Silas is growing in all respects.

 

I haven't posted in some time because it was really just business as usual until I purchased some chukar two weeks ago. Silas was introduced to one I placed in an onion sack. His first response wasn't what I had predicted; he layed down and barked at it. After a short while he became more bold with the bird and started to become very curious. After a second introduction he snuck in and flushed a planted bird which he attempted to chase. Finally, at the third bird he stopped and pointed. It was brief but I did get a photo. I killed one of the birds to use as a retrieve bird when it had cooled. Silas was very eager to retrieve to me. I have started to use the check cord with him at all times because he started to ignore the recall command at about the time he lost his first set of teeth. Also, he hasn't really blossomed into a nice house companion at this time. He is very hyper, running in circles at full speed for 10 minutes at a time, even though he gets out every day on long runs. we are having a very difficult time breaking him of jumping up on us and others. We are staring to look at some various obedience school options. He is a hard worker in the field but not calming down at home. We really hope this improves as he gets a little older.

I took Silas out with the gun for the first time. I aired him out for a while and started to use the retrieve dummy with him. After a few excited retrieves I fired the .22 when he got to the dummy. He didn't seem to notice the shot. We tried a few more times with the same result and I put the gun away quite satisfied with his progress. We were also fortunate to get into a flock of young turkeys which he flushed. He chased them and briefly pointed one that landed in a low tree. After searching for others we came back to the flush site and he worked into the golden rod and trailed the adult hen, he flushed her right at his nose and wasn't at all bothered by her flush and cackle. He jumped after her and made chase for about 50 yards across the field. As you can see by the above photo, we have plenty of open training space in our neck of the woods. I will buy some adult quail as soon as they are ready and get down to some more bird work. I am considering testing at the NAVHDA meeting in Harrisville this September. I think he will do well.