Riley and the vet.

Although we got another set back today I thought I'd give thumb's up to Dr. Warner and crew for helping to make Riley feel at home while recovering. It's becoming our second home and Riley has the routine down. We walk in the door and Riley walks right over to the scale and weighs himself.

Sherry escorts us into the back room

where Dr. Warner is talking dogs and the rest of the crew are waiting to start their healing process on animals.

Riley then is prepped for his laser therapy treatments by placing sunglasses on. Looks like a cool dude don't you think.

Now down on the floor for the treatment and than an x ray to make sure things are healing right.

The x ray showed another broken screw so back into surgery today. The good news was this screw was more accessible and the operation won't be quite as intrusive as the last two.

 

It's 6:30 and Barb is bringing Riley home from the vets. She called me with the instructions from Dr. Warner. I try hard not to be a rain cloud, but the news was not what I was hoping for. I have probably lost Riley for this hunting season. That hurts, because I know how much he enjoys being on the hill with me but even worse than that, we are back to square one for the next three months without any interaction with Jake and only walked outside for relieving himself. I have to believe that his poor recovery is my fault, because it has been so hard to keep Riley in prison. People have games to play, TV to watch, or many other things. What does a dog do, but wonder what he has done wrong to be punished like this. 

As for the hunting part, I don't have to miss a beat. I have Jake to take me through the season. Jake is an upcoming chukar hunting star and I should be thrilled with the prospects of the upcoming season with a new pup.  But, I feel guilty even thinking about hunting while Riley lays at home wondering why I left him again. Riley has always been there ready to go whenever I needed a partner and now there is nothing I can do to return the favor.

 

The day Barb and I picked up Jake he became family just as if we had a new child. I have introduced him to the wonderful world of bird hunting and now he has it in his blood. Jake deserves all the same treatment that Riley, Dakota and all our past hunting dogs got. Lot's of time on the hill pointing birds. I would gladly give up the 2013 season if it would help Riley recover but that wouldn't be fair to Jake.

 

Jake will carry me through the season with all his excitement and new discoveries and it will be exciting for me to watch him develop. But don't let the smiles you see on my face for Jake fool you. Although I'll be happy for Jake's progress, there'll be a knot in my gut and a lump in my throat because Riley is not able to enjoy it with us. Those who love their dogs as much as I do will understand. Please say a prayer that I can be strong enough to do what is right for Riley in the next three months.

 

I don't want to pretend that financially this has not had a big impact on Barb and I but we've made these dog's a huge part of our lives.. I planned my retirement for these years. If my hobby was golfing or trap shooting, I could just buy new clubs or a gun if they broke. But that isn't what you do with a friend, just put them aside. Time in the field together is of the utmost importance and that is what Riley and I have lost. The only upside to this is that it makes me glad I never wasted an opportunity to be out with my boys in the past.

 

And to think I used to think I was a tough guy.

 

Update. Barb just got home with Riley and some better news. The total confinement has been lowered to eight weeks and then there will be an evaluation. So, if he stays in this room (our master bedroom) except to go outside on a short leash for bathroom breaks we may have one month less of down time.

 

 

 

I've reached 45 pounds.

The last two months have been very eventful. Not only did I gain 15 pounds, my energy level seems to have doubled. Put that together with both Riley and the Big Guy being operated on, I've had to take on my training by myself. I miss Riley on the hill showing me how to find birds and how to use the different wind directions to my advantage, but the Big Guy just as well stay in the truck while I train. He moves so much slower now that I can't really range out there, like Riley taught me.. Oh well, it's better than sitting in the living room watching Riley heal up. Besides we still need him to drive us around.
I got a shocking lesson on what snakes are about two weeks ago. The Big Guy took me down to a park where there were a bunch of other dogs. I figured he was going to introduce me to other hunting dogs and let me play with some of them since Riley can't play for a month or more. But no, he just walked me around the park on a leash. I figured he was showing me off to this guy walking along with us. As I rounded a tree, there was a snake right there. As I moved in to take a better look the snake jumped at me. I thought I got out of the way fast enough but he must have bit me in the neck because it burned like heck for a second. I ran away being a little vocal. I was ready to get out of the park but the Big Guy insisted we keep walking around the park with the other dogs. Sure enough, we ran into a couple of other snakes before we left. Those darn things are telepathic. Even when I got away from them they inflicted a burning pain in my neck. The Big Guy says there are a lot of snakes out where we train and hunt so I'm going to keep my nose, ears and eyes on lookout for possible encounters. I guess the guy that was walking with us wasn't too impressed with me because he soon left and went off with some other dog.
I also have learned not to trust everything the Big Guy says. Today while training, we stopped for a moment to rest his leg and he told me stories of his past dogs. One of them was about my great grandpa Tucker and how his nose was so good he  could find a chukar on a paved parking lot. Come on, what would a chukar be doing on a parking lot. I've heard a lot about Tucker and I know he wouldn't even waste his time there. The Big Guy also said that no one else has ever hunted this mountain. It's a secret spot found by Tucker and him.

I found this shotgun shell on the hill. I know I'm supposed to be color blind but I still know the difference between a twelve and twenty gauge shell and this is a twenty and the Big Guy shoots a twelve. Either he is naïve or quite a story teller.
I'll keep him around though. Even as slow as he is he still packs water and food for me on the hill. I'm learning how to drink out of a squirt bottle without losing much on the ground.

 

Besides getting drinks occasionally I'm learning that when you're chukar hunting you'd better take advantage of shade when you find it. Many of the places we go doesn't have much shade.

The birds we are encountering are very different. So far I've got to point grouse, quail, pheasant, huns and chukars. The grouse and pheasants have already had babies that are big enough to fly but the huns, chukars and quail still are only in pairs. The grouse are best for training this time of the year because there are lot's of creeks and mud puddles to roll in where they're at. I pointed several times today for the Big Guy but only twice produced birds.

Both times a pair of chukars. I let the Big Guy flush the birds to humor him. He carries a frozen chukar (he thinks I don't know he has) and a gun and pretends to shoot when the birds flush and then either drops the chukar  on the ground or tosses it if he thinks I'm not looking. Little does he know that I'm perfectly aware that it is the same bird every time. I fetch it at his request mainly so I can see the big grin on his face as he calls me a good boy.  Humans will fall for anything.

Hunting season is three months away and I'll be ready. I'm hoping Riley heals up by then. I could sure use him for some fine tuning when it comes to chukar hunting. He's a tough old boy and has been through hell the last 40 days and he's lost a lot of muscle mass but if any dog can overcome his injuries, Riley can. Now the Big Guy is a different issue. Humans are kind of fragile and I'm going to have to use a lot of dog psychology to get him back on his game. If he plans on having a good chukar season he's going to have to keep up with me. I'm not going to go soft on him when it comes to the real deal. And if Riley get's better, the Big Guy is going to wish he had wings on his feet trying to keep up with the two of us.

I know the Big Guy is hoping for Riley's return and so am I. Although I love finding the birds myself, working with such a pro is fun. Besides, the way I understand it, all of the Big Guy's hunting companions have girl dog's. I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. If we don't watch out, pretty soon they'll be letting the females ride up front with us. Another thing I wish I could teach these humans is to quit saying I'm cute. It embarrasses me in front of the other dogs. I'm a chukar dog and we're tough not cute.

   

Sometimes you have to blow your own horn.

Well, this summer isn't turning out the way I hoped. Riley busted his leg three weeks ago and I bunged my knee up on a turkey hunt. Last weekend I finished the job on my knee while getting fire wood and had it scoped on Tuesday. Not that big of a deal because my recovery is just a matter of five or six weeks and I should be humping the hills with Jake.
Riley is a different matter though. After enduring a major surgery and three weeks of mending, he busted a screw in his leg and the break is not healing properly. So he is back getting operated on right now and we are back to square one for recovery time. This time when he gets home he is going to be in very tight quarters for five weeks so we can prevent the chance of injuring the leg again. What a blessing to have Dr. Warner and staff on my team. Saturday night and operating because he felt waiting any longer may be detrimental to Riley's full recovery.
With all this going on, I have to admit to being a little short with a gentleman today. I was at a baseball game watching my grandson play. Riley was with me because I was scheduled to take him to the vet after the game. Another spectator, who I've visited with quite often about chukar hunting, came over and visited with me. Everything would have been fine except he mentioned how it seems like Riley and I are always breaking something. Knowing what Riley was about to go through again I took it personal and decided to blow our horn a little.
This guy hunts chukar maybe three or four times a year and the rest of his hunts are more on the flat land hunting quail. I have no problem with this and I actually appreciate it because it keeps one more dog and hunter off the hill where I might want to be. But he began comparing himself and his dog to me and my boys. By the time we were through discussing our hunts it became quite obvious that we hunted with a difference in intensity. His thirty or forty points with his GSP last year did not quite come close to Riley's 700 plus. His x number of birds retrieved did not come close to the x number of Riley's. In my opinion, the hardest job a chukar dog has is retrieving the birds on those steep and rocky slopes. I can't count the number of times I've seen my dog's chasing a cripple down a steep slope to have the bird slam on the breaks causing the dog to roll head over heal down the hill and than recover and resume the chase. I don't very often like to boast about how many birds me and the dog's get and how hard we work for them but today was a day for blowing my horn. With me hobbling around and Riley about to go into surgery again I felt it was necessary for some people to realize that our scars are battle scars that we were damn proud of and we earned. We could have healthy bodies and spend more time driving the roads looking for birds, but we'd rather keep doing it the way we do even if it means suffering a little. So, the next person should be real careful at classifying my dogs as being a little on the tender foot side. They earned the respect that I demand they get.

Curiosity

So far it's been nothing but fun learning what the outdoors is all about for Jake. He has become more daring with each trip out and is now searching every nook and cranny looking for the smell of birds. But with that urge to find birds he is also finding many new smells that grab his curiosity. He's at a point where he needs to learn the difference between good smells and bad smells as well as movements in the brush that could get him in trouble.
Jake is doing a great job of finding birds, especially for a four and a half month old pup, but he sometimes get's right on top of the bird before he scents them. The way he sticks his nose into the brush and down rock cracks and holes is making him a prime candidate for a snake bite. Although I don't think Jake has seen a snake yet, he has stepped over several that have scared the crap out of me. Just yesterday, he was pointing some quail, and when I moved in to flush the birds a huge bull snake hissed from under my feet just one step from the dog. I don't know how Jake didn't see it, but it sure made me move fast.
Although Jake has not felt any stimulus from the collar yet he is always wearing it in the field. He is mature enough to get a dose on unwanted situations. A prime example was yesterday when he found this elk calf.

At first he wasn't sure what he was pointing and soon had to creep a little.

 Jake held real good due to his curiosity until I moved around him and finally decided to get nose to nose with the calf. The calf and Jake looked to be about the same size as they were nose to nose and probably could have had a good time playing but that probably wouldn't be a good practice to start.

  I took Jake by the collar and led him away with the elk watching our departure. Jake wanted to return but I encouraged him to find birds. Had he started chasing I had the shock collar on to let him know that would be unacceptable. 

 The day will come when he feels the sensation of the collar and if done right he will associate the shock with the bad source. Chasing unwanted animals such as porcupines , deer, skunks, coyotes, and many other things. On the 15th of June there is a snake avoidance class in Boise and Jake will be there to get his first dose of  bad things to stay clear of.

 With the amount of snakes I have already seen this year I'm excited to get this part of his education done. As I mentioned He needs to associate the pain in his neck with the snake so that he always wants to stay clear of the sight, smell and sound of snakes.
On a side note, another problem we are facing with abundance are tick's. This has been a huge tick year and it seems no matter where we go we find tick's. Barb and I pulled these tick's off Jake after one of our training hunts. This was only about two thirds of what we really got off him.

 Barb is the best. Most women would have kicked both Jake and me out of the house. She finds a tick crawling on her and just responds with "here's another one." I'm a blessed man. Now if I can only keep Jake from getting snake bit or hurt until we get Riley's bills paid off.  By the way, Riley has been a real trooper through all of this. He get's a little disappointed when I load Jake up in the truck without him but seems to know he hasn't been forgotten.                                                                                                                                                                      

Bragging a little on Jake

With Riley out of commission for a while I'm going to have to rely more on Jake to entertain me. Jake and I took a good hike this morning and I have to admit to being like a kid opening presents on Christmas day. The excitement just kept coming. I took a frozen chukar and blank gun for retrieving practice and hoped Jake would put things together. After his first point on a chukar I fired the blank pistol at the flush.

He looked back and I threw the frozen chukar down the hill yelling dead bird. Just like at home he sprinted for the bird rolling down the hill. Once he got to the bird, he picked it up and sprinted back up the  hill with bird in mouth.

That was the first of over a dozen retrieves today and the first of thousands I hope. Already, at four months and ten days of age, he's pretty much got the hunting thing figured out. He had a couple more points today also but they were on birds that he almost stepped on. The only thing Jake is lacking at this time is his ability to use his nose at a distance. The only way to improve that is lot's of field work. While Riley is on the mend, Jake will be getting plenty of that.
Just a couple more pictures of my proud pup.

Riley's Saga continues

Sometimes it seems like the bad news just keeps on coming. This looks like one of those cases, but believe me, the good things Riley and I have had happen in his 6 and 1/2 years with me far outweigh the mishaps. Today, I have to report one of those disappointing times. Sadly, this may keep Riley off the chukar mountains for up to 8 months. This weekend, while running, Riley broke his front leg. As soon as I got home I called Riley's vets, Dr. Koob and Katie Wright. They both said it sounded like it needed to be dealt with soon. They both recommended a good surgeon. It's so great to have such great people to rely on with just a phone call.  It was a serious break in three places which required plates, screws, and a bone graph. Because of Riley's conditioning, Dr. Warner, Riley's surgeon, said it took a lot longer to get Riley's muscles to relax so they could realign everything. He actually had to cut off a portion of the elbow bone in order to get to the break and then replace it. Because Riley is not young, they had to do a bone graph from his thigh to enhance the healing progress. It was quite an extensive surgery and I really appreciate Dr. Warner and his staff at All Pet complex for working late last night to get my best hunting companion on the road to recovery. After viewing Riley's xrays  it became obvious why he whined with pain and wouldn't move when he broke the leg. It just hung there limp. Luckily it happened close to the truck and I didn't have to carry my 90 pound companion too far. It is amazing how he and some of my other hunting dogs give there full trust in me and remained steady in my arms as I packed them off the hill. They show a lot of trust knowing I'm trying to help them. As Alan in Alaska mentioned, Riley is becoming the bionic dog. One more leg and he'll be balanced out with metal in the legs. I hope that never happens. I believe Riley has been so injury prone because of his size. He is like a tall basketball player. In great condition he weighs in between 85 and 90 lbs. He is not the dog you would pick for hunting chukars. No one knew he would be this big, but it doesn't matter. The day he entered my home he was family. He has carried on the traits that Tucker taught him when it comes to chukar hunting and has become more than a good chukar dog. In fact I would have to give him a ten out of ten if there was a rating. There isn't a dog out there that can do it any better and with the enthusiasm and love that he has for it. But he would get the same treatment whether or not he had greatness because he is my dog.   The 4th of next month I am having a scope done on my left knee. I tore my meniscus and have a one inch chunk floating under my knee cap. It hurts like hell on the steep hills but feels fine on flat ground. If it wasn't for chukar hunting I would probably let it go. But I won't give up what I love just as I wouldn't give any less to Riley. Last, I have to thank Riley for doing such a great job with Jake. He already points and holds birds, fetches dead birds, and honors. He is only four months and 1 week old and Riley has got him to the point where I can't screw him up too bad. Riley made sure I have a companion to fill in for him while he heals.

30 pounds and growing.

I'm back to report that things are going great. This hunting stuff is going to be a lot of fun. Especially with Riley. I don't know if all hunting dogs are like him, but he can sure find the birds. He's a lot of fun to play with also. We rough house for hours when the Big Guy doesn't have us on the hill. I don't know how other dogs put up with humans sometimes. Maybe because I'm young I don't quite understand what they are asking for. For two weeks I tried to please the Big Guy and played as hard as I could. Every time we'd go out he'd tell Barbara we're going to go work on his play drive so I chased Riley all over the place and play as hard as I could. Luckily Riley is a pro at reading humans and he informed me that it was prey drive, not play drive. So now when I'm not playing, I'm preying and the big guy does a lot of praying. No wonder humans are so screwed up. Any how, I'm one lean machine. I even run those geese off now. I'll give them a three or four second point before I run them off my turf. I thought geese were big, but Conner brought home a turkey the other day and man, it was all I could do to drag it around the yard by the head. But I showed everybody how big I am getting when they gave me one of the turkey wings. I could run around strutting it without even tripping over the wing. The Big Guy has been taking Riley and I out in search of quail so I can work my nose. I think we're actually chasing quail instead of chukars because the Big Guy isn't as lean of a machine as I am. Just the other day, we were on a chukar hill when I came running down hill and ran into him. He flopped around on the hill after I knocked him down and said some more words I didn't understand. The Big Guy has a lot of different nick names for me. I know I can handle chukars, because when he throws them for me I pick them up and sometimes even take them back to him. Riley takes the bird back every time but he doesn't have to work his neck muscles. I feel my muscles starting to bulge every time I run laps around the Big Guy while he keeps repeating "bring the bird to me". I'm figuring this pointing stuff out pretty well, so Riley says. Just today, I pointed some quail and the Big Guy flushed them. He said we're going to work on your style a little. Heck, who cares what it looked like, the birds were there and Riley says that's all that matters. I tend to listen to Riley more than the Big Guy because it's obvious he knows more about bird hunting. I do as Riley says, "just humor the old guy". As I said, Riley is a hunting machine, so it's been real easy honoring his points. He's very intense so I just follow his lead. I was real proud this morning when Riley came face to face with me as I was pointing a quail and he honored me. After the birds flew, he gave me a low five with the paw as we headed back to the truck. I get my final shots in two weeks and hopefully I'll be reporting back more good new in the future. Just let it be known that I now know where the saying "living the life of Riley" comes from.

Idaho is going to be fun

After hanging around here doing that bonding stuff, I was jacked to hear the Big Guy say we were finally going to hit the mountain. He loaded Riley, Dakota and myself into the truck and headed for the hills. I was hoping it would be as much fun as he said it would be. As soon as we hit the end of this road, he opened the truck doors and I knew by the other two dogs actions something good was going on. We headed up this trail and i was having a ball along with the other two, when suddenly Riley took a turn up this mountain. Anyhow, they called it a mountain. It looked like a cliff to me. I was keeping up fairly well until this moment. Suddenly Riley was all over the mountain. He'd disappear here and show up way over there. The Big Guy kept telling me some day that's what I'll be able to do. I've decided that I better do some working out on my days off. Luckily for me, Dakota was quite a bit slower on the hill and didn't like getting out of sight of the Big Guy, so I could always see one of them. Riley was a real champ on ht hill though. He kept coming back and checking on Dakota and me. And one time Riley stopped and got real intense. Dakota stopped and watched him so i decided to do the same. Pretty soon I heard a little noise and both the other dogs started down the hill. It startled me a little so I ran back to the Big Guy. He told me it was a pair of huns but never explained to me what a hun was. I decided to find out myself and so I followed my nose to what I assumed was a hun. I was about to pick it up and shake it a little when the Big Guy yelled that familiar word. NO! Seems like it was a dead skunk and that smell isn't so good after all. I never got to see a chukar either, but one time right after the Big Guy took a picture I heard something fly and make a loud commotion. Riley came unglued and got all excited and Dakota just sat there. Now I know what deaf means. Man, it was loud. I now have heard what chukars sound like, even though I haven't seen one yet. I have to say the boys were more than gracious to me. They showed me several different things on the hill and even let me lead once we hit the trail back to the truck. One of the things they didn't seem to show an interest in was elk droppings and cow pies. I found them quite good. The cow pies are even fun to pick up and run with. More than anything else, I learned I can trust the Big Guy. When I got into trouble, like crossing that huge two foot creek, I just howled a little and he came right back to help me. That's nice to know until I get big like Riley. The "crem de la crem" was back at the truck. The Big Guy just lay in the sun for a while with the other two boys and let me climb on his face and lick the sweat off of him. What a great finish to the day. I think Idaho is going to be great. Now, I think I'll take a good long nap. Sorry the pictures can't be placed due to blog malfunction.

Meet Jake

I don't know why, but Larry insisted I introduce myself. My name is Jake and I was born in a place that Barbara thought was heaven, so they call me Heaven's Jake. Little do they know, but my job is to make life hell for them for a while because they took me from my dad and mom and 8 siblings that I enjoyed playing with all the time. Our ride to my new home was a little scarry. The first thing they did was put me in a kennel and had me ride in the back seat of this big truck with a big dog that looked a lot like mom, only bigger. His name is Riley and he kept growling at me when I would touch his feet. What a sour puss. After about an hour of riding and Riley growling I got a little tired of it all, so I threw up on Riley's feet just to let them know I wasn't just going to lie there and take it. Once I got their attention, things went a lot better. We made several stops along the way and I got to smell all kind of new smells and see some great sights. I learned two new things on our stops. First, those big bushes blowing in the wind won't hurt you even though you can't out run them and second, you don't walk under a big dog like Riley when he's lifting his leg. You get wet that way. All the way the big guy, Larry, kept trying to brain wash me. He told me how great our new home was and how we'd be finding all these chukars. I don't even know what a chukar is. All I know is that it's hard to beat the life I had with Milt, Janet, and the rest of my family, in that place they called heaven. Once we arrived at our new home, I was introduce to another dog that looked like mom. I think his name is Dakota. He doesn't growl at me but he walks around like a great grandpa would, kind of acting like I'm not around. I'll soon make him aware of my presence. My new home is nice and even though I'm supposed to have the run of the house, Barbara and Larry seem very distrustful. They watch my every move like they think I'm going to do something wrong. Maybe when they start trusting me I'll quit waking them up every two hours during the night with my howling. I mean fair is fair. Wow, I got to smell a lot of new scents this morning and take a long walk. Larry said we walked about a half mile. I tried to keep up with Riley and Dakota but decided Larry's pace was a lot better for me. In fact it was kind of fun walking between his legs and watching him stumble. At one point a huge bird flew by and landed in a pond by me. I was very pleased when I was told that was a goose and not a chukar. Yes, I have a S on my chest for super dog but a bird the size of a goose is ridiculous. So, that is the history of my life with the Szurgot's so far. I will miss my family very much, but if Riley and Larry hold true to their promises, I'm looking forwards to a great hunting and family life. Larry also promises pictures aa soon as he gets the camera back from the fix it shop. Seems like it got dirty somehow on his many hunts with Riley and quit working. Imagine that.

A little more February training.

Riley and I had another great day on the mountain. We had several encounters and I thought I'd share this set of photos with you. It gives me a chance to brag on his steadiness. I circled to Riley's right as I usually do and then move towards him thinking we had the bird pinned. At five yards I couldn't see a bird so I reversed directions and walked away from Riley figuring the bird was out a ways. After walking about thirty yards and Riley not budging I knew the bird had to be right there. So I started walking back towards Riley and sure enough, not three yards from Riley, a lone hun busted. I allow Riley to break on the flush as long as it's only a 10 to 20 yard chase until he realizes there is no shot. I have to admit, I'd rather have a shotgun in hand but the camera takes a close second place.

A little winter practice

The end to the chukar season was some what undramatic. Although we found birds the conditions were a little rough to say the least. Just getting up and down the hills was tough and both Riley and I ended up limping after the 31st of January. Although the last few hunts were only three hour hunts we managed 68 days hunting chukars this year. I'd say we're a pretty lucky pair. So, with the season done, Riley and I took 10 days off and than limped up the mountain again today hoping to find some birds that would hold good for pointing pictures. Luck was on our side. Here are a few of them to help get you into a winter practice mood with your dog.

I almost stepped on the birds as I took this picture.

I also enjoyed this series of pics on Riley before these birds exploded from above the rocks.

The fun doesn't have to stop when the hunting season closes.