Scout's first trial is today. We're not doing an actual competition but something called a "tower shoot". Some probably think it's inhumane, and maybe it is. But as I understand it they will launch live birds that "sportsmen" will shoot. New dogs are used for retrievals. He's been shot over many times, and he's retrieved many times (now taking hand signals, etc) but never live shooting, live birds, and commands all at one time.

Trainer is recently trying to either buy him or another pup from his mom's next litter or a pup from one of his sisters.

I got no problem with that but for God's sake B. take time to hold that dog and love on him. He's a good'un.

He gets plenty of loving, and I ain't letting him go.

He got 13 birds...some of them still fluttering and a few were blind retrieves. This is awesome for his first time out.

Tell him I said "good boy" :-)

Our black lab was a great retriever. The only problem was that he wouldn't let go of the ducks until he'd gnawed their heads off. Once he got old and started going blind, we had to pair him with our rottweiler to retrieve birds. The rott would swim out, but he'd freak out when he tried to grab the ducks because they were still alive and moving. The lab would follow the rott and do the actual retrieving. Dogs are awesome.

Cool story.

And good for Scout. Did you have him fixed, or can you breed him?

He's not fixed. I fixed my last two but it would be a crying shame to fix Scout.

He is smaller than what you typically see for a lab these days but still well within breed standards. And he is gifted.

He will make some awesome pups.

Steezo, I have never heard of a rott retrieving. Ive been working on Scouts mouth by giving him an empty water bottle. If I can hear it, he isn't doing it right.

Just make sure you get a big black bitch for him, and the pups will be alright.

This rott looked like a big ol' badass, but was actually kind of a pussy. Sort of like how all bullys are actually wimps. That sounds mean, but really he was just all bark and no bite. We bought some chew treats that were made out of cow hooves and that dog pee'd the floor when he saw them. I guess rottweilers were used as herding dogs in their past and he must've had some sort of inbred fear of hooves.

Anyway, he loved swimming and was great as far as spotting birds in the water and swimming to them. He just couldn't handle picking up a dying bird in his mouth. It freaked him out. The worst thing that dog ever did was jump into a riverbed full of spawned out salmon. He stunk himself up to high heaven. That's when we learned that tomato sauce can get off funky odors, like the smell of dead fish or skunks.

Scouts been back from "college" a few weeks now. He's becoming a great dog. Really laid back til a gun or retrieving dummies come out then it's strictly business.

Grew into those feet. He's a little adult.

My little man had a bad setback. Been at the vet for two days and I guess now we're around 2k. Thought he had a blockage from one of the myriad things a Lab chews up but it turns out he has a serious gastro infection. Not a parasite but an infection that shuts their bowels down.

He's still a champ, and comes home tomorrow. No more animal bones or rawhide for him...ever.

Damn. Glad he pulled through.

Is the infection brought on by the chews or did it mess up his GI to where he can't handle the chews? Glad he's good tho.

The Doc isn't blaming the chews, rawhides, bones or really anything specific...but he says you're taking a chance anytime you give a dog any kind of animal bone. I know, chicken bones vs beef bone debate, etc, but this vet says they are all a crap shoot. Rather than worry about all that I'm just going to eliminate them.

So it's possible that it could pass from animal bone? Wow. Never thought of anything like that, but it makes a lot of sense.

No, he didn't say it was transmitted by the animal bone. Shards of bone could have cut his innards and led to the infection he has right now, or not. They never found an actual blockage. Little dude has a major bacterial gastro infection.

This vet is just against bones in general because even though the odds are in your and the dogs favor, there's still a chance.

OK. That makes sense. Better safe than sorry.

I've been told, as long as I've owned dogs that you shouldn't feed them chicken bones. They splinter too much. But I have seen my jack russel chew through anything with little damage. But I never feed him chicken bones. Beef bones yeah, but well, he'd like to catch a squirell.

They'd all like to catch a squirrel.

I've always been told the same about pork bones...the splintering.

I've heard all that too. The vet just said "no bones, and stop worrying about it".

Little man came home friday and we've been feeding him a little along of some bland canned food and giving him an assload of antibiotics and stomach coating pills. He took his first shit sunday and it was a whopper. I should have taken a pic for Panzer.

I think he's going to be okay but we're keeping an eye on him for a few more days.

Happy your boy is doing better.

He's definitely better but not out of the woods yet. It's amazing how dogs have no self pity. He almost died last week, still barely holds food down and can't take a normal shit and last night I took him and had him tried for his "therapy dog" certificate. He passed with flying colors.

Now I can take him to visit sick old farts like Backdoorman.

The old boy is doing great. He is averaging one good shit a day in the morning plus one runny one at night depending on how much swimming he's done. We are not giving him any bones of any species but have given him a rawhide or two since he came home. I got one of those wireless invisible fences to try to keep him home but frankly, think I may have wasted my money because the range is pretty short and as you have all seen, the hacienda is surrounded by water. With my previous lab I buried an invisible fence wire under the water and tried to mark his boundary with buoyed drink bottles but the bottles just tortured the Lab as he wanted to retrieve them.

Fuck, it's complicated. And not made better that I let him keep his nuts. If he was neutered he'd be the Ace of Aces- King of Kings, Lord of Lords of all dogs I've had, ever. But his nuts lead him off two or three times a week- And knowing you got 10k or so wandering the countryside directed by two walnut sized dog testicles is not a good feeling.

Him and me both. What does he like to read?

haha, he reads the signs in the air

Did he help find the pheasants?

No, Scout didn't. I didn't take him and I'm glad I didn't. They use their dogs differently out there. They range out in a grid through the fields roughly 50 yds or less from their handler. It is very undisciplined yet very efficient. They are out working the field rows and flushing birds. When someone shoots and they see the bird twitch they break automatically to retrieve.

If I taught or allowed Scout to hunt like that he would never sit on a dove field or God forbid in a duck blind and wait for a signal to retrieve.

I had no idea folks hunted dogs that way but the guy said all he cared about was if his dog brought the birds to his hand. and they did do that. There was just a lot more chaos involved than what I'm accustomed to. Of course, we don't have pheasant here but we do have some quail. Those S. Dakota dogs would suck at that here because they would bust out too far ahead and flush instead of holding a point. It's a function of where you are hunting. It is pointless to teach a dog to hold a point in a cornfield 6 or 7 feet tall because you can't see him.

I have been out hiking several times and have run into bear dogs that have strayed very far and are just fucking lost. generally the owner wants the tracking collar more than anything and they can't be bothered. fucking annoys me.

Some? Just about all the quail I've ever seen available in NYC has come from your state. Mighty tasty, too.

Quail too much work for a chicken nugget worth of meat.