Another Chukar hunt when the chukars didn't win.

Happy to see us?

Ever since I extended my love and pursuit of good hunting dogs from bird dogs to include hounds, I have been torn at times which to hunt. In Idaho we have five months of bird season and I do a lot of bird hunting. I also run bears with my hounds in the spring and summer when there is no conflict. But the other day I had a big decision to make: Should I try for cougars or chukars?

It was the end of chukar season, but I had been dying to get out again for lions. I decided I’d try lions in the morning and then Chris and I had plans to hit the chukar hills before dark. After waking at 3:00 am to drive some canyons for lions, my friend Mike and I cut tracks of a cougar right before daylight. The track was two nights old, but we each put a dog in the race. My walker dog, Okie and my friend’s Spike dog took the track well over a mile and by some lucky chance of freak mountain acoustics we heard them jump and tree the lion way up the canyon. When we made it to the tree we were greeted by an old, yellow toothed female lion that was not happy to see us. We took some pictures and let her free to run another day.

On the way home I texted Chris to let him know it would be too late for me to join him. By the time I got home it was after 4:00. I got a call from Chris. He told me he had found a covey and I should get up there. Decisions, decisions… I put the hounds in their kennel, grabbed my Brittany, Kenya (who knew we were going hunting…they always do) and shotgun and jumped in the car. I met Chris on the mountain with enough time for 30-45 minutes of hunting in the prime area. The sun went down before we could get into the covey again, but it is always a good time in the hills with a friend and some fine hunting dogs.

We always love to hear back from puppy owners about how things are going and what experiences the puppies are having. We especially love to hear about successful hunting trips. We heard back from Steve and Pam in northern Idaho about their pup Lucy. We got some great photos and heard about their hunting adventures with the new puppy. Lucy seems to be a real game dog at 4 months old!

Lucy seems to be a great game dog @ 4 months old. She is getting great experience on grouse in northern Idaho.

Western Rattler Ready for Snake Proofing Dogs

There is no way to keep your bird dog 100 percent safe in the field, but there are ways to help prevent disasters. Chris and I just finished doing a snake break for some dogs that we have been training. We had a good session and I am confident that none of those dogs will be interested in the sight, smell or sound of a rattlesnake. They won’t dive in or even want a closer look.

Snake break training is fairly simple in principal, but difficult in practice. Basically, you want the dog to use as many senses as possible to locate the snake, and then when the dogs jumps in you hit them on the highest setting on the e-collar multiple times. The problem is finding the snake and then making it so that it can’t hurt or kill the dogs. Some guys duct tape the snake’s mouth shut, we use a skin stapler. Needless to say, this isn’t the easiest task to accomplish. The snake wasn’t happy and our heart rates were more than slightly elevated during the process.

After the snake was made  harmless to the dogs, we let it slither around on the ground and start bringing dogs in one by one. Dogs react differently to snakes. Ideally, the snake will strike the dog, but it doesn’t have to for effective training. When the dog gets curious and sticks its face down near the snake or steps near the snake, we hit them on continuous on the highest setting on the e-collar. Hold for 4-5 second, pause for a second, hold for another 4-5 seconds, pause and then one more time. This creates a very bad memory of the sight, smell and sound of a rattlesnake. Afterwards, we move the snake to a new location and then bring the dog near it to see how the dog reacts. We did six dogs and none of them wanted anything to do with that rattlesnake the second time.  Needless to say our clients should not have to worry about their dogs getting bit by a rattlesnake in the field this season.   Nick Muckerman