Dog Training Update

I know it's been a while since I have posted.  It has been pretty busy finishing up my winter and starting my spring.  I cleaned out my old chicken coop and fixed up my old quail coop.  I should be ordering my quail eggs within the next couple of weeks.  The dog and I need some live birds to work on.

With the weather starting to warm up, we are getting a little more outdoor training going on.  Wyatt is retrieving very well.  His basic commands, sit, come, stay etc etc are good.  It's been tough working on pointing.  The Bichon and Poodle appear to be flushers and rush the quail wings while pointer is trying to work.  Like I said, spring is just about here and the outdoor work can now begin.

Here are a few pictures from today's walk.  38 degrees with a light breeze, not too bad.

Come On Spring!!

Snow to sleet to rain to sleet to snow to ice.  It wasn't all snow!!  I think we broke 'Ol Man Winter's back.  Now we can begin to plan Spring.  I need to do some repairs to the house, apartment and barn after this long hard winter.  Build some fencing to keep the dogs in the yard.  Start hatching some quail, pheasant and chickens.  Finish cutting up next years firewood.  Plant my garden, mmmm tomatoes.

 

As the snow recedes and the trees come back, everything seems new and fresh.  Colors come to life with Spring.  The first grass mowing of the year is the best, that smell of fresh cut grass.  I know, I know, it's still February - but it's the end of February!  The puppy will be introduced to grass and dirt and sticks and rocks very shortly.

Spring also means, racing!!!  The Thompson Speedway ICEBREAKER.  Practices start in late March and racing begins in April!!  What a way to spend a Spring or Summer evening.  Beer, fried food, the National Anthem, checkered flags and the smell of burning rubber.

 

Puppy

We couldn't find a Hunter Orange puppy collar for Wyatt, so my wife the crafter decided to make one.  She figured if she was going to make a collar, she might as well put his name on it too.

There Is No Snow In The Forecast - Yet!!

Feels like I have been shoveling snow for a month straight.  Read a post the other day about  some Georgia Snow.  I really wish it was Georgia snow, this stuff I'm shoveling is too heavy.  I have shoveled my roof, the camper, walkways and work, I have had enough of this New England snow.

These are the new temporary additions to my rafters at work.  3 out of 5 developed cracks and splits.  The elementary school in town cancelled classes on Monday so the roof could be inspected.  This whole snow thing is growing old. 







Good news is the Eastern Fishing & Outdoor Expo is in Worcester this weekend.  Yahoooooooooo

How To Tell When It's Cold In New England

You know its cold when:

His Name Is Wyatt

Got the call on Friday, Bruno the breeder said pick up the puppy Sunday morning.  This was a week earlier than we expected but we were happy to go get him.  He is doing great so far.  First thing he did when he walked in the house was to chase the 2 year old beagle mix.  He ran her twice around the kitchen table then put her on the back of the couch.  He then jumped on the Bichon's back, Missy is not exactly a dog person, she ended up on the back of the couch next to Clover.  Then came the Poodle, Winston attempted to be the alpha male and stand up to the puppy.  It didn't take the puppy long to couch the poodle.  "Wyatt, don't chew on kitty" soon followed.  It took this little fireball less than five minutes to rule the floor of the house.

He is very confident and curious, which is what I wanted a puppy to be.  The weather outside is not cooperating with my house breaking schedule.  This morning was -8 with a windchill of -30, kind of tough to bring out a 7 week old puppy in those temps.  A trip to Petsmart for some extra puppy pads is in the plans for today.

Crate training should be ok.  The other dogs are all crate trained, they look forward to going to bed at night.  Wyatt screamed and cried for about 10 minutes last night before he settled down in his crate.  I laid down in my clothes thinking I would be getting up every couple of hours or so to let him out.  I know that this is getting up every couple of hours is very short lived for a puppy.  Well the little man stayed in his crate with no accidents or sounds for a great nights sleep, 6 hours with no problems.

Ya, that is a sweatshirt on the puppy.  He is a momma's boy, the Deer Wife thought he was chilly and put a hoodie on the boy.  Chewing will be another story all together, I thought my house was puppy proof.  Boy did he show me the things I missed.  Day 1 was pretty cool, I cant wait day 2.

Life can be pretty funny at times and not so funny other times.

Take A Kid Fishing

My boys are 26 and 24, both are still avid fishermen.  The younger one fishes both fresh and salt, the older is primarily fresh.  During the summer months, I'll get home from work to find my aluminum boat or canoe or both gone.  I'll end up fishing from shore!  My wife and I started fishing with the kids at a very young age, the younger one was still in his Kanga-rockerroo (sp.).  The boys wanted to cast their own lines at one point.  We would let them cast out a bobber, with no hook, too dangerous.

Bobby (my baby) had a fascination with fish, while still in diapers.  We would get a couple dozen shiners for us and a dozen for Bob to play with.  When Bob's shiners were all dead, it was time to go home.  As they got older, so did the experiences, snapping turtles, black racers, ducks, salamanders, etc. etc. etc.  The boys still talk of the memories they have of fishing, the shiner still on the hook that was stuck in Bryan's scalp!

My newest fishing buddies are my nieces.  We dig worms before fishing, make sure we have enough hooks and bobbers, and everyone brings a small trash bag.  Rules for fishing with Uncle Scott:

1. Have Fun!!
2. Explore
3. Have Fun
4. Catch Fish (sunfish are plentiful and keep kids excited about the action)
5. Have Fun
6. Take more trash out than you bring in.

I have a couple of new fishing buddies that are very excited to get into hunting with me.  They have one excited Uncle that wants to take them.