# Relentless hunter, rookie coach!



## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)

Hey guys!

I seem to be off and on here. Sorry for that, I am very busy. Just here to count this week's harrowing tale of my beloved Whistler.

Ok so here it goes. I am mostly an athlete. I've been in sports all my life, hunting not so much. The last time I hunted was when I was 10 years old with my dad (so 23 years ago). Well, Whistler on the other, with all of his two years and a few months seems to have been hunting all his life. His favourites are ducks, rabbits, squirrels, **** pheasants and partridges. All the more impressive is that he'll never give up if he gets a scent or an idea that he can out swim a duck in a lake to catch him. 

I never thought anything of this until this week. 

It always amused me to watch him try the damnedest to catch those birds and tire himself out. I should tape him in the lake for you guys to see. Nevertheless, I was ultimately surprised this week. Twice.

Just going down the path near our home as we've done thousands of times, I always let him loose/off leash to let him parade a bit. He never strays too far, maybe 50 meters to the most so I get to check on him. 

Well this week was to my surprise different: i had walked a 100 yards (almost meters to you Fellow Canucks out there  and lost sight of him. No moving branches, nothing. So after calling him out for about five minutes, I started to get worried a bit. All of a sudden, I spot him at a distance coming out of the woods and brush with something dangling out of his mouth. Could he have finally caught a BIRD?

So I approached him slowly and he stayed where he was at a distance not knowing what to do. I couldn't detect what he had in his mouth. I could tell that he wasn't sure if he should approach me or not. Nor if he was in trouble or not for what he had in his mouth. 

As I approached, my smile grew from ear to ear: that little bugger had caught a partridge! It was still alive in his mouth! As soon as I saw this I called him to my feet and congratulated him (may have forever wrecked his pointing abilities but sure as heck confirmed that getting a bird would be a reward...). Perhaps a professional trainer can make him again into a pointer but I'll let you experts comment on this...

Anyways, I'm sure I'm not the first vizsla owner to have this happen. But sure wanted to share....

Tonight, he hunted again and caught a second one (to my amazement but not to my fiancé's...). He flushed two birds out, went back and forth to get them. We lost him again at 100 yards and low and behold, he popped out after 2 or 3 minutes with another partridge in his mouth.

Needless to say that the fiancé was already gone when she spotted him with the bird in his mouth...

I was less stunned then the first time... But impressed at the same time. He's like a tomahawk missile locked in target once he gets a scent and visual. He will not stop. More heart than brains, that's what Rudy used to say 

Gotta catch supper, thats my story. Sorry if I've desecrated my dog to the hunters out there. Now that he's caught a few birds, he may not be a pointer anymore but hopefully with some professional help he can be made into one if I decide to go that route... He sure hunts with passion now since this happened. It's like his first time and he wants more....!


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## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)




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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Nice job, Whistler! There's one school of trainers that like dogs to catch a few birds to build up the drive and give them confidence over the bird. Sure this usually happens when they're puppies, but if you start with an older dog, you'd train basically the same way. And hey, if you're not going to hunt with him, let him hunt on his own. Great mental and physical exercise figuring out how to catch them. 

Back when I was raising quail, I would sometimes let one or two out around the yard for a quick training session. They'd recall back to my garage and I could rarely catch them because I'd hesitate. I only let Scout get them a few times, but it was amazing to watch how agile and confident she was just snatching them out of the air. It was just pure instinct and spatial awareness. 

Any other scary tachycardia episodes with him?


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## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

IMO... Allowing your dog to be free, hunt, and achieve... is a wonderful thing. 
Natural..
Amen!

I wish we had the space, and freedom...


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2012/07/hungarian-pointer-in-minority.html

I never started hunting until I was 56 years old. I only hunt upland birds behind Bailey. I have zero interest in other hunts now. I'll go with other hunters and let them take the birds from the sky. Bailey points, steady, retrieves and goes again. This is my joy.
Watch "Happy People - a year in the Targa". A man and his dog in the wilderness. Nothing better IMO. (and a few good women have learned this joy)

Happy trails.
RBD


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Ac - I think you will find that your pup points first and catches later - these mutts are scent driven - after 1000's of birds - PIKE still freaks out when he sees a bird before scenting it - he will point & wonder why this happened - LOL


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## AcadianTornado (Jul 30, 2012)

Haha, unfortunately in both occasions I was too far from the action to see if he had pointed  (Although yesterday I did see him point briefly while trying to pick up scent). 

No new tachycardia or exhaustion issues. The summer's mostly over here so we're back in the low 20 Celcius and almost zero humidity.

Having a great time with him. 

Hope everything's well with you guys!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I don't know a bird dog that hasn't caught a bird or two in his lifetime.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

"So on your resume it says you are a hard working Red Bird Dog. I will run for hours to achieve the work goals that are set for me."

"When can you start? " 

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2014/08/hard-working-red-bird-dog-looking-for.html


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