Extreme Bird Dog part I

The below write up is what I'm hoping to achieve in Bailey.


"Extreme Bird Dog" by Ray Cooper (first class Vizsla handler)

1. A dog with the desire to go to where the birds are. If that happens to be
600 yards down a field edge or tree line, they do it because they would rather
find birds than hang around their handler.

2. A dog with the olfactory senses to scent birds while traveling at top speed
and not need to stick his nose in every bush on the course to find birds.

3. A dog that has the muscle and bone structure along with a cardiovascular
system capable of supporting the dog for extended distances and time to get the
job done.

4. A dog that has the brains to take training as well as learn from experience
where the most likely places birds will hang out during the day and use the wind
to his advantage.

5. A dog that has a bold, fast, attractive way of going that exhibits an
eagerness to do his job and get to the likely objectives during his alloted
time.

6. A dog that likes to go to the front and responds to his handler when called
upon but has enough independence to seek out likely haunts on his own without
direction.

Another perfect Wednesday night

Bailey loves walking with Clara and Lucy in the hills above Walnut Creek and Lafayette.

Another typical Wednesday night on the Buckeye Ranch trail. Here Lyn and her two great dogs joined me with mine and we walked the valleys, canyons, and ridges from 6:30 until 8pm. The weather was ideal and the vistas were great.

Chole loves the cool west winds blowing through her ears after some great running through the woods and creeks.

Happy, tired dogs are such a joy. The fox tails are in recession and the trails are opening back up to exploring over the rest of the summer and autumn.

Come join us some Wednesday night.

Defending a good man

In my two years of Vizsla ownership I have heard many times disagreements that respected dog owners have with Cesar Millan.

Today and yesterday on the Yahoo group VizslaTalk, there was a drive to have a petition signed against a vendor using him as their spokesman.

Cesar's Way was one of the first "how to understand my Vizsla" books that I read, and I truly enjoyed it.

Tonight I opened the book again and went to the foreword by Martin Deeley - President, International Association of Canine Professionals (at the time of the publication of the book).

His opening paragraph hit home with me then and still does.

"Today, even though we have more books, more help, more training gadgets, and definitely more treats, there are more badly behaved dogs than ever before. We have the means to help us achieve well-behaved dogs, yet we lack sufficient understanding of our dogs' natures. While most of us are well-intentioned and loving dog owners, this lack of understanding can create many common dog problems. Put simply, dogs are not small humans. They do not think like humans, act like humans, or see the world in the same way as humans. Dogs are dogs, and we need to respect them as dogs. We do them a huge disservice by treating them like humans and thus create many of the bad behaviors we see today."

This is the part I loved:

"From the first moment I saw Cesar Millan work with dogs on his show Dog Whisperer, I knew he understood this concept. He is a unique man who is not afraid to be politically incorrect, who talks about leadership with dogs and is not afraid to give and show a correction when a dog requires it."

I'm sure there are methods he uses that Chloe and Bailey will never need to see because they are well-mannered and, I hope, well-trained dogs. But knowledge that works is what I was and am after. His advice, for the most part, rings true for me.

Long post for which I apologize.

Fourth of July long walk

Well , the 4th of July parade started at 9 am in Danville, California, so in leaving my house on foot with the two dogs at 7 am, I felt I had left enough time to make it. I knew it was going to be a good, long walk.

Three hours later, with only a quick stop downtown to grab a coffee, we finally were watching the parade go by (what was left of it). Miscalculated how far it was (a little over nine miles). Met Joanie at the 5-mile-to-go mark (she drove to this point).

Chloe hated the noise of the drums and shook and pulled. She was not having a good time. Bailey enjoyed everything about it. Took some pictures to post and SD card in my camera went bad and I lost all those pictures. Oh well.

So, after 15 minutes it was back on the Iron Horse trail for the three-hour walk back home. Left at 7:00 and got home at 2:30. The dogs and I took a nice two-hour nap.

Great way to spend the 4th.