It’s very rewarding to watch young dogs mature…..especially Jack (CH Houston’s Blackjack x Northwoods Highclass Kate, 2013).
Then again, there’s nothing like running experienced bird dogs. This is sure a pretty sight: four- year-old Tripp (Houston x Northwoods Blue Babe), on left, and nine-year-old Jill (Gusty Blue x CH Houston’s Belle) honor Gert (I’m Houston’s Image x Blue Silk), an eight-year-old.
Boreas, our name for the male puppy out of Northwoods Blue Ox x Northwoods Chablis, went to his new home with the very nice Wiedmann family. He looks pretty comfy on the lap of one of the Wiedmann sons as he watches a Gopher hockey game.
In fading afternoon light, Sean (Northwoods Blue Ox x Houston’s Belle’s Choice, 2010), points a covey of wild quail in native broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus). Willow, a nice Tennessee Walking Horse owned by Arrowhead Farms, calmly grazes.
Land management of quail plantations is big business in southwestern Georgia…and a key component is fire. On one of our last days, plantation manager Matt burned an 80-acre piece.
Matt was pleased to get a good, clean burn. The only remaining vegetation is native longleaf and loblolly pines (Pinus palustris and P. taeda)—both of which have biological means to survive fires.
It was both gratifying and educational for Jerry and me to have so many dogs from our 2013 CH Elhew G Force x Northwoods Vixen litter. Sisters Kiah (on left) and Meg share point on a covey hiding in thick cover.
Litter brother to the pointer sisters above, Buddy points in front a young longleaf pine in its fire-protective “grass stage.”
Every March, I silently thank the gardener who, many years ago, surrounded our little rental cottage with plantings of robust Formosa azaleas (Rhododendron indicum ‘Formosa’).
Jerry works one-year-old Northwoods Vixen on her pattern. She looks good in this shot–hunting forward at a good distance–but Jerry is constantly watching and will nick her if she strays too far past the 2 o’clock position.
During a hunt, a bird dog’s place is in front of me. I want to see what it’s doing. My ideal pattern is when a dog covers the ground in a crossing pattern at the right distance while hitting likely bird areas. It must also keep track of me.
Many handlers use the clock analogy. A dog should spend most of its time in a pocket between 9 – 10 o’clock position on the left and the 2 -3 o’clock position on the right.
Good dogs seem to have a compass that keeps them oriented to my whereabouts, i.e., they can hunt and pay attention to me. The worst don’t have that capability and spend much of their time behind me or, something that really drives me crazy—yo-yo in and out.
Right- or left-handed dogs.
When a bird dog completes a cast to either side, it should turn forward. Due to terrain or wind direction, a forward movement isn’t always possible or practical and the dog should be given some leeway. I’ve noticed that dogs seem to be either right- or left-handed in their pattern. They’ll naturally turn out on one side of me and in (and back) on the other side. The pattern becomes a large clockwise or counterclockwise loop.
Wind and patterning.
Wind direction plays a big role in patterning—and rightly so from the dog’s point of view. Most dogs pattern wider and more laterally in a headwind because they tend to not want to run directly into it. In a tail wind, most dogs will run farther forward and work back towards me.
How to develop a pattern.
When dogs are puppies, many owners focus on bird work but this is also best time to develop a hunting pattern. Good habits are formed young!
Betsy and I begin patterning with our puppies’ first walks in the field. (They always wear short check cords.) We move slowly so puppies can stay in front. Often we change directions and call/sing to get their attention. Occasionally, a subtle and gentle tug on the check cord becomes necessary if a puppy wants to go behind or on either side.
Other tips.
• Don’t go back to get a puppy. It needs to learn a tough lesson—to pay attention to the handler and find the handler when it gets out of touch.
• Begin calling/singing when the puppy gets at the 10 and 2 o’clock positions. Don’t wait until the puppy is too lateral.
• Keep the walks/pattern work short when puppies are young. Consider their short attention spans.
When the puppy matures and becomes ecollar conditioned, pattern work can be continued (if necessary) with nicks and/or continuous stimulation.
In the end…
The goal is to find birds, not run the perfect pattern. In general, though, they’re not mutually exclusive. Over time, a dog that runs a good pattern will cover the ground more effectively, be easier to handle and, in the end, find more birds.
CH Shadow Oak Bo is posed at the conclusion of the 2013 National Championship with, from left to right, co-owner Butch Houston, scout Hunter Gates and handler Robin Gates.
At the Ames Plantation in February 2013, Shadow Oak Bo was named winner of the National Championship. What makes that remarkable is that Bo is an English setter, the first setter to win in 43 years. Even more astonishing, he was a repeat champion at this year’s National, an accomplishment not equaled by a setter since 1901/1902.
Bo is the buzz of the setter world—and really the entire field trial world—and therefore much discussed. His pedigree has been analyzed; his ancestors scrutinized. Theories abound as to the source of his talents. Due to his heterogeneous pedigree (constant out-crossing) Bo was described in a Pointing Dog Journal article as “catching lightning in a bottle.” Others have probably calculated his COI (Coefficient Of Inbreeding) and are madly searching pedigrees to see which females will match Bo’s.
I think the production of a dog such as Bo, like most bird dogs that outperform their peers, is simpler to describe yet far more work to actually accomplish. Certainly Bo’s success boils down to giving the right dog the right opportunities; but long before that, before Bo was born, there were years of effort and lots of miles behind bird dogs.
People were involved who really knew bird dogs, i.e., people who actually worked them, studied them and determined their true worth in the field and on wild birds. In my opinion, not much time was spent counting championships, looking at pedigrees, calculating COIs or thinking about line-breeding vs. out-crossing. Instead, they worked their dogs and bred one worthy, proven dog to another for generation after generation until “lightning in a bottle” appeared.
No matter the breeding methodology followed, success or failure depends exclusively on the selection of individual dogs. Period.
2X CH/4X RU-CH Houston’s Belle (2001 – 2011). Photo by Chris Mathan.
In October 2011 Jerry was interviewed by Chris Mathan of The Sportsman’s Cabinet and Strideaway. It’s a really good interview on the importance of females in a breeding program.
Chris asks, “What is the most important part of a breeding program?” and Jerry answers, “The female is the key.” For our English setter line, he says that Houston’s Belle and Blue Streak were the foundation dams. Both Belle and Streak were multiple grouse champions but “daughters of champions were better producers” for us. Belle produced Houston’s Belle’s Choice and Blue Silk is out of Streak.
Chris recently re-posted it on Strideaway. The values remain vital and it’s definitely worth a listen.
(Too, if you want a good laugh, you have to check out Jerry’s hat. Why did we ever think that goofy, seed-corn style was attractive?)
