Recently, we’ve been out chasing huns with the little one.
Farley, as he is known, is no pure-bred, high powered bird dog, he’s not grown
from some European stock and he’s never had any formal training, but he’s
motivated, focused, and ready to go. The second we hit the gravel roads his
head is up. He starts whining a little and no doubt realizes the hunt is close.
James and I laugh a bit about him. He wasn’t always this way. He used to barely
lift his head above the dash, but tough love and 15 months later, we’ve got
ourselves a bird dog in training.
His lack of real dog drive was perhaps never as apparent to me as it should have been until I met James. With an aptitude for telling it like it is, James quickly brought to my attention that my little brown dog was lacking in some basic dog toughness. While he had a serious drive when it came to squirrels, little else was ever of much interest. He’d sleep on truck rides, walk away from fresh meat, and run around without much purpose. For him, flushing birds was certainly not in the picture.
His predecessor, Scooby, was James’s dog and the original brown. We often acknowledge that Scooby would not have stood for this behavior and perhaps it was his spirit that we needed. So we worked on the little guy, encouraged him to pursue his inner dog, and while the process was slow, he soon learned that with a little patience and a good nose, the birds that once eluded him and got away, had begun to fall. Now, not just his inner dog, but his inner bird dog, had come to life. What a year. Out of the ashes a bird dog had arisen and while we admit, he’s still rough around the edges, he’s young, and the drive is there.
Since the bird season ended last month the camera has now become the center of our focus. How do we start to capture this on film? How do we capture a little mutt dog’s ability to find birds? After some searching I found a little place just outside of town where a few coveys of huns have settled in. I’ve been up there with the dog several times now but without a gun in hand it seems Farley thinks we are just walking around. I try to motivate him, try to get his attention, but the local cottontails are doing a much better job. I need some focus! But then it happens. I break through some sagebrush and two huns bust out in opposite directions. Excitement! I’m able to bring the dog under control and we head off to track down one of the solos.
The camera has no screen so it’s my best guess as to the direction of the lens. I’m trying to bring him under control, “Waaaiiit….waaaiiit….hooold”. Filled with excitement Farley can barely hold back and the search is on. Within a minute he has the scent. I see his tail begin to stiffen and move back and forth, back and forth, crooked in the middle and moving with high degree of purpose. He’s birdy, here we go. His path begins to get tighter, and tighter, and then a turn...he stops…”BOOM”, a single partridge flushes up and the camera is rolling, I’m ecstatic! Did I just get that? Our first video! I hope it came out! The culmination of weeks of discussion, what a feeling! I hope it came out! Way to go little brown!
His lack of real dog drive was perhaps never as apparent to me as it should have been until I met James. With an aptitude for telling it like it is, James quickly brought to my attention that my little brown dog was lacking in some basic dog toughness. While he had a serious drive when it came to squirrels, little else was ever of much interest. He’d sleep on truck rides, walk away from fresh meat, and run around without much purpose. For him, flushing birds was certainly not in the picture.
His predecessor, Scooby, was James’s dog and the original brown. We often acknowledge that Scooby would not have stood for this behavior and perhaps it was his spirit that we needed. So we worked on the little guy, encouraged him to pursue his inner dog, and while the process was slow, he soon learned that with a little patience and a good nose, the birds that once eluded him and got away, had begun to fall. Now, not just his inner dog, but his inner bird dog, had come to life. What a year. Out of the ashes a bird dog had arisen and while we admit, he’s still rough around the edges, he’s young, and the drive is there.
Since the bird season ended last month the camera has now become the center of our focus. How do we start to capture this on film? How do we capture a little mutt dog’s ability to find birds? After some searching I found a little place just outside of town where a few coveys of huns have settled in. I’ve been up there with the dog several times now but without a gun in hand it seems Farley thinks we are just walking around. I try to motivate him, try to get his attention, but the local cottontails are doing a much better job. I need some focus! But then it happens. I break through some sagebrush and two huns bust out in opposite directions. Excitement! I’m able to bring the dog under control and we head off to track down one of the solos.
The camera has no screen so it’s my best guess as to the direction of the lens. I’m trying to bring him under control, “Waaaiiit….waaaiiit….hooold”. Filled with excitement Farley can barely hold back and the search is on. Within a minute he has the scent. I see his tail begin to stiffen and move back and forth, back and forth, crooked in the middle and moving with high degree of purpose. He’s birdy, here we go. His path begins to get tighter, and tighter, and then a turn...he stops…”BOOM”, a single partridge flushes up and the camera is rolling, I’m ecstatic! Did I just get that? Our first video! I hope it came out! The culmination of weeks of discussion, what a feeling! I hope it came out! Way to go little brown!
Pure Satisfaction.
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