Jurgen Blind Search

Tulla the GSP with a Dummy Retrieve

Tullamore Do with the retrieving dummy. Making the transition from balls to dummy without a hitch.

New Dogs, Old Dogs, Same Tricks

My daughter recently joined the GSP family with Tullamore Dew (Tulla) found locally in Ohio but with a sire out of Willowcreek Kennels in Minnesota. Jurgen being too hard to pet when he's a couple of states away. If you've followed here, you've seen Jurgen in various stages stacked on rocks around the yard. This was their first time semi-free outside. Tulla has him all day on retrieving thrown balls for sure.

Frog Pointer

After three years in the yard, Jurgen has suddenly become interested in frogs for some reason. Pointing obviously too close, but with a headlamp, he might be useful. Then again, probably not.

Monarch Rising in the North

In many respects, the Monarch Butterfly is the canary in the coal mine for North American prairies. They are species with an amazing life story that relies on a variety of interdependent connections throughout its migration. But at the end of the day, they are dependent on the Milkweed. Because of that, gaps in prairie conditions (the same gaps that can lead to trapped and zombie populations of other native species – can be especially trying for Monarchs.

The great swaths of tall grass prairie are few and far between. Milkweed has been cursed as a weed. Clean farming techniques have wiped out ditches and "dirty" fencerows that used to at least harbor pockets of the necessary plant.

That's what lead this group, Monarch Rising, in Fitchburg, WI to take action.

From their website:

"Rooted in Fitchburg, WI, Monarch Rising is a public effort and awareness to keep Monarch Butterflies from becoming extinct. 

Goals:
- Increase awareness
- Plant Milkweed
- Create Monarch way-stations"

Sometimes, it really is that simple to do good for a species as the second bullet: "plant milkweed." To that end, their site even makes it possible to buy Milkweed seeds to start your own Monarch way-station. That will benefit all pollinators, upland prairie species, and the entire ecosystems that depend on them. That includes us.

You can learn more through these links:

http://www.monarchrising.com/
http://www.monarchwatch.org/

Slow Motion Shorthair

Somehow managed to catch two chipmunks at the same time in a live trap. Jurgen was really interested in that ...

So Fetch!

Part of a GSP's repertoire has to be retrieving - and retrieving from water. And it is hardwired into them. In a thoughtless, bone-headed dog owner move, I casually threw a stick into a flooded river when Jurgen was a pup. He went after it full force, which wasn't my intent, but the current and water depth was more than he bargained for.

Since that time, he hadn't swam. He did get back in the water, but as for getting his beyond wading, he wasn't having any of it. And that's kind of big deal for a dog that's supposed to retrieve ducks like it's second nature. I didn't want him to get laughed at by people and Labradors. Something had to be done.

As luck would have it, we were going out of town and didn't have anybody to watch him overnight. So I called the breeder, Tate Stratton and he said that he had room and could keep him. When we got there, I sort of mentioned that he didn't like to swim. He said "I think we can get him swimming." And the result was Jurgen completed his first live-bird retrieve and water retrieve in the same day.

Habitat Help

Cool season grasses suck for upland habitat. If where you live and hunt is covered in fescue and other grasses like in the picture to the left, you know what I mean. But managing food plots can get expensive in real $$, never mind the time

But potential good news – just saw this on the OutdoorLife website. If you have land and are looking for seed for wildlife purposes, this could be the ticket, thanks to the National Wild Turkey Federation's Conservation Seed Program. According to the article, it's typically grains like corn, milo and wheat. But any hunter in the uplands know that those can be valuable to wildlife in a number of ways, from nesting cover to winter food. The best part - it's free.

You can read the article in its entirety here: http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/hunting/2015/04/land-management-how-find-free-food-plot-seed 

Meet Jürgen von Stillwater

Following in the footsteps of Sundance West Eva Diva (you never replace your first birddog) is another Sundance-line dog, Jurgen von Stillwater.

If you're familiar with the teutonic method of naming dogs, you'll recognize and appreciate this as the "J-litter" from Stillwater Kennels.

He came to our house on December 26th. He's growing fast and full of personality, but this has been a miserable winter in Ohio to introduce a pup. That said, he's what I would call nearly house-broken at this point. He whines to go out and has nearly from day one.

Come, sit (stay) and shake were all accomplished in short order. Uses his nose, has pointing tendencies. The only challenge really is the weather, puppy coat, and getting him enough exercise. Oh, and his beginnings as a lap dog, which he hasn't shed yet. He's a people dog, but doesn't think he's a person. I like that about shorthairs.

Stay tuned for rock picture updates, with a little luck.

Sundance West Eva Diva; Oct 15, 1998 - Dec. 10, 2011

Our first bird dog made every single outing an adventure, and in a good way. Every single time. We couldn't have asked for more, although as a first-timer in Ohio with limited funds, I'm sure we never saw anywhere near her full potential. But you'd never know it to watch her. NAVHDA NA Prize II (a story in itself). She always hunted hard no matter what and was always happily ready to go. 

Right out of the box, she had the goods.

Sundance German Shorthair Pointers

Eva's litter:
Doc vd Westwind MH x Sundance Elishaba whelped 10/15/98 (6 males, 5 females)

Earned NAVHDA Breeders Award. What a group. 

Sire - Doc vd Westwind 

Dam - Sundance Elishaba 
NA Prize I "Liz"

Make Sure Your Dog is Hydrated

Field & Stream had a couple of recent blog post how to tell if your dog is dehydrated and keeping your dog hydrated during training. I can say that I have always been very conscious of keeping my canine athlete hydrated. It probably stems from my other passion, coaching soccer. Athletes of any kind need to stay hydrated. It's also critical to pull them out of the activity before they get to the point where it's an issue. This is especially true if in soccer you want to return that player to the game or if you're hunting and you want to continue. If you get to the point where they can't go, you've taken recovery from would would have been a "splash and go" to "we're-not-going-anytime-soon time frame," in my experience. That said, I've never had an issue with my GSP in Ohio. If I don't provide the water, she'll find it one way or another.