I tend to be a suspenders and a belt kind of guy. I like to have a good Plan B or backup just in case something happens. No surprises for me. If something can go wrong, it will go wrong. Especially on the road. I carry a few “back up” dog collars. It’s rare that I need them but a dog collar is an important part of my gear and I need an extra one in case a few things happen. It’s rare that a collar fails. It can happen but it’s not common. It’s more likely that another dog is going to chew that collar off your dog. Good to have a … [Read more...] about The Backup Dog Collar – Why I Carry a Spare Dog Collar with Tags
Dog Stories
Dog locations as you go in on a point
One of the great advantages of gps for pointing dogs is the ability to locate all dogs on the ground as you are walking in on a point. Knowing the location of every dog before you shoot on a covey rise is a great way to make sure an unfortunate accident doesn’t happen. There are many dangers in the life of a pointing dog. Accidental shootings are one of the most horrible. It’s not that uncommon that we have dogs on point but not every dog on the ground is involved. As we approach the dog on point, we are able to locate every dog using … [Read more...] about Dog locations as you go in on a point
Open Minded on Pointing Dogs
I think I’m pretty open minded when it comes to pointing dogs. I’ve had a few posts about my Setter, Cowboy, and I want folks to understand that I’m not against long haired dogs. My first memory of any dog in our house was a setter named Bit. She’s the first dog I got to hunt behind. My dad started with Brittanys back when they were still considered a “spaniel.” We had some of the best I’ve ever seen and he loved them over all other breeds. I always wanted an English pointer. I got Em when I was 30. She was the best dog I’ve ever owned. … [Read more...] about Open Minded on Pointing Dogs
Naming Dogs
I’ve always felt that picking a dog name was an important part of the puppy training process. Much like naming your children, a dog name will follow your dog around her entire life. It needs to be perfect and fit the dog’s personality. I don’t mind picking out a name before I’ve picked up a pup, but I reserve the right to change it within a week or two. I want to make sure it fits the dog. I also want to hear it out loud a good bit. Is this a name that I’m going to enjoy saying and hearing the next 10 to 12 years? I had a pup … [Read more...] about Naming Dogs
Em and The Logging Chains
There was a time when I was running four collar straps on my bird dogs. Each dog would wear an ID collar, an Ecollar, a beeper collar and a telemetry tracking collar. This would have been between 1992 and 2007. There were a lot of jokes about breeding dogs with longer necks. Folks were always concerned about how much weight was on the dogs neck and the stress that it placed them under. At times we could get it down to three straps by combining the Beeper and the ecollar. I even experimented with combining the tracking collars with Beepers … [Read more...] about Em and The Logging Chains
Why We Don’t Sell Duck Wings and Why It Doesn’t Matter
We don’t sell real duck wings on our website even though we could sell a bunch. I’m not sure the exact reason behind it but I know it has to do with duck being a federally controlled resource but they are migratory. I’m not sure if it’s illegal or just difficult but either way, we don’t sell them and it really doesn’t matter. Now I don’t say that because the use of feathers isn’t important in training your waterfowl Retreiver. It’s very important. Getting them comfortable with having feathers in their mouths is a big deal, they just don’t … [Read more...] about Why We Don’t Sell Duck Wings and Why It Doesn’t Matter