Todd Duncan Tennyson
Well-known member
Gentlemen (and Dani)
It has been a couple of weeks since the last update on the new dog project. Here is the latest.
Buff at Carpenter's hill
He's coming along quite well. He is now able to ride in the truck and gets in when I tell him to. We have changed to a gentle leader (like a horse halter) for walking around the hood, and only use the loop in the field in case we come across other dogs or a horse.
He wants to run fetches and explore blackberry patches. I am trying to get him to rely on using his nose and getting used to my various whistle signals. Some whistle signals for "wait," some for "come," and some for you are "red hot on it keep looking (for when he is almost at the target if he didn't see it go down and i did.)
Today I took him to the shooting range to see if he would be gun shy. Along the way I got a big pepperoni stick. he really likes them, but they make him fart like Paul Boomer in the legendary farting contest from the maple leaf auditorium back in the 1930's...
I paid the man $5 at the gate and told him why the dog was with me and what my intentions were (to walk the roadway behind the ranges and get the dog accustomed to gun fire.). He said, "you guys stay warm and good luck with the dog."
I drove to the gate at the end of the road where nobody was shooting and figured I'd keep him more involved witht he pepperoni stick than any shooting going on. So we leashed up and that is what we did.
Each time a gun fired off, he took noticed, but never got frightened and I gave him a chunk of pepperoni and praised him. Pretty soon we were 150 ft from some guys busting clay pigeons and he watched the birds get thrown and shattered and got a chunk of pepperoni each and every time... After a short spell, he could've cared less about the gunshots and was only focusing on the pepperoni. So I guess he passed the test.
I am hopeful I can hunt him this upcoming fall... he will be pushing 2 years old by then and should understand things even better. Overall, I. was super proud of him for being so steady in a new situation with new stimuli. I wanted to go once he trusted me beside him, and once all other aspects were settled and nothing else at the moment was totally novel to him. After we did the gunrange walk, we went to the Denman wildlife area along the Rogue river and I let him range around and explore the thickets and chase the bumper for an hour.
Seems like his favorite thing to do is run as fast as he can in mud that is tacky and still a bit sloppy... I think it is because it sounds good to him and it is something that makes him wag his muddy tail harder than maybe even a pepperoni stick.
So, not a bad day.
It has been a couple of weeks since the last update on the new dog project. Here is the latest.
Buff at Carpenter's hill
He's coming along quite well. He is now able to ride in the truck and gets in when I tell him to. We have changed to a gentle leader (like a horse halter) for walking around the hood, and only use the loop in the field in case we come across other dogs or a horse.
He wants to run fetches and explore blackberry patches. I am trying to get him to rely on using his nose and getting used to my various whistle signals. Some whistle signals for "wait," some for "come," and some for you are "red hot on it keep looking (for when he is almost at the target if he didn't see it go down and i did.)
Today I took him to the shooting range to see if he would be gun shy. Along the way I got a big pepperoni stick. he really likes them, but they make him fart like Paul Boomer in the legendary farting contest from the maple leaf auditorium back in the 1930's...
I paid the man $5 at the gate and told him why the dog was with me and what my intentions were (to walk the roadway behind the ranges and get the dog accustomed to gun fire.). He said, "you guys stay warm and good luck with the dog."
I drove to the gate at the end of the road where nobody was shooting and figured I'd keep him more involved witht he pepperoni stick than any shooting going on. So we leashed up and that is what we did.
Each time a gun fired off, he took noticed, but never got frightened and I gave him a chunk of pepperoni and praised him. Pretty soon we were 150 ft from some guys busting clay pigeons and he watched the birds get thrown and shattered and got a chunk of pepperoni each and every time... After a short spell, he could've cared less about the gunshots and was only focusing on the pepperoni. So I guess he passed the test.
I am hopeful I can hunt him this upcoming fall... he will be pushing 2 years old by then and should understand things even better. Overall, I. was super proud of him for being so steady in a new situation with new stimuli. I wanted to go once he trusted me beside him, and once all other aspects were settled and nothing else at the moment was totally novel to him. After we did the gunrange walk, we went to the Denman wildlife area along the Rogue river and I let him range around and explore the thickets and chase the bumper for an hour.
Seems like his favorite thing to do is run as fast as he can in mud that is tacky and still a bit sloppy... I think it is because it sounds good to him and it is something that makes him wag his muddy tail harder than maybe even a pepperoni stick.
So, not a bad day.
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