I have another friend, Eric Bullock who stopped by the house and was a little discouraged about his new pup, Breezy (poodle pointer), and her progress. Telling Marks story might help Eric understand that by getting the dog out on birds as often as possible suddenly the light bulb flashes on and you have a hunting companion. Some dogs come along slower than others but birds will make it happen.
Oakley's first chukar hunt started out a little wild for Mark. He was hunting with some other hunters and Oakley decided to blow through a few pointed coveys by other dogs. Mark figured it was time to get off on their own and soon good things started happening for him and his hunting partner Travis. A solid point on a meadow lark was cool but not what they were after.
Oakley was learning quickly his purpose in life and as Mark put it the pup was making the usual blunders of a pup and suddenly things started sinking in.
In 400 yards he had 5 solid points with no flinching. The only blunders were human. Missing the safety button and forgetting to reload gun after lunch break proving the hunter isn't perfect either. In Mark's description of his hunt I liked his last paragraph of his hunt description.
He said Oakley went from a first grader to a high school student. Sure she'll have some puppy dog blunders but he showed the promise of what the future has in store for him with Oakley.
Every bird dog is different and some take longer than others for the light bulb to click on. Eric, get your dog out on birds as often as you can until he she becomes obsessed with looking for them and with a little human help you will have the same success as Mark. Believe in her abilities and it will soon happen.
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