Quote:
Originally Posted by sns2
Elk, for that pups first fall, I will be going in a different direction than you. When you find birds, you can call me and tell me where you are. I will head in that direction toot sweet! I will also return that favor. But Chief will only be a precocious little pup, so he won't need the distraction of playmates, and my focus will be on keeping him within gun range. Now, if we arrive shortly after the bird box has done his duty, then all bets are off, and I will be happy to have him scoop any and/or all birds that Butch is pointing. Butch won't be happy, but he is so playful he likely won't bite, though he may give you the stinkeye.
As you say, it should be interesting.
Hunting pointers and flushing dogs together as a brace seems illogical to me, but hey I'm Ukrainian.
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For the first fall, it would not be a good idea, I am thinking once your pup has a season or two of hunting behind him, and he has figured out his role. With two experienced dogs, it would be interesting to watch two different approaches in the same terrain, on the same birds.
As for the hunting/testing debate, there are similarities, and there are differences. I only have experience with the NAVHDA, and I am learning just by being involved as a volunteer. Some handlers have well trained dogs, but they set up poorly to flush the bird, and the result is that there is no safe shot, and an opportunity is lost. I see the same thing when hunting, some hunters do not put themselves into a good shooting position when the dog finds a bird, and the result is no shot on the bird. The difference is that in the testing, if the dog creeps or breaks momentarily because of poor training, the dog fails the test, while a hunter that is properly positioned can still kill the bird if his dog does make a small error. I am primarily a hunter, so testing isn't as important to me as it is to a breeder that wants his dog to score the highest amount possible, so my priority is keeping my dog safe, and being able to read my dog, and then set up, so that there is a good shot opportunity. And I do find, that the longer that I hunt over a dog, the better I get at reading what he is sensing, and what the bird is doing, so we can hunt more effectively as a unit.