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Flairball

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Everything posted by Flairball

  1. Flairball
    I had the pleasure of meeting, and sharing a couple meals with David Lisett about 5 years ago. He's a good trainer and knows Springers. I've seen a few Buccluech dogs over here, and they've all been nice, hard working, well bred dogs. When it comes to sporting dogs I believe in finding a proven line (like Buccluech) and getting a dog with all the right stuff bred into it. Buccluech isn't the only reputable, proven, winning breeder around, but one certainly won't be disappointed with a dog out of that kennel. And while we have all heard the story of the backyard bred prodigy, well,....good stuf
  2. Flairball
    Agree. Training needs to be balanced. When a dog makes a mistake it needs to know it made a mistake. Sometimes it means more than shouting no. I didn't see anything overly rough in the handling of the dog in the video. The dog looked a little soft, and appeared to be reacting to pressure. Every dog reacts to pressure differently. This dog seems to lay down. She'll soon learn to turn off the pressure by complying. Incidentally, the turning off the pressure response is one of the more common e-collar theories. The e-collar can be a great tool, or a greatly misused/abused tools. The pro
  3. Flairball
    Save your money. Not needed. Well bred dog will instinctively know what scents to key in on.
  4. Flairball
    Best advice given. No matter how much you get done, or how much you think you can get done with your dog it is inevitable that you will need helper, and/or helpers sooner or later. I joined a field trial club, and it is the best thing I've done. One of the members is a pro trainer, many have titled dogs, some of those are field trial judges. We meet, either formally or informally to train together. Because of the network of members we always have a place to train, gunners, birds, and a wealth of knowledge. Currently we are meeting every Sunday at the pro's place and working on what needs to be
  5. Flairball
    Had another fantastic training day today. Thought I'd drop a few pics for you all to enjoy. Retreiving a clip. Looking pretty, and pretty steady. The youngsters look on.
  6. Flairball
    Sounds like she's learning to use her nose, and is enjoying exploring her surroundings. How many times did you try this? May just be over excited by the new environment and smells, and will settle in when it get normal.
  7. Flairball
    So, the seasons are closed. I can't shoot ant skeet or sporting because I'm in a cast. What shall I do? Well,I can still run the dog, so we're getting ready for the upcoming field trial season. A few pics can be found by clicking the link below. http://allseasonsoutdoors.blogspot.com
  8. Flairball
    There is training, and there is conditioning. I prefer to condition a pup to certain things; recall and hup to the whistle. I start these pretty early. As soon as the pup comes home we start working on recall, and hup. Once the pup does both well in the house, and yard I start to overlay the whistle with the appropriate pip before giving the command. Before you know it the pup will start to recall or hup on the whistle in anticipation of the command. As the pup gets older and can handle a bit more pressure you can ramp it up and add distractions.
  9. Flairball
    This. But like has been said, take it slowly. Shouldn't be doing too many retrieves, anyway. I like to add a "hold" command when popping the bumper back in. Soon you can say "hold" as the pup approaches as a reminder. This is also a good time to introduce a release command. I use "give".
  10. Flairball
    Hello all, Not sure if this belongs in this section, or books, but I thought I'd give everyone a heads up on situation brewing here in the US. The DeLorme company, who publishes the Atlas and Gazetteer of all 50 states is to be bought by Garmin. It is unclear if Garmin will continue to publish these invaluable resources. So, if anyone is planning a trip to the US anytime in the near future, especially if you are planning a public land hunt, I'd recommend getting a Gazetteer for the state you are planning to visit before it's too late. That is all.
  11. Flairball
    So, a couple weeks ago, in my introductory post I made mention of the fact that I had the opportunity to shoot driven birds for the first time. Found myself as a guest at a small syndicate shoot and had a great time. Thought I'd share my experience with you all, and (for the sake of not re-typing) a full report can be found here. http://allseasonsoutdoors.blogspot.com/2015/12/aso-goes-to-england-driven-bird-shooting.html
  12. Flairball
    Yup. We get some pretty good woodcock flights at times.
  13. Flairball
    I will get out after waterfowl from time to time. We actually have good fowling around here, but most of it is over big water, and I don't have a Lab. Plus, I'm not a morning person. Most ducks killed here are shot at first light. Unlike over there, no hunting after sunset. I've also shot pheasant and chukar (partridge), but we don't have a wild population of either around here, so they are put and take. More often or not, if I've killed any of these species it's been a training day for the dog. I belong to a birddog club, and we raise our own birds for dog training. That said, next week I
  14. Flairball
    Using an e-collar is a lot more than just strapping it on a dog and pushing a button. It can be a great tool, or an abused tool, but it is a tool, just like the many other items we use to train a dog. Without full understanding of the many training, and conditioning techniques, and full commitment to learning these and which will work or you, I'd say away. Having used a collar in the past I seldom use it now. I think the lessons can be better cemented in using more traditional training.
  15. Flairball
    Wow. Good take. I'll bet the dogs had fun.
  16. Flairball
    Anyone here ever had the opportunity to do any wingshooting in the US? Other than other US based posters, of course. Living in the north east of the States we have a good population of ruffed grouse, which I am passionate about. We also get some pretty good flights of woodcock in the mid-fall. My buddies and I routinely travel the north east to hunt grouse. It's pretty tough, and one feels thoroughly beat up at the end of a good day. A mixed bag generally consists of grouse, woodcock, and hare, but sometimes we end up with a rabbit, pheasant, or some type of waterfowl, but that's pretty ra
  17. Flairball
    Wow. Some nice stuff here. I'm not much of a rifle shooter, but that's mostly because of cost,and I don't own a small caliber, cost efficient rifle. Currently own two: An older 30-06 Remington 760 pump action. My deer rifle which is seldom use. and A .50 caliber Thompson Center Thunderhawk muzzleloader, which I shoot a few times a year, and deer hunt with each winter. This thing is fun to shoot, but it requires patience. Planning to get a small caliber rifle this spring. Thinking a .17 HMR is the way to go.
  18. Flairball
    I think the answer boils down to how tolerant of a pup your whippet will be. Dogs will be dogs, and the two of them will have a lot to sort out. But, a pup is always a lot of work in the beginning, and takes some adjustment by both human and canine occupants. But they are seldom not fun, right? But what stands out to me in your query is the fact that you want to get a pointing breed for picking up. Seems to go against the grain. Now, to qualify my statements; I'm in the US, and understand that there are many sporting differences between us. That said, is a pointing breed, even a breed as
  19. Flairball
    When shooting skeet the proper amount lead on every station so 3 feet. The percieved lead varies with the angle. But here is the thing. Everyone misses, and usually behind the clay. Ever seen anyone miss in front? Me neither. On each station make a conscious effort to miss in front of the clay. It's hard to do.
  20. Flairball

    Skeet

    Flairball replied to alfie71's topic in Clay Shooting

    Little bit of a late reply, but I'm new here, so..... For a right handed shooter L-R crossers can be tough because the swing naturally pulls the gun away from the face. You may want to make sure you are keeping solid contact to the gun when you swing L-R. Like they say, wood to wood. Another thing I noticed, and I do it, too. Often when one has trouble with a station or a slump they start to subconsciously lift their head to see if they've broken the clay. So again, wood to wood. But, what I try to do when I find I'm starting to stuff on crossers is to intentionally try to miss i
  21. Flairball
    Fetching beer from the fridge? Who wouldn't like that?
  22. Flairball
    This. And don't make a big deal about anything. Let the pup learn everything is normal.
  23. Flairball
    I started my pup in a similar way from the start. Walking zig - zag and tooting the whistle. On a long rope, she will do this all day long........ But take of the rope and it's a different story, which I'm now trying to recover from. Unfortunately that is a different issue altogether. Good luck.
  24. Flairball
    No rules. The dog will learn whatever you teach it. I use two pips for the recall, but general will use a quick series of them; pip-pip, pause, pip-pip. A single pip to turn her. A steady longish whistle to stop her. This works well when trialing,as many use this as their recall. When she has to honor her brace mate the other handler generally reinforce their dog's prompt return from a retrieve, which inadvertently reinforces her stop.
  25. Flairball
    Hi all. New member. Joined a few days ago. Thought I'd drop a few picks of my springer for you all to enjoy.
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