Ending score? 14 pheasants flushed, 3 pheasant shot at, 1 pheasant hit, and 3 apples retrieved to hand. The dogs flushed up 14 pheasants. About half of those were roosters (you can’t shoot hens). The gunners shot at 3, and hit one. That one fell like a lead weight, right into the middle of some [...]
Archive for the ‘water dog’ Category
3rd autumn pheasant hunt, day 1
Posted in dog grooming, friendship, hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged goose, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, IWS grooming, Lower Goose Lakes, upland game bird hunting on November 4, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Do not argue with the judge
Posted in life with dog, Obedience/Rally, Realta Rosario Cooper, water dog, tagged Clackamas KC B-OB match, dog shows, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Obedience Novice A on October 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I should know this by now. At dog shows, do not argue with the judge. Don’t even appear to argue with the judge. If they say you won or qualified, keep your mouth shut. Just let them give you the win. The first time I did this was just after the judge awarded Cooper’s first [...]
Sweet spot of the weekend
Posted in life with dog, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged dog swimming, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on October 16, 2011 | 2 Comments »
It has been so busy for so long — not bad, just busy. Obedience practices, laundry, house cleaning, doing dishes, dog grooming,… oh, and work. Time for a break. Today was one of those wonderful October days. Sunny with puffy white clouds. Cool, but not cold. Not raining, not windy, with that spicy smell of [...]
Netarts Bay, day 2
Posted in life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged dog on the beach, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Netarts Bay, walking on the beach on September 30, 2011 | 3 Comments »
More walking on the beach, more stick throwing, more swimming and body surfing, more stick retrieving, more watching the clouds, more rejoicing in the unexpectedly sunny weather: That’s how our last-day-of-September morning went. In one word: delightful. In the afternoon, we were joined by Dave and Liz, who live nearby, and their two hunting dogs, [...]
Netarts Bay, day 1
Posted in life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged dog on the beach, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Netarts Bay, walking on the beach on September 29, 2011 | 3 Comments »
We lucked out. Our late September day at the beach was sunny and warm. Just fine for throwing sticks into the Pacific ocean for two very eager Irish Water Spaniels. After a day like today, I always think I must come back to the beach more often. I love it. The dogs love it. And [...]
Training in the flood for tests
Posted in hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged dog training, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on May 26, 2011 | 4 Comments »
This upcoming weekend, Cooper is in four hunt tests. (Yes, we may be crazy.) Two Senior-level retriever tests and two Senior-level spaniel tests. So last night, we went out to one of our favorite training grounds to practice some blind water retrieves, a couple of land-water-land-water retrieves, a double retriever (one land, one water), and [...]
Hunting with Exotic dogs
Posted in friendship, hunting / hunt training, water dog, tagged hunting poodles, wirehaired pointing griffon on December 11, 2010 | 2 Comments »
When you start showing up at hunt tests with Irish Water Spaniels, you immediately become aware that this is a world of Labrador Retrievers. And for good reason — Labs are amazing at what they do and have justly earned their place at the top of the retriever world. But . . . those of [...]
A Day of Ducks, Dogs, and Water
Posted in dog training, hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged Avery Outdoors, dog, dogs, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Sutter Bay Retrievers, Tellus Calhoun on October 4, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Everything converged to make a great training day. The company Avery Outdoors, a maker of duck hunting gear and dog training equipment, sponsors a number of professional dog trainers, including Tellus Calhoun of Sutter Bay Retrievers. On Saturday, we joined Tellus and Tracy for a very full day of land and water retrieves, and with [...]
another look at Cooper’s water work
Posted in hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, water dog, tagged dog, dog photos, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, NWFCRC WC/WCX, WC/WCX test on September 16, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Wendy Tisdall, of Coastalight Flatcoated Retrievers, has graciously let me use several great pictures that she took of Cooper at last weekend’s WC/WCX. These are four that she took during the water series of Cooper’s WC work. I love how Wendy captured Cooper’s determined expression and the movement of the water. If anyone had any doubt about [...]
Getting ready to run with the big dogs
Posted in dog training, hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, water dog, tagged AKC hunt tests, dog training, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, UKC hunt tests on August 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
After Cooper earned his AKC Junior Hunter title and his HRC Started Retriever Hunter title, I thought it was time to take a break, catch up on other projects and revisit the hunt test world sometime in the spring of 2011. That notion lasted about 6 weeks. We have kept up on Cooper’s training and [...]
When the rules give you an advantage, take it
Posted in dog behavior, hunting / hunt training, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged dog, dog swimming, dogs, HRC hunt test, hunt tests, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Lower Columbia HRC, UKC hunt tests on June 29, 2010 | 2 Comments »
One of the advantages of an HRC Started Hunting Retriever test and an AKC Junior Hunter test is that the dog can wear a flat buckle collar, and the handler can hold onto that collar at the line. This prevents the dog from bolting when he sees the bird, instead of waiting until he’s been [...]
Wednesday is Poodle Day
Posted in dog training, hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, water dog, tagged dog, dogs, hunting Standard Poodles, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, St. Louis Ponds, Tudorose Standard Poodles on June 9, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Cooper has some big hunt tests in the next two weeks, so we will take every opportunity to train. Today, we met up his Poodle buddies, Laney and Trip, at St. Louis Ponds, south of Portland. The weather was perfect for an Irish Water Spaniel: overcast, cool, with intermittent cloud bursts. The ponds were over-full, [...]
post-rain fun and training
Posted in dog behavior, dog training, hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged dog, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Sauvie Island on June 5, 2010 | 1 Comment »
It’s been raining. A lot. People have been whining about it, even us relatively native Northwesterners. People forget that Portland nearly always gets rain in June. Since 1955, 31 of Portland’s Rose Festival Grand Floral parades, which are held in early June, have been rained on. (Source). You can get an idea of how much [...]
Portait — Satisfied Duck Dog
Posted in dog art and photos, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, water dog, tagged dog photos, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on May 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Cooper posed for this portrait, taken just after the water series in his first AKC hunt test.
Cooper’s 1st AKC Hunt Test
Posted in dog training, hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, water dog, tagged AKC hunt tests, bird dog, dog, dog sports, dogs, hunt tests, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Sauvie Island on May 29, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Ten months of training has led up to this day: Cooper’s first AKC hunt test. It was a huge hunt test, with 59 dogs running at the Junior level. Russ and Cooper were slated to run 57th, but fortunately, got to run a bit earlier than that. Because pro handlers handle so many dogs, they’re [...]
