Working two dogs – 8th November 2009

 

I know that there are probably too many photos attached to this post, but this morning was so enjoyable that any fewer would do it no justice at all – or rather would do the dogs no justice at all.

With these dark evenings and limited time to exercise the dogs adequately in the week, let alone train the dogs, the importance of a good weekend blow out for all of us cannot be overstated.  Don’t get me wrong, both dogs get a good walk every day but in the dark this is limited to walking the lanes with a headtorch, keeping them both on leads.  Pointers need to run.

This morning I set out early with the intention of working both dogs over a patch of ground that I thought may hold snipe.  It was a wet, rushy piece of ground, flanked by a mixture of heather and willow.  I don’t really know very much about snipe, rarely coming across them, but felt that if anywhere held them this would be it.  I had also picked up from Des O’Neile’s diary that snipe numbers seem to be good this year (at least in Northern Ireland) so figured it was worth a look.  I had come across the odd snipe in this patch before so felt I wouldn’t be completely wasting my time.

On the way to the hill I saw two snipe flush from the field adjacent to the road and later saw another that Archie signalled but didn’t point, rising from the grass alongside the track as we walked to the area I wanted to cover.  Whilst this was a good sign, we ended up seeing no others.  That’s not, however, to say that the session wasn’t useful.

When we reached the moorland edge I decided to cast both dogs off and let them have a blast.  I figured that the worse thing that could happen was Archie ended up chasing a few birds if I wasn’t on top of him to drop him…I had already come to terms with the fact that Grace would chase if she had the opportunity and that there was no point beating myself up about it.  So, prepared for chaos, I cast both dogs off.  Now, neither dogs have been run together on heather with any real intent.  Yes, they have had a gallop about together in open spaces, but not really in any areas that are likely to hold birds.  This was a little different today.  I soon found that scenting conditions must have been very good as Grace had barely run twenty yards before signalling a bird then pointing.  Archie immediately backed her, Grace then roaded forward with Archie keeping his distance but following suit.  I walked forwards, clicked Grace in and she sprung forwards to put up a cock pheasant.  I blew the whistle, Archie dropped and Grace watched the bird away without chasing.  This was looking good.  I called both dogs back to me, made a fuss and cast them off again.  With renewed vigour both dogs ran well.  Grace quartered really well, very flat and wide.  Archie tended to pull forward a bit far so needed turning back every now and again but he did ok.

After we had moved about 200 yards forward Grace went on point again.  Archie however was further out to the left and carried on running away from where Grace had pointed.  I didn’t want Archie to turn at the end of his cast and run across the front of Grace so walked towards Grace and gently called Archie who swung around and came running back directly towards Grace.  The heather was deep so Archie didn’t see Grace on point until he was nearly on top of her, but when he did see her he stopped dead in his tracks and dropped like a stone into the heather.  I am not sure if he also ran straight into the scent cone but whether it was the sight of Grace or the scent of a bird, he dropped.  I then stood there, whistle in mouth with Grace on point in front of me and Archie, backing on the other side of Grace.  We stood there for a good few minutes before I finger clicked Grace forwards.  She roaded forwards and put up another cock pheasant.  I blew the whistle, Grace didn’t chase and Archie just watched the bird away from his belly down position in the heather.  It was great to be part of this.  Both dogs were actually working together…and I would even like to think that I played a small part in the event.

I cast both dogs off again and we covered a lot of heather before turning to retrace our steps and put ourselves in a position to walk across the wet, rushy area, into the wind.  As we walked back to get into position Grace ran into a thick clump of willow and I lost sight of her.  Archie was standing outside the willow obviously backing Grace although I couldn’t see her.  I walked forwards, told Grace to get on, wherever she was, and a woodcock came jinking out in front of me and headed off along the scrub edge.  Both dogs came to me and we walked on.  Great. 

We eventually positioned ourselves at the start of the wet area and I worked both dogs across the bog.  We covered every inch of ground but no birds.  As we reached the top of the wet area we had to move through a large patch of bracken.  Both dogs were ahead of me and out of sight.  When I eventually got up the bank I could see what I initially thought was Grace backing Archie.  Now I know this is unlikely but as everything had been going so well my hopes where high.  As I moved forwards I realised that actually Grace had gone on point behind Archie, and once he had noticed he backed her from in front by twisting his head around (the photo shows this better).  As I drew alongside Grace she turned her head and looked at me, which is usually a sign that she isn’t confident.  This proved to be correct as we didn’t produce a bird.  An interesting point and back though.

We then went onto the heather and I let  the dogs have a good ten minute blast before heading back to the car.  Whilst we didn’t see any more snipe the session was really good.  Grace worked very well and demonstrated her excellent nose, Archie backed beautifully and both dogs worked together very well.  If I have one criticism it is that Archie didn’t quarter flat enough, but I can work on this another time.

A really good morning.