I have been really busy since the Reno River Festival, but not with anything major, just lots of everyday stuff. We had friends staying at our home for a few days after the event, which was fun, as Lisa and I have crashed out on more floors while on the road than I can remember. So, in return we always have an open door policy to all our friends. Now, all of the professional kayakers are off to Colorado as that is where the big events, including US team Trials, will be for the next month. Colorado is hard to beat this time of year.
Last week I got the dogs out on some planted birds which is always fun, and is something that I have been trying to do at least every other week. Last Saturday I wrestled in the Northern California Submission Wrestling Championships and finished 2nd. I had a great time, and it reminded me how much I enjoy competing.
I have been running the dogs almost every morning, but this time of year morning comes early. Because of the heat and possible encounters with snakes we are done by 6:15am. That means early mornings, but I am used to it by now.
I was going to go creek fishing on Sunday but that did not work out. Instead I got caught up in cleaning the garage, and a bad day fishing beats that any time. The Truckee River is still a little high, but it should be clearing up very soon, and the fishing should be great. If I am lucky maybe Paolo will show me some of his favorite spots.

Jay

We were back at it again this weekend. This time instead of pen raised chukar we released pen raised Bob White quail. The quail flew really well and flushed nicely, for a penned bird, and they are cheaper, which is a bonus. The dogs had a great time hunting. Like always I spaced the birds far apart so that they actually had to hunt for them. Both dogs had hanging tongues and wagging tales when we got back to the truck.

On a side note, the conditions at this point here in Northern Nevada are the best that I have seen for at least the last few years. If we just get some good spring maintenance rain, and avoid a cold snap during the hatch we have a great chance of getting back on track for better wild bird hunting this coming season. It looks like the Quail have started nesting because all I am seeing now are males, as the females must be at least thinking about settling down and laying eggs. My experience is that the quail usually will go to nest at least a few weeks before the chukar.

Jay

I just got back from Mexico last night. Lisa was down there for two weeks and I went down for that second week. (We had a great time.) We got home last night to find our dogs happy and healthy. We have the best dog/house sitter ever, who obviously stays at our house with our dogs while we are gone. She is very educated about the raw diet, which is what we feed our dogs, she runs our dogs every day, she understands dogs and has their respect, and she even lets them sleep with her. I have hunting dogs, but they are also house dogs who are part of the family, and sleep on the bed. That is the life that they have always had and that is the only life they know. The only time that this is not the case is when camping on hunting trips, and then they share an insulated kennel, which they both love.
One time Lisa and I had to both go out of town and we left both dogs at a really nice kennel where they even shared the same kennel space. Cash, who can get serious separation anxiety lost over 10 pounds in one week, and anyone who has seen my dogs know that they are always very lean and in good shape. So, taking ten pounds off of Cash made him look deathly. Yes, we could medicate him while we are gone to alleviate some of his stress, but no we never would. Needless to say, Lisa and I will never leave them in the kennel again, no matter how nice it is.
So, like I said, we were very happy to get home and see our dogs last night. It definitely makes going away on vacation much easier when you know that the animals that you care about will be happy and health while you are gone.

Above is a picture of Cash as a puppy crashed out on our bed. Now that is a happy dog!

Jay

Keeping my bird dogs in good physical condition is something that I am very passionate about.
First of all they simple love to get out and run. The way I see it is that they should get every opportunity to do that as possible. A dog’s life is relatively short, so I appreciate the idea of giving them the best life possible while they are on this earth. Dogs love to run, so let them run.
Second, it is good for their generally health, for obvious reasons. Studies have shown that an in shape dog that is slightly under weight will on average out live a slightly over weight dog by two years. Two years is a significant percentage of a dog’s life.
Third, I hunt a lot and I want my dogs to get to hunt and enjoy every day that we are in the field. You can not take a dog of the couch and expect him to be able to effectively hunt hard for you for any amount of time. Would you try running a marathon without any training? If I go on a week long hunting trip I want each of my dogs to be able to easily hunt 5 of those 7 days, and that is very realistic. Not only can they run over 20 miles a day for days on end, but they can do it without being sore or getting injured. This makes hunting a lot more fun for everyone.
This time of year I do what I consider maintenance conditioning. I run the dogs about four days a week. This consists of physically taking them on long trail runs, taking them on mountain bike rides, hunting pen raised birds, and doing retrieving exercises with them. For me these are all fun things that I enjoy doing, so it is easy for it to be a priority. As the weather gets hot I will run them 6 days a week but instead of running them for an hour at a time as I do now I will cut that time back to about ½ hour a session because of the heat. I will also swim them as many of those days as possible. Then about a month out from hunting season I will give them a coupe of harder weeks consisting of long runs every day, then tapper the exercise down over the next two weeks so that their bodies are fully recovered and they are in peak condition for the start of bird season. The bottom line is that if you want your dog to hunt like an athlete then you need to treat your dog like an athlete.
I make sure to always have water available for my dogs, and I am very careful in temperatures over 60 degrees. I have learned over the years that 60 degrees is the magic number. Anything under that and I generally do not have to worry about them over heating, though I am always paying attention. Anything over 60 degrees, even if it only a degree or two and I can almost immediately tell the difference in their body language. I give them water much more frequently, shorten the length of exercise, and pay close attention to their body language. Every year people kill their hunting dogs by hunting in the heat without water and without paying attention to their dog’s body language, and honestly I think that it is incredibly sad.
A few things that I personally look for that are obvious sign of overheating that can lead to heat stroke are these; First, I watch the dogs tongue. When a dogs tongue is hanging out of the side of its mouth with no control it is because it has lost muscle control of its tongue and that is one of the first signs that it is over heating. Keep in mind that there is a difference between a panting dog and a dog that’s tongue has lost muscle control. You will have to be the one to understand the difference with your dog. Second, if a dog is looking for shade and wants to lie down out of the sun it is doing that for a reason, because it is obviously too hot. Third, I will watch how it is standing, walking, or running. If it looks dizzy, is stumbling, is not running in a straight line, looks wobbly, or looks confused then the situation is most likely very serious and you need to get that dog cooled down, right now. Water and shade are the quickest and easiest ways to do it in the field. If you can physically get you dog into water then do so.
So, whatever kind of dog you own, hunting dog or not, take a little time out of your day and let them run. They will love you for it.

Jay

This is a picture of Coby and his two bird dogs, Miley and Daisy. Miley is the Shorthair and she is only about 5 months old in this picture. This was kind of a hard year for a puppy here in Nevada because we did not have great bird numbers so consequently the hunting was really inconsistent, but Miley did great. At 5 months it was easy to tell that she would grow up to be a fine bird dog.
We dedicated a couple of hours of “work” one morning during this past bird season to getting some new photos. So, Coby and I loaded up all of our dogs and made a quick local hunt. It turned out great. We got a handful of good images that we can use here at Glacier Outdoor, we got a few birds, and the dogs got in some good work. Not a bad day’s work, if you know what I mean.

Jay