Had a great day dog training with Lizzy this week. Put a few hen pheasants out in some cattails and just wanted to see her use her nose. She has a very strong prey drive and loves birds. She has been exposed to pigeons, quail, pheasants and chukar. She did very well and dug right into the cover to find these two hens. We let a few go, but when the situation was just right we shot a couple for her. Her first retrieve was excellent. She picked up the big fat hen pheasant without hesitation and brought it to hand. Needless to say I was very pleased. I thought it was a good first hunt for a 7 month old brittany puppy.

Part of the fun of the winter weather is that my main water system is shut down for the winter. So I am left hauling water to the kennels in five gallon buckets from the no-freeze faucet up at the house. Good times.

This is Lizzy’s sister and littermate Polly. She became available to me because her tri-color markings came in too heavy to be in show competitions. She has good bird drive and loves to get out and run. She moves well and holds her tail nice and high. She is currently in training with my personal friend who wanted to try a Brittany after years of shorthairs. We will try to get some pictures of her dog training.

So you got a new brittany puppy and you want to train him to be a field champion. Well, what does it take to earn the AKC field champion or FC title? When you get looking at brittany pedigrees you will start to notice some funny abbreviations attached to registered names. Titles like CH – Champion, FC – Field Champion, DC – Dual Champion, AFC – Amateur Field Champion are the most common. Many brittany owners are happy to own a well-trained hunting dog and to be able to load up and go hunting every weekend. Other brittany owners want to compete against other dogs and see who has the best bird dog or pointing dog. There are competions for testing hunting skills in the form of AKC Hunt Tests and fun hunts. And there are field trial competitions which last a little longer and test a dogs endurance and bird finding ability in larger spaces.

Everyday it seems we hear about dogs that need rescuing. As dog owners, we already have that sensitive place in our hearts for man’s best friend. After all, we probably spend more time around them than anybody else. Most of us would say that our dogs are spoiled rotten, that they have lives we could only dream of. But a lot of dogs don’t. That’s where organizations such as the Illinois Birddog Rescue (IBR) step in.

IBR is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization and licensed shelter by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. They are dedicated to saving, transporting, vetting, fostering, and adopting homeless American field-bred pointers and English setters. Since October 2000, IBR has saved 786 dogs and puppies from all over the U.S. from overcrowded shelters and humane societies. The dogs live in foster homes to receive the attention and socialization they have been deprived of. They are taken to the veterinarian for an exam, and many need special drugs or surgeries due to negligence and tick-borne illnesses. And of course, they are taken out to the field to do what they were bred to do — hunt.

This is from a pass-along article from this months issue of The Pointing Dog Journal. To get a FREE no obligation trial issue click here. PDJ is the best hunting dog magazine published.

To see brittany dogs and puppies available for adoption please visit the American Brittany Rescue website.

Had a great time today running down for a few days to Sonoita, AZ to watch the 2010 American Brittany Club Western Futurity. I met some really nice brittany owners and made some great new friends. The picture above is the intermediate male winners. To see all the official results click over to the American Brittany Club website.

My favorite dog at the show was a beautiful tri-color female SHADOW’S TEQUILA TRYST owned by Jessica Carlson. Tristyn ended up winning the Best Opposite Sex & 1st Money Female and was a shining star among an exciting group of wonderful young brittanies. On the field trial portion of the futurity Paul Doiron cleaned house winning both the All Age with Midas Smoke’s a Blazin’ a fine puppy from the late Dale Shores. Paul also won the Gun Dog with Mikey’s Spice Girl owned by Jerry & Carolyn Cape. Picking up a fourth place in the all age was enough for Tristyn to take the coveted dual award. Congrats to Jessica Carlson of Alar Brittanies for all her hard work.

I got an email update this week from Mike regarding his Bella puppy. He has been reading the book “Bird Dog” by Ben O. Williams that I sent home with him when he picked up the puppy. Mike reports that Bella is adjusting well and is turning out to be quite the little firecracker. She is full of energy and loves to get outside and run. Mike can’t wait for the snow to melt so they can get serious about bird dog training. Bella is pictured below locked up on a point while Mike was working her with the wing and a string. It is amazing how deeply engrained the pointing instinct is with these young brittany puppies. Bella should be a fine hunting dog come next fall when she can really get after some birds.

We got these pics via email of Bailey and her holiday adventures. Bailey spent christmas with her family in Kansas City where she got her first introduction to snow. Anita says Bailey is settling in nicely and loves to play outside. She mentioned a problem about biting. It is important for puppies to have chew toys that they are encouraged to bite and chew on. Anytime a puppy tries to bite a person or something they are not allowed to chew, a correction should be made. They key is to set your puppy up for success not failure. We know that when puppies are excited they are more apt to bite or play rough, this is when we should have their chew toy handy to direct their attention and sharp teeth.

Bob had to wait until Christmas to find out what his daughter had purchased him. This little Brittany female was my personal favorite of the litter. She had a lot of prey drive when I put her in front of some quail and chukar. But, she was still enough of a people lover to crawl up into your lap for a nap. We are excited for her to be in her new home in California where she will be a hunting/companion dog. We hear that their are some decent quail populations near where Bob lives. It is always a joy to see our brittany puppies placed in just the right homes. We recommend that new gun dog owners subscribe to the excellent magazine titled “The Pointing Dog Journal“. Steve Smith and his team publish the most respected magazine geared specifically to hunting upland game with pointing dog breeds like the american brittany.

One challenge of living in a climate where there is 4 seasons is roading the dogs in the snow and cold. We have to be careful and attentive because the deer tend to move lower when a big snow falls. This can present some distractions when training and roading the dogs. It can also be a good time to break the dogs from chasing deer and rabbits. A gentle reminder from the e-collar usually does the trick after they learn that chasing deer is uncomfortable. Another potential hazard in our area with winter are the presence of bobcat and fox trap sets.

This morning we woke up to 12 inches of new snow. It makes things interesting with simple chores like cleaning the kennels. First we have to dig the kennels out of the snow. Our kennels have an indoor outdoor access so the dogs can get out of the weather in addition to their K-9 Kondo insulated dog houses. We also use a heated water bucket with a thermostat to keep their water from freezing solid on the sub-zero nights. Lizzy is enjoying the snow very much and loves to bound through it checking the area for tweety birds. I can tell she is gonna run big as she gets older.