson said.

"We're not a puppy mill," Bailey chimed in.

This sudden center of attention looks very different from the tall, lanky, long-maned Irish dogs with which we are most familiar. At about 45 pounds, Fred is much shorter, more muscular, and not at all likely to be called daft.

Nor does he carry all the hopes of the Manson kennel. Ishkote Waagos, Fire Fox, was named puppy and derby dog of the year by the Irish Setter Club of America and shows similar promise at age 2 1/2. An 8-month-old female is waiting in the wings.

Activity at the Manson kennel doesn't stop with Irish dogs. Mary DeVos, 17, of Centennial won the American Pointer Club amateur championship. Bailey won the open division with a pointer owned and trained by his daughter Bridget, 18.

Charlie Meyers: 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com



Pictures are property of the Denver Post.

Theron from Colorado just got his good dog, Daisy, back from training and can't wait to get out
pheasant hunting with her. She looks ready to go, no?



Theron will have no problem keeping track of her in that wide blast of orange from her 1 1/2" DOGS Unlimited collar!

We got a new message from Theron. Here his is with his son, Austin. It looks like Daisy's training has paid off!



Hunting is a great outdoor activity that parents can do with their teens. We love seeing pictures of dads and sons and dads and daughters out in the field (although we've only seen one daughter so far, and no moms...).
Parents: Send us pictures of you and your kids in the field!
send to: community@DOGSUnlimited.com

Larry from New Jersey sent us a picture of his Brittanys from a recent trip to South Dakota. They are Rock, five years old, and Brandy, one and a half.



Thanks, Larry!

No.... They're geese in flight in North Eastern Colorado, as this close-up picture shows:



Thanks to FOA member, Dave, for this excellent shot!

Just Kidding! This is NOT a militant farmer. This is NOT a radical splinter faction of the FOA.

The crops were up late this year, and Dave couldn't come out to play. So they killed two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Send us your hunting pictures! E-Mail them to orderdesk@DOGSUnlimited.com!

I have a story for you. 

I was elk hunting near Chambers Lake Colorado when I shot a nice bull elk.  It was in the evening, near dark and the rain had started.  After I shot the elk, I watched it run with the arrow still in it.  The elk bolted away from me about 100 yards then  went downhill from there.  We tracked blood and could tell it was a lung shot but we ran out of daylight and couldn't see anymore. 

We came back in the morning and looked all day for the elk and couldn't find it--what blood was left was washed away from the rain.  After giving up and being greatly disappointed--because I knew the elk was dead, but just couldn't locate it--I decided to go back to camp and grab my cell phone to go make some calls to let my hunting buddies back home know [what happened].  

On the way back to camp I realized we had new neighbors. I introduced myself and told them the story of my elk.  It just so happened to be Eric and Jane Cook with 2 horses and 3 dogs, one named Joe  These dogs were German Shorthairs. They usually stay a couple miles down the road but were unable to maneuver their trailer into the [camp] drive, so decided to come down to our drive.  Eric said old Joe could find that elk for me, and at first light in the morning that is what we would do.

[The next] morning we took the horses up the mountain with Joe leading the way.  We went as far as the horses could go, then went by foot to where I shot the elk. We followed the blood trail to the spot where the elk had headed down the mountain.  From there Joe did the rest. 

He had a GPS unit on his collar so Eric could keep track of him.  I was told just to stay at the last blood.  So I waited and before too long, I heard a faint yelling.  I wasn't sure so I just sat there. Then I heard it again, and sure enough my spirit began to rise as I knew old Joe had found my elk. 

I couldn't thank Eric and his dog Joe enough, for the elk I shot was a true trophy. Joe found that elk after 2 days of off and on rain.  He is an amazing dog. 

I will never forget the elk hunt of 2008. 

Thanks A Lot .
Bow hunter Dan Thomas from Ohio

John from Wisconsin sent us this picture of his dog, Belle, and her new pups. He writes:
"I raised my litter in the heated whelping dish from Dogs U.  Absolutely one of the best dog products I've ever purchased."



To see the Whelping Nest, click HERE.
For a related article, go to March 2007 archive.

Our pal, Molly, from the great state of Texas snapped this picture of her Vizsla pups. This is half the litter. Apparently they're in a hurry to get out into the field before the rest of them wake up from their afternoon snooze.

Stay patient in your training. Many of us get impatient or frustrated when we think our dog isn't learning fast enough or ignoring his training. Analyze what's going on and try to see it from a dog's point of view. Remember, they don't think like we do! This picture is a great example of keeping control--with a check cord--while offering encouragement and praise.

Even though this dog has gone through lots of repetitive training, he's very sure he wants to jump in on the bird in front of him. The check cord is a gentle reminder of who's in charge.

Spring is a good time to get your new pup on the ground. However, many of us are tempted to push our little guys a little too hard. Make puppyhood a happy time. Give them some work, but don't over-do it! And give them a lift if they need it.

Everybody's doing it.

Get yours HERE.

 

 

Send us a picture at orderdesk@DOGSUnlimited.com! Don't forget to include your Good Dog!

 

Don Brown of the Cedar Grove Plantation in Virginia was kind enough to send along these pictures of a traditional Southern quail hunt with mule drawn wagons. This tradition dates back to the turn of the 20th century and is still alive today on plantations around the South.
He says, "We use vizslas to range out, find and point our coveys of quail and then send in Boykin Spaniels to do the flushing and retrieving."

Jim from Seattle sent us a picture of his setter pup, Duke. Apparently this little guy found something far more interesting than the camera...

 

Mark from Colorado sent us pictures of his Gordon Setters, Kayleigh and Thor.
Thor placed in an Open Derby stake this past weekend. Congratulations!

 
Thor                                                                                 Kayleigh 

Christine from Colorado puts her Weim puppy to the test.




Looks like she's off to a good start!

First Steps provides an introduction to the fundamentals of training your gun dog.
* A low-stress training program, First Steps is suitable for new or experienced handlers
* Addresses training gun dogs of the pointing and flushing breeds
* Features real training exercises using gun dogs of all breeds, ages and experience levels
* Not only shows you how, but tells you why
* Includes a list of required equipment and a demonstration on how to properly use them
* Includes pre-exercise checklists and diagrams used in the training exercises

Watch it here!

Order First Steps here.

Joe from Colorado writes:

"Here is a picture of my two older children 12 and 11 and our 16 month GSP.  Yvroi Con Carne is a NAVHDA NA Prize III dog that we had tested this past summer and she was so impressive over wild birds this fall.  We had such a blast and the kids are hooked. 

"Colorado pheasant hunting is slowly coming back and this makes two years in a row the kids have been able to take a bird.  I enjoy working the dog and teaching the kids family values while outdoors.  We all love a good video game now and then but given a chance to go hunting, fishing or camping and the kids and our Yrovi are all up before me!"

Have any stories about hunting with your kids? Have any stories about hunting when you were a kid?
Click on "Leave a Comment" below!

This great looking field-bred Irish Setter was sent to us by Georgia Brown. Bernie is owned by Georgia along with Sherry Ebert.