Well, as you no doubt can understand, Christmas can be a fairly stressful time.  You spend weeks preparing and hundreds of pounds on entertaining without even taking into account the cost of presents.  That I suppose is a normal run of the mill Christmas… add to the mix the parents in law staying and my changing jobs, such that the run up to Christmas is the mad frenzy associated with finishing one job, followed by the inevitable anticipation and change associated with starting another, then add to this your wife starting a 7.30am to 9.00pm shift in the local hospital (22 miles away), and a hefty dump of snow turning the roads into death traps and hey presto…you can almost picture our Christmas. 

I say ‘almost’ because this year it also coincided with a service for the Land Rover Defender.  No problem there, apart from the fact that the mechanic I take it to didn’t quite finish all the work before Christmas, leaving us with my wife’s car (a Land Rover Freelander) to keep us mobile over Christmas.  This wouldn’t be a problem normally as they are superb in the snow and have enough room (just) for the dogs to boot, but this was no normal Christmas…a point driven home rather rapidly following my wife’s unexpected pirouette on black ice before she firmly planted it in a crash barrier above a river.  Luckily no one was hurt, which I suppose is all that really matters but it does rather bugger up any plans we might have had.

I once read that to make god laugh, tell him you have a plan.  It’s a bloody good job I don’t believe in god because at the moment making anyone laugh isn’t one of my top five priorities.  The insurance company should ring tomorrow…my immediate fate is in their hands.  It isn’t as if I can pop over to pick up the Defender because said mechanic decided to spend Christmas in Iceland (the country that is, not the shop).  He will be back in the New Year.

If I feel brave tomorrow I may just walk up to the moorland to give the dogs a run.  It is exactly two miles from my back door to the heather which doesn’t sound too bad, but that two miles involves a climb of just over 1000 feet, which makes your legs hurt on the way up and your shins and ankles hurt on the way down.  I can hear myself talking me out of it already.

On a positive note I was beating today.  The drives were limited as many of the roads were too icy to attempt so the keeper chose a few really good drives.  The guns were very happy and at least I worked off a bit of turkey.  My middle son (aged 15) came with me and I really enjoy the opportunity to spend time with him outside the house.  It was a cold day but a good day.  We are forecasted a foot of snow tomorrow.  As it is we will probably have three inches and the local news reporter will find an impressive looking drift in front of which to report how Wales is in the grip of a mini ice age.  We will see….maybe I shall have to eat my hat.

I have spoken little of dogs in this post.  What I will say is that I noticed Grace was looking a little thin and she was finding it hard to put on weight so I switched her diet to tripe and biscuits morning and evening.  I wouldn’t normally do this as I feed raw out of choice but I wasn’t happy kennelling her if she looked slightly underweight.  She has responded within a week and looks a lot better but I can’t say I am entirely happy feeding her biscuits.  She seems very happy though, and has at least as much of a layer of fat as seems possible on a pointer.

Onwards and upwards.

Luna has had a friend staying over since christmas eve.. his name is Bosley.. He is a mix of a giant schnauzer and a poodle.. aka he is a bit of a horse, especially compared to her, but she loves him (still trying to figure that one out, considering how picky she can be). here are a couple shots I managed to find. I have not been taking many of them together for some reason. Anyway, enjoy.. oh and PS. pardon the picture quality.. most were taken with my cell phone.

waiting until I say "take it" you can see a bit of size difference here.

he loves the snow.. can you tell?

Our wedding gift from the breeder.. we both love it. plus pic is just cute

The Bosley Sprawl.. he is rarely cold, unlike Luna..

Anyway, maybe I can get some more pics of them together before he goes home.. weather hasn’t been camera friendly either, though that doesn’t stop us from going out in general.

Have a happy new year all.. be safe.

No, not a real duck. But a very important duck (or pair of ducks) nonetheless.

The duck on the right has been Cooper’s favorite toy ever since he “won” it for participating in the bird dog match at his first IWSCOPS Specialty in August 2007. To be in the bird dog match, he’d had to qualify by first retrieving a pigeon and bringing it back. Going out to get the pigeon was easy. Bringing it back … well, not so much.

Being an untrained, wildman puppy, Cooper didn’t want to bring the pigeon back — he wanted to run around with it in his mouth and play keep away with the crowd of onlookers. So that’s what he did.

We called him, waved toys at him, and grabbed at him when he came within inches of our hands. None of that worked. Finally, a crowd of us all ran away from the finish line, enticing him to chase us across it. That was enough for Cooper to show in the bird dog match, and thus get the duck.

That duck has seen a lot of action. It’s been hidden and thrown all over the house for tracking and retrieving games. It’s been squeaked, pounced upon, and carried around for hours at a time. Eventually, the poor duck got some holes, which destroyed the squeak, but the duck stayed a favorite anyway. It appeared in Cooper’s New Year 2009 photo portrait, his in oil portrait last May, and another blog entry.

Then Tooey, Miss Destructo Dog, came to live at our house. She easily got the duck away from Gentleman Cooper, and chewed off one toe. The duck had to be put away to prevent total destruction.

So I went on a hunt, all over the Internet, to find a new duck.

On Christmas morning, Cooper was bored, lying head on feet next to the breakfast table, when Russ opened the package, reached in, and gave the duck a squeeze. Being a new duck, it squeaked.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen that dog’s head whip up so fast. Russ gave the duck another squeeze, and Cooper temporarily reverted to his wildman self. He jumped up, with feet on the table, to get a closer look.

Ever since then, that duck has not left Cooper’s side, except at night, when we put it away in the toy drawer. (I don’t really care to listen to squeaking ducks at 3 in the morning.)

It’s not clear yet what we’ll do about the duck when Tooey comes back home. (Since she’s in season, Tooey is up at Colleen’s for another week or so.) We may have to put the duck away, and only take it out when Tooey is out of the house for walks or training. Or we might try to teach Tooey to leave the duck alone.

Yeah, right. Maybe I’d better get busy, and order another duck (Squeeze Meeze Mallard Duck, made by Premier).

It’s a Christmas miracle! After ten days of feeling like someone parked a tractor on my head, I’m finally able to breathe, think, and blog. It’s a good thing, too, as Santa’s bag is brimming full of some highly anticipated releases. Pour yourself a glass of egg nog and gather ’round the fire as I hand out the packages, kiddies…

Look, up in the sky… it’s a bird! It’s a dog!

I know this is going to make the GA nuts grin from ear to ear. Sibwings has just released their long-awaited Cessna Bird Dog. I’ve been on the beta team for ages (though they probably didn’t notice due to the lack of feedback), and it’s been fascinating to watch this plane progress. I think I can honestly say it’s got one of the best VCs in the business – if not the best VC. Actually, there are several of them, and they’re all masterpieces. For those who bought their Safir, this model is very similar in overall tone and feel, albeit with much more advanced modeling and textures. I was in such a rush to get this post out that I haven’t taken the final version for a spin yet, but even the release candidate was a joy to fly. I imagine the final is even better. If you can stand a plane that flies at around 100mph, and don’t mind looking at an eye-popping realistic cockpit, give it a try.

By the way, this one would make a dynamite bush plane. Repainters, get your brushes ready.

Stealth Fighter: Old School

For years, my friend and publisher Francois Dumas has been threatening to put together the definitive Westland Lysander for FS. Lately, he and his elves have been burning the midnight oil, and the result is Lysander Special Operations, a package including the Lysander (duh), but also a set of saved flights, scenery, and documentation that will allow virtual pilots to relive the white-knuckle flights into and out of occupied France under cover of darkness. The work done by these bold pilots during the bleakest days of the war is nothing short of phenomenal, as is the plane that got them safely there and back.

I’ve always thought the Lysander (or Lizzie, as she’s affectionately known) was about the plug-ugliest thing that ever took wing, but apparently its abilities in the STOL department are breathtaking. Already, I’ve seen a report that one customer has manage to take off, fly a full pattern, and land again without ever leaving the length of the runway in Hawaii’s Dillingham airport. I expect that if you were a resistance fighter looking for backup or a quick escape, that bulbous form would be about the prettiest thing you’d ever seen. And thanks to developer Chuck Jodry and painter extraordinaire Jan Kees Blom, it’s available for FSX now.

A Tinkerer’s Buddy

And now for something completely different… this week, scenery publishers Orbx released a tool that’s a little off the beaten track, even for them. It’s a little utility called “FSX Go“. Essentially, it allows FSX users to preconfigure their sim with any number of custom parameters before launching into a flight.

Rather than try to explain what that means, let me give you an example of how I use it: I have two FSX Go profiles that I use most frequently–one called “Scenery Testing” and one named “Flying”. The scenery testing profile is configured to launch FSX in windowed mode (so I can use Instant Scenery to place objects) with a number of the “sliders” such as terrain texture resolution, water effects, mesh resolution, etc. set to full so I can see the full frame-rate impact of anything I do.

In the “Flying” profile, certain things, such as autogen density, water effects, and ground scenery shadows, are set to lower levels for smoother flying. This profile also launches in full-screen, and could (if I chose to) also use the DX10 preview mode. Basically, anything you can set in the fsx.cfg file can be set automatically in FSX Go.

The other nicety is that you can associate a profile with a particular flight. That means my scenery testing profile will automatically launch my current Stark’s Twin Oaks saved flight whenever I double-click it. Is this revolutionary? Not at all. But the time it saves and flexibility it offers is more than worth the meager price of less than ten bucks, US. If you tweak much with your sliders or your fsx.cfg, you’ll like this.

Say Hi to Bob

ORBX has another little goody for you, and this one’s free. They call him Bob, and he’s basically an “airplane” that allows you to travel on foot through the FSX world. Bob’s very helpful when you’ve just gotten some new high-detail scenery and want to have a look around, or for hanging out on the ramp and plane spotting. He can walk, run, and even walk on water. Sorry, you’ll have to bring your own wine. Get to know Bob on the ORBX freeware downloads page.

I could go on about the great add-ons that continue to spew forth, but my meds are wearing off and I’m starting to see double. Have a most excellent Christmas and enjoy your time with family, friends, and maybe a new toy or two. You could do worse than pick from the above.

Happy Holidays!

If the end of the year is a time for reflection I only wish that we had the time to reflect.  Heavy snow forces us all into a period of relative inactivity if only because the lure of the woodburner is strong and any accompanying drinking reduces the urge to get out and actually do something.  This morning, aware of the dangers of leaving things too late, I set out into the snow with my wife, Grace and Archie.  We were the only people out, leaving solitary tracks in the snow, and it was a nice break from the heat of the house.  Both dogs had a good run and whilst the scenery was very festive it was the silence that was most striking.  I am not sure whether it was the fog or the snow that deadened all sound, maybe it was a combination of the two, but it was very marked.

It seems that we will be having a white Christmas after all.  Even if no snow falls tomorrow there should still be plenty about to set the scene.  Happy Christmas all.

Things are so hectic at this time of year so exercising the dogs has had to fit around other things.  This meant that after the first real snowfall we have had I had to head up into the forest very early in the morning.  This does come with its advantages even if dragging myself out of bed wasn’t easy – firstly we got to see the sunrise cast its orange light through the trees and secondly I had early warning of any birds as it was pretty easy to spot pheasant tracks in the snow.  Whilst we are on the subject of tracks in the snow I must say that as a child I really loved the Snowman animation based on the book by Raymond Briggs.  However, one part always drew out the child pedant in me…the tracks left in the snow by the fox as it ran into the forest.  Now, foxes tend to leave a single line of tracks and the one in the film left two distinct parallel lines.  What makes me laugh is that as a child it was perfectly reasonable to indulge myself in a fantasy where a snowman can fly and ride a motorbike, but the fox tracks had to be right.  There you go, I have now got that off my chest.  We came across a fox track in the snow and I couldn’t resist taking the photo.

Both dogs had fun, charging about like idiots, but that was it.  A wonderful start to the day.  We have visitors arriving soon and our Christmas will start with a vengeance, as it seems my cold and sore throat has done.  If I don’t get to update this diary as often as I might like over the Christmas period I will wish you all well now, and hope that you have a peaceful and safe break.

I am not sure where the time has gone.  It isn’t as if Christmas is a surprise as we know when it is coming, but it always seems to creep up at the last minute and pounce.  We had family up on the weekend of the 12th and 13th and little time was spent actively training the dogs – in fact no time was spent training the dogs.  They had a good run on heather but it wasn’t as if they had any direction. I just let them do what comes naturally.  We had a good few days out though.  In a small village nearby we came across a front garden decked out to celebrate Christmas, with a father Christmas scaling a wall and a selection of lights and signs.  The model that particularly caught my eye was Mother Christmas and her child…a particularly entertaining take on the whole proceedings.

This is what happens when daddy shovels the snow..

recooperating

"Going for the green" squeaker ball

It's in here somewhere

Diggin it out...

Our yard this afternoon..

Luna turned 2 today.. time seriously flies.  So many things have happened in the past 2 years (I will spare you the details).  Instead I will tell you about her day.

It started with me feeding her breakfast as I waited for the oven to heat up to put cinnamon buns in (no, not for her, for my husband and I).. Then I suited up and we went out for a walk.  It was a bit of an adventure as there was nearly a foot of snow, and no plowing had been done. I couldn’t even tell where the sidewalk was by sight, had to rely on memory.  We didn’t stay out more than an hour as Luna seemed to be getting cold. But she enjoyed herself… eating snow, climbing around in it, sniffing it, etc.  At one point her whole front end disappeared as she jumped down from what I figure was the curb or something. Rather hilarious.

The rest of the day was spent napping, and fussing at our feet anytime we showed signs of going out.  Chris took her out into the yard with him as he shoveled a path to the bird feeder and they played outside with one of her squeaker toys. He would toss it into the snow and she would try and find it. But she didn’t want to sniff the snow up so she wouldn’t put her head in far.  Over time she figured out a routine to avoid having to pick it up covered in snow, she would paw it out of the drift until it was uncovered then grab it.

Overall I think she had a good birthday. Must have, she’s been napping on the couch with me for a couple hours now.. waiting for our Chris to come home from work…

(check out some of the early posts to see puppy pics.. if you haven’t seen what she looked like when I brought her home)

Last week in Centralia, Washington, it was 10 degrees with 4 inches of ice on the pond. Then a warm, wet storm system blew in from the south Pacific (we call this the “Pineapple Express”) and we are back to our usual soggy but mild winter weather. So with the ice off the pond, it was time for water retrieves doubled with a land retrieve on the other side of the pond.

During the last week at home, while Cooper was recovering from his gastrointestinal distress, we worked on the beginning of some handling drills. This included “whistle-sits” where he sits immediately upon a single whistle tweet, facing me, at any audible distance.

Cooper, after a "whistle-sit", waiting for further instructions

If anyone has any doubts about the retrieve drive of an Irish Water Spaniel, they only have to watch Cooper in action. The challenge is to keep him in control until released. I will put him up against a Lab any day, which of course is what a hunt trial is all about. Anyway, at the start of this series of photos, Cooper is staring down range, waiting for the launch of either a duck onto land or a dummy into the water.

Waiting for the launching of a bird across the pond

Having heard "Cooper", he launches himself after the dummy

Blowing right past a set of decoys set out as a distraction

Returning with the dummy

According to Cooper, this is what being an Irish Water Spaniel is all about. He is off the dog-show hook for a while now that Tooey is our current queen of the dog shows.

Today I was fortunate because I was able to hand off my camera to Annette (owner/handler of Dillon, another hunt trialing IWS who shares a grandfather with Cooper). She took these photos of Cooper and myself as we worked as a “team.” It was great to get some documentation of this process. Thanks, Annette.

Today’s field training session with Cooper started on a cold crisp morning of 10 degrees. The set up was 4 long single retrieves averaging 150 yards. Cooper’s task was to mark a duck falling into cover and navigate the undulating terrain to find and return with the bird.

In the ideal world, both in hunting and hunt tests, once the dog locates and picks up the bird, it stays in his mouth until the dog delivers it to hand. This is important so that if the bird is merely wounded, it will not escape, as it might if set down while the dog is attending to other business, such as shaking off water upon exiting a pond.

Today, due to some unknown cause, Cooper was experiencing some “gastrointestinal distress,” but his spirit and drive was undiminished. He relieved himself several times before our training session and was driving at full speed on his retrieves without any problem.

Until duck #3.

Returning at full speed with duck in mouth (and Cooper is a sprinter by nature), he abruptly stopped at 50 yards out and assumed the position appropriate to another lower intestinal event. While he completed this untimely call of an irritated colon, the duck stayed firmly locked in his jaws. And then he was back into high gear, made his usual spinning stop into the heel position, and handed off the bird before blazing out for duck #4.

Good hold. Good boy!

Today we went to the woods in search of woodcock.  Having found an area that held them it only seemed sensible to let Archie have a go and test out his bird handling skills.  Within a minute of reaching what I believed was a promising area they both put up a bird with no indication or forewarning – in fact I think it took them both by surprise.  About ten minutes later Archie went on point adjacent to a pile of brash.  He was obviously on top of the scent as he couldn’t get his nose and body closer to the ground.  I crept up on him and clicked him forward, which he did in a series of short, sharp jerks, then suddenly ran forward seeming to lose the scent.  He then ran about obviously hunting again so I called him back.  As we walked back past the spot he had pointed a woodcock got up from a position behind where we had been.  I can’t see that it had been there all along or I would have literally trodden on it, so can only guess that it held very tight, then moved to another spot…do woodcock do this?  Anyway, we missed it.

A few minutes later, with no dogs in sight, I caught a glimpse of a rabbit moving fast around some vegetation ahead of me.  This was closely followed by Grace.  Archie appeared from behind me and ran towards the commotion so I dropped him.  Grace however went after the rabbit, yipping like an idiot.  Not a good end to the session.  Needless to say the rabbit escaped unscathed.

I took both dogs into the forest this morning in the drizzle.  I really wasn’t in the right frame of mind to take them onto the hill on account of a busy day ahead with little time to spare.  Both dogs leapt from the car and milled around me while I locked doors, checked for the whistle, tucked the leads away, zipped up my jacket and so on before I told them to get on.  Archie ran ahead a little way but really didn’t run very hard and Grace put a bit of distance between me and her then proceeded to plod along at the pace of a labrador.  It really looked like we were all going through the motions rather than enjoying an hour in the outdoors.  I decided that we must be bored.  To counter this I turned left into the forest and proceeded to walk a route through the trees that had no formal path.  The moment I turned off the normal track both dogs went into overdrive.  I can honestly say that I haven’t seen them run like this for quite a while.  They were both hunting very hard.

We walked through the conifers to emerge in an area of mixed conifer, willow, birch and bracken.  It was very wet and keeping track of the dogs was tricky.  Archie went on point and we produced a nice fat woodcock which was great as this was his first woodcock.  He dropped to the whistle without even attempting to move forward as he watched it away.  Later Grace went on point and then put up two snipe alongside the path.  The dogs had a great time running flat out for about an hour. 

I later came into another clearing that seemed to be dotted with children’s camps.  They were very well built camps surrounding a few very carefully constructed fireplaces.  This woodland is too far from the village for ‘modern’ children to walk to so I can only assume this was a Forest School site where the local school children come to learn how to build camps and make fires.  If this is not the case the only other explanation is that this is where city bankers come, paying good money, to find their inner self…no doubt at some cost.  I really hope it is the former.

I took both dogs into the forest this morning in the drizzle.  I really wasn’t in the right frame of mind to take them onto the hill on account of a busy day ahead with little time to spare.  Both dogs leapt from the car and milled around me while I locked doors, checked for the whistle, tucked the leads away, zipped up my jacket and so on before I told them to get on.  Archie ran ahead a little way but really didn’t run very hard and Grace put a bit of distance between me and her then proceeded to plod along at the pace of a labrador.  It really looked like we were all going through the motions rather than enjoying an hour in the outdoors.  I decided that we must be bored.  To counter this I turned left into the forest and proceeded to walk a route through the trees that had no formal path.  The moment I turned off the normal track both dogs went into overdrive.  I can honestly say that I haven’t seen them run like this for quite a while.  They were both hunting very hard.

We walked through the conifers to emerge in an area of mixed conifer, willow, birch and bracken.  It was very wet and keeping track of the dogs was tricky.  Archie went on point and we produced a nice fat woodcock which was great as this was his first woodcock.  He dropped to the whistle without even attempting to move forward as he watched it away.  Later Grace went on point and then put up two snipe alongside the path.  The dogs had a great time running flat out for about an hour. 

I later came into another clearing that seemed to be dotted with children’s camps.  They were very well built camps surrounding a few very carefully constructed fireplaces.  This woodland is too far from the village for ‘modern’ children to walk to so I can only assume this was a Forest School site where the local school children come to learn how to build camps and make fires.  If this is not the case the only other explanation is that this is where city bankers come, paying good money, to find their inner self…no doubt at some cost.  I really hope it is the former.

I know Grace isn’t old, only turning four in January, but I have an inkling that she may have backed Archie today.  Under normal circumstances if she came in and pointed behind Archie I would put this down to picking up the same scent, but this time was slightly different in that a) whenever Archie repositioned she did too (without attempting to overtake and steal the point), and b) the point came to nothing more than ground scent, or a running bird that I didn’t let them follow.  I know that Grace wouldn’t point normally unless she was sure, and I know that Archie is working it all out at his age, so I have to come to the conclusion that Grace backed Archie.  I will see if it happens again.

We walked through the forest before heading onto the hill and whilst it wasn’t bitterly cold the air contained a few large snow flakes.  The light was wonderful, really showing up the colours in only the way that low winter light can.  I ran both dogs separately to begin with and they both ran very well.  The wind was swirling about so it was not worth correcting their beats on account of my perception of the wind direction, as this would probably be wrong so I let them work it out for themselves.  My confirmation that this was the right thing to do came when I ran both dogs together and whilst they ran a fair distance apart still worked what appeared to be the same wind.

Grace ran very well, keeping very flat.  Archie did ok too.  They must have had a good forty minutes running each, not including the exercise they had getting to and from the site.  Whilst the light made for a nice view it really showed up Grace’s ribs.  Both dogs will go on increased rations as of today.

On the way back we walked through an area of regenerating conifers.  Grace went off ahead but Archie swung on point ahead of me.  I moved him forwards and a cock pheasant lifted.  It didn’t make a sound and Archie dropped to the ’sit’.  Altogether a very calm affair.

I know Grace isn’t old, only turning four in January, but I have an inkling that she may have backed Archie today.  Under normal circumstances if she came in and pointed behind Archie I would put this down to picking up the same scent, but this time was slightly different in that a) whenever Archie repositioned she did too (without attempting to overtake and steal the point), and b) the point came to nothing more than ground scent, or a running bird that I didn’t let them follow.  I know that Grace wouldn’t point normally unless she was sure, and I know that Archie is working it all out at his age, so I have to come to the conclusion that Grace backed Archie.  I will see if it happens again.

We walked through the forest before heading onto the hill and whilst it wasn’t bitterly cold the air contained a few large snow flakes.  The light was wonderful, really showing up the colours in only the way that low winter light can.  I ran both dogs separately to begin with and they both ran very well.  The wind was swirling about so it was not worth correcting their beats on account of my perception of the wind direction, as this would probably be wrong so I let them work it out for themselves.  My confirmation that this was the right thing to do came when I ran both dogs together and whilst they ran a fair distance apart still worked what appeared to be the same wind.

Grace ran very well, keeping very flat.  Archie did ok too.  They must have had a good forty minutes running each, not including the exercise they had getting to and from the site.  Whilst the light made for a nice view it really showed up Grace’s ribs.  Both dogs will go on increased rations as of today.

On the way back we walked through an area of regenerating conifers.  Grace went off ahead but Archie swung on point ahead of me.  I moved him forwards and a cock pheasant lifted.  It didn’t make a sound and Archie dropped to the ’sit’.  Altogether a very calm affair.

I took Archie to the vets this morning for his boosters and a kennel cough vaccine.  This took me in a direction away from the hills so I ended up on the racecourse with both dogs relatively early in the morning.  There had been a sharp frost overnight.  I concentrated on directional work, sending both dogs into the bracken one way, then turning them another and it all seemed to go ok.  On the main track I decided to throw my hat over Archie as he headed away from me and drop him on the whistle.  The idea here is that eventually he will drop to the hat alone.  Obviously a dog that drops to flying hats has only limited use to anyone other than a frenzied milliner, but I rather hope that he will respond to the movement, rather than the hat itself, thereby training him to drop to the flush…well, that’s the theory.

I threw the hat three times over him and dropped him to the whistle.  On the fourth he dropped without the whistle – great.  I tried this a few times and he did the same – he dropped to the hat.  I really wanted to capitalise on the fact that I think he actually dropped to the flush the last time we were on the moor.  If I can embed this response I will be very happy.  As you can see in the photo, Grace ran on, ignoring the flying hat and Archie, preferring to tuck into the tasty morsels left by a passing horse…rather typically.

Later on, when both, dogs were free running I was concentrating on Grace.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Archie, flat out, bounding over the dead bracken in hot pursuit of a jack snipe.  I can only assume that the bird didn’t look enough like a hat to cause him to drop.

I took Archie to the vets this morning for his boosters and a kennel cough vaccine.  This took me in a direction away from the hills so I ended up on the racecourse with both dogs relatively early in the morning.  There had been a sharp frost overnight.  I concentrated on directional work, sending both dogs into the bracken one way, then turning them another and it all seemed to go ok.  On the main track I decided to throw my hat over Archie as he headed away from me and drop him on the whistle.  The idea here is that eventually he will drop to the hat alone.  Obviously a dog that drops to flying hats has only limited use to anyone other than a frenzied milliner, but I rather hope that he will respond to the movement, rather than the hat itself, thereby training him to drop to the flush…well, that’s the theory.

I threw the hat three times over him and dropped him to the whistle.  On the fourth he dropped without the whistle – great.  I tried this a few times and he did the same – he dropped to the hat.  I really wanted to capitalise on the fact that I think he actually dropped to the flush the last time we were on the moor.  If I can embed this response I will be very happy.  As you can see in the photo, Grace ran on, ignoring the flying hat and Archie, preferring to tuck into the tasty morsels left by a passing horse…rather typically.

Later on, when both, dogs were free running I was concentrating on Grace.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Archie, flat out, bounding over the dead bracken in hot pursuit of a jack snipe.  I can only assume that the bird didn’t look enough like a hat to cause him to drop.

It was one of those mornings when toast and a cup of tea seemed far more appealing than taking the dogs out, not only on account of the drizzle but the fact that I could see the cloud base at about 1000 feet, meaning that visibility on the moor would be down to a few metres.  Nevertheless we headed for the hill.  What I couldn’t see from the windows of my house is that we had had some snow in the night above about 1200 feet as this was obscured by the low cloud.  It was cold.

Both dogs ran quite well, although it was difficult seeing either of them in the heather dappled with snow.  Before long Grace came on point.  It was a very solid point which was clearly backed by Archie who was following close behind.  I stood to take a photo before finding out that the camera memory card was full.  I then stood there in the drizzle and deleted photo after photo.  I must have stood there for a good five minutes before I was ready to move.  Both dogs duly stood there unwavering although this can’t have been comfortable for Archie who had backed in a now characteristic semi-dropped position.  The lens on the camera got wet, hence the blur.

When I was ready to move the dogs forwards something odd happened.  Grace moved forward from what was a solid point, flagged her tail rapidly, sniffed the ground then moved to the right as if to say ‘nothing here – just ground scent’.  She is usually right so I was surprised when Archie moved ahead and went on point, and even more surprised when a hen pheasant flushed from what must have been inches from the position Grace’s nose had been in earlier.  The bird rose and wheeled round over Grace’s head.  I blew the whistle, Archie dropped into a sit position and Grace chased the bird for a couple of metres before realising that this was futile.  We then carried on.

It wasn’t a bad session in that we had found game, but Grace is usually so accurate with her interpretation of scent this puzzled me.  Maybe it was the snow, who knows.

It was one of those mornings when toast and a cup of tea seemed far more appealing than taking the dogs out, not only on account of the drizzle but the fact that I could see the cloud base at about 1000 feet, meaning that visibility on the moor would be down to a few metres.  Nevertheless we headed for the hill.  What I couldn’t see from the windows of my house is that we had had some snow in the night above about 1200 feet as this was obscured by the low cloud.  It was cold.

Both dogs ran quite well, although it was difficult seeing either of them in the heather dappled with snow.  Before long Grace came on point.  It was a very solid point which was clearly backed by Archie who was following close behind.  I stood to take a photo before finding out that the camera memory card was full.  I then stood there in the drizzle and deleted photo after photo.  I must have stood there for a good five minutes before I was ready to move.  Both dogs duly stood there unwavering although this can’t have been comfortable for Archie who had backed in a now characteristic semi-dropped position.  The lens on the camera got wet, hence the blur.

When I was ready to move the dogs forwards something odd happened.  Grace moved forward from what was a solid point, flagged her tail rapidly, sniffed the ground then moved to the right as if to say ‘nothing here – just ground scent’.  She is usually right so I was surprised when Archie moved ahead and went on point, and even more surprised when a hen pheasant flushed from what must have been inches from the position Grace’s nose had been in earlier.  The bird rose and wheeled round over Grace’s head.  I blew the whistle, Archie dropped into a sit position and Grace chased the bird for a couple of metres before realising that this was futile.  We then carried on.

It wasn’t a bad session in that we had found game, but Grace is usually so accurate with her interpretation of scent this puzzled me.  Maybe it was the snow, who knows.

So these are some lucky shots.. due to the fact that the next day, I went to my parents land and they had bush hogged (aka, mowed down) all the long grass/bush/pricker/weed growth.. So no more exploring through the “brush”

Luna had a blast though, here are a couple shots.

Here is her "fake pointing" the songbirds in the garden.. wish I had it at a different angle.. might be more convincing

Love this shot.. so natural/rustic...

She blends right in.. don't know which version of this shot I like better..

Enjoy, I’m off to pack for my parents again.. today we hike to the river. Luna could use the exercise and mental stimulation hiking always brings. Looking forward to it greatly. hopefully will provide for some nice shots too.

So…. just thought I would share the photos I just put up on Luna’s Blog here too, as I like the shot. (It’s my blog and I can do what I want to… )

Love this shot.. wish her head could be seen a little bit more, but oh well, goes with the feel of exploring..

same shot in sepia...

I don’t know which version I like more.. not totally happy with this “sepia” action that was already in Adobe CS2.. I could use a touch more warmth to it, less like a BW>. but that may  just be my preference. What do you think??

Feel free to check out my other blog too, about Luna..  http://akgvizslainspiration.wordpress.com

Thanks, now back to my parents to visit. whoot