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Manny becomes a man
Whirrrrrrr! A long, dry slog down canyon went from relaxed camaraderie to high alert as four valley quail flushed wild on both sides of us. Manny’s attention was seized, he arrived at the scene of the...
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Refreshed and ready to learn: give your dog a “weekend” once in a while
Filed under: Podcasts
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What would you miss most …
… about bird hunting? Yep, we talk a good game about the wonders of the natural world, cycle of life, camaraderie, miracles large and small performed by our dogs. But if you had to narrow it down to a...
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Happy Birthday, Manny
Today is your fourth birthday, Manny. And as many have said before, that’s about when a wirehair actually matures enough to be a good hunting partner. Actually, you’ve been a good hunter since your...
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Redux, one of my favorite places: a walk in Narnia
In this country, rush hour is a herd of whiteface cattle who refuse to stay in their own lane. There are more cows than people here, so we usually yield right of way to them. Besides, what’s the rush?...
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The best advice you’ve ever been given
“Never give away a bowl of dog food.” That’s what a grizzled old trainer said, almost off-hand, decades ago. Being a bit slow on the uptake, I asked what he’d meant with that tossed-away comment. His...
View ArticleTraining plateaus, peaks, valleys … how to get through them?
Two steps forward, one back. It’s a familiar cliche’ in the dog-training lexicon. Actually, I’ll bet if you think about your own life, your teachers moved you both directions as needed: guitar lessons,...
View ArticleWhat’s left before the opener?
Admit it, you too woke up in a cold sweat one recent night. “MY GOD! There’s so much left to do and there’s only (blank) weeks until opening day!” Here, it’s polishing Flick’s steadiness: when he hits...
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How do you celebrate the hunt? Once the dogs were put up and watered, twice in Kansas this week I pulled out my bottle to toast the day. Neither hunt was “epic” in the sense of clouds of birds. The...
View ArticleWhy do we hunt birds and play with dogs?
I became a bird hunter because I watched my first wirehair work a field, putting up a pheasant hen after a solid point. I’d never owned a gun before, but decided if he would do that for me, the least I...
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