Questioning

I'm beginning to really question what kind of hunting dog Omar the Wunderpuppy is really going to become.

Case in point, yesterday (Saturday).

I headed down to Gobbler's Knob Hunting Reserve between Canton and Banner, with 3 purposes.  Number 1: Clean the clubhouse for next weekend's test.  Number 2: Help anybody that showed up in their preparations for the test.  Number 3: Put out some birds to work Omar on and see if I could get him to connect all the elements, point, bird flushes, shot, and retrieve. 

2 chapter members showed up to prepare for their text nest week.  Both are running Natural Ability, both dogs are Wirehaired Pointing Griffons, both dogs are from the same litter, but the owners did not know each other until last month at another training day. 

Primarily, both of those owners wanted to work on the track portion.  So they got a couple of pheasants and one of the more experienced members of the chapter and I set the birds out.  One dog did a really great job, the other didn't do terrible, but it fell short of good.  All in all, I think they will do alright.  The only thing that matters is that the owner is happy with the performance and uses the test as an opportunity to evaluate where they need to focus training.

The other person there had his German Shorthaired Pointer which he is trying to get to become more steady.  The dog points very nicely, but as soon as you make a step, she wants to break in on the bird.  He worked the dog on three or four birds.

Finally, I wanted to get birds in front of Omar and get him ready for hunting season. He has a good strong point, and does a nice job of retrieving when we train at home, but at the last training day, we would point but I couldn't get him to follow up with a retrieve to hand.  He just didn't seem interested then. 

Not a problem yesterday.  I put out 6 chukar partridge, in 2 differnt set-ups.  The results were spectacular.  On the last bird, I had one of the other guys take some photos for me.

Omar, pointing the bird.

Another of Omar on point.

On Point.  Can you tell where the bird is?

The circle in the center of the picture is around a blaze orange clothespin.  This marks the location of the bird launcher.  It is about 30' in front of Omar.

I'm moving in to flush the bird.

After the flush, taking down the bird. 

And a retrieve to hand.

The great thing about this is the way Omar reacts.  If you notice in the pictures after I move in and the bird has been flushed, Omar is still standing in the same location.  When the bird is shot, he STILL didn't move.  Finally, just as the bird hit the ground, Omar broke from his point and moved in on the dead bird, which he retrieved to hand.

Man, that was FUN!

So do you think he is going to be a decent bird dog?

AWOL

I'm going AWOL.

Actually, it AWL.

Omar the Wunderpuppy is going to the breeders near Rockford for the week, and then Dragonfly, The Man From Ohio, and I are heading for the Rocky Mountain National Rendezvous, a little South of Douglas, Wyoming. for the week. On our way back from the RMNR, there is going to be a stop at Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, NE, and then Cabela's in Sidney, NE.

The beatings will resume upon my return.

Test Results

Well, it went alright, I guess.

Omar and I arrived at the hunting club Saturday morning at 6:20am. After getting Omar out of the truck to stretch his legs and makes his bladder gladder. Then it was into the clubhouse to check in, meet the judges, and get the day started. After some instructions from the judges we headed to the field for the search portion of the test.

We were running 5th out of 10 dogs. At 7:00am there was a lot of dew on the grass and the temperature was comfortable. But by the time we ran, it was after 9:00. The dew was gone and the temp was steadily climbing. However, we got lucky. Just a couple of minutes before we started our run, clouds rolled in. Heavy clouds. I considered rolling up my truck windows before we started. And the temperature dropped a couple of degrees. After dumping a bunch of water on Omar to cool him down and giving him a good drink of water, we were off for our 20 minutes search. About 8 minutes into the search, Omar bumped a quail, it flushed with no point. DAMNIT. We continued on the search around the corner and Omar found the same quail that he flushed a minute earlier. But this time, he locked onto a beautiful point. I moved in to flush the bird. Awesome. We continued on. Omar had 2 more good points, and we made it through the field portion in good shape. At the end of the search, the judges told me to leash my dog and head back to the gallery. I call Omar, and he is not interested in coming to me, but in continuing to hunt. While I like his desire and enthusiasm, I am pissed because this will probably ding the cooperation score. More waiting while the last 5 dogs run.

The next portion is the tracking. Again, we run 5th. When it is our turn, we head across the field to the blind to wait while the judges release the pheasant to run. They bring us out of the blind and begin their explanation. "There's the feather pile, and when we set him down, the bird jumped over there," as the judges point to a milkweed about 10 feet away. I ask if I can lead my dog to where the bird landed and they responded, "I would." So I did. Showed Omar the feathers and lead him to the milkweed, and released him. He started out good for about 15 feet, then got off track and went into a search, first to the left, then way the hell out to the right. Disappeared over a hill. Comes back over the hill. Stops to crap. Starts searching again, and BAM!!! slams on point. Judges tell me go get my dog and head back. I'm thinking were screwed. But then, a glimmer of hope. When the guy taking birds from the crate out to the judges came back from taking the 7th bird out, he comes over and tells me the judges are recalling Omar to run a second track after the 10th dog has ran. Not because of anything negative, but they needed to do more evaluation. SWEET!!! I'll take the second chance. After the 10th dog ran, Omar and I go out to run our second track. As I come up the judges explain the situatition. After they discussed my run, they figured out that Omar had crossed into the track for the dog that had run before me and that was the pheasant he had pointed, so they wanted to get into an area with less scent and run another track. So I bring Omar up to the second feather pile, get him interested, and release him He tracked for probably 20 feet, then lost the line and began a more compressed search than before, and then locked on point again. "Go get your dog." I'm thinking, well, he tracked, but not very far. If I get a 2, I'll be pleased.

The final portion of the test is the water. I went into this with no worries. My turn comes, I head to the water's edge, pick up a bumper, get Omar excited and throw. Without hesitation, he moves into the water and grabs the dummy. Second throw, same result. Should be a 4 no problem.

The physical exam was fine, all teeth, no extras, good bite. coat fine, testes intact.

AND WE ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Except for the waiting for scores.

Finally, they judges step up to begin announcements. After the formalities, they begin reading scores.

They get to Omar. Eyes: OK Bite/Teeth: OK Testes: OK Coat: Medium Dense Medium Harsh
Temperment: NORMAL Not Gun Shy

Scoring:
Use of Nose: 4
Search: 4
Water: 4
Pointing: 4
Tracking: 3
Desire to Work: 4
Cooperation: 4


For a total of 110 and a PRIZE 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just about fell over. The only point I dropped all day was on the track. Max score in the Natural Ability test is 112. This is a PHENOMINAL score. All the hours and days of work paid off. Omar lived up to his potential and made a great impression.


Now, all he needs is his x-rays for PennHip hip dysplasia check, and he is ready to get laid.

Testing Day

Tomorrow is Testing Day.

Omar the wunderpup has his NAVHDA Natural Ability Test.

We have to be on the road by 5:15 in the morning. Hour and 15 minute drive to the Preserve. A little run time, and the test starts at 7:00am.

The test combines 4 areas, three of which count towards Omar's overall score, and one that is purely a courtesy evaluation.

First off, will be the field portion. Omar has to hunt for 20 minutes. They will be judging his desire, cooperation, and pointing. The second portion of the test is a track. Judges pull the flight feathers on one wing, and then pull some breast feathers where they put the bird down, and let it run. Once the bird has run a sufficient distance, I bring the dog up to the feathers, get him interested, and he has to track the bird. Doesn't have to catch it, retrieve it, or anything else, just simply track where the bird ran. The third and final portion is the water test. I bring the dog up to a pond, select a retrieving bumper, and using the bumper, I have to get Omar to swim twice. When he comes out of the water, the judges will do a physical exam. Check his teeth, coat, whether he is intact. And then we wait for the scores.

I know Omar is capable of doing very well. But I am nervous as hell.

Omar's Sister

I just found some pictures and thought I would share.

My dog, Omar the Wunderpuppy who turns 1 in just over a week (May 5), has 4 brothers and sisters.

The smallest pup at birth is now living in Minnesota, and her picture just showed up in Versatile Hunting Dog, the monthly magazine of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association.

It is the picture in the upper left on THIS PAGE.

Sensable.

Obviously, Omar the wunderpuppy has more sense than I.

Yesterday and today, I was delivering curbside recycling totes in a town where my company is preparing to start an new program. 239 totes in two days. The company CEO (Dad) assembled and I delivered. This puts my total of carts delivered somewhere in the 1500 range since the last week of August.

Anywho, I mentioned Sunday that it snowed here. Roads=CRAP. Interstate was clear, but most other roads had a least some problems. Roads in the town where I was delivering suuuccckkkkkeeeeddddd. Several times I had to put the truck in 4-wheel drive. For some reason fishtailing while trying to start moving up a hill with a trailer on is not such a great thing.

While I have been up doing these deliveries, Omar has gone up with me. Yesterday he spent most of the time in the truck with me. Today, I tied him out to the semi trailer we were assembling totes for a few hours.

I got back to the trailer for my third load of the day just as today's snow started to fall. In a matter of a couple minutes, visibilty was reduced to 1/4 mile. Me: Out in the snow, getting soaked as the snow covers me. Omar: went underneath the semi trailer and sat down, out of the snow, and watched me with a puzzled look on his face.

After I got the trailer loaded, since dad was going to go deliver a few other totes, I put Omar back in his kennel in the truck. Me: In and out of the cab, dumping snow on myself, hot and cold. Omar: sleeping in the kennel.

Lucky Dog.

Busy Weekend

Friday: Did nothing for Halloween. Packed the truck for the weekend.

Saturday morning: Up and around early, leaving the house by 7:00 to hit the road. Drove to the kennel where I got Omar. Got there between 9:30 and 10. After a short discussion with the kennel owner and a run for Omar, I was on back on the road. From the kennel I had to get to a 12:00 Masonic Lodge meeting in Milton, WI. I arrived about 11:15 and proceeded to get changed into 18th century dress. The lodge meeting is for a regularly constituted plural membership traveling Masonic Lodge. The meeting lasted about a hour and a half. At least I dodged a train during the meeting. When it came time to begin the election of new officers (one of the primary reasons for having this meeting), the current Worshipful Master suggested that he wouldn't mind staying in the East for another year, as he is trying to organize having a Lodge meeting in Wyoming next July. No one complained so I get to stay in the South for another year.

Saturday afternoon: After the meeting, I headed back down the road to Janesville to get checked into the hotel. As I was hauling my stuff up to the room, I see two good looking women waving from the pool. Not something that normally happens to me. I look again and it is Red and Ktreva. So after dropping off my stuff I head into the pool area where Wil and Contagion are sitting at the hot tub drinking beer. Of course they offered me a beer and I couldn't turn it down. After a couple hours at the pool, it was time to get ready for the Ball. Literally.

Saturday Night: Wil, Red, Contagion, Ktreva, and I headed to the Women's Club Building for one of the coolest events of the year. The Ball started with Hors d'ourves and social time. At 6:00, we had a fine meal of Pork and vegetables, followed by a fine cake. I had prepared ahead of time and had a different wine for each course of the night. First, was a Leacock's 3-year old Rainwater Madeira as an aperitif. For the main course, I had a fine bottle of Williamsburg Winery Two Schilling Red-a semi-sweet red that was a perfect compliment to the pork. For dessert, I had a Leacock's 5-year old Malmsey Madeira. Following dinner, it was getting rather warm inside so I headed outside, along with several others. Within 10-minutes there were about a dozen folks standing outside and cigars were being passed. I was offered an Acid Wafe cigar. it was a good short smoke, in a really strange shape. Very fine. Finally, it was time to start the music. Everyone headed upstairs where the band was ready. The evening started with the Grand March and then there would be a couple of period dances followed by a couple songs by the band, The Stonering. This was the third year I have attended the Ball, but the first time I actually danced at it. The biggest lesson I learned. Hobnails on granite floor=VERY BAD. More than once I damn near ended up in the splits as a foot tried to slip out from underneath me. Note to self. Next year, put non-slip pads on the the bottom of the buckle shoes. The Ball finished with the three traditions. "Goddamn Dutch" (the song that got me flipped off in a bar one night), "A Toast to the Company" (as most of the people attending were members of the ONW Company), and a final Waltz. After the band finished, a drunken Wil kept requesting that I sing "Parting Glass. After a couple minutes of me trying to explain that this was not my show, Wes ( of Bodhran Roll, Please) started into the song dragging me along with him. So we sang it, and were joined on the chorus by several others and the Host of the evening singing the whole song with us. It really sounded good. After we got back to the Hotel, we gathered in Wil and Red's room for after Ball social hour. Buffalo Summer Sausage, Kitchen Cooked brand Cheesy Poofs, cookies and beer.

Sunday morning: Wil, Red, Contagion, Ktreva, and I went to breakfast and then it was back on the road. Time to go back and pick up Omar. When I arrived, he was running in the big run with his Grandpa T-Bird, Grandma Deia (and Italian Immigrant), and Tubby. I talked to the breeder and he said Omar was a very good boy. Also said he looked good, and he was impressed by how well responded to the commands and could tell that Omar has been very well socialized. He also commented that he was big (58 pounds Wednesday when we went to the vet to get a supply of Heartguard). Finally, he said that his color looks a lot like his old dog, Guido, and said that if Omar turns out half as good a hunter as Guido, he'll be a great dog (Guido had some really good prizes in the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association). Before we left, the breeder planted a couple of pigeons in launchers out behind the kennel and we took Omar out for some live bird work. It was beautiful. He was out working in the field and you could see when he caught wind of the bird. A couple of seconds later he had the bird located and locked on point. I should have taken a picture. Some dogs point only about 2' in front of there face, but Omar was between 5 and 10 feet back. A nice distance and one time I came up in front to flush the bird and the other the breeder moved up and Omar remained steady as we moved up and to the flush. Right after the flush he broke point and went to the launcher. It was absolutely amazing. Next weekend, we will be in the field hunting pheasant or quail or chuckar. We also grabbed a couple of frozen birds and used them get Omar interested in retrieving. He actually retrieved the birds basically to hand with a slight bit of coaxing. I was thrilled. It is really getting exciting.

Finally, we headed home, listening to the Bears game.

A good weekend.

Frustrations and Progress

I haven't blogged about the Omar, my wonderpuppy in a while, so I thought tonight it would be a good way to multi-task.

Sarah Palin is giving her speech to the RNC. So far, sounds really good.

But anyway, the puppy.

Two and a half weeks ago Omar went to his first Rendezvous. All went very well. Other than Thursday night he thought it better to tug on his leash than lay down and sleep. After 5 minutes, I decided it was better to keep him in his routine. Short walk to the truck for his kennel and the rest of the night was uneventful.

Of course everyone loved him. And most couldn't believe he was only 14 weeks old. The only time he barked was when people played with him. And oh how people played with him. Hours and hours. Sunday night, Omar was so tired he didn't really feel like eating. But that cleared up quickly.


Fast forward a week. Sunday morning I went out to mow the yard and thought it would be a good chance to let Omar run off some extra energy. It takes me about 90 minutes to get the yard finished. The whole time Omar was free to run with the farm dog.

Big mistake. I have spent quite a bit of this week going back to basics. The problem is that Omar had decided it is more fun to run around chasing cats with the farm dog and ignore me than follow commands. But, after being caught off guard by the leash flying over his head and my imposing frame stepping between the two dogs, we are making progress.


Then, last weekend Omar went to his second rendezvous. We had kids running through the camp all weekend, the shooting range not too far away, coyotes outside of camp (not really close, but they were audible). He took it all in stride. The first bark all weekend? Monday as we were getting ready to tear down. Everyone was amazed. The Man From Ohio made a comment over the weekend (right after someone else's dog ran to the end of his chain barking at a young child and scared the child so much he cried), that he didn't really like dogs at rendezvous. But if they were all like Omar, it would be alright. The issue is that dogs like Omar attend events and are good dogs, and others see these good dogs and think "I can bring my dog, too" when their dog is not good around people.


And then to today. I got home around 5:30 and brought Omar out of his kennel. I don't know what it was but he seemed to have an extra shot of energy. We spent about 45 minutes outside running, playing, and training. I was able to somewhat get his focus when he was playing with the farm dog. Still not to the level of response I will demand, but progress. When he playing with the farm dog he was in and out of some 5'-7' weeds, so I decided to take him across the road to do some more work in tall grass. I about fell over laughing the way he was running around.

I shot some video on my phone, but can't figure out how in the hell to get it off the phone (if anyone can tell me how to get videos off a motorola razr v2, please help). So for now, enjoy the photos.

Omar sitting
Omar laying down
Omar running

Growing Like a Weed

The dog that is.

As of today, Omar, my Spinone Italiano dog, is 11 weeks old. Growing like a weed. He has to duck to go under the chairs in the kitchen now.

And long legs from hell. I am firmly of the belief that he will be at least 90 pounds when full grown.

I have some frustrations with the training. He is figuring out the "come" command alright, as long we are not in the main house yard-there are too many smells to investigate (mostly cat crap that he proceeds to try and eat). However, we head out to a pasture and he listens well there.

Basic obedience is going well. Since I brought him home, he has only had 5 mistakes in the house-pretty much all of which were my fault for failing to pay attention. But he sleeps basically through the night-into the kennel about 11:00pm and ready to go out again about 6:00am. When we are in the house, if he needs to go out he heads for the door. When I get his attention, he will sit basically on command, and is doing very well with the "down" command to lay down.

The other thing that has me confident is so far, Omar has shown no signs of being gun shy. On the 4th of July when we went to Wil and Red's for the 5-B party, there were some fireworks being set off in the yard and they didn't phase him at all, except the one set of like 12 screamers - the kind that as soon as they come out of the tube they have a high-pitched screaming sound. Those bothered Omar, but they rest didn't seem to matter. This past weekend I started introducing him to the blank gun. I started out being very cautious how close to him I was when I fired, but he never noticed. So I got progressively closer. Tonight, I fired several blanks withing about 6-8' and it didn't bother him, never even flinched. THAT is good news.

The frustration right now, is trying to get him to "heel." Being a puppy, he likes to wander and explore and when I try to get him to heel, he tends to hang back or try to run ahead. When he tries to run ahead he ends up pulling on the leash and starts to wheeze. But we will get there soon.



And because they want it, for the ladies here is a slightly grainy photo I took on my new phone.

Approaching O-Hour

1200 June 30: Well, I am just about 80 hours away from the O-Hour, a.k.a. the arrival of Omar.

Thursday night after work, my buddy Rendog and I are heading North for the pick up, then turn around a head back home.

That'll give me three days with Omar prior to heading back to work the following Monday.

Spent the whole weekend working on final preparations. Saturday was a trip to Galesburg to Lowes and Tractor Supply Co. for lumber, dog food, a couple of water dishes, and a couple Kongs.

Saturday I worked until 3:00am Sunday morning building the raised kennel. After a few hours of sleep, Sunday was spent building the dog house to attach to the kennel. Stupid manufacturer supplied really crappy directions and the sheet metal for the roof doesn't fit worth a shit. Thank goodness I work for a sheet metal contractor and can get a decent one fabricated that will fit like it is supposed to. Tonight will be either painting the kennel and house or building a training table.

Posting may be light this week. I am still working on the post I promised in the comments last week about the real implications of the Heller ruling last week.

But until then and to satisfy those who really need the cutesy tootsy artsy fartsy pictures to coo over, here is a picture from last week of Omar swimming.

The Choice is Made

It has been a good weekend.

The Cubs have swept the White Sox and extended their home winning streak to 14 games and an overall 20 games over .500 record of 48-28. All in all, a really nice series for the Cubs. (as a side note: If you are in the Chicago area, head out to Lombard to Harry Caray's Steakhouse, where as long as the Cubs continue their home winning streak, Old Style beers are just $0.45)

Last night, I was in Rockford and met up with Contagion, Wes, and later Graumagus (of the currently defunct Frizzensparks). Wes, Contagion, and I met at Carlyle Brewery Co. Contagion and I were there about 10 minutes after 5:00, and stayed until 11:00. Wes joined us between 8:00 and 9:00. All in all, we drank 27 pints of dang good beer. We sang some Irish drinking songs, like the Galway Bay parody, Parting Glass, and the shanty Sailor's Prayer. When we left Carlyle, we went to Contagions, had a few more beers, and a bunch of hot dogs left from Contagions fun day at work.

The real reason I was at Rockford was because I had been out to the dog breeder's at Poplar Grove, looking at the puppies again and making my final decision on which puppy I am going to take.

The final decision: OMAR!!!!!

So on July 3rd, I will be heading up again after work to pick him up and head back that night. Bringing him home on the 3rd allows me to have 3 days at home with him to get him acclimated to my place. And then the training begins. 3-4 times a day. Plus, lots of other little bits of basics. The thing about Omar, he is HUGE. Doesn't even look like he is from the same litter as the others.

And for those of you who have to have the cutsy tootsy fix, excessively cute puppy pics.

Omar-almost like he is on point

Omar-walking across the carpet. Where the heck did he get that gay tail? He didn't have that last time.

Look at the camera!
Time to sleep
The 5 litter mates. clockwise from the bottom left. Bubbles (F, pink collar), Stringer (M, Lime Green collar), Kima (F, Purple collar), Bodie (M, Red Collar), Omar (M, Blue Collar-my pup).

Grandpa T-Bird. As the breeder says-if the pups turn into 1/4 of the dog grandpa is, they will be great dogs. T-Bird has been featured on 2 magazine covers, and at least one t.v. show as well. I was really glad to learn that he is part of the pedigree on these pups. T-Bird and Dia are the Sire and Bitch of the Kita, who is the Bitch for this litter.

So, now I have to finish the final preparations for the arrival. Finish the kennel, get my bedroom cleaned up and the crate set up, build a training table, and install a septic system. Finish reading a couple more books. Hopefully, all goes well.

Puppy update

Last Saturday afternoon I took off heading North. First things first, I made a stop in Rockford to meet up Contagion, Ktreva, Wes, and Bruce Wayne at Carlyle Brewing Co. Wes was a buzz killer and left early, after arriving late. Wes-you suck. At least you made it for a little while.

About 7:00, Contagion, Ktreva, and Bruce Wayne had to head to a football game and I was
off to the dog breeders.

I left Sunday afternoon, around 5:30. Sunday the folks getting one of the females and the guy getting the white male were there as well to view their puppies. And to top it all off, the owners of the sire came down from Wisconsin and brought him along. Huge. 96lbs, which is big for a Spinone.

The puppies are growing like weeds. The biggest male, Omar, was 9lbs on Saturday night when we weighed them. The little female was 6 lbs 12 ozs. The other three were all in the 7 lbs range. Sunday, we had them out into the damp grass three times, and exposed them to a quail the flight feathers plucked so all it could do was run. And, since the breeder is just naturally loud, I don't think there will be any problems with the dog being gun shy. He said the other day he dropped the metal pan he uses to feed them with and it didn't even bother the puppies. With all the rain and since he hadn't cleaned his gutters, the breeder was also getting a little bit of water in the basement room where the puppies stay and he ran a shop vac several times to clean up the water and it didn't bother the pups.

Right now, it looks like I will go up on July 3rd to pick up my pup. That will give me 3 days at home to get him used to being at my house and to being away from the litter-mates.

And now, since I have rambled on long enough, here are the pictures.





















All 5 puppies. The white pups from L to R: Bubbles (F), Kima (F), Stringer (M). The Brown males, on the left is Bodie and on the right is Omar.



















Omar.




















Omar playing with a paper towel tube.




















Omar: "Why aren't you playing, too?"





















Bubbles (L) and Omar with a big yawn.






































Now, that is a look from Kima.

They Grow So Fast

Well, I got updated pictures today of the puppies.

It has been basically decided that I will be getting Bodie or Omar, since I am interested in a brown male.

Their eyes are open, they are moving around, tails have been docked, and the color is changing.

This is what they looked like when they were born.

Bodie, Omar, and Kima (L to R)

Omar at 17 days

Bodie at 17 days

Omar at 25 days. Notice, the formerly white hair turning more brown.

Bodie at 25 days.

I am hoping to make at least a day trip up to see them for the first time this weekend.

He's Arrived

I am way the hell behind in getting this posted. Last week just got away from me.

A week ago today (Tuesday) I had an e-mail and a phone call from the dog breeder.

The puppies had arrived on Monday. Kita went into labor about 3:15am and the last of the 5 puppies was born after 7:00pm by c-section. The last two were both born by c-section.

3 males and 2 females. The females and one of the males are white, and the other 2 males are brown and white. The breeder named them: Bodie (brown male), Kima (white female), Omar (brown male), Bubbles (white female), Cutty (white male).

Hopefully in the next few weeks I can make a trip up to the breeders (about a 2 hour 15 min drive).

Figuring the breeder will keep the puppies with the mother for about 8 weeks, I should bring my puppy home around the 4th of July. I am excited and nervous. We have always had a farm dog, but a hunting dog is a whole new ball game for me. I have never tried to do training to that level that I will require of myself.


Now, my other task in preparation for the puppy's arrival, getting my kennel and run constructed, along with cleaning out some space in my room for his crate for nights.


If anybody has any pointers, I am glad to get any advice/help I can.

Cue the disco ball and red lights

Cause their about to get it on.

I had an e-mail the other night from my dog breeder. He sent picture of the sire and bitch he is going to use in his breeding this spring. I am on the list to get one of the male puppies out of this litter.

The Sire

The Bitch

In case you don't recognize them, these dogs are Spinoini Italianos
Spinonis are and old breed, with appearances in paintings going back centuries. However, the AKC has only recognized them for 8 years. They are a versatile hunting breed and run in the NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association). They point, retrieve, retrieve waterfowl, can blood track, among other things. In World War II, Americans taught them to track Nazis by their boot polish.

I am planning to train the pup I get myself. We'll see how that goes.

There will be lots of pictures and stories in the coming months.