On Point!

I’ve been patiently working and waiting for things to click for Ripley, and he’s hitting his stride at just the right time. Attaboy, Ripley!

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Love pointing dogs for upland hunting. Here is my 2 YO from last Fall.

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Very cool, CaptainMusky!

Jealous of both of you. Many memories pour back to me. Heck we dont even have birds here anymore hardly.

Looks good! What is he pointing?

KwickStick wrote:

What is he pointing?

A planted pigeon.

Its such a confusing time for young dogs this time of year. Mine runs around the yard and locks up on point on all of the bird nests.
He is the first Shorthair that I have had that would cock his foot like that. The others just struck the pose.
Beautiful dog Ralph! Should be an exciting season coming up for you.
Hopefully the birds will be around. I haven’t seen any in a long time around my place but I haven’t ventured on any gravel recently to search any out either.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Beautiful dog Ralph! Should be an exciting season coming up for you.
Hopefully the birds will be around. I haven’t seen any in a long time around my place but I haven’t ventured on any gravel recently to search any out either.

Thank you!

We’ve been doing a little WMA exploring the past few weekends and have found some birds. I’m excited. It will be the first pheasant season for both the dog and my wife. We’ll have fun!

Mine locked up so hard on a rabbit the other day WHILE ON LEASH I had to walk in and kick it up. She wouldn’t budge. It was 3 feet in a field edge on our walking trail. She wont do that bird hunting but around here she knows fur is on HER menu.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Its such a confusing time for young dogs this time of year. Mine runs around the yard and locks up on point on all of the bird nests.

Ha ha. I know the feeling. I’d been getting frustrated because I wasn’t getting more than a flash point out of him. One night, a couple of weeks ago, we were out on a walk, and out of nowhere, he locked up in a picture perfect point of a sparrow.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
Its such a confusing time for young dogs this time of year. Mine runs around the yard and locks up on point on all of the bird nests.

Ha ha. I know the feeling. I’d been getting frustrated because I wasn’t getting more than a flash point out of him. One night, a couple of weeks ago, we were out on a walk, and out of nowhere, he locked up in a picture perfect point of a sparrow.

Love it! I still treat each point as if its a target species. I like to think it keeps him on his game. He knows when the “real thing” comes around that a distraction from a “yard bird” wont even slow him down.
I did have a rooster run through my yard a month ago. I let Trigger out to see if we could flush it. He locked up on point where I last had seen it, but that bird was long gone by the time I let the dog out.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Thank you!

We’ve been doing a little WMA exploring the past few weekends and have found some birds. I’m excited. It will be the first pheasant season for both the dog and my wife. We’ll have fun!

That will be fun for sure! I remember taking my wife hunting a few times. After a couple hours of walking and she being covered in sweat she said to me “I didn’t realize it was going to be this much high knee action”. Then, I was walking an old railroad grade and she needed a rest so she sat down. I told her I would make a loop and come back. Both dogs were birdy as heck, but I never flushed anything. When I got back to her she asks if I saw anything. I said, no, but the dogs were birdy as heck the whole time, birds must have ran around us or something. She says, “You should have stayed here, I watched 10 of them run right down the trail”. Ugh. LOL

When my very first pointer was starting to point we were up in northern WI grouse hunting and he locked up tight. Sort of odd as the woods were open and there were definitely no birds right there. Then I noticed he was locked up on a painted turtle! Lol! He went on to be the very best grouse dog I ever had.

KwickStick wrote:

Then I noticed he was locked up on a painted turtle!

Ha ha ha! That’s funny.

Gotta love pointers. Mine turns into a statue until the bird, rabbit or squirrel moves. Tail goes up, front left paw comes off the ground slightly and he starts to subtly vibrate…goofy pup.

KwickStick wrote:

Then I noticed he was locked up on a painted turtle! Lol! He went on to be the very best grouse dog I ever had.

Classic!
I had one shorthair that when he was on point, there was a pheasant there, no ifs, ands or buts. Me and a buddy were walking back to the truck and decided to cut across an alfalfa field, maybe 6 inches tall. Dog locks up on point, wouldn’t budge. I was talking to him saying, “come on Gunner, there is no bird there”. He just looks at me out of the corner of his eye and doesn’t move. So I stepped closer. Only to my surprise to see a rooster belly down to the ground hiding 3 feet in front of him. This is where the stupid idea comes in, I tried to grab it and in the process get the living crap scratched out of my from its spurs and wings flapping. LOL
I always trusted the dog after that. Even if it might be a painters turtle!

My sons puppy pointing a chuckar this morning. The solid black is my 4 month old working on whoa this evening.

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Magic! Keep us posted.

Looking good! Ripley’s done well the past few live bird sessions I’ve done with him. I’m looking forward to putting him on some game farm birds soon!

Ralph, the best thing you can do for him is to get him on as many wild birds as possible. Not always easy, but they will teach Ripley the right things.

KwickStick wrote:

Ralph, the best thing you can do for him is to get him on as many wild birds as possible. Not always easy, but they will teach Ripley the right things.

Oh, for sure. Once the season opens, it’ll all be wild birds.

I’m looking forward to the “Ripley Report.” He looks like a super pup!