Today I traveled to a hunting preserve in southern Oklahoma to meet with the owner of the preserve and get a tour of his facilities. Rocky and Macy also made the trip with me as the owner of the preserve wanted to meet them. Within the next month or so I will be taking both of dogs back to the preserve to function as “picking” dogs for a tower shoot. The owner has indicated that between both dogs they should have the opportunity to retrieve about 80 pheasants at the tower shoot, so it should be an excellent opportunity to hone their marking and delivering skills. The owner is also looking for another guide to work at his preserve, so that was one of the objectives of this trip. He currently uses only pointing dogs for his guided hunts, but is very interested in finding a way to incorporate Cockers into his program.
It’s important for him to make sure his clients are getting excellent opportunities to shoot the birds they have purchased, and a flushing dog doesn’t necessarily give the shooter as much time to prepare as pointing dog. However, he’s open to experimenting with running pointers and one of my Cockers simultaneously and bringing the Cocker in to flush and retrieve all of the pointed birds. I’m looking for any way to get my Cockers more birds/field time, so this might be a golden opportunity for them. Regardless of how it works out, it will still provide an opportunity for me to learn the guiding trade; something I would like to do in the future.
Rocky was his usual self at the preserve and performed a number of high-energy retrieves. Macy was also her usual self and looked at Rocky with disdain as he performed his retrieving routines. It’s really quite funny to watch their little routine. Both dogs sit and watch while I throw out the dummy. Rocky then looks at me with eyes that are pleading with me, begging to be sent for the retrieve. Macy, on the other hand, is now busy looking at other things, such as the bird that flew by or the truck driving down the road. If I were to send Macy, she would go directly to the dummy and make the retrieve, she certainly hasn’t forgotten about it, she just isn’t interested in it. When I give the command “Rocky!”, Rocky explodes out of his sitting position, throwing gravel with his feet in his fast acceleration, and literally leaps onto the dummy. Macy continues her observation of the bird that flew over. Rocky then rushes back to me almost as quickly as he departed and deposits the dummy in my hand. After a small amount of praise, Rocky then runs over to Macy and starts fighting with her, to which Macy responds with a counter-attack. They seem to be arguing with each other over who is the better dog, Rocky claiming it is him because he completed the retrieve, and Macy claiming it is her because she was smart enough to not “ask” to be sent. I give them a quick tongue-scolding and they quit their little routine. I’m not sure that’s why they’re fighting, but it seems like a likely explanation!
Rocky during training yesterday:
The owner of the preserve was very interested in Rocky and wanted me to show off his retrieving skills to several visitors that stopped by. Each time Rocky performed with the same amount of enthusiasm as his first retriever, and Macy continued her little “disinterested” routine. The owner concluded that both dogs would have a blast at one of the tower shoots and also mentioned that they would go home different dogs than when they arrived simply because of the number of birds that they will get to handle. The next tower shoot isn’t until mid January, so I’ll be anxiously awaiting the date! One of my frustrations in my training is the lack of birds that I have access to. My obedience training is coming along very well, but it always takes a small step backwards when birds are brought into the picture due to the novelty of the birds. I’m hoping the tower shoot helps cure some of this.
Two drowned rats:
On another note, I have recently been able to contact a gentleman who is responsible for a portion of Rocky’s pedigree. He was a major proponent of Cockers in years past and is still the owner of several Cockers. I hope to post an article written about him over 20 years ago. You all should try researching different names in your Cocker’s pedigree; it can be extremely addictive and take up large amounts of time—just ask my wife !
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