Today was Labor Day and we had off, so we headed up to Lake Wales for training, crossing our fingers that they had birds. The only quail Jake has gotten to train on since he got home were at the Fun Day, other than that there have been none in the state. We got there at about 7 am and were happy to see Paul Hermes and Chris OBrien headed out with their shotguns, so Jake got to have his first training day.
Mark set out 4 birds for him on the first run. The morning was nice and breezy, about 75 degrees, but we knew it was heating
up fast and we needed to run him early. The first bird he ran past and then turned on a dime, on a staunch point. Ear flipped of course. He held the point for about a full 5 minutes before he repositioned himself, only after about 10 minutes of pointing did he finally jump in on the bird. Mark joked that we should go get some breakfast and come back. Once he did flush the bird, it flew for the fence and hid in the bushes. When he got close, it jumped up to fly over the fence and hit a branch and fell right back into Jake's mouth. He happily ran it back to us, but he didn't want to give it up right away.
up fast and we needed to run him early. The first bird he ran past and then turned on a dime, on a staunch point. Ear flipped of course. He held the point for about a full 5 minutes before he repositioned himself, only after about 10 minutes of pointing did he finally jump in on the bird. Mark joked that we should go get some breakfast and come back. Once he did flush the bird, it flew for the fence and hid in the bushes. When he got close, it jumped up to fly over the fence and hit a branch and fell right back into Jake's mouth. He happily ran it back to us, but he didn't want to give it up right away.We continued on and he did well on all of his other finds. The third bird he couldn't find, and of course Mark couldn't remember exactly where he had put it, but it was getting hot so we continued our run. The birds were walking today, they had a lot of gusto for 97 degrees and 90% humidity.
We let Lady run on a checkcord afterward, she did well and found the bird Jake had missed, it had wandered about 100 yards to the east. By the time we brought her in it was just too hot for any more training, she heale
d the last stretch which she never does.
d the last stretch which she never does.We also got to witness "birdapalooza" with Jen and Paul, the puppies were doing great on birds, what cuties!
Next weekend is NAVHDA and Mark wants to work Lady on some pheasant. Last NAVHDA training day Lady and Jake both worked on a duck, Jake was a little duck crazy. Jake will need to start learning to track the pheasant for his test in February.
It was a good weekend!
