Hey Cooper, do you want to go duck hunting?

Russ: Hey, Cooper! Do you want to go duck hunting today?

Cooper: Do I get to wear camo just like you?

Russ: Sure, but keep in mind it is going to be cold and wet.

Cooper: I’m an Irish Water Spaniel. I can do cold and wet.

Russ: Point taken. OK then.

Cooper: Can I put my wet muddy feet on the furniture in the duck blind?

Russ: Sure. So does this mean you want to go?

Cooper: Is the bear Catholic? Yeah, I wanna go!

Two boys in their duck blind, Aumsville, Oregon
photo by Norm Koshkarian

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3rd autumn pheasant hunt, day 1

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 very dense, thorny bushes.

All four dogs and all four people searched, but none of us ever found anything resembling a bird. The dogs didn’t find the bird or its scent, and the people didn’t see any feathers or other evidence that a pheasant had ever been shot, much less fallen to earth.

Tooey, Rio, Cooper, and Kasen

But fortunately, the scenery and the weather at Lower Goose Lakes were absolutely beautiful. Mid-40′s, blue skies with wispy white clouds, just a bit of wind, fractured basalt cliffs, glittering blue lakes, the scent of mint and sagebrush. Perfect for hiking.

Rio, Tooey, Kasen, Cooper, Rod, Renae, and Russ

Oh, I guess we're going that way

Rio did get one scent that really excited him. He dived into some heavy cover to grab his favorite — apples. He loves apples. It was sort of funny that Rio retrieved apples on a bird hunting trip. But all of us were happy to take a break to enjoy their juicy sweetness. All you have to do is wipe off the bird doo-doo, get out the pocket knife, and cut slices for everyone. Even Cooper took a slice when he saw all the other dogs enjoying them.

Cooper and Tooey, surveying the terrain

Cooper has not yet had his hunting “lightbulb” moment this year. We really need to get him out somewhere, like a game preserve, where we can arrange for birds to be planted in identified locations. That way, we can direct Cooper to those birds so that when he flushes one, he can associate the excitement of the flush and retrieve with the birds’ scent and typical hiding places. Today, he mostly wanted to stay close to Russ, or to come find me. He’s birdy, though, so I know that with more experience, it’ll come.

I was very pleased with Tooey. We haven’t taken her out hunting before, so she doesn’t have a clue about what she’s supposed to be doing out there. But she clearly enjoyed herself. She checked in with us often, but she was also pretty adventurous, searching the rocks and bushes for whatever was out there.

And the water… Tooey loves to swim — she’ll swim just for the unadulterated joy of it. And the Lower Goose Lakes area is filled with, you guessed it, lakes. Little lakes, strung like beads along desert canyons.

string of lakes

more lakes

Whenever we couldn’t see Tooey, all we had to do was listen for the sound of splashing and paddling. If we heard that, we knew Tooey was swimming again. And loving every minute of it, even in the cold water on a cold November day.

And then, after all the day’s fun, the not-so-fun. The plants in the field provide cover for birds and are wonderful to the nose. But they also festoon the dogs with seeds, twigs, seeds, thorns, and more seeds. And every single bit has to be picked or brushed out. Especially, I’m told, the cheatgrass seeds. For some reason, cheat grass seeds love to hide between dog toes, and in the ears, eyes, and mouth. They can even work their way through the skin into body cavities such as lungs and abdomen and cause serious infections as they move though and get lodged in body tissues. Nasty.

So before dinner, before changing clothes, before even a glass of Scotch, out come the combs and brushes.

Trice brushing out the seeds and debris after a day of hunting

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Do not argue with the judge

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 major win in conformation. As the judge was walking over to get the ribbons, I asked, “How did that happen?” My ringmates and some bystanders quickly shushed me.

My second faux pas occurred this weekend. Cooper and I (somehow) qualified in a Novice A Obedience run at the Clackamas KC B-OB match on Saturday. I don’t know how we possibly have qualified, and when the judge said, “You have a qualifying score,” I made the mistake of saying, “Really? We qualified?”

The judge turned to me as she was walking to the table to get the ribbons, “Well, so far…”

Hmm. I could have lost it right there. Note to self: keep your mouth shut in the ring, except to say, “Thank you, judge.”

But really, I don’t see how we could possibly have qualified. I was talking to Cooper the whole time to keep his attention on me and off the lovely, horse-scented, dirt barn floor. And I had to call him back to me when, on an off-leash About Turn, he decided to go straight on, right out of the ring. (He came back.)

But, heck, if the judge wants to give me a pass, I’ll take it. Not that it counts for any points. But it was good practice for next weekend’s real Obedience trial, which is also on a lovely, horse-scented, dirt barn floor.

And I was pleased to see that Cooper maintained his Long Sit and Long Down. No getting up and leaving in the middle. And he moved only one foot during the Stand for Exam. So that was good.

photo by Ron Worley

Since Cooper is not a huge fan of Obedience, I try to always do something fun (fun by Cooper’s definition) right afterward. So this Saturday, he had a small vanilla ice cream and then we went to a state park just 7 minutes away from the match site.

The park’s boat ramp was completely deserted, so Cooper joyfully jumped in and swam out to retrieve his beloved camo Wubba, over and over and over again.

Cooper and camo Wubba on the boat ramp

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Sweet spot of the weekend

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 autumn. My favorite kind of day.

And one of my favorite places to go is the delta, where there are hundreds of acres where you can walk your dog, leash-free — meadow, river, woods.

I’ve been working so much with Cooper lately that I decided to spend the afternoon with Tooey at the river. Swimming is her very favorite thing to do, and she’s a very strong swimmer. This late in the year, I knew the flow would not be too fast for her.

Unlike Cooper, Tooey doesn’t need a ball, or stick, or any other excuse for a swim. She just goes in and swims.

Such a sweet break in the routine. I hope I get good weather like this again next weekend. I’ll take Cooper, and of course, a ball.

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Netarts Bay, day 2

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.

Oooh! Is Trice getting a stick?

In the afternoon, we were joined by Dave and Liz, who live nearby, and their two hunting dogs, Maxie, the Standard Poodle, and Bugsie, the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon. Together we walked the beach between Netarts and Oceanside, chatting about dogs, hunting, and good places to eat nearby.

What are you looking at?

Which one has chicken in her pocket?

Didn't we leave that stick somewhere around this rock?

The one picture we didn’t ever get (and really, it should have been a video anyway) was of Tooey teaching herself to bodysurf. She was absolutely fearless about throwing herself into oncoming waves to fetch the stick we’d thrown (there is a picture of that on yesterday’s entry), and then coming back in. On one of those trips, a wave took her over as she was swimming in, lifted her up, and carried her to shore.

Being lifted up startled her that first time, but after that, it looked for all the world as if she chose her exact moment to return to shore so that a wave would catch her and carry her in. She was so eager to repeat the ride that she crashed through the waves and beat Cooper to the stick almost every time — and that’s another first. In the past, Cooper has always gotten to the retrieve object first.

And then there’s Cooper’s game. Whenever we throw sticks on a sandy beach, Cooper takes a break from retrieving by playing this game he’s made up. He picks up the stick, runs around with it, and then drops it onto the sand. Then he leaps onto it, paws at it as if digging, and then throws the stick back between his hind legs. Then he turns around and, Surprise! There’s the stick! Oh boy! Whereupon he leaps on it again as if he’s just found it, and starts the game all over again.

Days like today remind me of some of the best reasons to have dogs. They have such fun with simple things like sticks, and are filled with such joy. I’ve watched them play for these 2 days, and I could keep watching them for many, many more days to come.

We’ll go home tomorrow. But I’ll remember these two days fondly, and plan to come back to the beach soon.

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Netarts Bay, day 1

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.

Tooey and Cooper, with Trice throwing a stick toward Japan

Tooey and Cooper racing through the surf line

An Irish Water Spaniel or two swimming through the surf

Tooey crashing through a wave

Russ sending the dogs for more sticks

Admiring the view after a hard day at the ocean

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 it’s just been much too long since the last time, just about two years ago.

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Training in the flood for tests

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 above all, being steady at the line.

Cooper (and Tooey, too) did great on the retrieves. Coop did better on being steady (sigh…). Overall, we were happy with the work and the fact that it didn’t rain.

Although rain would not have made any difference. Our training grounds are flooded. They lie along the river, which yesterday reached flood stage. So we had less land available to do land retrieves (and not enough to practice quartering for the spaniel tests), but a lot more water for water work.

After training was done for the day, we got our cell phones out and took just a few pictures — happy dogs and beautiful scenery.

wet and happy Cooper and Tooey

reflections of Cooper, Tooey, and the clouds

A temporary pond that is normally dry land

Patrice, Cooper, and Tooey on a spit of dry-ish land

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Hunting with Exotic dogs

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 us with some of the other breeds, sometimes referred to as “exotics”, enjoy the sport with some success as well.

Another thing that occurs at  hunt tests: those of us with non-Labs soon notice who else has an exotic or “off-breed” (as one judge referred to Cooper) and we strike up conversations and quite often friendships. If you have read the various posts on this blog that mention Poodles and Boykins, then you will see some of the great folks and dogs we have met and continue to work with in the world of hunt tests and hunting.

Bugsie and Maxie: dogs, ducks and photo by Dave Lubinski

Above is a photo of a brace of exotics, Bugsie and Maxie, doing the real thing, retrieving ducks during a real duck hunt. Bugsie is a brown Standard Poodle and Maxie is a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, both owned, trained, and hunted by Dave and Liz on the coast of Oregon. We met them at a hunt test last summer. Dave continues to amaze me with photos he sends of his two dogs bringing in ducks from the brackish and storm-driven waters of Tillamook Bay.

Dave took this photo earlier this week as the winter storms blew in from the Pacific, driving the ducks inland and south. He kept both his dogs busy and took his limit in just 45 minutes. Notice the camo neoprene vests on both dogs and wind whipping across the water and dog’s coats. That is duck hunting weather with two successful “exotics”.

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A Day of Ducks, Dogs, and Water

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 lunch, all underwritten by Avery. Even the weather conspired to make this a great day for Cooper, Tooey, Patrice, and me.

Tooey, blowing water through her lips as she swims

The morning started with coffee and pastries for the handlers, and ducks and pheasants for the dogs. Cooper ran the land series as a double with the birds and then onto two blind retrieves, one a bumper and the other a duck. He nailed the marks with his usual zeal, but he had to be handled several times to the blinds as they were well inside the zone of where the previous birds had gone down. Cooper was convinced that if returned to the area of the previous fall that there would be a bonus bird waiting for him. Wrong. And that is why it is called training.

The afternoon water work was tough. A double with the first bird landing in the grass on the other side of the pond and a second bird landing in grass 3 ponds over. While bringing back the first bird, a diversion duck landed in the water next to Cooper. He noted its location, returned the first bird and then immediately picked up the diversion bird. That was the intended result.

Cooper getting a solid grip on the diversion bird

But all of this activity erased his memory of the 2nd duck 3 ponds over. I lined him up, sent him, but it was obvious he was confused. The gunner jumped up and threw another bird in the same direction. “Oh right, I remember,” and off he went. We ran it again as a single with no problem. Water, land, water, land, water, land, Duck, and same sequence back.

Cooper returning, about ready to re-enter the first pond

And then there was a blind retrieve even one pond further over. That was painful, but with Tellus’s constant coaching, we got Cooper over to the pile of bumpers and back (3 times!) Dang, I was one who was tired after that series.

Tellus coaching me on my timing the "back" command to Cooper

Cooper returning a hard-earned blind water retrieve

Meanwhile, Patrice and Tooey went over to a quiet pond where they worked on getting her “birdy.” Trice had Tooey sit, and threw a duck into the pond. This flipped a switch in Tooey’s brain and she realized that she MUST go get the duck and bring it back to shore. Now questions asked, no waiting. She did this over and over and over. One happy dog.

Tooey "must get that bird and right now!"

Tooey gets some great extension leaping into the water

Tooey brings back her duck

There was a nice selection of dogs training on Saturday, including this young Golden puppy who is quite capable of dragging a duck around.

A future champion field dog

All in all, it was great training day for Tooey and Cooper (and their handlers). Thanks Tellus and Tracy Calhoun and Avery Outdoors.

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another look at Cooper’s water work

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 what Cooper loves best, all they have to do is look at his face in these pictures, and the way he completely immerses himself in the water and in his work.

photo by Wendy Tisdall

photo by Wendy Tisdall

photo by Wendy Tisdall

photo by Wendy Tisdall

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Getting ready to run with the big dogs

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 his progress in some advanced work looks promising. So with one more hunt test scheduled for 2010 (in the Pacific Northwest), I entered Cooper for the two-day test, and in the next level up, Seasoned. So I ramped up our training over the last two days by working with a couple of other trainers near Salem, Oregon.

The training grounds can only be described as a golf course for retrievers. Ponds with fresh water sculpted out of the pastures, bordered with cat tails and reeds, walnut and oak trees, and wonderful weather. The wild ducks and herons stayed discretely out of the way as the dogs flew across the water and fields.

Cooper scanning for ducks, bumpers, or any retrieving opportunities

Practice today concentrated on some scenarios that we expect to see tomorrow. Double retrieves on both land and water, plus blind retrieves, and of course no leashes and no collars, just voice and whistle control. Cooper did okay in training, mostly successful, with a lot of learning on both our parts. I also had a chance to run a few Labs that are accomplished in field trials in order to hone my handling techniques. What a contrast to running a novice Irish Water Spaniel.

Anyway, standby for a post or two when we get back from the Seattle area after I have had a chance to run Cooper with the big dogs.

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When the rules give you an advantage, take it

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 sent out to retrieve it. Some pros teach their dogs early on not to bolt. They feel confident that their dogs will stay put, so they don’t bother with the collar. Other, less experienced handlers are sometimes tempted to try the same before their dog is trained and ready to withstand temptation.

Russ, knowing Cooper can’t yet be trusted not to bolt, is not so foolish. But other handlers sometimes make a mistake, and that’s the story that the photo below would tell if I’d taken it just a half second later.

If you look just to the left of Russ’s left knee, just on the water side of the weeds, you’ll see a small arc of brown that’s leaving a wake in the water. That’s the head of a collar-less chocolate Lab who had bolted and was chasing after Cooper’s duck.

So here’s the story: At last weekend’s Lower Columbia HRC hunt test, Cooper and Russ were waiting at the line, with all three holding blinds behind them occupied with a dog and it’s handler. The gunner blew the duck call, the launcher launched the duck, and the duck landed in the water. At that, Russ said, “Cooper!” to send Coop out after the duck. Just a few seconds later, the Lab, having gotten away from it’s handler in one of the holding blinds, jumped into to the water and swam full on after Cooper, who had by that time already fetched the bird and was coming back in.

It could have been bad. The two dogs could have fought over the duck. But when the Lab got to Cooper, Coop simply turned his head and the bird away from the Lab, and kept on swimming in a straight line back to Russ. The Lab growled and tried several times to grab the bird, but Cooper simply turned his head each time and kept on swimming.

And even more amazing, when Cooper stepped up onto the land, he calmly came into heel at Russ’s left, sat, and delivered the bird, ignoring the Lab who was still trying to grab the duck, as well as the gaggle of judges, handler, and bystanders who were all trying to grab the Lab.

The judges were amazed that Russ seemed so calm. The Lab’s handler had been freaking out the whole time, calling and yelling at her dog to “Come!”, which the Lab ignored. Sadly, but understandably, the Lab was disqualified for the day. Cooper passed the test with flying colors.

And here’s the thing. We’ve been inadvertently training Cooper for this very scenario without realizing it. If you’ve read the post about our taking Cooper and Tooey to St. Louis Ponds, you might remember that Tooey loves to chase after Cooper while he’s retrieving bumpers from the water. He’s learned to outswim her to the bumper, and then keep it away from her while they’re returning to land. Having some Lab try the same maneuver was nothing new after Tooey’s shenanigans.

So the moral of the story? If the rules let you do something to your advantage, do it. Use whatever opportunities for training you can get. And then be grateful when it all turns out all right.

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Wednesday is Poodle Day

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, the fields were marshes, and the need to retrieve was high.

Laney and Trip are both experienced and hunt-titled Standard Poodles (both are Tudorose Poodles, known for hunting performance). Laney is the elegant gray female, and Trip is a large black male who has at least 10 pounds on Cooper.

One of the differentiations between Cooper and these Poodles was their water entries.  Because the ponds had great clean banks, Cooper had the opportunity to practice his splashy dock-diving entrances. (See the masthead photo at the top of the blog showing Cooper entering a pond at this same training ground.) On the other hand, Laney and Trip slid into the water and swam out to the bumper leaving virtually no wake. The photo below reveals that after multiple water retrieves, both Poodles are dry from the neck up, and Cooper is totally soaked. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

Laney, Cooper, and Trip

Quote of the day from Cooper, “Put down the camera and just throw the bumper!”

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post-rain fun and training

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 rain we’ve gotten in the last two weeks if you compare the picture of Tooey below with this picture of Russ and Cooper at the same location. Notice that the bases of trees in the picture below are under water, while they weren’t earlier.

Both pictures were taken on Sauvie Island, in the official dog training area. We worked in the area circled in red in the map below. Source

Today, though, we had a brief respite of sun. So Russ and I, our two Irish Water Spaniels, plus a friend and his Lab, went out to the Island.

While the guys went to train, Tooey and I went to play with the wubba in the water. She soon figured out that I wouldn’t throw the wubba unless she brought it all the way back to the land. She’d prefer to drop it into the shallow water at the water line. This is a tricky training maneuver on my part because if she thinks I’m being unreasonable, she’ll just take herself swimming without getting the wubba thrown. Swimming is her thing — retrieving is just an extra.

But once the wubba is thrown into the water, she does want to go get it. So to take advantage of that, I made her sit at my side before I threw the wubba back out. She sat, I held onto her collar, threw the wubba, and then said “Tooey!” when I let her go. That sort of approximates what she might learn when/if she gets to go to hunt training, so I hope this might be a good start.

Eventually Tooey got bored with bringing the wubba back — obviously time to stop. So for a change of pace, we went over to watch the boys train. For some strange reason, I didn’t get any pictures of Cooper. But I did get a nice one of Russ, Matt, and Matt’s Lab, Goose.

The pond behind them is generally dry land, but today, it made a nice place to practice water retrieves. And for Tooey, watching Cooper and Goose work was nearly torture, or at least she made it sound like it was torture. Whining, crying, even a bark, “Me, too. Me, too. I want to do it, too!”

I appreciate the enthusiasm, but the noise is not good. If she ever does get to go to hunt training, one thing that will be insisted upon is quiet. No whining, no crying, no barking allowed. At Cooper’s hunt test, Tooey and I practiced “Quiet!” I’d take her out of her crate so she could watch the goings-on, then, at the least peep out of her, marched her back into her crate. We did that about 4 times for each day. Every session, she stayed quiet a little longer.

Today was a bit more difficult. She was in her crate already, with the car parked with its back end toward the training field. So instead, I tried shutting the car rear tailgate so she couldn’t see. But that didn’t feel right — I didn’t want to shut of Cooper’s view when it was Goose’s turn, and besides, it was warm and sunny. I finally figured out that I could throw a towel over Tooey’s crate when she made noise, and then pull it off when she was quiet. That seemed to work.

I can see that this will be a long haul to train “Quiet.” She just can’t stand that another dog is out there, running around having fun, while she has to stay in place, and she expresses her displeasure loudly. Plus, at home, she’s our alert dog — OMG! there’s someone on the sidewalk in front of our house… there’s someone on the porch… there’s another dog across the street… the garbage truck is coming…

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Portait — Satisfied Duck Dog

photo by Patrice Dodd

Cooper posed for this portrait, taken just after the water series in his first AKC hunt test.

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