Pheasant Soup

 Delicious.

Pheasant Soup

Step One Two Pheasants, cut up in pieces (chukars or quail can be used) 4 cups water 4 celery stocks, diced finely 1 medium onion, diced finely 3 carrots, diced finely 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper 4 bay leaves Combine these items in a pressure cooker and  cook for 20 minutes at 15 lb.. or you may  use a crock pot, coking for 8 hours. When  finished, remove (shred) the pheasant meat  from the bones. Strain the pheasant stock and save it, but discard the vegetables used for making the stock. Step Two Pheasant stock (you may add water if needed) 6 celery stocks, diced 6 carrots, peeled and diced 1 onion, peeled and diced salt and pepper to taste Combine and cook these  ingredients until the vegetables are just done. Step Three You're just about there. Now add flat egg noodles  (drained and rinsed) and stir in the shredded pheasant meat.   Heat the soup to serving temperature and serve with a hardy bread. Serves: 6 Notes: Can be frozen

From Olex Preserve, for the love of bird dogs and hunting
http://www.olexbirdhunting.com/

Vizsla Solstice Walk 2012

The world did not end on this Winter Solstice 2012. 

So in celebration of the continuation of the world, we went hiking into the wet and windy hills. 

The shortest day of the year was a wet day.  Headed up into the hills as the rain was coming down in sheets.  There were breaks in the storm and a rainbow sat over our town.

 The trails were slick mud and I carefully made slow progress along the six-mile circuit we took.  Bailey and Chloe loved the hills today.

During the two hour walk we did not see one single person.  It was nature, wildlife, the dogs and me in the thousands of acres of Briones open space.

Ducks on the ponds and the dogs enjoying the joys of the water.

Not A Gentle Vizsla Picture

So this might be a picture of Bailey if I were to draw him with markedly human characteristics.

Quite the picture.

No Christmas Puppies Please and Mistletoe

THE TIMING TEACHES CHILDREN THE WRONG VALUES.

"Many families who value pet ownership do so at least partly because of what children can learn from the family pets in terms of care and responsibility, love and loyalty, and respect for other living beings. But think of what happens to the rest of the toys and gifts that start out under the Christmas tree. By Valentine’s Day, most of them have been shelved or broken or traded or forgotten. The excitement inevitably wears off, and the once compelling toy becomes something to use, use up, and then discard in favor of something newer.

A living puppy should not be thought of in the same category as a Christmas toy. Children need to learn that a living puppy is being adopted into the family – as a living family member who will contribute much, but who will also have needs of its own, which the rest of the family is making a commitment to try to meet.

 A puppy who makes its first appearance as a gift item under the Christmas tree is more likely to be thought of by children as an object, as a thing-like toy rather than as a family member. This will not teach one of the most valuable lessons there is to learn from a puppy, which is respect for living beings and concern for others in the form of attention to their needs."

The rest of this excellent article, written 20 years ago, "No Christmas Puppies Please" can be found here:
http://www.petrescue.com/petlibrary/pet-rescue/no-christmas-puppies-please/

Teach your children well....

Then there is the lighter side of a Vizsla Christmas:

Bailey Finds a Bird

We went pheasant hunting with Bailey and a fifteen-month-old female named Riley yesterday morning.   Riley was kept back on a long check cord when we had bird contact.  Earlier Riley had flushed a couple roosters to her complete delight.

45 minutes into the hunt, Bailey came across this pheasant in the tall grass.  I almost stepped on the thing before bending down.  The bird looked in good shape but must have been nicked earlier in a hunt by a shot as it did not fly upon being released.
Riley was very interested as Ashley and Reuben (Riley's owner) looked on.  
Funny note:  You hear me say "Bailey, here, come here" repeatedly.  He could not see me because the pheasant's wing was open and covering his eyes.  It was a "blind" retrieve, so to speak.

 To expand the view tap the bottom right icon next to the YouTube logo.

And then there was the one that got away:  Easy shot that I forgot to lead the bird.  Bailey did his part.

AKC Walking Gun Dog Championship

Thursday, December 06, 2012)

"The American Kennel Club® (AKC®) is expanding its Pointing Breed Field Trial
program with several new offerings: the AKC Walking Gun Dog Championship and two
new titles, Grand Field Champion and Grand Amateur Field Champion.

"We're pleased to add the Walking Gun Dog Championship and the Grand titles to
the activities available in AKC's field events program," said Doug Ljungren, VP
of Companion and Performance Events. "AKC hunting tests and field trials allow
for participation at many different levels, from novice dogs and owners to the
highly experienced. The AKC wants to provide an opportunity for all sporting dog
owners to enjoy their dogs in the field. The Walking Gun Dog Championship and
the Grand titles add to the breadth of AKC's field activities."

AKC Walking Gun Dog Championship

Walking field trial stakes, where the handler is on foot, make it easy to get
involved in pointing breed field trials. Today, more than 20% of AKC's gun dog
stakes are walking, which represents a fourfold increase over the past ten
years. Walking stakes have encouraged the owners of dogs earning the Master
Hunter title in the Hunting Test program – where all handlers must walk, like a
hunter normally would -- to transition into walking field trials, where there is
no requirement for a horse.

To acknowledge and promote this growing segment of the sport, the AKC has
created the AKC Walking Gun Dog Championship. The inaugural event will be held
at the Mingo Sportsman Club near Bloomingdale, Ohio (50 miles west of
Pittsburgh, PA) starting Saturday, April 27, 2013. The event format will be
one-hour, single series, non-retrieving. All dogs that have earned a placement
in any AKC gun dog stake or have been awarded the Master Hunter title are
welcome to enter. The winner of this annual event will be crowned National
Walking Gun Dog Champion (NWGDC)."

http://www.akc.org/press_center/article.cfm?article_id=4786#.UMDz9wBSh04.faceboo\

Not a Vizsla!

Sent to me a friend yesterday:

"Hi Rod, 

Met a Hungarian Vizsla breeder with thick accent and all.

 He took an interest in my Vizsla and congratulated me on keeping him intact. 

But, next he said something strange "You don't have a Vizsla!!!"

"How so?", I asked.

"You see, it may look like a Vizsla but dogs have a mental part and a physical part."

"Your dog's mind is not Vizsla. A Vizsla's only purpose is hunt and behaves affectionately toward people and other animals". 

He also said these days it's just not possible to hunt breed in Europe so breeders reluctantly are forced to accept the family dog role of the Vizsla.

1,000 years of refining the hunt instinct and behavior and Socialism destroyed all that in 60 years.

I got the affectionate part, my Vizsla is very affectionate but, how did he know my dog is not hunting?"

Walking Sticks Help in the Hills

 Last spring I purchased a set of walking sticks for the hill hikes I do with the dogs.  Today, after a three-day powerful winter storm came through the Bay Area, the trails were small streams flowing into creeks.  

Good walking sticks made the hills, very slick with mud, manageable.

This had been dry just four days ago.

 Almost fun actually.  I knew it would be very hard, if not impossible to get up into the upper trails without the help of the sticks. 
 Going down the slippery paths, the Black Diamond brand adjustable poles were even more helpful.
http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/mountain/trekking-poles

 Chloe and Bailey loved the creeks and ponds. 

The earth was soft and a real joy to dig in. 

 There was a ground squirrel in this one.

The ground squirrel was safe this time.