Monday, August 31, 2009

Monday, August 31, 2009

A very crisp morning with heavy dew and the promise of another beautiful day. We got dogs all worked and bunches of young dogs. I was at work all day so Ed, Dave, Vicki, Ron & Annie handled the chores.

Roading:

· Mariah, Erin, Annie & Robin – Mariah ran 27 min. than she got hooked up to a fence while Linda continued on and she got picked up at 57 to finish the brace. So bottom line is – 33 min. – Mariah --- 63 min. the rest of the crew. We finally admitted that Mariah is not having puppies and got her back to working out. We will try again next time.

Meadows:

· MIDGE & BRENNA - Brenna started out well forward - hit first island and disappeared into the heavy cover then busted out of cover chasing bird. Dave brought her back and threw sticks three separate times and she broke on first two sticks; finally stayed on third stick. Moved forward and pointed with good style on this side of Sidell loop - handler could not produce; relocated her and she went forty yards and bumped a prairie chicken. More stick work and held on second stick; sparatic, independent for remainder of brace. Midge started strong to front went into first island with Brenna and did a stop to Brenna’s flush of bird. Got her going forward on the line but shortened run and kept diving into cover and getting behind me. Worked edges and went on point where a hun was known to be planted but handler could not produce. Midge was relocated but no bird was produced. Midge didn’t want to leave and go with the handler; self-hunting/diving into cover and getting behind. 35 minutes.

· INDE & RIO - Inde started off well disappearing on edge moving forward. Saw her at 7 min mark making cut by Sidell’s loop into the meadow toward’s the island. Found her standing with good style at 12 minutes near the quail johnny box by the pond. Rio came in and busted the bird without pointing and both dogs gave chase but did not catch bird. Put Inde back and then cast her off. On way back in, Inde blew off handler and headed for the bird house on the shelter belt, slipped under the fence and handler had to go over fence to get her back out. Rio started off good without bumping. Took the south side of the island and disappeared. Came out running with high head/high tail making nice moves down the lines toward pond where he busted Inde’s bird. On the way back in he started running toward the shelter belt with Inde but Ed was able to turn him and get him forward. Finished strong at 30+ minutes.

· BART & LIBBY - Bart was DOD - Started out fast forward and cleared Sidell’s loop before we cleared first island. A few minutes later when we reached Sidell loop, we saw Bart moving left to right fast and forward. Bart continued moving forward on the edges. Ed released birds in front of us and Bart stuck a bird on the edge with a ton of style. Finished front going strong at 40 minutes. Libby started out forward with Bart and disappeared at first island. Came out of heavy cover and ran short with some insecurity. Worked areas where birds were known to have been but had no birds. She worked area where Bart’s bird was produced then ran further forward with Bart but then broke off into heavy cover and slowed her pace then ran directly into camp to her barrel - 30 minutes

· TEQUI & DANI - Tequi moved forward with enthusiasm, Both dogs went into heavy cover at first island. Both dogs came out of the cover and headed straight across to tree line - but then both dogs turned away and wound up behind us. Tequi then changed direction and went front. She continued forward towards Sidells and made the turn towards the pond and headed left towards Johnny house. She worked cover and got her turned to work the other edge. No birds - 25 minutes. Cast Dani off dragging a cord for capture control at end of brace. Dani ran forward at start with independence. Made some nice moves at edge of pond. Worked cover but decided to hunt for herself and wound up behind us. Was difficult to get her to leave cover. Ed was able to get her out of the cover into the meadow and handled/stayed with Ed all the way back to camp. A new world record according to Ed - only two minutes to catch her at the end.

The rest of the day had Ed & Dave doing repairs on anything they could find around camp. Linda and Annie had a marathon afternoon shopping in town with a final stop at Ranchland. I did my hours for Monday at work and look forward to running dogs tomorrow. Stan rolled into camp a little bit after 6:00 only to find his rig unplugged and refrigerator a little bit over ripe. Now a countdown to the end of camp and trying to polish the dogs ready for trials.