Some of you may recall I started asking around 2 yrs ago about what kind of dog to get for my type of upland hunting and a companion for me and my wife. I did finally take the leap and got a 12 mo old started Lab.
I've had her out a few times now and she's starting to work noticably better each time out. Yesterday, I took her out to hunt some quail. I was really impressed, she pointed a covey with her left paw for a few seconds and I suspected there were quail there as this is a common spot to find them. The quail flushed a few seconds after I saw her point. Later she worked the steep side of a heavily brushed hill like a pro, flushing several birds while working very close to me.
I had recently read Mike Gould's book "The Labrador Shooting Dog", which I highly recommend for anyone training any dog. The one thing that struck me while hunting that hillside yesterday was Mike's statement about overhandling (too many commands) the dog. The less I said, the better Jas worked on that hill. Finally, I just got down to only saying anything to praise her when she came by after a flush. The rest of the time I just kept quiet and watched her work.
My brother-in-law shot a lot more than I off of Jas' flushes and she found some of his difficult to find birds.
I only shot a couple birds yesterday, but had one of the best times out there, ever.
Last edited by Chuck H; 11/20/06 09:57 AM.
