2009 Duck Season - First Split

We have only one day left until the first split is over. Boo has been doing great. Last week, she made her first double. She swam out and picked up one widgeon of two that were only a few feet apart, then she turned and grabbed the other and brought them both back to me. Also last week, she retrieved a sandhill crane. She struggled a bit with the big bird, but she did great for only being 11 months old.

Today was her busiest day yet. I hunted with two friends and we shot 3 limits. I only remember one bird out of 18 that she did not retrieve and that was only because I didn't let her. She is getting more patient with each hunt and she loves being out in the field. She also loves to come home and catch up on her beauty sleep after a long day hunting.

Duck Hunt

Boo and I went out this morning for her first duck hunt. She was very excited, but was surprisingly easy to calm. After setting out decoys and Boo going for a little pre-dawn swim, we settled in only a few minutes before first light. Right at shooting time, a group of mallards came in and it was "go-time". Boo hit the water and swam hard right to the duck, grabbed him and brought him right back. A little while later, 2 mallards came in and both went down. Boo went right to work. She picked one up, and with a little coaxing she ignored the other bird and came back to shore. She was so excited when she gave me the bird that she totally forgot about the other one, so I had to try to direct her out to get it. After a bit, she remembered and went straight out to where the bird was and brought it back. The other 3 birds were all land retrieves, and she did pretty well finding them.

First Hunt

Boo got to go hunting for grouse the past couple of days. She did great for just a pup and made 8 real-bird retrieves in the past 2 days. We were lucky to find a lot of birds and we made the most of it.

I cannot wait for our next hunt!

Josh's Turn

Here is my best friend working with Boo. It is their first time working together and I think they did great.

9 Months

Boo is 9 months old now, and we are going grouse hunting on 9/1. We went scouting together over the weekend and she isn't quite sure what to make of these birds we found. They keep flying away. I think once one drops on the ground she will start to understand. I can't wait! Here is a video of her practicing...

July - just over 7 months

Boo has been busy. In addition to being spayed, she has been working hard on her retriever training.

Yes, that is right. Boo will not be having any baby boo's. As good a dog as she is, there are many more out there that need homes and our house isn't equipped for more Boo's.

Boo's temperament is great. She LOVES everyone - dog and human. She does give a bark here and there when she isn't sure who you are, but isn't aggressive.

Her training is starting to pick up as well. She is a strong swimmer and has done some water retrieves, but her best work is still on terra firma. She is holding well and almost always only retrieving on command. She has been working up to 2 marked retrieves and I have started to work her on blind retrieves.

On this weekend, our country's birthday, she went on her first ever camping trip. She never seemed confused or out of place and enjoyed it immensely. She was having fun and relaxing whenever she wanted.

This week, we will go fishing with Uncle Jim and Otter. We'll follow that with a day at Piney with Beth and Lily, then hopfully we'll be back in Wyoming for a backpack trip with Lily, UJ and Otter.

As far as training, we need to work more on blind retrieves, multiple marks and water retrieves.

Fishing

Last week, Boo went to Salida and the Arkansas River for the Mother's Day caddis hatch. The weather was great and the caddis were everywhere. Boo played off leash while we fished and was having a great time. She would follow me up or down stream - sometimes on land and sometimes in the water. During the first afternoon there were thousands of caddis around on the water and crawling on the rocks. Boo began eating them on the rocks and as she did so, a lot of them tried to escape her by going to the water. Well, to Boo that seemed like even more fun. In the pictures, she is snapping up the caddis right off the water - even when she was swimming. I am not sure, but she might be hooked on fishing.

First Swim

Boo finally got her last giardia booster, so I took her out to my duck club on Tuesday. I had hip waders on and was walking through the shallow water while Boo and her sister Lily followed me. Boo was still able to touch the bottom, but after a while I think she figured out that it was easier to swim than to walk on her toes. At first, she tried climbing up my legs, but she quickly got over it and just swam along. We did get to a couple of spots where she couldn't touch the bottom at all, but she didn't seem to notice at all - she was swimming! (said like Forest Gump)

Sorry, no pictures of the event. I'll get some on the next outing. Next time we go, we'll work on a couple water retrieves.

First Social Hike/Snowshoe

Although Boo has spent a lot of time outdoors, we had not taken her hiking on a trail where there would be other people and dogs. Since she just finished her last puppy shots, we took her with us on Sunday. With the latest blizzard, we were hoping for enough snow to actually break out the snowshoes. It was a beautiful warm day and there were enough people and dogs for some socializing. She had a blast chasing Lily and Mocha through the snow. Boo did bark a little when seeing other people, but only occasionally. Boo and I split from the group a couple of times so we could work on a few things - separating from Beth, Lily and the others, listening to me and paying attention to my location, and leash work. She did great and we look forward to more hiking!

30 Lbs?

Boo hit a milestone today. She is just over 15 weeks old and has tipped the scale at a whopping 30 lbs. As you can see in the picture here on the left, she is starting to look more like a dog than a puppy. See her at about week 8 in the picture below.

She had a little bug lately and is on antibiotics, but I don't think she will learn any lessons about putting EVERYTHING in her mouth. She is chewing a bit, but hasn't gotten any shoes yet. (knock on wood)

Time to feed her, so I'd better go.

Growing so much

Boo is now about 22 lbs. and growing fast - she has now outgrown her second kennel and is in one large enough for her as an adult. She is learning so much, too. She has learned, but not yet mastered these commands: sit, whoa, come, stay and kennel. Beth has also taught her to "catch" her toys (shown in picture). This morning, Boo and I were up early and had a few minutes together without distractions. She was really wanting some attention, so I decided to play fetch with her. She made about 10 retrieves in a row (the most so far) and seemed willing to go much longer. I stopped at that point (for training retrievers, we want to keep them hungry for the next retrieve - never to let them tire of the game) and gave her a treat.

Boo had her second round of shots this week (12 weeks old). Hunting season is over, so we will start some real training in late March. I can't wait for warmer weather and her last shots (lepto and giardia) so I can introduce her to water.

Late January Hunting

Boo is doing great in the field - she is 10 weeks old now. I wish I had a picture of her helping me on the retrieve. I have been working with her on her tracking treats while we wait for the birds. Her nose and tracking ability seems superior for her age. She is comfortable with all aspects of a day in the field, but at some point she will need to be in her blind, not mine.

Been Busy!

Boo has been very busy getting to know her sister Lily. They love playing with each other and do it constantly, until they both just drop from exhaustion.

I have started taking Boo on walks with Lily. She has done our usual route as well as the walk to 7-11 to get the Sunday paper. Boo hates the leash/collar combo, but tolerates it well once she gets moving. She showed a lot of confidence on the last walk, was spooked by a garbage truck in the alley but rallied once she actually saw what it was. She was quite excited about finding a pinecone, and carried it almost all the way home, until she became fascinated with a grass stalk in our friend's garden.

Boo still cannot make it through the night without waking us, but she is getting better and lasting longer. We usually hear a howl at about 4:30AM. She is ready to be up and running by 6:30AM, but we are not always ready at that time. She can keep herself busy in her crate while we get a few more winks.

First Hunts

Boo went on her first goose hunts on Friday and Saturday. She had a great time playing in the corn field, chewing on stalks and retrieving corn cobs. She did fine with the shooting. I was with her a couple hundred feet away for the first shot and she was excited by the geese we retrieved. I brought her to about 100 feet away after that and she did great. She is really getting her feet under her, although she is still quite a klutz.

1-15-09 Settling in!

Last night was Boo's first night sleeping until 4AM. The coyote howls started then and the next howls came at 6:30AM; a totally acceptable time for this early-ish rising family. But-at that time, you better be ready because Boo is shot out of a cannon. She is full of energy, ready to eat and then play hard, much to Cochon and Lily's dread.

Today was a sort of breakthrough for Lily. She realized that this small terror was actually willing to chase her, which just happens to be Lily's favorite thing in the world. Lily stole the new nylabone and took off running with Boo on her tail-literally. That little dog was keeping up, but Lily did her favorite juking maneuvers and Boo kept right on her heels. It was a fun thing to watch. Up to this point, Lily has been a bit jealous and annoyed by Boo-that changed today.

BIG NEWS: Boo retrieved her first duck today....she is very advanced for 7-3/4 weeks!

Bird Dog? 1/13/09

I thought today "I should pull out a bird wing and see if I get a reaction from Boo". So I bring in a pheasant wing from the garage. As soon as I put it in front of Boo, she attacks it. She clamped down, shook it and ran with it over to her kennel. I almost could not get it out of her mouth. Sorry, no pictures. I was afraid she would devour it before I could get the camera. Wings are put away now and won't come out until we start getting into formal training. I don't have to worry about whether she is a bird dog.

Big Snow - 1/12/09

We woke up this morning to a little more snow than was forecast. Wasn't so "big" to most, but to Boo it was HUGE. So far, Boo likes chewing on everything and loves chasing Cochon. She does great in the truck (in her crate) and we went to see Beth's office today.





We hope she gets the "sleeping through the night" down soon. She sounds like a pack of coyotes in the night.

January 11, 2009

Boo was born 11/21/2008. I picked her up after duck-hunting alone on the morning of 1/11/09. She had been playing with her litter-mates until mid-day before I picked her up. We stopped to see Joshua, then headed home. She met Lily and Cochon, played, napped, ate, napped some more, ate some more, played a little more...you get the idea.

By the end of the day, Boo had retrieved to hand 4 times, chewed the carpet 3 times and messed in the house once and melted hearts countless times. It was a good day.