I bred one of my male German Shorthair Pointers (Cash) a couple of months back to a really nice dog named Gia, who is owned by my friend George. This weekend was the first time that I had been able to make it up to see the puppies. It was a lot of fun to see the little pups. They are beautiful. In this picture they are about 10 days old. I am excited to see them again when their eyes are open and they are developing their own personalities.

Jay

Just another quick reminder to all of you running your dogs in the “off season”, in regards to exercise and training. As temperatures rise, let’s all be conscious of that heat. Making more water available to our dogs, shortening the length of their runs, and trying to use the cool morning and evening hours for their exercise will keep them safe, healthy, and happy. Every year dogs die from heat exhaustion that could have been prevented, and sadly it is nobody fault but the dog handler. Let’s make sure this does not happen to any of our dogs...

In many parts of the country snake season will also quickly be upon us, if it isn’t already. So let’s all be conscious of that as well. Most importantly, any unusual swelling or unusual behavior after a run this time of year earns an immediate trip to the vet. There is a ton of good information on the internet regarding snake bites and dogs, and obviously your veterinarian is a great resource to answer all of you questions. So, if you haven’t already, please take the time to do a little research. It could someday save your dog’s life.

This is a great time of year to take your dogs swimming. It is great for their health, their joints, and their conditioning. For you guys with retrieving dogs this is standard practice, but for us pointing dog people it can be part of our conditioning program as well. I have seen a few pointers that hate to swim, and many that love it. Lucky for me my dogs love to swim, and are very good at it. They have had lots of opportunities to swim since they were just puppies, so maybe that is why. When the rare opportunity for them to make a water retrieve arises while out hunting, they are all over it. And, at the end of the day, hunting dog or not, most dogs just love to play in the water.

Best,

Jay

I have been running the dogs regularly this off season with the folks at the Northern Nevada Bird Dog Association. It is really fun to see how many people are out training their dogs now on Saturday mornings. A month or so ago there would be maybe just a few of us, but last weekend there was probably 20 guys and 30 dogs. This is a perfect time of year for people with puppies to get started, for advanced dogs to get some off season work and exercise, and all the dogs in between. There is nothing that I would rather be doing on a Saturday morning in the off season than training dogs, and being around people who have the same passion for dogs and hunting that I do.

Pictured is Cash, doing what Cash does. The nose never lies…..

Jay

Time and time again I hear chukar hunters say things like, “if the conditions are right this year maybe we will get a double hatch”. They are referring to the idea that a single female will successfully hatch two separate groups of chicks. I seldom have the heart to tell that person that in regards to chukar, the double hatch is a myth.

It is simple mathematics really. Here in Northern Nevada and around most chukar country out west, a hen generally won’t go to nest until around the first of June, which is a lot later than most people think. For arguments sake though, we will do the math based off of the first week of May, which is certainly possible, but generally still early in my opinion. But for arguments sake, based off the first week of May; A hen chukar will lay about 1 egg every 1.5 days and she will lay eggs for approximately 23 days - she then needs to incubate those egg for right around 21 days. So, between laying eggs and incubating that basically takes 6 weeks. Then that hen will stay with those chicks for at least the first 12 weeks, if she leaves them at all. Add that time up and you are looking at 4 ½ months. Four and a half months from May 1st is September 15th, and there is no way that a hen is going to go back to the nest on September 15th only to hatch those chicks November 1st. Even if my math is off by as much as a month, it doesnt really matter, as there would still not be a hatch that late.

I think that what commonly leads to this myth is that early in the year people see coveys of birds with two different age class of bird. This is not uncommon to see. The simple explanation for this is that two separate family groups of different age class have joined together, and it often happen while birds on water. Certainly not every hen goes to the nest on the same day, and not every hen lays the same amount of eggs, so it’s not like all the chicks hit the ground running at the same time. Also, chukar are dedicated nesters, so if a hen losses her nest before the hatch, there is a very good chance she will re-nest. She likely won’t lay as many eggs the second time, but she will usually make an effort to re-nest.

The only way that the double hatch could be possible is if the male chukar incubated, while the hen went back to laying eggs in a separate nest. All the research out there that I am aware of is consistent in the idea that male chukar do not incubate, and certainly not to the degree that they would maintain a nest for 3 weeks. Some quail species have been known to do this though, such as Mountain Quail. But again, chukar do not.

There are a lot of factors that weigh into providing the perfect conditions that will produce a high population of birds. For example; Lots of green grass leading into nesting season, warm dry weather during the hatch, lots of bugs available for the chicks, thick cheat grass and native grasses for protection from predation, ample water sources available throughout the dry months, etc…. All of these things are very important, and if all of these conditions are good there will be a lot of birds. It has nothing to do with the myth of a double hatch. It has everything to do with lots of hens going to nest, those hens laying lots of eggs, and a high survival rate after the hatch.

Best,

Jay

Here is an easy training tip for you and your dog(s) this off season;
Hands down the hardest part of dog training is being consistent. Taking just a couple minutes each day, year around, to reinforce or teach a new command will make all the difference in the world. In regards to pointing dogs and WHOA reinforcement I do a lot of things out in the field, but here are a few quick drills that I do around the house that are of equal value in reinforcing the command.
In the evening when I put their food down I always WHOA them in front of their bowl before I release them to eat. Some days I might only WHOA them for a few seconds, and other days I might WHOA them for 5 minutes. Also, when I leave the house in the morning to take the dogs for their run I always let them out the front door then WHOA them immediately. I then walk out to my truck, unlock the doors, deal with anything that I might need to deal with, (like putting the garbage can out by the street), then open the back truck door, release the dogs, and load them up. Both of these exercises take no extra time out of my day. It only takes the commitment to consistently be training. Now this is just one command. You can make up little exercises around the house or yard for all sorts of commands. I guarantee you that just a couple minutes a day will make all the difference in the world.

One thing that I see all the time is a dog handler will teach a command, the dog will learn it, then the command will go to the back burner and will never be reinforced. Pretty soon you have a dog that no longer immediately obeys that command. Every day you should reinforce commands that you know your dog already knows. It is good for them. It keeps their minds sharp, keeps them listening to you, and reinforces the fact that you are the one in charge.

This article is not about how to teach your dog to WHOA, rather about easy ways around the house to reinforce commands in the offseason. With that said, let me just throw this out there. You do not need fancy WHOA posts and barrels to teach your dogs to WHOA. Those things are great if you are into them, or if you are teaching a volume of dogs at one time, but they are far from necessary. If I know one thing about dog training authors in general it is this. Almost every book out there will make dog training look and sound way more complicated than it actually is. I recommend reading, watching, and learning from many different sources, then use the techniques that work best for you and your dogs. Again, the hardest part is just being consistent.

Best,

Jay