Last year we shot video of Lily and Talus to show how we develop our pups and what to expect in their first season. We didn’t shoot video this year but we want to provide a summary of their continued, expected progress through the second season.
Last year we hunted Lily ten times over the course of two months and she made four finds before making her first point on a covey of Huns. After making that first point she was clearly focused on pointing rather than just finding birds. You could see it in her behavior – it was obvious she had turned the corner and become a pointing dog. It’s typical for dogs to switch from flushing/bumping to pointing like that so we expected her to continue pointing this season. Seeing that confirmed was a nice treat. On one hunt she made finds and points on all four coveys, all at a distance on birds that would not have been found without her.
She did move in too close after establishing a point on a covey or two but that’s part of the learning curve. They have to get too close to learn that they can’t get away with it. It’s all part of the normal development of their inherent abilities.
Her brother Talus’s development took a slightly different path this season. Last year he never had the experience of working in too close and flushing birds – he never learned what he could, and couldn’t, get away with. So on the first couple coveys he found this year he pointed and then tried re-establishing closer than he could get away with, pressuring the coveys too much so they flushed. After bumping those first two coveys he learned his lesson, and on all his subsequent opportunities on both Huns and Chukars he pointed and held until the hunter walked in to flush the birds.
This is pretty typical developmental progression for our dogs. These instincts are genetic and have to be bred into the dogs. If they have the natural ability all you have to do is allow it to develop. If you try to “teach” them when to stop at this stage of the game it will be counterproductive. They have to learn to make that decision on their own. Sometimes you have to work on getting them to hold point later but most will hold their birds until you arrive to shoot without any formal training. This is what we are shooting for in our breeding – naturally developing bird dogs.
Both Lily and Talus are looking great and have been added to our breeding program.
Do you ever have started dogs for sale?
We only have started dogs very occasionally.
Lisa