After season

What are you doing with your dogs until next season? I may make a few runs on wild birds. There is a NSTRA trial up at Navasota but they may have to cancel because of lack of interest. I walk mine every morning.

I just run Jenny and her mutt buddy Daisy (more accurately, I let them out of their already big pen and let them run themselves). I am amazed to see that the mutt is actually faster than Jenny. I didn't think that was possible, but it's the fact.

They run my 10 acres like wild banshees, sniff every nook and cranny and then go back in the pen about 15 minutes later. Jenny gets a few trips to the farm during offseason which she loves.

This is Daisy the speed demon:

If I can get the weather right, I will probably do a couple of preserve hunts on the weekends. It probably does me better than the dogs. Hopefully, I will get my female Setter bred to my male. A litter of pups would be fun to deal with again. I certainly had hunting withdrawals this past weekend.

I'll run in the NSTRA trials in our Lonestar Region (north Texas area), I also plan on going to all 3 Ronnie Smith Seminars, Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced, this spring. I have a Brittany pup coming from Ronnie in May.

I'll keep running my dogs as frequently as possible to keep them in shape and after the seminars, start whoa breaking my pointer pup.

I'm also trying to get up to Ardmore sometime this week to see the American Brittany Club's US Open Championship, its going on all week and there are some VERY nice dogs up there.

Are you running or judging in the NSTRA quad regional?

Its the quad regional, I'm running.

Anyone having trouble filling up your field trials? It's my understanding that the three Texas NSTRA regions could become one.

I walk mine everyday too. They will run the creek a couple of times a week and we'll go to the farm regularly.

For the pup, it's about letting her be a pup right now, but I'll continue her yard work. We will start serious whoa training next October.

We have a new place to hunt near Quannah. Plenty of birds on a really big place. Already anticipating getting them out there next season for a couple of hunts.

Mine is with me anywhere I can take her. We have 10 acres but it's not enough to let her out there. When she gets crazy I hop in the ranger and we run up and down a maze of dirt roads. Her pads are not able to hold up to so much of this but we do it when she really needs to run. I take her to the huge field a few times a week and she does a few huge laps. She is starting to mellow out a bit. She can come into small stores with me if I half hitch the leash at her waist. My boy and her play in the yard quite a bit.
I'm still feeding her some pretty high protein. I'm trying to feed less instead of a lower protein food. I worry since she's not as active she might not be utilizing the food and that might cause problems. So far she seems ok though.

The only trouble we are having is when they schedule a trial during hunting season or the weekend afterwards, other than that we really haven't had too much trouble filling them.

It's a shame. NSTRA was formed by a group of bird hunters in Indiana looking for something to do with their pointing dogs before and after season. We once had 4 trials in Katy before and after season. I sponsored one before and one after season in a field across the road. No we have none that I can go to without at least one overnight stay. There are very few young people left in our region.

That's because this sport is incredibly hard for a young person to get into. I'm 28 and its been really tough.

Tough how?

I will keep working my young dogs until it gets too hot. I have quail for a while longer.

They love to run my 50 acre field

Come see us if you need a place to work your dogs

walter

How did you do?

Placed 3rd on Saturday.

Not sure why the second image won't load.

I'm on the far left in the pic.

Congratulations.

Edit: Scenting must have been poor.

The QUAD placements were:
Saturday, March 18:
Field A:
1st – Lulu / Mike Brackin – 988
2nd – Boomer / John George – 857.6
3rd – Trigger / Kris Sparks – 728.5
4th – Blaze / David Lacy – 668

Field B:
1st – Lulu / Mike Brackin – 1042.5
2nd – Blaze / David Lacy – 954.5
3rd – Boomer / John George – 885
4th – Birdie / Mike Brackin – 835.1

Sunday, March 19:
Field A:
1st – Calley / Heath Autry – 919.5
2nd – Claire / Tom Paullus – 889.5
3rd – Annie / John George – 724.5
4th – Blanco / Bobby Clark – 698

Field B:
1st – Heidi / David Lacy – 865
2nd – Birdie / Mike Brackin – 814
3rd – Win / Leo Bonser – 749.5 (first time placement)
4th – Jackson / Nathan Tekell – 748

Saturday, Open Field:
1st – Rooster / Rob Martin – 667.5
2nd – Taps / Chad Mantz – 566
3rd – Sargent / Matthew Puckett – 521.5
4th – Mouse / Heath Autry – 499
Sunday, Open Field:
1st – George / Jim Selby - 747
2nd – Daisy / Jim Selby - 624
3rd – Hazel / Barry Godwin - 503
4th – Johnny / Tom Paullus – 467

It was very warm and windy, thick cover in some places. Dog's had to work hard to find birds.