This is one of Annie and Buster’s puppies “Bella”. I got to spend some time with her and her owners on Saturday at a training day in Nephi, UT. Travis Proctor and friends were there evaluating some very nice english pointers and setters. It was fun to get to see Bella and how she is growing up so fast. She is a little taller than Annie and seems to have some of Busters long legs. We were able to throw a quail out for her and work with her on her retrieve. She did really well for her first bird introduction and retrieved the quail right back to Mike. This is Mike telling Bella what a good job she did.

Brittany Puppy Baths 9.5 weeks

The last two brittany puppies are going to their new homes tomorrow. One is headed for Nevada (Freckle face) and the other (Brown face) is headed for California. Alyssa helped me give the puppies a bath and comb out their coats. Just if they could stay clean for more than 24 hours. We were thrilled to find hunting homes for all 5 of these females. Only one stayed here in Utah. The other two went to Wyoming and Arizona families.

In bringing a young hunting dog puppy along, the bird introduction is one of the funnest places to start. You can use a clipped wing pigeon, quail or chukar. I like to use the quail or pigeons on young pups because the size of the bird is not too intimidating. You can trim the flight feathers on one wing, or simply pluck them out. They will grow back with time if the bird doesn’t get chewed up too bad. I start by waving the bird in front of the puppy and let them get a good sniff. Then I toss the bird a few feet and see if the puppy will give chase. Typically they can’t stand the bird running and flapping and their prey-drive will kick in. The main goal of this drill is to get the puppy excited about birds. Being interested in birds is the foundation for building a bird dog.

This training drill can also be turned into a retrieving introduction. For best results you should do this in an enclosed area or with a lead fastened to the puppies collar. It is very natural for a dog to pick up a bird in his mouth, but bringing it back is the trick. Once they pick it up reel them in slowly with the lead and give the “fetch” or “here” command. When they get within reach, don’t take the bird right away. Pat them down good and pile on the praise. Let them hold the bird for a minute or two while you really build them up. Then get the bird and throw it again for another try. Do it a few times and put it away. Training should be fun, as well as short and sweet.

Liver and White Female Brittany Puppy

This weekend the pic of the litter went home to her new family in Wyoming. Forrest (Necha’s Father) drove more than 20 hours in a weekend to surprise his daughter Necha with the new puppy. The liver and white puppy was the pic of the litter and Necha decided to name her “Maple”. We are thrilled that she is in a loving home where she will be with a family who enjoys hunting gamebirds. Necha is getting ready to take hunters safety and is excited about hunting next year with her own pointing dog. This puppy seemed to be the most well-balanced of the litter. A real people lover but also quite adventurous and bold.

Part of what makes for great pups is proper socialization when they are young. At 3 weeks old the pups are pretty helpless so I make my kids sit down to hold the puppies. This helps avoid any accidental dropping of the pups and it gets them down on the same level. At three weeks old these american brittany puppies just need a lot of gentle petting and handling by people. They learn early to like the sound of humans and it won’t take long before they hear you coming and meet you at the gate/door. Below my nephew Jake is giving this liver/white female a good loving and squeezing. Kids and puppies are about as cute as it gets.