Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Vizsla Halloween

The grand kids are going out tonight.

Fox Trot's Lions

Victoria's Priness

Victoria's Cub Scout

Ruby Roo's Super Girl
Viva's Broncin' Buck
Aniko's poor Laszlo being eaten by shark

Bodhi's Ironman


Two-legged Trick or treaters.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Vizslas on a Fall HIke

With all the drama surrounding the "political season" and world events, it is important for me to hike the open spaces. 

With a small band of Vizsla owners, we ventured out into the back country of the Sunol Wilderness Area for a ten mile hike Saturday morning.
The air was crisp and clear with panaramic views of over a hundred miles.   
 A small stream every once in a while gave the dogs a chance to drink and cool down from all the running they were doing.

Bailey gets to hunt with me about every other weekend during the fall, but for Chloe it is the long hike where she finds her heaven.
Never miss a chance to get out into nature with your Vizsla. 
 Fall is my favorite time of year.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Hiking: Passion Taking Control

 Over the last two weeks I have taken to the hills almost every afternoon.  102 miles of trails in the hills and valleys that surround our city.
 Since I was 25 years old, I have been determined to have a new "adventure" each and every year of my life. 
 My next "adventure" is taking on the first half of the Tahoe Rim Trail in July of 2013.  This will be the California side.  In 2014, I'll finish off the Nevada side.  174 miles of High Sierra peaks, valleys and alpine meadows in total.
 To be ready to tackle this challenge, it will take months of conditioning for both the dogs and me.  
These pictures were taken on a Saturday 12 mile hike in Briones Regional Park last weekend.

Bailey the Hungarian Flusher

Sun came up just as we left the parking lot and drove out into the field today at 7:30.  Bailey was wound up when we entered the field.  He slammed into a pretzel point 15 seconds into the field.  Wow! I thought.  That was fast.  But it was just a scent point.
Bailey sprinted into the field as I walked behind with my CZ 20 gauge at the ready.  A wonderfully cool Autumn morning.

After about a half an hour into the fields we had come up empty.  The birds would be in the remaining standing corn fields or along the canals in the high reeds and muddy grasses that lie at the bottom of the water passages on this working farming island.

Bailey, as a Hungarian Pointer, is programmed and trained to point to the bird.  It is up to me, as the hunter, to flush the bird.  Today we took three birds from along the canals.  Each time, Bailey would go on point from the top of the bank.  He would be looking down into the deep reeds.  Not a place for a hunter to walk down into, even if it was possible.  Bailey knew the birds were there.  His points were hard and steady.


So, I went against all the years of training, and sent Bailey in to flush the hidden birds with a, "OK Bailey; go get the bird."  Down into the mud he went.  Each time a pheasant would flush out and take wing.  Over the next 90 minutes in the field I missed two but then took three Ringneck pheasant at about 30 yards.

Bailey did a great job on his retrieves today.  He would either have to jump back across the canal with the bird in his mouth or go down to a small wood bridge to come around to give me his prize.
One of many irrigation canals that cuts across the island

One highlight of today was a walk we did along a ditch next to a freshly harvested corn field.  Bailey was up ahead about 100 feet with the wind to our backs.  As he got near the end of the ditch I watched as 9 roosters took to the air.   They had run until they ran out of ditch.  Bailey had not chased them but "pushed them" to the end.  Bailey just stood and watched them take flight in front of him by just a dozen yards.  Next time maybe I hold Bailey back a bit or take a friend and have him station himself at the end of the canal.

At the end of today's hunt, there was a bird that Bailey had flushed and I had brought down on the far side of a wide canal.  This was along one of the main roads on the island.  As Bailey brought the bird from the field, running 50 feet on the other side, crossed a little bridge, running back the 50 feet to me and then handed the pheasant to me, a fellow hunter and his 10-year-old son drove by with  "thumbs up" signs and big smiles.  That's was a "brag" retrieve is all about.

Here is to three pheasant in the ice box and my Hungarian Flusher.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Why the World Almost Lost the Vizsla


Story sent to me by a friend.  Great explanation of why the Hungarian Pointer almost was wiped out.  History can repeat itself if we are not aware of what really happened and why.




Mrs. Werthmann is not a Jew.  The two "nn's" at the end of these names indicate that they are German not Jews. 
Kitty Werthmann is 85 years old.

This is a SCARY piece of HISTORY. Read and perhaps learn something new from HISTORY and "CHANGE".
By: Kitty Werthmann

What I am about to tell you is something you've probably never heard or will ever read in history books.


I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide - 98% of the vote. I've never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.

In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.

Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn't want to work; there simply weren't any jobs. My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people - about 30 daily.

The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna , Linz , and Graz were destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted.

We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany , where Hitler had been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn't have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living. Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group -- Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria . We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.

We were overjoyed, and, for three days, we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.

After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.

Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn't support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.
Hitler Targets Education - Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children:

Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler's picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn't pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang "Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles," and had physical education.

Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail. The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free. We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.

My mother was very unhappy. W hen the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn't do that and she told me that someday, w hen I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun - no sports, and no political indoctrination. I hated it at first, but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing. Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time, unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler. It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn't exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.
Equal Rights Hits Home:

In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant, if you didn't work, you didn't get a ration card, and if you didn't have a card, you starved to death. Women who stayed home to raise their families didn't have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.

Soon after this, the draft was implemented. It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps. During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys. They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines. W hen I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat. Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.
Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare:

W hen the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers. You could take your children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7 days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:


Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna . After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. W hen the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full. If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.


As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.

We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn't meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.

We had consumer protection. We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the livestock, 
then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.
"Mercy Killing" Redefined:

In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps . The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated. So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. W hen I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work. I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day, I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van. I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months. They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.

As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.
The Final Steps - Gun Laws:

Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law-abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long afterwards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.

No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.

Totalitarianism didn't come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria.  Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little, eroded our freedom.

After World War II, Russian troops occupied Austria. Women were raped, pre-teen to elderly. The press never wrote about this either. When the Soviets left in 1955, they took everything that they could, dismantling whole factories in the process. They sawed down whole orchards of fruit, and what they couldn't destroy, they burned. We called it The Burned Earth. Most of the population barricaded themselves in their houses. Women hid in their cellars for 6 weeks as the troops mobilized. Those who couldn't, paid the price. There is a monument in Vienna today, dedicated to those women who were massacred by the Russians. This is an eye witness account.

"It's true...those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.

America Truly is the Greatest Country in the World. Don't Let Freedom Slip Away!


"After America , There is No Place to Go."


Comments were made that the post did not involve the Vizsla.  My response:

Actually the basics of the story does deal with the Vizsla. The starvation and destruction and oppression  that occurred in Austria was happening in Hungary during the same time period. There would not be many healthy Vizslas left because there were not many healthy Hungarians left by the early 50's. 

The conditions of central Europe were not favorable to a royal hunting dog when other food sources became very scarce. A staving person doesn't care where the source of protein comes from.  

Knowing the history of Central Europe, it was tough once the Russians took over for anything Germanic. 

Records were destroyed in an attempt to wipe out the long history of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Point Stories from Hungarian Vizsla Forum Members


The day was full with anticipation. A new life, a new love, a new yet re-told story of a Vizsla Puppy coming to its new home. A home filled with toys and bedding, warmth and comfort and love. A home also filled with an opportunity all too many of Ducati’s brethren in the breed will never have. This home is a hunting home. Bred for generation upon generation to work with his co-habitant humans, the dog’s genetic code bubbles beneath the surface, simply waiting for the opportunity to burst forth. Today is a huge day in the lives of “Duke”and his new partner. Today they bond in the first of a thousand moments they will ultimately share.
Duke is inquisitive and bold for his age, yet very focused on keeping near to this new, interesting and confident person in his life. They walk slowly together through low cover, Duke’s senses coming alive with every inhalation of scent, every footstep on foreign soil. He feels the grass stalks brushing his belly and sides and decides the sensation is pleasant. All the while there is this intoxicating smell. It’s a smell he’s never scented before, but somehow deeply familiar. He presses on through the grasses, lifting his young head to the light breeze that carries this heavenly, delicious scent. Forward, forward he goes as the excitement builds with each intoxicating breath. Strong is the scent now and his body begins to reflexively tense, his pace slows, he inhales deeply, again and again. Rigid now, sucking in the air that pulls across the Quail, meanders through the grass and into his soul; Duke, with his ancestral blood coursing, his proud new Partner smiling and his world becoming magically true, holds Point.

My story of vizlsas on point I had no idea what a vizsla was when this guy I had gone on a date with called and said “it’s a gorgeous day. I’m going to take my puppy for a hike in the woods. Do you want to come?” Anyone who knew me knew I was NOT a dog person. But, I really liked this guy and from our conversations I knew how important his dog was to him so, I said “SURE”. There I was, in the woods with a gorgeous 8 month old male vizsla named Flynn. I was mesmerized. He was the most beautiful dog I had ever seen. Being a runner myself, I admired his lean build, his musculature and most of all, his endless energy supply. That’s when it happened! We came upon two ducks in the pond and out of the blue Flynn pointed. I asked, “What’s he doing? How’d you teach him to do that?”. My date replied, “He’s pointing. I didn’t teach him. It just happened. It’s innate. He’s a pointer. A bird dog.” I watched in amazement as Flynn gracefully pointed with his leg raised up in the air. He barely moved and he didn’t make a sound. His nose twitched a bit and he actually looked possessed. It was incredible. Truth be told, I think I fell for the dog before the man. It’s been 7 years since then and Flynn is as much mine as he is my husband’s. We love vizlsas so much we got another one. A precious little girl named Luna. At the recommendation of a friend, we decided to have her evaluated for hunting when she was 6 months. It was New Year’s Day in New England so we bundled up to go meet the “bird man”. Aside from watching Luna point sparrows and seagulls, we didn’t know what she was capable of. Imagine our surprise when she sniffed out and pointed the hidden birds the trainer planted. It was magical. This tiny little pup locked in on the scent and went into perfect point mode. She was so graceful and determined. The trainer praised her and said she had “what it takes”. We were incredibly proud. She’s come a long way in her fist year and is just one qualifying ribbon away from getting her JH. My husband has even decided to take up hunting because he knows it would be a shame to waste such talent!


  Last pre elk season in the mountains of northeast Utah, Kauzy and I went hunting for antler sheds to start scouting bedding locations. He's become a very good scent tracker and we found 6 different sheds. It was so amazing to see him at work, nose plastered to the ground. All of a sudden he would sprint off, bark twice and point. About 5 feet in front of him would be a shed. Later that season, I took 2 elk and he was detrimental in blood tracking them down. The first elk ran for about 150 yards before he dropped, it only took Kauzy 10 minutes to find him. The second one went almost 350 yards. With that one, Kauzy only spent about 15-20 minutes tracking before we found him. It was the same formula, Kauzy would go nose down, run, nose down, run, bark twice and point. 5 feet in front of my pointing statue would be a fresh kill. Hunting has gotten so much more fun with him around.


Dove season starts long before quail season, my son and I decided to go on a midweek hunt. Cash was young and this was his first hunting season, my son was 14 at the time. We were hunting a pasture with knee high goat weed in it. The dove weren't flying well that day, so we decided to walk the fence line. Some of the dove that were feeding in the field would take flight. If you were quick you could get off a shot before they were out of range. Three dove in the bag using Cash as a retriever. A good 200 yards of walking the fence line and Cash goes on a rock solid point. He is pointing to a area that has cover to my mid thigh. Mine son has dove on the brain and walks in to flush what he believes is dove. Fifteen feet into the cover and 17-20 quail flush up in front of him. They were almost close enough to reach out and touch with your hand. His reaction was to shoulder the gun and start tracking the birds. I don't know if it was my yelling NO, or him realizing during the covey rise that it was quail that kept him from shooting. I have to share my store from this morning. Granted, it's unrelated to pointing but just shows you the love for dogs and how it's so universal.


  I had a business meeting today with two guys who are on the production/manufacturing end of items that my client produces. They came into the meeting really hard and weren't too friendly throughout the entire meeting. Finally at the end of the meeting my client said "hey, so you going deer hunting soon?" to one of the production guys and he begrudgingly said "yeah, I finally found some time to take a trip" as he was clearly trying to make his way to leave really quickly without any small talk. Then I chimed in and said "Do you do any bird hunting? I'll lone you my dog." (Granted, Haeden is solely a companion and neither I nor my boyfriend hunt but I thought it would get him going.) He asked what I had so I told him a vizsla. He immediately lit up and knew what breed I was talking about whereas everyone else was looking at me like "oh, that's what the red dog you have is?" I just loved that by simply mentioning a vizsla he went from cold/hard and difficult to talk with to the nicest guy in the world and completely friendly. Once again- my pup finds a way to brighten my day. This time he wasn't even there!

 Over the summer, we brought Otto with us on a family vacation to Sagamore Beach. We go every year - a big group of us. This year, there were 15 of us, a mix of family and friends. It's a lively group and everyone was shocked, amazed, and entertained by Otto's endless energy, his athleticism, and agility. Otto was in need of some exercise, so we were engaged in a game of fetch with the chuck-it, launching the ball from one end of the beach to the other. Everyone was fixated on Otto when i sent the ball flying and Otto was there chasing right after it. He was in full stride, when his attention was diverted to a large bird at the end of the jetty. The breaks were on immediately and his long, beautiful, powerful stride transformed into a delicate, steady, stealth creep towards the bird. Our company had mixed responses, some aware of his instincts, others were questioning what was going on very clear in front of them. As Otto got closer to the bird, my boyfriend tiptoed behind to grab his long line. Immediately, the group whispered "Noooo, let him go!" - everyone wanted to watch nature at work.


  A thousand words will never paint a picture - a picture is just one moment in time - how does art form and purpose come together?
It's at the moment of a hard POINT and the 1/2 second after that - the sound of your long gun going off safety - the ruffle of feathers as a bird takes flight - the sight of a pup on POINT and in that moment in time - your pup has one purpose in it's life  and the world stands still - we should all be that LUCKY ! 

Point story: My pup Mac who is now 17 months was walking in the woods with my wife off lead when he was around 6 months old. He was doing his normal V thing of going out about 200 yards and then returning to check in every once in awhile. My wife noticed that she no longer had his lead and so called him to turn around so she could look for it. We often hide treats in the house and then give a "find it" command and Mac will search for the treats. On turning to look for the lead my wife gave a "find it" command and Mac sprinted off much further than the norm and out of site. My wife continued to walk do the path as and caught up to Mac who was stood in a stiff point with nose down over...... yep you guessed it the lead!


Here are three stories we have rehashed a few times. Blue is our hunter, but now that Mac is really coming into his own (we thought he was gun shy, be we figured out he just gets overwhelmed hunting with my brother-in-laws dogs for some reason), we hope to get some good ones about him this year...season starts Saturday out here! The point is…”listen” to your dog My husband Mark was out hunting with Blue. As the hunt was coming to an end and they started their long walk out towards the truck, he noticed a pheasant dash across the logging road quite a way up the trail…Blue didn't see it. As they approached the spot where the bird crossed, Blue picked up the scent and followed it into the woods, however she kept trying to circle back out. Mark, knowing where the bird went in, kept trying to get Blue to go deeper into the woods. But Blue kept wanting to go back out toward the road. After several frustrating attempts to get Blue to follow him into the woods further he finally gave up and turned around. Within a few minutes, Blue was found locked up on the bird…right back where they had started...it must have double backed. Ever since then, he learned to trust his dog’s nose over his own eyes.
The point is…they will make you proud!
Mark was helping guide a group hunt at our gun club for a friend of his. As Mark was walking with the one of the older gentlemen of the group, he realized he hadn’t seen/heard Blue for a few minutes. He turned to the gentleman he was with and let him know that when Blue disappears and doesn't check in for a minute or two she is usually on a bird. As they crested a small knoll, sure enough there she was, locked up solid on a pheasant…and waiting patiently for the hunter to catch up and take care of his part of the deal. The group of men had never met a Vizsla before but they sure were amazed by our little red girl! 
The point is…what? 
We were just running the dogs one day…and all of a sudden Blue locks up solid on…something. We are looking all around, as this was a serious point! What we found was a turtle! My husband calls our breeder later that day and jokingly says “what, did you sell me a turtle dog?”…and according to her, turtles have a particular scent that would not have caused any penalty in competition for doing so. Who knew?
 From the fields and woods of Western Massachusetts.


And lastly I add my point story to the great ones above:

It was a cold winter field trial in the northern hills of California. Bailey and I had just started running field trials with the adult pointing breeds.  Bailey was about two and a half years old.  Bailey and I was the only "newbie team" in the twenty-eight dog field.  All the others were veteran dog men.
  This was a thirty-minute brace with quail planted along the course.  All birds were being "blanked" with a blank gun by the handler once they were flushed.  The "call back" for "the retrieve" would be afterwards for the top six dogs.
This was a horseback trial so I borrowed a horse and we set off with a veteran owner and his German Shorthair.  Five minutes into the run the GSP came upon a bird.  Bailey locked up into a beautiful honor and held steady through the shot until I released him.  So far so good.  Bailey was running well but the minutes passes and he had not found a bird.  Twenty-five minutes into the brace I came upon Bailey on point facing a downed one hundred year old plus oak tree.  I dismounted from my borrowed horse and walked over to him and looked the direction he was looking.  Under the log a lone quail.  Now it was my job to flush the bird and use my blank gun.  The judges and gallery sat on their horses twenty yards back watching.  The quail would not fly but continued to run around and under the downed tree as Bailey held firm.  I jumped over the tree, around the tree, kicked under the tree trying to get the bird to fly.  Every thirty seconds or so I'd look up to see Bailey in the exact same spot.  He hadn't moved a muscle.  I really hadn't expected him to hold that long with all the action around him.  Finally the bird flew two minutes later. I fired the blank and, with the help of my scout, we carried on as time expired.
Out of twenty-eight dogs, Bailey was given fifth place, just out of the placements, and we were a runner up to the retrieve portion if one of the other dogs had screwed up, Bailey would have been given a chance to retrieve for one of the four placements.  This was the highlight of my field trialing with Bailey.  We had got many placements before but this "almost" was the best. 
http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/01/getting-round-in-field-trial.html

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Vizsla Stalking Rabbit


Entertainment can be a mixture of boredom, anticipation and excitement. 

 The "what is going to happen next" moment.

Hunting can like that.  This video above was taken in an abandoned housing tract out near where we hunt pheasant.  Bailey loves to chase jackrabbits.  They are very fast and live on top of the ground.  The only way Bailey "thinks" he can catch one is to come up to it silently and by smell locate it before it sprints away.  Any minute, any second the chase could start (or not).


A pheasant hunt is a completely different activity.  Bailey charges to the field, nose up.  When he "gathers" in the scent of the pheasant, he slams to a stop thereby "pinning" the pheasant from running or flying away.  This is how a good pointer works with an upland-bird hunter.
An earlier post from last year about jack rabbit hunting:
.http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/08/jackrabbits-and-vizslas.html

Monday, October 1, 2012

Teach a Man to Fish

The Original 

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown    

The Improvements 

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you will not have to listen to his incessant whining about how hungry he is.”—Author unknown

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you can sell him fishing equipment.”—Author unknown

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.”—Author unknown

“Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.  Unless he doesn't like sushi—then you also have to teach him to cook.”—Auren Hoffman, Herald Philosopher

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish, and he will sit in the boat and drink beer all day.”—OldFox

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.  Teach a man to sell fish and he eats steak.”—Author unknown

And my favorite:

Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity. --Karl Marx