So... brought Mr. Tennis Ball (my AWS) hunting for his first time to way-the-hell-up-there Maine for Grouse.
First bird was shot dead on the road Maine-paper-company-road style to see what the AWS would do after I released him. He stayed sitting and after his name was called he literally flew to the bird showing amazing heart and getting my hopes up that I will have the finest bird dog in the land.....Dog grabs the bird and commences chomping it. Feathers all over and in his mouth. Breast looked like hamburger. Sh*$@.
Ok, second bird - same program... starts chomping it, but brings it back and drops it 10 feet from me.
Third bird, a covey of 5 grouse. My friend stands on the road with his gun, the dog and I go in the woods bang a right towards the birds who are still on the side of the road. he gets on their scent and casts left, then right, from wide arcs to finally a straight line and then comes upon a bird. He stops and stares and his little tail is stiff as a board. Then he lunges, and all the grouse take off... I had my gun but had no (safe) shot. My pal takes a shot and drops a grouse. Dog finds it, leaves it, and comes back to look for me, beckoning me to the dead bird. I went up with him and he went to the bird and kept nosing it. I got on my knees and told him to come, he brought the bird about 5 feet away from me this time.
Ok... skipping to the 9th bird (there were two of us hunting over a couple of days), same action as above but the chomping has stopped and the dog is bringing the bird to hand - just like he does with the scented tennis balls...
He loves hunting grouse more than I do, he's totally hooked.
My pal in Maine fell in love with this AWS and wants one too. My pal's wife however thinks the AWS has a coat that's difficult to comb out ???? My little Rasta dog... as he truly does have dreads. Every time he came out of the woods he'd bring grass, leaves, branches, everything stuck to him like Velcro. Gotta love the AWS.
First bird was shot dead on the road Maine-paper-company-road style to see what the AWS would do after I released him. He stayed sitting and after his name was called he literally flew to the bird showing amazing heart and getting my hopes up that I will have the finest bird dog in the land.....Dog grabs the bird and commences chomping it. Feathers all over and in his mouth. Breast looked like hamburger. Sh*$@.
Ok, second bird - same program... starts chomping it, but brings it back and drops it 10 feet from me.
Third bird, a covey of 5 grouse. My friend stands on the road with his gun, the dog and I go in the woods bang a right towards the birds who are still on the side of the road. he gets on their scent and casts left, then right, from wide arcs to finally a straight line and then comes upon a bird. He stops and stares and his little tail is stiff as a board. Then he lunges, and all the grouse take off... I had my gun but had no (safe) shot. My pal takes a shot and drops a grouse. Dog finds it, leaves it, and comes back to look for me, beckoning me to the dead bird. I went up with him and he went to the bird and kept nosing it. I got on my knees and told him to come, he brought the bird about 5 feet away from me this time.
Ok... skipping to the 9th bird (there were two of us hunting over a couple of days), same action as above but the chomping has stopped and the dog is bringing the bird to hand - just like he does with the scented tennis balls...
He loves hunting grouse more than I do, he's totally hooked.
My pal in Maine fell in love with this AWS and wants one too. My pal's wife however thinks the AWS has a coat that's difficult to comb out ???? My little Rasta dog... as he truly does have dreads. Every time he came out of the woods he'd bring grass, leaves, branches, everything stuck to him like Velcro. Gotta love the AWS.
