16ga.com ~ View topic - Brittany's First Birds

*Last edited by Equismith on Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:43 pm; edited 1 time in total*

Yesterday was Libby's first exposure to live birds (pen raised).

We had a BLAST!!

Brittany's are great dogs. They have a devotion and desire to please I've not seen in other dogs I've owned over the years. She is my first bird dog.

Here she is towards the end of the afternoon when I let her run off check chord. She found another quail and flushed it. My fault I know, but she flushed it again a few minutes later and into a honeysuckle thicket, where she caught it. To my surprise, she marched right out of the thicket and ran straight for me with bird a flappin'. I was about 130 yards away from her. By the time she got to me the bird was dead. She faced me, sat, and dropped the bird at my feet and then looked up for her "good girl.". What can you say to that. We both had a great time.

This is Mr. Scott, a fine gentleman who has allowed me the use of his land. He too has a Brit pup, Libby's half brother. That's our recall pen and he's working on the funnel. It was my quail pen at my house, but we converted it to a reacll pen. We'll see how the year goes. Fingers are crossed.

We need to cut some brush to pile up against it to try to hide it. But when his fields grow over this spring, it should be well concealed.

Great pics! Let the fun begin. Congrats on a great start. Brits are indeed great dogs. They have such a fun, sweet personality, and they love to hunt:

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 238 Location: Lodi, CA

Great pics! I am working my young shorthair every weekend and it is such a blast to see young pups get all birdy!

I just returned from my first Quail Unlimited meeting.

It's nice to see others in my area trying to get and keep bird habitat around. I went away with a 40lb bag of Kobe Lespedeza, two crab trees, one plum tree, and 25 small oaks (Gobbler Oaks?)

I look forward to weekends now, more than ever.

It's nice to see that cute pup of yours progressing. My Brit is 7 1/2 years old now, and I feel I wasted a whole lot of years without a Brittany! I've never had a more fun dog in my life. Besides the sweetest hunting companion ever, she is also the biggest CHARACTER of a dog I've ever had. When she wants to play, buddy you are playing!

Congratulations on a great day. Nice looking pup!

Joined: 03 Jul 2005 Posts: 370 Location: Amarillo, Texas

Thanks for the pics EquiSmith. Beautiful dog and Brittanys are great birddogs.

Sometimes when it is clear the pup is about to catch a pen raised bird and I can't stop her I shoot the gun in the air, My hope is that doesn't get the idea she doesn't need me anymore.

Again that is a great looking pup.

Best,

Mike

Got to love the Britt's. Good luck with Libby. She's a good looking pup.

Member Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 135 Location: Anchorage

It is a joy to see those pictures of the dogs. I hope the training goes well. I am looking forward to being out with friends and dogs training again.

The idea of shooting a gun if a dog is about to catch a bird is a new one to me, but it may help, and it seems it may be better than not doing anything at all.

Trigg