Al Hansen
Well-known member
On Monday, I decided to take Chip with me and leave the other dogs at home. That they didn't like because Pepper and Habi voiced their opinion before I got into the truck.
The only problem on Monday was that I didn't shoot any ducks and poor Chip just sat in the blind with me trying to be a patient, almost 7 month old pup!
Well, fast forward 24 hours and yesterday we repeated the same trip, sat in the same blind with the only difference being that right at shooting time, a small flock of F-16s came roaring in. This time I was very lucky and put one down. Chip dashed out and into the pond but turned around about 10 yards short of the duck. I then proceeded to walk to the edge and give him a little encouragement. Thankfully the gwt was still moving in the water and before I knew it, I was grinning from ear to ear while watching my pup make his first water retrieve.
Back in the blind, I tried to get him to come over to sit by my chair so I could pet him and shower him with accolades but he wanted none of that and proceeded to sit back in "his" spot where he can see the majority of the pond. Good grief, this young pup won't be 7 months old until this Thursday (tomorrow) and he knows how to plant his butt in the blind and not move.
About 10 minutes went by when a single greenwing teal came barreling into this small oasis in the southwestern desert. This time I was on and it came crashing down. Without a moments hesitation, Chip took off like a rocket, ran helter-skelter into the pond and didn't stop until he had that prize in his mouth. Oh, Lord, it is at times like this that I only wished that my camera had the ability to take pictures with almost zero light.
The Chipmeister came right to the blind and handed me the duck. About this time I was giving a silent thank you to Chili, who taught Pepper and Habi, and to those two females for teaching Chip. There is no way I can come up with the appropriate words trying to describe a total euphoric feeling that I had at that very moment.
Much time then elapsed from when he was a busy young pup retrieving teal. I happened to check my cell phone and it told me that we had been sitting in the blind for 2 hours and 14 minutes since his last retrieve. I made a mental note of that and then looked at my pup and said, "Chip, one more minute and we will go home."---Yes, I talk to my dog! Well, I don't know if it was 3 minutes or 11 minutes that went by when from behind us a pair of gadwalls came in. They were already on final when I spotted them out of the corner of my eye. Good grief I missed the first shot and then quickly realized how close they actually were---not 30 feet out, so on the second shot it was a little further away when I connected.
This time my camera was in my hands when he took off. After a mad scramble tossing the one piece of burlap to the side, I got free and was able to watch him head for the small sand dune where the drake gaddie piled into. All sorts of thoughts were traversing through my mind as I watched Chip. Would he need any encouragement? Would he get to a vantage point up on the top of the dune to see the duck or maybe would he use his nose for the first time? All of the above questions were quickly answered when I saw him get to the top of the hill and after not seeing the bird, make a circle behind and just like a watching an English Pointer work a pheasant, I happened to see Chip use his nose when that slight northerly breeze seemed to work its miracle. He was on it in no time and came dashing back to the edge of the pond.
I was so proud of my pup that I had totally forgotten to take pictures of him searching and running. Oh, well, there will be another day for that. I will always remember this special day of Chips. Here are a few shots of him coming back with that drake gadwall. From what I have observed thus far, I think he is a keeper.
Al
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I am very proud of this young boy. As I type this, Chip has his body draped across my lap. He just wanted his ear to be scratched. Tomorrow I must remember to give him a treat on his 7 month birthday!
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The only problem on Monday was that I didn't shoot any ducks and poor Chip just sat in the blind with me trying to be a patient, almost 7 month old pup!
Well, fast forward 24 hours and yesterday we repeated the same trip, sat in the same blind with the only difference being that right at shooting time, a small flock of F-16s came roaring in. This time I was very lucky and put one down. Chip dashed out and into the pond but turned around about 10 yards short of the duck. I then proceeded to walk to the edge and give him a little encouragement. Thankfully the gwt was still moving in the water and before I knew it, I was grinning from ear to ear while watching my pup make his first water retrieve.
Back in the blind, I tried to get him to come over to sit by my chair so I could pet him and shower him with accolades but he wanted none of that and proceeded to sit back in "his" spot where he can see the majority of the pond. Good grief, this young pup won't be 7 months old until this Thursday (tomorrow) and he knows how to plant his butt in the blind and not move.
About 10 minutes went by when a single greenwing teal came barreling into this small oasis in the southwestern desert. This time I was on and it came crashing down. Without a moments hesitation, Chip took off like a rocket, ran helter-skelter into the pond and didn't stop until he had that prize in his mouth. Oh, Lord, it is at times like this that I only wished that my camera had the ability to take pictures with almost zero light.
The Chipmeister came right to the blind and handed me the duck. About this time I was giving a silent thank you to Chili, who taught Pepper and Habi, and to those two females for teaching Chip. There is no way I can come up with the appropriate words trying to describe a total euphoric feeling that I had at that very moment.
Much time then elapsed from when he was a busy young pup retrieving teal. I happened to check my cell phone and it told me that we had been sitting in the blind for 2 hours and 14 minutes since his last retrieve. I made a mental note of that and then looked at my pup and said, "Chip, one more minute and we will go home."---Yes, I talk to my dog! Well, I don't know if it was 3 minutes or 11 minutes that went by when from behind us a pair of gadwalls came in. They were already on final when I spotted them out of the corner of my eye. Good grief I missed the first shot and then quickly realized how close they actually were---not 30 feet out, so on the second shot it was a little further away when I connected.
This time my camera was in my hands when he took off. After a mad scramble tossing the one piece of burlap to the side, I got free and was able to watch him head for the small sand dune where the drake gaddie piled into. All sorts of thoughts were traversing through my mind as I watched Chip. Would he need any encouragement? Would he get to a vantage point up on the top of the dune to see the duck or maybe would he use his nose for the first time? All of the above questions were quickly answered when I saw him get to the top of the hill and after not seeing the bird, make a circle behind and just like a watching an English Pointer work a pheasant, I happened to see Chip use his nose when that slight northerly breeze seemed to work its miracle. He was on it in no time and came dashing back to the edge of the pond.
I was so proud of my pup that I had totally forgotten to take pictures of him searching and running. Oh, well, there will be another day for that. I will always remember this special day of Chips. Here are a few shots of him coming back with that drake gadwall. From what I have observed thus far, I think he is a keeper.
Al
I am very proud of this young boy. As I type this, Chip has his body draped across my lap. He just wanted his ear to be scratched. Tomorrow I must remember to give him a treat on his 7 month birthday!
