| Archive for The Brittany Forum For all friends of the versatile Brittany |
| Des O'Neile |
The Glencuan Training Diary.http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/Very self indulgent I know, but this is the link to my site/blog. I will post the individual posts from the start of 2009 and if people find it interesting I will continue to post the entries individually. For those that haven't come across Glencuan before the main participants are, Judy, Exile on Main Street, Pointer bitch. Open stake winner. Roxy, Oxspring Roxanne, Pointer bitch. Open stake winner. Jalad, Ballincoher Barcley, Pointer dog. Open stake awards. Jump, Ir.F.T.Ch. Sugarloaf Bold. Pointer dog. Bess, Cuan Black Bess, Pointer bitch. On transfer list. Chris, Toftens Chris, Pointer dog. Open stake awards in Denmark. Gina, Glencuan Orangina, Pointer bitch. On transfer list. Coco, Cookstown Cocopop, Pointer dog pup. Tam, Julchris Super Trooper, Clumber dog. Shooting dog. Basso, Oksby Basso, Pointer dog. Ross, Ross O'Neile #2 son. Jay, Jay Black grandson. Don't hesitate to ask questions. You may learn something, even if it's only how not to train a dog. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 2nd January 2009
Beechfield. Roxy is now out of season so things should settle down, at least until she has to be seperated from Chris to whelp. He will not be impressed, however he should be impressed tomorrow as he is dogging with Tam. Tam’s sore paw from Monday has disappeared but although it has scabbed over well he had a wound right on the top of his head. Elsewhere Judy has shown no ill effects from her run on the mountain but Basso seems to have a problem with his right eye which is slightly swollen and he blinks it a bit from time to time. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 3rd January 2009
Co. Tyrone Clear and bright. Highest temperature 3.5c more like 1c most of the time There were very thin layers of ice on the cattle drinkers.Hardly an air all day. The only bad thing about today was that this season just has to be down hill after this. It would be nice but it can’t get much better. A big Danish blond taught me a thing or two today and he had four legs, Chris. I thought I had seen everything you could expect of a gundog over the last thirty years but Chris pulled off a new one, to me at any rate. I asked and received the agreement of the guns as to what I wanted to achieve today and that was to get the hunt, point, retrieve scenario polished off with Chris. For a long time it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. First off I waited by the nettles at one end of The Orchard. A hen pheasant was shot, dead as a door nail, easy pick up later…Ha! Spent a good fifteen minutes with Tam but couldn’t bring it to hand. I went and got Chris from the car to do the same expanse of rank heather as Monday. I was in the rain forest with one gun, the other two walked the grass field. Chris slowed right down but just before he pointed a woodcock flushed and flew back. Bang, dead woodcock…………………..the other side of not one but two, just about water tight sheep fences. Damn! A gun picked it by hand. About twenty yards further on he pointed, just his tail and rear end showing from high rushes. I warned the guns in the field and put the big dog in. A cock pheasant flushed, two shots, but the only thing to come down was one of the cock’s legs. ******* hell! I was loosing the will to live. We finished off the hedge/fence line and my gun and I turned away to do the rest of the enclosure. After about ten minutes Chris slowed right down and eventually stopped on one of the game tracks running all through the high cover. I positioned the gun further forward and away out to the right. I walked in beside Chris and he roaded in slowly eventually turning off the track and pointing into high but loose brambles. I stepped into the brambles and a hen pheasant flushed going out at an awkward angle for the gun. I was concentrating on the dog but there was only one shot and out of the corner of my eye I saw a hen pheasant fall about forty yards in front of me, the other side of a narrow stream. The gun’s opinion was that it was dead. I gave Chris the “Aporte” command and he rushed forward only to bang on to point just this side of the stream and a good twenty yards short of the bird. I reckoned he had miss marked but as I walked in beside him another hen flushed but the gun was open and it wasn’t fired at. Chris jumped the stream but he went round the cover to search for the more recent bird. I was able to drop him and get him back to the area of the fall and he eventually pointed into rushes and when encouraged he emerged with the dead hen pheasant. Backward somersaults through hoops of fire without the aid of a net! Several more parcels of ground were done before lunch but nothing was achieved other than a bit of good teamwork between Chris and The Blunder. After lunch we went down to the river. I was to walk along the anglers’ path down by the river and attempt to keep the dogs up the bank which must be about thirty to forty feet high in places and covered with dense brambles and whinns, with a gun stationed at the far end, about three hundred yards along the river bank. You are going to love this, I did. There isn’t usually much happens until you are about halfway along the path. Chris and Tam were hunting methodically up and down the bank. About three quarters down the path I eventually saw Chris on point right at the top of the bank, beside the fence and crouched down looking at the base of a tree. I was negotiating a fallen tree and I don’t know if the bird flushed loose or Chris put it up but it flapped up against the fence and then headed out across the river. It started off about forty feet above me and it was well above the treeline and heading for the safety of the far bank when when it was shot. Just as nice a high pheasant, with a curl, as I have ever seen. It fell right in the middle of the river but never fear Super Blunder launched himself (This is Blunder Speak for walked down and entered the water) into the river and started to swim upstream and out towards the bird. He snaffled it at the first go and he was back to the bank before he was down stream of me. Up the bank and bird delivered to hand. More backward somersaults! Couldn’t get any better. Or could it? More sterling teamwork followed and then Chris broke out the good wine. The gun and I had just crossed an old dilapidated fence. The dogs were out in front and birds started to flush and fly out of coppicing, quartering away towards the right side of our direction of travel. Towards more coppicing with a bramble and whinn floor and surrounded by low whinns. Bang, count two, bang. Hen pheasant down to the right, just short of the coppice, and a cock bird down about thirty yards to the left of it, again just short of the coppice. Hen probably needed picking first. The dogs hunted hard for no return. I gave up on the hen and went to look for the cock. No result there either despite high excitement from the dogs. They visited the two fall sites and were in and out of the coppice till my head spun. A measured approach was required. Back to the fall of the hen. It was a relatively flat area in the white grass, about the size of a hearth rug. I blew no whistles or gave no commands in fear of calling a dog off the line. I went back to the fall to call the dogs in. There is something that pointers do when they are tired. They make a bed. They pull up heather and turn round and round and eventually lie down. My dogs usually only do it when caught in hail or snow on the mountain. Chris started doing it at my feet. It was an exaggerated action. He was pulling the grass up and nearly throwing it over his shoulder. I thought ” This big dog is going to expire on me or something” After about the sixth mouthful in the air he stuck his head down into the white grass, down till I couldn’t see his ears, and emerged with the hen by the tail feathers.????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** me pink and call me Rosie. Within a foot of my right toe!!!!! Just at this a gun appeared and I elicited his help to look for the cock. Again we went to the fall and let the dogs hunt about with no distractions in the way of commands. They were in and out of the coppice, round and round the tree and covered a heap of ground very thoroughly. As we were going to loose the day we decided to give it best. I turned round to call Chris and saw him on point in the coppice. Now he had been in this area a few time, in fact all three dogs had. Calling Tam after me I ploughed through the brambles. Once in the coppice the cover was a bit more open. Chris was pointing into a clump of light brambles. He worked round them a few times and pointed again before Tam blarged in and the cock ran off along the ground with Chris in hot pursuit. It went about fifteen yards to the right and Chris tried to lift it but it nutmegged him and headed off to the left in a hurry with Chris an Tam after it. It was running in more light brambles but Chris cared not a jot and eventually he pinned it to the floor before bringing it to hand. If ever a dog looked pleased it was Chris. Me too. The end was rather mundane by comparison. I beat out The Orchard and when I was finished there were two pigeons and a hen to look for. The pigeons were picked by hand and Chris hunted the rushes for the hen eventually swaggering up to a clump of rushes and brambles and pointing. I really can’t remember why it was decided for me to take Chris away and allow a gun’sspaniel to make the retrieve of the very much alive but tucked in hen but that’s what happened. Some day, eh? |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 8th January 2009
Beechfield. It has been cold here overnight, most nights of late and I have decided to feed twice a day. I haven’t upped the rations yet, except for Roxy but I give about two thirds in the evening and the other third in the morning. Roxy is about four weeks gone and already she has started to thicken about the waist. Roxy is always ravenous at feeding times but she has now started to steal from Chris’ bowl and he is such a soft big crater that he just walks away and lets her. I don’t want to bloat her but I don’t want to starve her either so I will just have to monitor her closely. She has made a new coat and is in really good form. Bit of a boot in the swingers as regards dog food. Buying a pallet a time the last delivery cost me £6.16 a bag/ but as it is sourced south of the border and the pound has depreciated against the euro, and, changes in vat rates in the south our price for the next pallet is going to work out at something like £10.03 a bag! If we go ahead with it. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 10th January 2009
The Battery, Coagh. Jay and I headed off at seven this morning to pick up a new pup. The pup I wasn’t going to take as a stud fee, but then I made the fatal mistake. I went to look. Not to look a Coco, but at a brother of his that Eamon thought might be going to be a self coloured white dog but there were touches of colour in his coat. The moment I saw the big, strong liver dog I was in trouble. I remembered saying to the falconers who came to pick up their black pups out of Bess’ litter that in parting with the dogs I was making a big mistake. Well when I looked at this big liver dog I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. The day started off in truly spectacular fashion. The sun rose in the deepest dark red sky that I had ever seen. I remember looking from the foothills of Mount Sinai towards Saudi into a very deep orange sky but never anything like today. It wasn’t just me either for when I called into Charlie Keenan’s in Toome to look for waterproof trousers for Jay he said he had felt compelled to get his camera out. The pup’s name is Cookstown Cocopop and he will get Coco. He is by Jalad out of a bitch from Davy Shaw’s litter that was sired by Jump and there is Jump, Bold ,Roi and the USA import Blackadder in the bitch so it is at least well bred. I didn’t remember to weigh him but he hasn’t been bullied at the trough and it takes all his body weight to keep feet the size of side plates on the floor. He looks good except for blocked glands in his upper eyelids which should be easily sorted and ears full of mites which Thornit will cure. I took him to the vet for his first jab and she took the points off his nails. He is out in the run with Basso and Gina and I have yet to hear a murmer other than play growling but that is mostly Gina and Basso. 
|
| Des O'Neile |
Monday 12th January 2009.
Beechfield. Coco is settling in well. The most important thing is that he is feeding readily and I already have him changed over to about half and half of what he was getting at Eamons and what I intend to feed him. I take him in his grub in a bowl and he gets stuck in right away. I sit in the doorway to keep Basso and Gina away and I keep the bowl right beside me and already he will take food from my hand. It’s easy to tell when he’s had enough as he then wants to go out for a drink. This then heralds a five minute manic session where he wants to play so I give him the full treatment. I pull him about by all and sundry parts of his body, roll him over and generally batter him about and he absolutely loves it. It is nice to see that when he hears the gate he is out of the box like a shot and comes straight to me to get fed. It is also nice to see that I have another baby sitter in Basso. He is so laid back with other dogs and now I see it with pups as well. The only dog that wanted to hump Coco was Tam which isn’t that much of a surprise but the only dog that showed an intention to harm him was Jalad, his father!. His nose was right out of joint but he settled down eventually though I won’t be putting them together any time soon. I wanted to get out this weekend but with the pup on Saturday and a promise of rain for Sunday I didn’t make it. It’s hard to imagine but the first trial is on 7th February. |
| Des O'Neile |
Wednesday 14th January 2009
Glenarm Castle. The annual trip for the Lachan Gun Club members that I get invited to. I usually shoot on these days so I didn’t really know what to expect. I reckoned I would spend most of the day beating and that’s what I did but the big dog got ample opportunities to retrieve as well. Started off bright and frosty, about 0 c. For once the weather forecast did exactly what it said on the tin and the wind picked up by dinner time and by three o’clock we had driving rain but we had the bulk of the bag by then in anticipation so our day wasn’t unduly spoiled. The Bag. 54 pheasants 9 woodcock 1 snipe. For me this was a very enjoyable but still not perfect day. There were numerous good things but three disappointing things. 97% good, 3% bad. The bad. Putting the Skodapop up the kerb not one hundred yards from the front door. Black ice. No obvious damage. Tam’s refusal to carry the snipe and a cock pheasant that he dropped in between boulders and couldn’t bring to hand after crossing the river, climbing the bank and hunting for it. An ultra soft mouth can be a burden some times. The Good. We started off doing decayed woodland interspersed with wet rushy patches heavy with white grass. It must have taken a good hour to do this long strip. My gun accounted for two pheasants and Tam flushed five woodcock, none of which were shot but a total of four were brought to hand and another lost believed held up in high blackthorn. We did a shorter bit of the same type of cover in reverse but few birds were produced although my gun accounted for two cocks. We next did a large expanse of high grass, in a line. All this time Tam had been hunting well. He had taken the odd line but in a heavily populated estate lines can seen interminable as the dog goes from one scent line to another, however apart from getting the wrong side of bushes he was still in gunshot, mostly. This high grass yielded maybe one hundred birds although not all were shootable. As we approached the end of this parcel of ground Andy shot a cock bird well forward but it fell as a runner, heading off to the fence line at pace. Eventually Robert Luff’s dog Skye brought the bird to hand. A very accomplished retrieve. I almost forgot about Tam’s snipe. He had hunted well the whole time and was doing about as near to quartering as Blunders will condescend to do when we approached a small damp patch. He pushed the snipe which was shot within twenty yards and he hunted to it, picked it up but more or less spat it out and refused to bring it to hand. Just before that however he had pleased me no end pushing a number of well tucked in birds from dense tussocky grass and making a couple of retrieves. The Chablis having been quaffed and the pate scoffed we next did another bit of open grassy ground interspersed with the odd hedge line and trees. Right at the start, standing by the bridge my gun downed a cock bird that bounced on the ground no more that ten yards away and disappeared over the edge of a low cliff. Tam didn’t even break his stride as he went after it. Robert, the keeper, wondered how we would get the dog out of the river and up the bank again but never fear. Super Blunder sails up over the edge and deposits the bird at my feet. Robert was quite impressed and I was as pleased as punch. No more than fifty yards further on he did it again. A hen bird quartering left to right from behind was dropped near the river’s edge on the right, and right in the middle of a clump of tall black thorn. I see this sort of cover quite often In Ireland. The bottom four or maybe even five feet of the blackthorn plant are as straight as a die. They are well spaced out and if it wasn’t for the top you could quite easily walk through them without touching them. The top of these plants is a different matter. The branches from all the plants meld together and you end up with a blanket of blackthorn three feet thick, suspended five feet off the ground and this clump might have covered a tennis court. Tam was in the cover agood ten minutes. By bending down I could see him from time to time, working in the same area. I can’t say for certain exactly what happened but the bird was still alive when brought to hand, just. I suspect that the bird pitched into the canopy but whether it fell from the bush near death or Tam managed to pull it down I can’t say. Anyway, another fine retrieve. It was down in this river bed that my gun shot a beauitful high cock bird. It landed on the far bank, dead as Hector. It took a bit o’doing but I got Tam across the river and eventually up the bank (He seemed convinced the bird was under a slight overhang and still in the water.) where he picked the bird. He went down stream on the far bank looking for an easy entry point and when crossing some strewn boulders he dropped the bird down a gap in the stones and couldn’t get it again. It was picked by hand. It was a good enough bit of work anyway but it would have been nice if he had completed it. I only have the time to tell you about my dog. There was plenty of other sterling work done by other dogs. In fact the retrieve made by Matthew the under keeper’s dog of a wounded woodcock that couldn’t make more than about two foot off the ground but could still go like stink was impressive by anybody’s standards. So it was a fantastic day all round and Tam seems to be getting better by the outing. It appears that the presence of other dogs brings out the best in him. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 15th January 2009
Beechfield. After a word with Eamon to tell him just how pleased I am with my Cadbury coloured pointer I realised that he needed to be de-wormed again. I weighed him and have to admit to being surprised to find he is bang on 10 kg. I was so surprised that I went to check in my weight records for other litters but they only go to about eight weeks. The weight alone doesn’t tell the full story, he is a big strong lump of a dog and he is very responsive, but then I have worked very hard at it. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 17th January 2009
Co Tyrone. Another Ronseal weather forecast, wind strengthening from the west to gale force and rain by mid afternoon. It was a bit unnerving working in the woodland, which is decaying, and both see and hear large bits of dead wood falling, mostly into the river, thank goodness. On the way home anywhere there were trees near the motorway a lot of small debris had been blown onto the road and that combined with heavy driving rain and wind made driving, well interesting. The birds were there but just not where we expected them to be. In addition they were jumpy probably due to the weather conditions and the attentions of a dog fox that we didn’t get a shot at. That said in the three hours we were out we bagged five hen pheasants and a rabbit. Several woodcock were produced but I don’t think any were actually fired at. For the first time this year I beat out The Orchard and failed to produce a bird. We then went and did the long version of the river walk. I was down on the path with a gun, and Chris and Tam worked the bank. Early on Chris disappeared in the area of an ash tree heavily covered with ivy. I thought he was on point somewhere behind the tree and when I got near the tree a woodcock flushed from maybe ten feet up the tree but it didn’t offer a shot. When I got round the tree there was Chris standing on his hind legs with his front legs about five feet up the tree. Pointing up into the branches where the woodcock had flushed from. After maybe another ten a minutes a bird was shot and it fell out over the valley in line with where I was working. I could clearly see the bird, well up the bank, and I thought as Chris seemed to have it well marked in low thin brambles that it would be to hand in no time. I don’t believe that Tam had it marked but jealousy is a wonderful spur and he ran to where the pointer was trying to locate the bird. They both farted about for maybe a minute but eventually Tam eye-wiped Chris and brought the hen to hand. After maybe another five minutes Tam took a line up the bank, under the fence, and into a hedge in the field where he pushed a rabbit that was shot. Tam hadn’t it marked and I couldn’t see him to direct so the gun picked the dead rabbit by hand. We pushed out the rest of the river bank but no further birds showed. For once I went forward along the tributary to act as a stop but couldn’t prevent about two dozen birds, mostly hens flushing in the direction of the rushy field. It wasn’t all the birds though and I think three were accounted for. In the aforementioned rushy field I usually work Tam along the hedge but with the pointer in good form I headed for the open ground. After working down wind for about fifty yards Chris pointed in my direction. I called for guns and also called Chris towards me and almost at my feet a hen flushed. The left hand gun couldn’t get the safety off and the right hand gun missed with both barrels. A glorious chance for the old, hunt, point retrieve lost. As the weather was deteriorating fast I beat out The R.M.’s garden. This is near the cow sheds and I couldn’t take a gun in with me. You would nearly think the birds new the circumstances as I could see, not exactly droves of them, slipping along the other side of the hedge in the field towards the safety of the farm. However not all of them got away and Chris pointed and produced several, two of which were shot. In addition Chris pointed into the branches of a fallen poplar that Tam had ignored. The pointer couldn’t get into the branches against the flow, so to speak, and neither could Tam but he barged in from the side, almost lifting the tree and releasing the bird which unfortunately didn’t attract a shot. As you know we ended up with five birds and a rabbit. Sitting at home watching Ulster beat Harlequins we would have got nothing, no birds, no walk, no hunt and no opportunity to share great dog work so I feel like a self satisfied Old Hector. I am going to feed the dogs and maybe have a glass or two of Baliey’s, over ice, later on. See ya. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 18th January 2009
Black Mountain. SW 3 - 4. 3c but feeling a lot colder. Bright but no sun. I did a lot better than I thought I would when at home. I did ten times better than I thought when I saw residual sleet on the high tops and I did a hundred times better than I thought when I saw some idiot throwing dummies for his lab in the middle of my best snipe spot. With shooting taking a lot of time just recently Basso and Jalad haven’t had a lot of time on the heather so this was a big blow out for them. It was also a fact finding operation. We have had nothing short of a drought up to very recently and this, combined with frost, has kept the snipe off the hill. I wanted to see if any were back. I thought there was a chance of hard ground so I didn’t take Judy. Judy is in her ninth year and with her having been lame late last year I didn’t want to take any risks with her. This will probably be her last year in competition and I want her both sound and fit for the summer. Roxy is of course in pup. I parked at The Gap and just ran through the back of the quarry, (notwithstanding the disturbance), over the shoulder and onto the middle flat. I reckoned that would tell me what I wanted to know. Both dogs ran hard and were hunting hard. Jalad covered the most ground but was a tad wayward. Other than to back Basso he never broke his stride and you could see he was enjoying himself. Basso was doing his best but he kept getting tied up with old scent. I now believe there may have been a considerable number of snipe moved off the hill by the erstwhile dog trainer.I know that Empty Head as a more than adequate nose but I suppose his extra experience over Basso means he is more able to tell a haunt from a bird. In any event Basso seemed the more likely to have a find and that is exactly how it worked out. I was still on the up slope of the shoulder and Basso was crossing me at pace. On the way out to the right he whipped round no more than fifteen yards away, no, more like twenty five. Right away I could tell he had a bird. Smaller than Chris he still has some traits of his Da’s. There is NO movement when he is pointing. No quivering, no flicking the tail, nothing. Jalad was going to cross well in front so I called him back and the moment he saw Basso he backed. I should have had the camera, again! Beauitful back, foot up and all. With Jalad in Basso’s eyeline it was difficult to get him to go in so in getting him to move I lost control of Jalad. In any event Basso was steady to the flush which was no more than five feet in front of him. There were a few thing I noticed today. I can now read Basso around game not least because he is very like Chris, his dad, who I can now read like a book. Basso has developed an extra yard of pace as he was not only able to keep in front of Jalad, on very good ground, on at least one occasion he reeled him in. There was however one thing I didn’t like. Several times Basso managed to trip up, or tripped himself up as much as got his front legs tangled in the heather. There is no excuse for him as there might be for Chris who was five years old when he arrived, Basso was only eleven months and has been on heather now for a year and a half. In any event the heather is short on the shoulder. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 22nd January 2009 A.M.
Black Mountain. 2c. SSW 1 gusting 3. Bright & sunny. Down in Belfast the thermometer might have hit 6c but up on the hill it was 2c and with a wind blowing I’m sure the actual temperature would have felt more like -1c. Having said all that if you were well wrapped up, which I was, and were moving, which I also was, it was a lovely day to be out. It did worry me slightly when I could see the last vestiges of snow on the tops but I gave the ground a good tramp before taking Judy with me. Judy, Jalad & Basso. Each dog got two runs and they all did quite well. I ran Judy first where I knew the ground would be, if not actually soft, at least not frozen. She handled really well and covered her ground methodically. There was however something amiss with her gait. It didn’t appear to be anything to do with her recent lameness, it looked as if her stride was attenuated. This was all explained when on the lead between runs she did a dump a baby elephant would have been proud of and in her second run she was much freerer. Her find when it came was at a distance. She had been returning from the right when she drew forward and pointed. While on my way to her she moved forward about another twenty yards and pointed again. The snipe was obviously running. Holding the other two dogs off her I sent her in and she produced the bird but didn’t drop. It wasn’t what I wanted but for the next few times I have her out I will make sure she is on her own or I have a dog boy. This was her first real run for some time so I hope there will be no after affects. Jalad had two clear runs. He handled well and covered a heap of ground. He did point once but it transpired to be a haunt, I could see the droppings. He needs a bit of schooling to get him back in shape for competition. Basso was the star turn, again. The only thing about him at present is that he is a bit full of himself but I can live with it for now if it means he can continue to find snipe for fun. His find when he took it was nice. I now know that when he points, just like his Dad, the bird will be there. He may feather around a bit before he stiffens but once he does it’s job done. He had the bird well pinned about five feet in front of him and was as steady as a rock when it flushed. He really is very steady as bringing Judy and Jalad in beside him, actually touching, didn’t encourage him to break. Basso’s second run was down wind. While careering down wind at pace he whipped round in his own body length and pointed. The bird flushed no more that three feet in front of his nose and Basso went after it. It all happened so fast there was no point in blowing my whistle, he was gone. Basso is maturing physically. He is muscling up particularly around the shoulders and there is definitely more bulk about his rear end, not that it ever looked weak. If I can get him a few more finds I will then take his control in hand but now, now that I have confidence in his ability to find and point game I want it become almost commonplace for him as well. Good outing, might go this afternoon as well. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 22nd January 2009 P.M.
Black Mountain. 2c 1 - 3 SSW. Make hay while the sun shines, I don’t think so. By the time I got back to the hill the high clouds had started to gather from the west, obliterating the sun and it was a lot less idyllic than this morning. Still it was dry the whole time I was out even though showers were in plain view. Chris and Jalad. Ideally I wanted to run them singly but Chris hasn’t been in the wide open for some time and it took him a while to get going so I ran them together to spur him on. Within a couple of minutes they were doing fine and since they were handling well I didn’t see the point in splitting them up. I ran them up over the shoulder and down into the Big Valley and yes it was a bit of a cheek wind but they both coped admirably. The find when it came took me by surprise. Even though they were running at the same time I was concentrating on Chris and he was doing quite well. Except for the habit he displayed in the past of messing about round you when he returns to the centre of the beat. He was doing it again today. Well I had Chris going quite nicely and Jalad was out of sight on his lawful occasions. I sent Chris to the right and he disappeared from view but I knew I would see him again soon as he had entered a dip in the ground. When he didn’t reappear I walked that way to look for him and found Jalad on point with Chris backing about thirty yards away. When Chris saw me he closed the gap to about five yards. Even though Chris didn’t actually steal the point I have always regarded this situation as a stolen point. Yes in Ireland you get away with it as long as your dog doesn’t actually pass the dog on point but in my book it’s still been stolen. Anyway I sent Jalad in to flush and he moved forward about twenty yards and pointed again. Chris moved as well but kept behind. I sent Jalad in again and this time he worked methodically forward about another twenty yards and the snipe flushed at his nose. He didn’t drop to the flush but to my whistle. Later on while working down wind back to the car I believe I saw the same situation again at a distance and then another time Jalad was pointing on his own, again at a distance so it looks like he had three finds. At this stage a shower seemed to be heading my way and I left the hill at pace. It didn’t start to rain right away but by the time I was down in Belfast light rain had started. All in all I got a fair bit crammed into the day. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 23rd January 2009
Black Mountain. 2c. WNW. 1+. Extremely clear and bright sunny afternoon. This was an extremely frustrating afternoon as the bright low sun and the wind direction meant that for long periods I was operating by sound as when looking into the sun I was to all intents and purposes blind. Basso, Bess & Jalad. It isn’t Bess’ fault that she hasn’t been out much recently but after nearly managing to get herself killed on the road she had a good blow out. I didn’t let her off the lead until I was maybe a hundred yards from the car which was parked at the roadside. She ran on ahead of me and had a dump but when she was finished she ran straight back to the car and dodged around it like she had lost me or was scared of me. I reckon she couldn’t make me out in the low sun. I can assure you that the airport road is not a place for a dog on a Friday afternoon. All I could do was walk away and call her and eventually she responded. After that she tore about at breakneck speed and seemed to enjoy herself. Once again Basso found a snipe. In fact he might have found three but looking into the sun I couldn’t see any bird for the first two. I have sufficient confidence in Basso to believe him when he points and as he hasn’t let me down in the last few outings I’m not going to bad mouth him now. The third one was right on the button. He pointed within a few yards of me and when asked roaded straight into the wind to produce his snipe and sit to the whistle. Jalad was the star turn. He had no bird but his run lasting no more than fifteen minutes was perfect. He took the same bit each time, about thirty yards, I was able to let him go just out of sight on either side as he was turning on the ” P “of the peep and he was going full tilt. Jalad is a strange big dog. Most dogs you would nearly like them to look at you just so you know they are in touch but with Jalad,apart from the fact that he probably wouldn’t look at you, you just know when he is in touch. He just seems to exude togetherness, or not. Well more often than not just recently Jalad has been on a joint mission and when he is in such a mind set he is both easy and a pleasure to be with. This was a rather disappointing afternoon. I like to be able to assess what my dogs are doing and just couldn’t today. I have to say that the way Basso is finding birds is pleasing but it can’t just be luck. Conversely it is disappointing that Jalad hasn’t had a few finds especially after the way he covered his ground today. Hopefully his day will come……soon! |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 23rd January 2009
Black Mountain. 2c. WNW. 1+. Extremely clear and bright sunny afternoon. This was an extremely frustrating afternoon as the bright low sun and the wind direction meant that for long periods I was operating by sound as when looking into the sun I was to all intents and purposes blind. Basso, Bess & Jalad. It isn’t Bess’ fault that she hasn’t been out much recently but after nearly managing to get herself killed on the road she had a good blow out. I didn’t let her off the lead until I was maybe a hundred yards from the car which was parked at the roadside. She ran on ahead of me and had a dump but when she was finished she ran straight back to the car and dodged around it like she had lost me or was scared of me. I reckon she couldn’t make me out in the low sun. I can assure you that the airport road is not a place for a dog on a Friday afternoon. All I could do was walk away and call her and eventually she responded. After that she tore about at breakneck speed and seemed to enjoy herself. Once again Basso found a snipe. In fact he might have found three but looking into the sun I couldn’t see any bird for the first two. I have sufficient confidence in Basso to believe him when he points and as he hasn’t let me down in the last few outings I’m not going to bad mouth him now. The third one was right on the button. He pointed within a few yards of me and when asked roaded straight into the wind to produce his snipe and sit to the whistle. Jalad was the star turn. He had no bird but his run lasting no more than fifteen minutes was perfect. He took the same bit each time, about thirty yards, I was able to let him go just out of sight on either side as he was turning on the ” P “of the peep and he was going full tilt. Jalad is a strange big dog. Most dogs you would nearly like them to look at you just so you know they are in touch but with Jalad,apart from the fact that he probably wouldn’t look at you, you just know when he is in touch. He just seems to exude togetherness, or not. Well more often than not just recently Jalad has been on a joint mission and when he is in such a mind set he is both easy and a pleasure to be with. This was a rather disappointing afternoon. I like to be able to assess what my dogs are doing and just couldn’t today. I have to say that the way Basso is finding birds is pleasing but it can’t just be luck. Conversely it is disappointing that Jalad hasn’t had a few finds especially after the way he covered his ground today. Hopefully his day will come……soon! |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 24th January 2009.
Co. Tyrone High Cloud but bright. -.5c < 3c. Pleasant in the sun, cold out of it. Uncomfortable walking on the road due to ice. The usual crew. This was Chris’ day but both dogs performed well and as you would expect towards the end of the season. These are far from dumb animals as their habit of getting round impenetrable fences the first time they come to them by going down into the river and up the other side shows. I beat out The orchard to no effect. The grain I spilt last week was gone but there was little out of the hoppers. Next I walked a field with Chris that we can’t shoot in, to push birds onto our ground. The second my head appeared over the hedge they made off on foot, about two dozen of them. I then walked a hedge that divides the field into two and flushed about another two dozen birds that all flew towards our ground. When it came to walking the ground that they went on to the result was predictable. The birds that flew had gone too far and the birds that had run had only run to the march hedge and when we did the edge of our ground they flew back onto ground we couldn’t access. Tam produced quite a few of these birds from the hedge and Chris had four excellent finds in the cover just away slightly from the hedge but about half didn’t present a shot and the rest would have fallen on ground we didn’t want to access so they weren’t fired at. We did the down stream bit of the river walk next,working down stream for a change. A rabbit was shot in almost the same position as last week’s and at the end of the walk a woodcock was shot which was probably the one that Chris pointed up the tree last Saturday. A hen was shot that the gun couldn’t find and I went to help him look for it. You could clearly see feathers where it had fallen on the rocks of the river bank but we ouldn’t bring the bird to hand.There are a lot of crevices in this area and many piles of dead wood deposited by the river when in spate and we couldn’t locate the bird despite great interest from all the dogs. After lunch we did the up stream bit of the river walk working up stream. The birds were mostly at the top of the bank in the thick cover but they started to flush earlier than usual and flitted across the river not offering a shot. Chris lifted a runner that most have come over the river from where another party was shooting. We next did the tributary and several birds were shot but none offered a shot to my gun. Next I hunted the rushy field and Chris had three great finds. Unfortunately the gun missed the cock and the hen but he pulled off a nice clean kill on a snipe which was much more difficult than either of the pheasants. Both dogs over ran it and I picked it by hand. The Magistrates Garden was beat out and I was placed in the rushy field to watch where the birds went and to pick up if needed. Birds flew everywhere but eventually a hen presented itself. The gun fired and the bird was hard hit. It dropped about ten feet in the air but regained control and soared. Not the classic lung shot soar but the bird climbed steeply before folding up and falling from hight and landing with a thud beside a hedge made up mostly of whinns. To my amazement the bird ran off strongly into the whins. This was some distance away and it took me a minute of two to get to the fall. The dogs hunted hard along this thick hedge gradually working away from the fall. I saw the bird running strongly two or three times leading the dogs a merry dance. I was required to leave relatively early and decided I would have to give this one best but when I whistled I got no response from Chris. Moving off in the direction I had last seen him I eventually saw his tail sticking straight up in the air. The far side of the hedge was about five feet above my side. He was pointing down into a hole just below his feet in the bank. The hole was created by thick roots. There were in fact three holes. The one Chris was pointing into, another about a foot to his right and another in the vertical bank. Through it I could see the bird but couldn’t reach it. Tam then entered the equation by sticking his head down the other hole beside Chris. Tam was really straining to reach the bird. His back legs were scrabbling for grip but he just ccouldn’t get any purchase on the bird which in moving away from Tam made itself available to Chris. Chris had an awkward job as he had to lift the bird right up out of the hole by it’s tail feathers and in doing so Tam saw his chance and snatched the bird. There was no way he was going to give it to anybody else other than me. He attempted to jump down the bank to my level but got caught up in the hedge and released the bird into my outstretched hand as he did a head over heels onto the path. Without Chris this bird would have been lost but without Tam neither dog could have got it out on its own. It would have been nice if the HPR opportunities offered by Chris had been taken and he had got the retrieves but the big dog did exceptionally well. I would say that the pair are at the very top of their game just now. I hope they can reproduce it next year as well. Chris is looking a lot like a hard working pointer just now. Whatever shooting he did in Denmark did wasn’t as hard on him as what he is doing now. There are scars he has collected this season that he will take to his grave but he just loves his work. I watched him crawling through brambles yesterday that many other dogs wouldn’t have faced and it is really unusual to see him on point with his body shrouded in brambles but his head sticking out of the cover. Some dog. If ever a dog deserved the description “Hard Going ” its old Chrissy-mint Yo-yo. http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/ |
| Des O'Neile |
Tuesday 27th January 2009
Beechfield. Few things to do today. I forgot to take Coco for his second jag. I’ll have to sort that out. I need to clean out the big freezer as the last of the tripe is in the bin to be fed when defrosted.I need to weigh Roxy accurately for the Panacure 10% as she is near the fortieth day of her term. I had almost forgotten why I hunt but The Chef is home again and last night we had :- Croquette of confit pheasant legs served on a bed of buttered leek along with poached and roast pheasant breasts, roast vegetables and roasting juices. To follow pan fried pears with pear and cinnamon caramel sauce and a dollop of vanilla ice cream. A glass of Chilean Shiraz Pinotage washed it all down. I believe tonight it will be saddle of rabbit wrapped around apricots and wrapped in Parma Ham. It’s a hard life but somebody has to do it. |
| Des O'Neile |
Wednesday 28th January 2009
Black Mountain. SW >1. 3 - 5c but feeling much colder. Bright and dry, but low sun made it difficult to see what was happening at times. Basso, Chris, Jalad & Judy. Each dog got ten minutes into the wind, and the sun. Chris. I know Ross found Chris’ antics frustrating and on reflection since this is something we know about he shouldn’t have been first up but he did the usual endless dumping at the start but when he eventually got going he did quite well. He was turning well and covered an acceptable beat, but only acceptable. Judy. Did exactly what it says on her tin. Ran like stink, handled a dream and didn’t put a foot wrong. Jalad. Empty Head did extremely well and there is nothing new in that but it was Ross that was running him and I was close by. The big dog covered his ground at pace and handled a dream. Basso. Basso and I ended up in The Paddock and as usual Basso was the one to have a bird on his beat. I suppose with him having done so well recently a mistake was overdue. He ran past the bird a yard or two, realised he had scent, cut back to get down wind of the bird but it was up, jjjjjjjust before he was down, so he flushed it. He stayed on and I worked him out just in case there was another bird but to no avail. Ross then gave Jalad a run on the left hand side of The paddock but there was no bird for him and he turned back a time or two as well. Chris then got a run up the side of The paddock, over the wire, and whereas by now he was running hard enough Ross had difficulty getting him to go right. We let the dogs run free down wind back to the car and as luck would have it two snipe were flushed while running down wind. Dinner. The rabbit was something else. The front legs were discarded and a mousse made of the back legs. The cavity was then stuffed with the mousse, spinach and apricots. The whole thing was wrapped in Parma Ham and poached before being finished off in a hot oven. Served with cassoulet mainly of cannelleni beans it was beauitful. However the restaurant manager, aka The Wife, has decreed no more game for at least a week. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 29th January 2009
Black Mountain. 3c feeling very cold. S maybe SSE at times > 3. Dull and threatening rain but in fact stayed dry. Whole different feel to the hill today so the idea was one pair up the left hand side behind the quarry and another pair up the right hand side to the right end of the shoulder. Into the teeth of the gale. Jalad and Judy. Both dogs did their work well covering a lot of ground and more to the point the quartering was top drawer. Early on Jalad pointed and Judy backed. The only thing was that the bird, when it flushed, was a grey crow and a grey crow that wasn’t too clever, as it made off low across the hill, unable to face the gale. 
Things got better for the two dogs later on as Jalad had a find that Judy backed again and then as Jalad was working out Judy turned away from Jalad and pointed another snipe about five yards to the right and ten yards further up the beat. Basso and Chris then had a spin up the right side. The pair both missed a snipe that was in the middle of the beat, Basso had it for a second but he was running straight into the wind at the time and Chris had no chance of it because of his line. After this the pair worked well, even if they were a bit uneven, and eventually Chris had a find on the shoulder. Basso backed but he was behind Ross when the picture was taken. The bird ran about fifty yards from the original point but the big dog stuck with it and his manners on the flush were impeccable. 
Yet again there were a couple of birds flushed while running down wind but each dog had an involvement with game and on a day like this you couldn’t ask for much more. Breakfast. Snipe breasts and bacon on toast for brekkie. Nice. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 1st February 2009
Black Mountain. Chris has a large swelling on his left elbow. It doesn’t seem to annoy him but I have him booked in first thing on Monday morning to have it drained or whatever. Anyway I don’t want to risk aggravating it so he stayed at home, very reluctantly. Ross and I took Jay and Conor and Barney the latter’s JRT. to the hill, the boys to act as dog boys. 
Photo : Ross O’Neile 2c feeling very cold. E 2 +. Dull but dry. Judy. Judy ran the back of The Quarry. It soon became clear that it was too dry for snipe but herself did her ground well and handled well. Ross made the observation that she looked like a wee dog that couldn’t get warm. She did look rather restrained. Jalad. He got the length of the shoulder and apart from one back cast that was engineered due to poor timing on the turn whistle he was perfect. He was running, and even more importantly hunting hard and kept well in touch with Ross. Ross did drop him a couple of times to tighten his bite and he responded too, handling well. Basso. Like the others he covered his ground properly and in the main was responsive to the turn whistle and commands in general. However he did mess about a bit on scents. This dog is built to run but he also has an excellent nose, he just needs to learn to use it properly. 
Photo : Ross O’Neile The boys thought Judy was favouring a leg and even though I couldn’t see it on the hill I didn’t run her again. I dispatched Judy to the car with the boys and Ross and I went off for another run with the dogs. They ran OK but the boys crossed our path with Barney who proved a bit of a distraction ( no fault of his ). It all got a bit messy but as usual Basso had a find, and eventually so did Jalad on that poorly crow that is hanging around the back of The Quarry. When we got home Judy looked all right. Maybe when she’s cold it tightens up. Isn’t it typical, the first trial next week and all my open qualified dogs carrying so kind of injury or in whelp. The season. I didn’t get a last run out to dog for the guns. It suited them better to go on Friday and I just couldn’t go so unfortunately I didn’t get another go. As is typical we had just thought up another recipe for pheasant and could have done with another one. Just have to wait till next year. Later. Took Coco to The Practice for his first run. Worked quite well. He stayed about me and I was able to call him back when he went to go after other dogs. Several times I called him in and manually sat him at my feet. He isn’t phased by the wide open spaces and seems generally at his ease. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 6th February 2009
The Wee Res. Took Coco for a walk. We didn’t actually circumnavigate the whole dam but we effectively did the same distance, which is quite a walk for a pup. Coco ran around quite freely and came when called or whistled. A couple of times I got down on one knee and called him in. Most times he tried to run past me but I can reach out and pull him to me. Well pleased with his so far when you consider that he wasn’t reared at Beechfield. As well as the trials off this weekend because of snow there is no way we can get to the hill as we have a good couple of feet of the stuff on Black Mountain. |
| Des O'Neile |
Tuesday 10th February 2009
The Practice. Having taken the Skodapop for its twentieth (seems like) successful MOT Ross decided to take a wheen of dogs for a walk. Basso, Gina, Jalad, Bess and Judy. I think he nearly had to lie down in a darkened room afterwards. Basso bogged off down Conlig Main Street with Gina in hot pursuit. Eventually Basso came back and Gina was brought to book thanks to the help of two passing ladies. I think Ross had visions of having to explain why several thousand pounds of dog was stuck to the grill of somebody’s car. The Wee Res. I took Fatty Boom Booms for a walk in the evening sun. Yes she is the size of a house but Roxy is a very enthusiastic dog and she is nearly always in good form. When I felt the pups at a few weeks there seemed to be only a few but even allowing for the fact that big pups carry more fluid there must be a goodly number in her. We’ll know soon enough. |
| Des O'Neile |
Wednesday 11th February 2009
The Practice & The Wee Res. Another dry sunny afternoon so out with a clatter of dogs. Tam, Jalad, Bess & Coco. Ross has decided that he is going to work Chris, Jalad and Bess so he needs to get out with them as often as possible. The one that needs the most attention is Bess. Even though she responds to the whistle commands she still looks to me so from here in it will be all Ross. Coco really enjoys these outings. He certainly isn’t afraid of a gallop as we covered a mile or more today.This was the first time he has been out with me and other dogs and he is a really handy dog. In fact he is maybe a bit too handy. I think I would like to see a bit more badness in him, if anything, but then Roi basically self trained and he was a handy dog too. Tam likes an outing as well. He is in fine form but a scab on the top of his head has become infected. It was as hard a scab as I have aver seen but as it healed it must have become itchy and he has been rubbing his head on the kennel. Ergo infected wound. |
| Victoria |
Castor oil, Des, works wonders for any of those nasty scabs on us and our dogs!! |
| Des O'Neile |
The diary hasn't caught up yet but here we are twelve days later and just when it looked like a successful outcome when I wenT out to him at lunch he has it off again, so I'll try the castol oil.
Des. |
| Des O'Neile |
PPS
Never thought it would be so difficult to buy castor oil. |
| Victoria |
Oh, Des! Health stores stock it here and the odd pharmacy. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 12th February 2009
The Wee Res. Roxy,Judy, Basso and Chris. I can now appreciate why Ross had problems with Basso the other day as he is in great nick just now but he is also wound a bit tight. Roxy waddled about, another dog in good form and Judy had a good blow out. She is in great shape just now but hasn’t seen a bird in weeks. Chris was kept on the lead due to his swolen elbow. Later. The vet has sent some tissue samples off as she is concerned as to exactly what has caused the swelling on Chris elbow and Roxy caused a panic attack when she refused her tea initially. I checked the callender and she is definitely due 21st. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 15th February 2009
Black Mountain. A picture paints a thousand words so… 10c and, 
Not our most productive outing. Judy and Bess had the first run and did quite well with Judy out quartering her daughter but as usual Bess ran with great fluidity. Jalad then had a gallop on The Shoulder and the middle bog before handing the baton to Bess again. There were birds on the hill but unfortunately they were larks and no snipe were seen, nor even the sign of snipe. While not the most enjoyable outing it was still nice to get out again after being kept off the hill by the snow. Nearly forgot. Our Thomas was along for the walk |
| Des O'Neile |
Tuesday 17th February 2009
Beechfield. I have reached a sort of a milestone. The Glencuan Training Diary has reached 50,000 hits. I suppose with there being more on offer on this site it shouldn’t be surprising that the majority of those hits have been here but exactly the same diary content is published on a few gundog forums and they make up the other 50%. When I went out to let Roxy and Chris out of the whelping box on Saturday morning I was met at the back door by Coco. He shouldn’t have been out, or even more importantly been able to get out. As I walked to the garage Basso appeared from the kennel behind the garage, where Chris and Roxy are usually kept during the day. The main kennel door was lying open and Gina was missing. As I write this on Tuesday morning she still hasn’t been seen. If the kennel had been just opened maliciously she would still have been about so I reckon she has been stolen. To add insult to injury I had sold her. The money is already in my bank account while the purchaser prepares another kennel for her. Roxy is eating in an irregular pattern and has stopped increasing in size, thank goodness. I think from tonight she can go in the box on her own, she’s due Saturday, which means that Chris will be a complete pain in the arse for the next twelve weeks as he just hates to be seperated from Roxy. |
| Des O'Neile |
Tuesday 17th February 2009 P.M.
The Wee Res & The Practice. Nice evening so took Basso and Coco to the Wee Res. Basso is wound a bit tight at the moment and showed an inclination to bogg off so after a few spins with Coco in pursuit I put him in the car and took the pup on his own. Basso is turning into one of the best built dogs I have owned. He, Basso, has just reached the stage where there are ridges of muscle either side of his spine and he is in superb condition.I did a bit of recalling with Coco and just general sitting on the grass interspersed with the odd sit. For a dog to be a good’un you need a bit of everything. A bit of conformation/size, a bit of bird sense but most importantly a lot of temperament. The more time I spend with Coc0 the better I like him. Jalad is a fine lump of a dog but he is just that, a bit fine boned, and if anything the bitch, Flash, is a bit on the well built side but for once the pup seems to be a compromise between the two. (Doesn’t often work out like that) He is going to be a better made dog than his father but still at least the same size. In addition he looks like Roi (Prince of Darkness) but then there is a tendency to feel that all self coloured dogs look like Roi but this dog certainly has at least the echoes of Roi’s head. Exciting prospect. I have him on the Acme 210 and have just realised that the last two dogs I had on the 210 became champions. It’s in his blood. I hope! P.S. I have bought some new Acme 210’s. They have what looks like a plastic pea instead of the previous cork “pea”. It tends to stick and not give as much warbling effect. I would recommend getting 210’s with the cork pea if at all possible. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 19th February 2009
Beechfield. Between about a quarter to five and now [20:15] Roxy has produced five black and white puppies. Three even sized dogs, a big bitch and a small bitch. The latter, as is often the case with very small pups, seems to not really understand what is required and while the others are at least trying to feed it just lies there. I don’t think it will see the sun rise tomorrow. When I felt the pups at about three weeks I would have said there were about five pups in Roxy but her size at the moment suggests more. I would, however, settle for what I have now rather than more small pups. I know when I look in the diary that these pups should have been born on Saturday but no matter what is says in black and white I always thought that Chris had mated Roxy on a Thursday and the birth of the pups today seems to bear that out. I will check on her again before bed and update this if things have moved on but as she has voided it may be all over. 22:15 No, six out. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 20th February 2009
Beechfield. Roxy ate some tea this evening so maybe the whole show is over. She seems in reasonable form but is still terribly gooey at the back end. In the final analysis she had eight pups. Four dogs and two bitches were born alive but the two bitches have died and this morning she had two more unsexed pups that were at least dead when I saw them or were born dead. The four surviving dog pups are all the same weight 350 gms. At this weight their average weight is about 20 gms less than the average weight of day old pups since I started keeping detailed records. The next weighing will tell a story. http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/ |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 22nd February 2009
Beechfield. A bad start. Overnight one of the pups had died and another was alive but cold. It died soon after. It looked as if Roxy had been digging at the bed. Digging at the bed, as opposed to making a bed. It looked like the digging had contributed to their death.I can only assume she was under stress of some kind so I moved her to the big kennel with one heat lamp and the 1.5 kw oil filled radiator. The only stress this will relieve is her being able to void and pee when she wants to but it’s all I can think of. The two remaining pups have nearly doubled in weight in two days so I hope they will do. Black Mountain. As often happens when your form isn’t good the dogs were……….crap. The only bright bit how well Coco can run on the mountain. First off I took Chris on the lead and Tam for a walk while Ross ran First Jalad and then Bess. Jalad was OK but less responsive than usual but he is in good shape just now. Bess got a spin and rioted so she got another spin after Jalad’s second run and after Ross had tightened the girth strap. The idea was one complete cut. She got 3/4 way through it but while turning at the end of the cast a lark got up and that was her, gone! Next Ross held dogs for me while I first ran Judy and then Basso. Judy was, well just Judy. Nice and flat, turned on the P of the peep and really never put a foot wrong. Basso was very responsive, mostly, but probably because of the scent. We only saw one snipe but there were signs of snipe all over the hill. While Basso and Judy were running Coco was off the lead. Eventually after a stunning false point from Judy we let all three off and headed for the car. I learned one thing today. A four month old liver pointer is difficult to see in heather. Basso and Judy were far away in different directions and when I looked for him Coco had disappeared. Ross headed for the road in case he ended up coming down the fence line, he picked up Judy on the way. I stayed up the hill and called and whistled for Basso who eventually appeared on the far horizon. About twenty seconds later Coco appeared over the same point on the horizon and came straight down the hill to me. This was bound to have been hard work for Coco but some dogs just seem to gain their heather legs very early. Jalad, Coco’s father, was coming to the hill at this stage as well. I know the usual MO with him was to let him off and he would run the whole time I was out and would only be picked up as I neared the car having run three brace of other dogs. Coco seems to be a chip off the old block although at the start today he was much more under control. He would take the odd charge after Judy or Basso as they ran past but he couldn’t keep up and would return to heel quite readily. You can’t do this with all pups as some, who in my mind tend to be lacking in drive, will give tongue rather than keep going. One ray of sunshine on an otherwise metaphorically dull day. |
| Des O'Neile |
Wednesday 25th February 2009
Black Mountain. Bright sunny and windy day but bitterly cold even though the thermometer said 8c. Jalad, Basso, Bess & Coco. Jalad had two runs and the first one was by far the better. Ross is trying to eradicate this habit Jalad has developed recently of boring up the beat about forty yards before breaking off to either right or left so he and Jalad discussed future stock options to start off with. Thereafter it was mostly good stuff. Flat, wide and fast and hunting hard although he didn’t turn that easily at times. Second run was messy but at least he turned better and still ran at pace. Having said that he ran at pace I have been shovelling grub into Jalad since way before Christmas and it is only now that he is carrying a bit of weight, and it could do with being a bit more. Problem is that Jalad is one of those dogs that you know exactly when you are giving him too much grub as it just exits like kite cord. Oh, Jalad missed a snipe. Basso did extremely well. He handled well and covered his ground although with the scent on the ground he wouldn’t have been doing enough for an open stake. He had a find,just! He has an annoying habit of dwelling on scent too long and after he had done it about five times I had just given him a loud blast on drop whistle but he had actually pointed on the P of the peep. As has become the norm with this dog he was steady as a rock and cleared his ground before dropping to the whistle. Bess…………….least said soonest mended. I wonder how long Ross will persevere. Coco is developing quite nicely. He has taught himself to walk on the lead, and he doesn’t pull at all. A self trained dog would be handy just now. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 26th February 2009
Black Mountain. Bright but not sunny. 9c but with a 2<3 somewhere between WSW and W, maybe even 4 it felt much colder. Basso, Coco & Jalad. Coco doesn’t realise it but he is getting a lot of schooling. He comes when called and usually sits at my feet to have the lead put on and he gets plenty of lead walking as well as general running about. It is strange to see a pup with it’s heather legs at four months! Jalad. Started off well in The Paddock but then broke ground at the windward end and went on a riot. Ross gave up but I decided the big bugger would pay and what do you know just as I was about to ambush him he pointed. However I had forgotten about the pup, something to do with the red mist, and he ran past Jalad and flushed the snipe which Jalad tried to chase but I was right on him. Ross then gave him just one full cast, sort of to reconnect but when eventually Ross tried to give him a third run he bogged off after me as I had headed for the car. Ross has decided that I will run him on Sunday. Basso, was woeful. Yes he was quartering, running at pace and pointing but the running was mostly behind me, the quartering was uneven and sometimes very short and the pointing was to no avail. They were all false points. Some preparation for the weekend I don’t think. Roxy. Her temperature is now slightly up above normal but that’s to be expected when lactating. She is eating but not with any great enthusiasm. I expect the pups to have doubled their birth weight ( Which I take when they are one day old and was 350 gms.). This by far exceeds the rate of progress of all the litters I have records for but then there are other considerations. The smallest pup on record at this stage was Jimi at 325 gms, and he has become the biggest dog and the heaviest pup at 1000 gms at this stage was none other than Judy, The Pocket Pointer who isn’t much more an 19″ at the shoulder so their weight now is not indicative of the size they will be when adult. Later. Both pups have more than doubled their birth weight, weighing in at 750, and 710 gms this evening. There is however no let up. Tonight the main circuit breaker has triggered several times with the result that the lights and of course the heater and the lamp in the pups’ kennel have gone off as well. We think it’s the tumble drier in the garage but that’s far from definite. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 28th February 2009
The Wee Res. I took Coco on his own. You know sometimes this dog training can be so easy. ( I will probably regret saying that.) I had a plan. I would take Coco round the back of the reservoir to the lane. He would then have nowhere to go except come back to me when called and I would push him into the sit position. This would be repeated as often as required until he sat on command. I tested his reacall in the field before we got to the lane. Down on one knee I whistled him and he came running back and after about ten seconds he sat. I went balistic with the praise and tried it again. This time he came running back and when I said sit he did a few, bitch turning round and round before peeing, circles and sat. Backward summersaults through hoops of fire. So effectively he sat on the first command. I don’t know if I am happier with the recall or the sitting but I AM happy. Helen’s Bay. I didn’t realise just what a mess Tam’s skin is after the season. He has quite a few scabs. Well healed and dry but scabs none the less so Jay and I took him to the bay for a swim in the briney. I’m off next week so I’ll get him into the sea every day. Beechfield. Roxy is still inclined to carry the pups about at times but she has difficulty picking them up now, thay have grown so much. I weigh them every day, just to keep track on growth but only record it every other day but they seem to be adding at 50 < 100 gms per day. It is however an uneven growth pattern as when I weigh them for the record one pup is always the heavier but on the in between day it is the other pup that is the heavier so they must be growing in spurts. However they are growing apace. Later. 900 & 910 gms respt. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 1st March 2009
The Cutt, Kinnity Co Offally Trial day. 4.5 < 7c and bright and sunny most of the time but a steady breeze kept it feeling cool, especially if standing around. Up at 04:30 to leave at 05:00 and arrive at 08:30 almost exactly 190 miles away. Took Coco along as Basso is his kennel mate and he hasn’t spent kennel time with any other dog and I don’t think I could have expected him to be quiet on his own. I learnt something today. We have always assumed that when Coco and any dog other than Basso are in the dog box and there is growling that it is coming from the other adult dog because it is fed up being pestered by the pup. Wrong! It’s Coco growling at the older dogs. Today it was because Jalad and Basso were using him as a pillow. He lies there growling but not really making any effort to get away. Strange but true. Jalad. Only got the one run for obvious reasons. I was pleased with Empty Head today, up to about the last thirty seconds of his run. The ground was heavy but he covered a lot of it at some pace and was wide. Open Stake sort of wide but this was only a novice trial. Emerging into better ground he started to run even harder and eventually had a find away, and I mean really away out on the left. I started to close the gap but was still a good hundred and fifty metres away from him when a covey (correct collective noun?) of plover flushed about twenty yards in front of him. He stood on while I covered maybe another fifty yards but eventually broke and hunted to the flushing point thereby eliminating himself. Then while being recalled from the flushing point he pointed and produced a pair of grouse. Doubly eliminated. His future has been discussed with my confidant (Ross) and he is going on the Two Minute Drill. This involves him being kept down for a good long time EVERY time he is dropped for any reason. It is actually a bit of a misnomer. We may decide as many five minutes is required. Put it this way two minutes wouldn’t have been enough today but typically two to three minutes is enough to stop a dog predicting the “on” command. The idea is that you use a time that is sufficient for your needs, a falconer might use half an hour. If I never have to walk for more than a minute to get to my dog I train for two and that way he shouldn’t be inclined to close the gap. Basso. I didn’t realise that Basso had such a competitive streak in him, maybe even a jealous streak. Lately Basso hasn’t been going out quite as far as I would like him to go. Well that wasn’t a problem today for one reason alone and that was his bracemate trailing him. There was absolutely no way he was going to turn back and feel he had been “beaten” by the other dog. In his first round he showed his intent to quarter his ground and was nice and flat even if he wasn’t prepared to turn while involved in Wacky Races with his oponent. It is bad enough to be beaten to birds by a dog that is quartering it’s ground but to be beaten to birds by a dog that has no giro compass and is only there because it is wilfully ignoring it’s handler is even worse. He did however back from a good thirty yards, and it was a rare thing in Ireland, a natural back. He did get a second run but we were in very broken ground and to be frank Basso didn’t cope very well with it and was eliminated. I will have to start taking him into the rougher ground above the paddock. This was an enjoyable day and I saw some dogs I liked, particulary pointers, even if their actual owners aren’t that impressed with them just now. Jay followed along for two of the three cuts Ross and I did and led a dog for a good while, not a bad effort for a ten year old. An enjoyable, if not terribly successful day. |
| Des O'Neile |
Tuesday 3rd March 2009
Beechfield. Roxy’s pups, I will have to give them names, are growing like weeds. In the three hours from 18:00 to 21:00 yesterday they each put on 20 gms and it looks like they will have quadrupled their birth weight by the time they are two weeks old. Anybody who has bred dogs knows that there are a lot of imponderables when rearing pups. I only wanted two pups from this litter and that is what I have. Ideally I would have liked a spare but that’s not to be and we are far from a totally successful outcome. Leaving aside the anxiety of not having any leeway there is a lot to be said for a small litter. For a start Roxy is actually making condition while feeding pups. I have only ever had to worry about getting enough food into my bitches and it is a complete change to maybe have to consider cutting her back. The next obvious difference is the state of the kennel. I probably have it warmer than ever with the 1.5 kw oil filled radiator and a heat lamp but it has never been cleaner or drier. Later. Glencuan Anubis and Glencuan Apollo. Anubis is the Egyptian god with the head of a Jackal. When you die he weighs you heart against a feather and if it is lighter you live forever. If it is heavier the guy with the crocodile head gets it. He is sometimes portrayed atop a collection of nine bows. This connects him to Apollo. The musician who delighted the gods with his music but also the silver archer and hunter. Anubis and Apollo. Later still. For the first time one of the pups hasn’t made any weight over a day, in fact I think he has lost 20 gms. I’ll check him again tonight before I go to bed. Black Mountain. Heading out this afternoon to the mountain to make a start on Jalad’s Two Minute Drill. No dog likes being put under pressure and Jalad is no different but it just has to be done. I might very well give Basso a taste of it as well. It’ll harden him. Coco is coming as well for a run on his own this time I think. Later. So on the way to Black Mountain it started to rain and by the time I was out on the hill it was cold, a lot colder than the 4.5c on the gauge, and raining quite heavily. I made a start on Jalad’s Two Minute Routine and every time I dropped him for any reason I made him say for a minute. ( two minutes in that wind was too long for me, forget about the dog.) This obviously disrupted his run but that’s what it’s all about. he has to do it my way. I then took out Basso for a run and Coco for a gallop about. Basso ran better than on Sunday but was a bit difficult to get away from scent but again, he’ll have to learn to do it my way. This wasn’t really a day for the pup but at the end when I called him in he came straight away and then when I said sit he sat immediately. Joke. A stranger appears in the local pub, walks up to the bar, introduces himself and orders three pints. He takes the three glasses to a table and drinks them one after another. He does this again and then goes home. After the third or fourth night the bar man points out to him that pints can be bought singly. The new boy explains that his two brothers and he used to always go to the bar together and he told them that every time he has a drink he will have one for each of them as well as they are now both living in Canada. He feels he has to stick to his promise. Years pass and eventually one evening, after being away for a spell, he comes into the bar and orders two pints. The barman says they are on the house and he is very sorry for his trouble. The man say, no, no, no you’ve got it all wrong. The brothers are fine it’s just that I’m off drink for lent. ( told to me by Aiden Dunne, Sunday 1st March 2009 ) |
| Des O'Neile |
Wednesday 4th March 2009
Beechfield. Bad news. I’m down to one pup, potentially a monster, having put on 200 gms in the last 24 but my immediate problem is how to get the dead pup away without Roxy going mental and damaging the last one in her anxiety. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 6th March 2009
Black Mountain. A friend for nearly twenty years Roy Heath popped over via Ryan Air to chill out for a couple of days, maybe see a dog trial or two and check out a red setter bitch. I took him to Black Mountain and Basso, Jalad and Coco came along. Just E of S, 2<4, persistent wind driven drizzle. I gave each of the big dogs a couple of spins up The Big Valley. I let Jalad go to the top of the shoulder most times and he took in a fair bit of ground but his bite was too deep so each time he crossed I dropped him and called him back. Basso was the exact opposite. Yes, he covered a fair bit of ground at pace but he was so flat that on occasions he went just behind me. Coco was allowed to charge about when the big dogs were on the lead. Unfortunately for the first time he gave tongue when he slipped the lead and chased Basso and he also declined to sit to voice command when recalled. This wasn’t a day for serious training to I let it go. I will have to attend to this later. Later. I have renamed the dog pup, Lucky, Glencuan Lucky. He continues to grow apace and is nearly 1500 gms. I see him like Dirty Dancer already! Is that just wishful thinking? |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 7th March 2009
Glenwherry. Fog, rain, wind(2<4) dull. Trial day. Basso. I said to several people afterwards ” It is nice to be able to handle the dog but it is annoying to have to handle it”. I thought that Basso acquitted himself quite well. He certainly did his ground but did tend to loose the direction in the fog but I am satisfied that he did a big enough area and missed no game. He had a false point on a hare line but I didn’t know that at the time. I was sort of hoping for a second run but no leeway was offered, to me at any rate. Jalad. Followed on from the day before in that he took too big a bite but I was able to bring him back in from the middle of the beat. Our brace mate pointed in the middle of the beat and to avoid disrupting his production I didn’t blow or shout at Jalad and lacking direction he ended up forward of the dog on point |
| Des O'Neile |
Tuesday 10th March 2009
Black Mountain. Ross took Jalad and Chris to the hill. It was like the Curate’s Egg, good in parts. Jalad was the good bit. He did a fair bit of ground at some pace as well. Apart from one back cast on the fifth, he was perfect and Ross is even prepared to give him a bye ball for that one as the topography and the breeze had altered. Chris on the other hand was a bit of a non event. He didn’t really want to run to start off and although at the end he was running freely enough it was only to please himself. It is only his second time out of the kennel since his injury and his first trip to the hill but I know Ross was disappointed. I think a lot of totally free running to get him going again and then a new quartering regime is the way forward. Later. In the unseasonal sunshine I took Coco to The Practice and let him gallop about. He enjoyed himself and did all I asked including sitting on command. 
He is a relaxed pup and it is nice to see him looking straight at the camera, not a nerve to be seen. |
| Des O'Neile |
Wednesday 11th March 2009
Black Mountain. Ross took Chris and Judy to t’ill. Even I need cavalry spurs with Judy, though if he worked at it I’m sure Ross could get her to work for him, but as was to be expected she very much did her own thing. This was part of the plan but it wasn’t really required as Chris paid her little attention and worked for Ross. Hoping for good work but expecting dross Ross was therefore very pleased with Old Chrissy Mint Yoyo. He was more or less perfect. Ross ran him up the hill and over the shoulder. He ran wide, turned when asked and took the forward cast. Eventually up on the top of the shoulder Chris had a find on a snipe. He found in the middle of the beat and as he was flat he was close to Ross. He didn’t have much of a work out, couple of yards, but although he didn’t drop to the flush he was staunch. After the pissing about the other day Ross was well pleased. It so happens I noticed the other night that he has made a new coat, probably because of last weeks tripe, and he is in great shape just now, but with the injury there is no way he could be fit. The Round. I took Basso and Coco for a spin round The Round. I can’t let Coco off the lead while another pointer is running as he has given tongue a time or two so it was fifteen on and fifteen off. I recalled Coco plenty of times and I hid on him a lot but for now it is easy to get him back as long as there are no strange dogs for him to say hello to. I sat him on a regular basis. I really did a lot of schooling without him realising it. Basso nearly ran himself ragged and really enjoyed himself. We even had a find. Nearly back at the car I heard a cock crowing in the field that I used to train in that is being developed at the moment. I gathered Coco up and went into the field. It is all long white grass and various plants gone to seed. The pheasant was a lot closer than I realised. Basso was on to it before I even had him off the lead. He roaded about fifteen yards and pointed. The cock was already running but Basso couldn’t see it. I walked him forward but when the bird hit an open patch it flushed. He froze just for a second but then ran in and chased the fast departing bird. I can’t make up my mind if Basso is out of touch and generally unsteady at the moment or if it is just that he hasn’t seen a retreating bird as big as a pheasant before. Probably a bit of both but at least I now know I have something to attend to. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 12th March 2009
The Round. Took Basso in an attempt to find the pheasant from yesterday but to no avail as it wasn’t at home. We then went round The Round and both Basso and Tam hunted the whole time we were out. It takes a good forty five minutes walking hard to go round this path and the dogs get a good blow out. There is no doubt that Basso will never be a big dog but he is turning into an extremely well built dog and he has a wonderful gait, doubtless due to his superb conformation. Can’t successfully weigh the dog mountain that is Lucky but last night he was in excess of 1700 gms. Sometimes when I go the the kennel I can hear him giving off to his mother and he is getting better on his feet. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 13th March 2009
Black Mountain. Ross took Chris and Judy to the hill. Once again Judy did her own thing and Ross reckons she did the whole breadth of the hill and that is 1/3 mile. I have to downgrade Chris’ performance as he missed a snipe. Probably taking too big a bite he ran into it sideways. This was on the right hand side of the shoulder. The bird he did get was quite spectacular. Running hard and flat and approaching Ross from away out on the right Ross sent him on out to the left. Maybe just twenty yards out and going hard he whipped round into the wind and pointed. Ross worked him in about five yards to flush the snipe which he stood to even though Ross had his hand on his backside trying unsuccessfully to get him to actually drop. I now have just three days to get the handle on Judy as I never thought Chris would be fit enough to run on Tuesday and substituted Judy in his place. |
| Victoria |
So, Des, obviously from what you write you can substitute dogs...I do not think we can do that here. Will dogs hold snipe to the ground like pheasants? |
| Des O'Neile |
While there are guidelines in both Kennel Clubs' regulations it is quite often up to the clubs if they are prepared to allow substitutes. This Trial is under IKC rules and normally substitutions are only permitted for bitches in season, when all the reserves have been given a run and on production of a vet's certificate. This situation is slightly different in that the original trial was postponed due to snow and my original qualified dog became injured since that time. In IKC trials no person can have a second dog until all people wanting a single dog have a run, no person a third dog until all people who want two etc. Judy is my single qualified entry. Jalad is entered as well but he is currently unqualified.
Properly trained pointers can pin all game, snipe to capers. |
| Victoria |
Thank you, Des...snipe are not a common gamebird here so I am unfamiliar with their habits in the field , so to speak!! Just we do not have woodcock here. |
| Des O'Neile |
Strangely Pointers have probably most difficulty with Woodcock, but setters handle them really well. |
| Victoria |
Fascinating...I have often wondered if individual breeds have varying degrees of scent portrayal specific to the game...your thoughts?!! |
| Des O'Neile |
If I fully understood you question I would attempt to answer it. Suffice to say that MOST pointer owners wouldn't hunt their dogs in wookcock type habitat and this results in fewer pointers being that experienced in working on woodcock therefore their problems in handling them. Setters on the other hand, with their heavier coat can handle heavier cover and generally are more likely to become adept at hunting wookcock. |
| Victoria |
So we come back to the environment in which they are suited, don't we?  I have always maintained that it is vital that the youngster gets as much exposure to his environment (hunting) as possible so he learns (which of course, we cannot do except to offer him that exposure) to identify what smell means what birds or other animals, yes? Dionee (my thirteen month old girl) offered me a hilarious moment on the vineyard on Sunday when she found a hedgehog...!!
|
| Des O'Neile |
For a while hedgehogs were a real pain in the bum. The kennel I had used to collect leaves under it and the hedgehogs would make nests in the leaves and breed. All my dogs loved hedgehogs as a result, just couldn't eat a whole one. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 14th March 2009
Black Mountain. 9c but with the wind it felt much colder. SW 4 maybe 5 at times. Bright and sunny. We ran across the Big valley and up past Hitler’s Holes. Started off with Basso running against Chris. This was just about as good a brace as I have run in for some time and Chris ran better than I have ever seen him. After maybe ten minutes Basso started larking and I changed him for Jalad but up to that he had been good as well. They both covered a good wide beat, were flat and hunting hard, especially Basso. Basso has the edge for speed but Chris runs more with his head. Unfortunately while Ross was picking up Chris for me to change over to Jalad Chris missed a snipe. He was concentrating on Ross but he still had a chance of it. Jalad and Chris also had a good run up the hill again covering a nice wide beat at pace. By the time we were at the top of the hill the wind was fierce and in the conditions that prevailed Chris missed another snipe that he feathered up on but couldn’t point and then a snipe flushed loose but both dogs had been down wind of it and should have had it. I understood the problems for the dogs but they are both experienced at their trade and I was disappointed. Next we ran Basso and Chris in The Paddock. I know Chris doesn’t like this ground but Basso made hime look ordinary. This wasn’t about running it was about pointing but when we got there the cupboard was bare. I next ran Judy over the fence on The Green Hill. She didn’t take me on as expected, she handled really well but she was running a bit within herself. Ross had done all he wanted so I took Basso and Judy for a gallop on the windy side of the shoulder hoping for but not expecting a point. I wanted the chance of a back, at least, for Basso but he ran back to Ross just as Judy slammed, and I do mean slammed onto point. It was just as if she had run into a brick wall. She didn’t get a work out as my shadow crossed the bird and it flushed. I made her clear her ground. We then loosed the dogs of war for a bit of down wind running back to the car. Basso looked the quickest but then he coursed the odd lark. Still he can run for fun. We both enjoyed the outing and so did the dogs but I am painfully aware that we need to make use of these few chances that present themselves, especialy with the closed season fast approaching. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 15th March 2009
Wolff Hill.(Black Mountain) 08:15 
All the dogs were up for it. 
Jalad, accelerator on the floor. 
Chris was in full flow. 
You will never die wondering with Judy 
Even the pup enjoyed himself. 
Then it was back down the hill and home for a late breakfast. Nice way to start the day. |
| Victoria |
Splendid photographs, Des!!! Why have you got Pointers? |
| Des O'Neile |
A long story but in a nutshell as an avid shooter I was sent to Wil Sloan in the quest for a spaniel, bought an English Setter, then bought several Irish Setters, got the trialling bug, a Gordon Setter or two, even a Red & White but somewhere along the line came to my senses and ended up with Pointers. I still consider myself a dog man first and a Pointer owner/breeder/handler second. |
| Des O'Neile |
Monday 16th March 2009
Black Mountain. 7c but feeling colder. Just South of W 1<2. High cloud, bright but no sun. Basso, Tam & Coco. Because of where I wanted to go in search of game this wind was coming at an angle of 45 degrees from the right. Basso ran particularly hard and did exceedingly good lines and handled well, into the bargain. Unfortunately we couldn’t come up with a bird and he was pulled about by lark scent at times. All my dogs, but particularly my younger ones will need grouse this year. If the warmer drier weather is going to mean a bumper year for larks then I will need to get them game otherwise I’m beat brfore I start. Tam hunted about in usual Blunder fashion. I know he is far from fit but it is already too warm for comfort for Tam on the hill. Perhaps I will get him clipped now and then again at the end of May. Coco is vocalising too much and not just in the chase. You would have thought he would have got tired of the buckets of water by now but I can only let him off on his own. Have to admit that I didn’t see this coming. I gave him plenty of recalls and sitting and he responded every time. I weighed Lucky last night and he is 2.3 kgs. There are pictures of Dirty Dancer on the Kennel Oksby site and I see Lucky not only like Dirty, his half brother, but also similar to pups of Dirty’s that are also shown on the site. I like the look of his head and also his bee sting tail. Although I have been travelling to Black Mountain for over thirty years it is only in the last two that I have started using a shortcut. I didn’t realise until Sunday that a shrine, for want of a better description, on it marks the spot where the victims of a particularly nasty episode in The Troubles were found. Three Scottish soldiers, thinking they were going to a party got out of a car for a comfort break. The three, 19 & 20 year old brothers and a slightly older cousin were gunned down where they stood. The date was the 10th March 1971 so I assume some family members came over to tie The Saltire to the fence and lay wreaths. With some trying their best to take us down that torturous road again this isn’t something I really want to be reminded of. On the other hand it doesn’t do a button of harm to be reminded of how things used to be. |
| Des O'Neile |
Paddy’s Day 2009
I wasn’t at bit impressed as I drove towards Dublin yesterday as I was driving in fog, well not exactly fog more like mist, and if there is mist anywhere between Belfast and Dublin it is on the top of the Dublin Mountains as well. I needn’t have feared however as the whole horizon cleared as I drove along the M50 and by the time I got to Kippure the sky was bright. The wind was basically South and blew 1 < 2 the whole day. This was the sort of day that spring trials are all about. Clear sky, dry conditions sun (11c) and enough grouse for the event. Judy :- I only got the one dog in but then you only need one dog if it’s a good’un. I was really pleased with the Old Girl. She ran an excellent first round against Lefanta Tinka. As usual she did excellent lines, was wide, flat and fast. We were relocated about half way through the run and I was admonished for Judy being one sided but I thought that I could be forgiven for thinking I was in the right place since there was a judge within ten yards of me at all times. I nearly told the judge who admonished me that if he had been over next to the other judge he would have seen plenty of Judy but for once I held my tongue. Good brace mates make for good runs and I was equally fortunate in the second round to be running against Carol Calvert’s Rushfield Shelin. Both dogs put on another excellent performance and I reckon the left hand side of the beat was a good 350 yards. I would say the setter just shaded it for pace but only just. The one good/bad aspect of the day occured when sitting on the heather watching the trial. In this situation Judy is all over me like a rash but it gives me a chance to look over her closely. To cut a long story short I think I have discovered the reason for Judy’s lameness. The good news is it isn’t anything to do with ligaments, tendons or hips. While she was rolling on her back like a pup I spotted what I thought was a piece of BRIGHT red PVC insulating tape stuck to the bottom of her foot. It wasn’t, it was just the colour of the skin in and around the pads of her foot. There must have been some sort of infection that probably erupted and her lameness would recur when the scar tissue got wet and would be tender to the touch. A good spell in the whelping box and a course of antibotics should resolve the matter once and for all. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 19th March 2009
Black Mountain. Just E of S. 1<2 11.5c Bright sunny. Basso, Chris & Jalad. Basso was cast off to the right and when he returned to the middle of the beat he tried to turn back and go right again. I dropped him and sent him left but he only went a bit and turned back again. This happened about a dozen times and then he went and sat behind Ross. I had put him under too much pressure. He was obviously confused so I tried just letting him go but it didn’t work. Next we ran Chris and Jalad together. Boy did they give it a go. Jalad did slightly more on the left than Chris but the Big Dane ran as hard as he ever has in Ireland. They both handled well but it was the drive that was impressive and Jalad had the edge. We then walked back down wind to be able to run along The Shoulder into the wind. We started off with Basso and Chris but after about five minutes I changed to Jalad and we ran this pair all the way down to the path. Again they were both giving it a real go and the beat was about 450 yards The pace was slightly less than the first run but it was still impressive. We will have to make sure that Chris is really fit by the start of the season. If we can keep him sound he should do well. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 20th March 2009
The Round. Took Tam, Coco and Chris. The fun was all at the start. We went anticlockwise this time and that took us past the corner of the field that the pheasant hangs about in at the start of our run. I have to say I went in more in hope than expectation and as a result didn’t pay any attention to the wind which it transpires was on our backs. Chris tried to do it right and went away down wind. He was sort of feathering about where we expected the bird to be and the next thing you know there it was on bare ground as if by magic. Ross says he saw it run but to me it seemed to appear out of thin air. It flew just a short distance without Chris seeing it and we called him out of the cover but unfortunately he pointed what must have been stale scent and we didn’t see the bird again. Ironic that this is the first time Chris has failed to produce a pheasant that he has locked up on. 
Photo : Ross O’Neile. The rest of the walk was just about Coco being recalled and made to sit and Tam getting a swim in The Big Res. Later. Spoon fed Lucky for the first time. It is just amazing what damage a pup can do to a tin of dog food, for the first feed of solid food |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 21st March 2009
Black Mountain. Ross and I took Chris and Basso to the hill. The wind was more from the west than usual but it was a dry, bright and sunny but still felt a lot less than the 13c showing on the thermometer. Basso had the edge for pace but Chris ran the better lines. They were off the lead for just short of half an hour and I felt that for the last ten they were looking for water but the covered a good wide beat at pace. We ended up going round in a sort of a horse shoe. No sign of any sort of bird. Both dogs must be near, if not actually fully fit. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 22nd March 2009, The day after Ireland became Grand Slam Champions.
The Crieve. Counting. NW 1 < 3. 12.5c. Tam, Judy, Jalad, Chris & Basso. I nearly always enjoy being out with my dogs but I have to say I don’t really enjoy the dog work that goes on on this sort of a day. Dogs always seem inclined to push your tolerance envelope and the old hands don’t quarter as you would want. I put it down to the dogs realising that you can’t or won’t be after them to the same extent as you would be in training and Judy for example won’t go onto ground that she has just seen “done”. She doesn’t act that way at a trial but she does on these sort of counting days when maybe as many as four beats are being done simultaneously side by side. This days work was done in three sections and the first was bad, probably because it was down wind but the second which was a reverse was nearly as bad. Chis had his ears switched off. Judy was Ok Basso larked and Jalad was freestyling. I don’t know why but the third section was much better. Perhaps Chris was getting tired or Ross had discussed his stock options in a peat hag but everything was going great up until the hare. Basso pointed it for a good two minutes. I saw him feathering up just before he disappeared from sight. I though he had done a runner but when I eventually got to the depression there was Basso on point. I sort of thought Jalad’s eye were red as he passed Basso and flushed the hare before all my dogs escorted the hare off the beat, with vocal accompaniment. Having said all the above the saving grace was that all the dogs but Chris in particular quartered their ground and I have a feeling not much was missed. The star of my own particular show was………Tam. I now realise that his discomfort the other day was not lack of fitness but overheating. Today, while it was much cooler and he was wet most of the time from wading streams, he worked tirelessly for the whole two and a half hours we were out. I think he deserves a clipping. The count was a success in that it confirmed the expected density. A few more would have been better still but it is now a question of how they breed. The number of pairs on whole area we count has quadroulped since the keeper was put on about eighteen months ago and the young to old ratio is 3.5/1. The actual increase in the overall population to the end of last season was eleven fold. |
| Des O'Neile |
Monday 23rd March 2009.
The Practice. Bit of a dirty day here in Bangor. It rains from time to time and by the time the next shower comes the wind is blowing that hard that the ground, the pavement at least, is dry before the next shower commences. I was lucky to get out between showers with Coco. I took him to The practice and I noticed a few things, mostly good but first the bad. It would appear that he has become reliant on other dogs for his drive. He wasn’t that inclined to run away, even a short distance, at first and although by the time we were finished he was fine there was still a disinclination to go very far. I saw him licking his lips a lot, which to me suggests nervousness/stress, and he didn’t appear confident. It was probably a combination of me on my own and the relatively strange surroundings. It is something that will have to improve before I start to give him meaningful commands and more to the point enforce those commands, however gently. The rest of his report is good. He came to me every time I called him or whistled him and I was able to send him out the other side, a bit. On other occasions if I got down on one knee he would approach at pace and at the last minute go into reverse and sit in the nook made by my legs without being given a command. I started going down on one knee because when I just hunkered down he landed me on my backside a couple of times as he was so enthusiastic in hurling himself into the sit position that he actually knocked me off his feet. He is a big strong pup and looks in excellent condition. In the close contact bit he is very content to be with me but as outlined above he is a bit nervy when first out of the box. I will just have to work at it. Elsewhere Roxy, although in good form, seems a bit run down. She is getting the best of grub and I have increased her Vetzeme to combat a few sores she seems to have developed over the weekend. I presume that they are due to her lying in the one position to be comfortable when feeding, Lucky the Dog Mountain. Lucky will be five weeks old on Thursday and is getting better on his feet. He has already started to loose his Gonzo Look and I have to say I like him. I am spoon feeding him dog food and tonight I will give him some Lactol. 
I am hand feeding to get the contact as much as anything else. I don’t have to rush to have him weaned and I don’t intend to stop him having mother’s milk until he has at least his first jag. I cynically believe when at this time of the year there are articles in local papers about epidemics of parvo in the housing estates that it an attempt to drum up vaccination business for the vets but I don’t have a spare for this particular heir so he will get at least a parvo jag at six weeks, just in case. Usually when somebody says “in their wisdom” about somebody or some organisation they are being sarcastic. But when I say “In their wisdom The Kennel Club” I am not. The K C have come up with the idea of have a Health Tzar for each breed. I can’t think of anybody better suited to this than Patricia Woods M.R.C.V.S. I don’t know if Patricia would accept the position or not but as the Pointer is a working breed and Patricia has extensive knowledge of the breed through her professional life and as the owner of the world renouned Spinningloch Kennel she would have to be well up on any short list that I would draw up. |
| Des O'Neile |
Wednesday 25th March 2009
The Practice. Took Roxy & Coco. This was not a pairing. These dogs were there for totally different reasons. Roxy has been more or less cooped up for the best of three months so it is time to get her out and about. In truth I would be happier if the pup had at least its first jag but although Roxy is in good form she has a couple of healing sores and I feel it is as much a mental thing as physical. I took the two dogs out for a bit of a gallop with only one being off the lead at a time. Roxy really enjoyed herself as did the pup. Next I took Coco on his own to teach him the drop. This is a strange thing to say but I was disappointed with the result. The first, and every subsequent time I called him to me he came in and lay down at my feet. What’s to be disappointed about you might say? Well, for a start he doesn’t know exactly what I want of him. He isn’t in the correct position and to tell the truth I wasn’t prepared for this eventuality. I think I’ll have to start from scratch again but at least I feel I have a dog ready and willing to learn. Lucky the Dog Mountain is getting frisky. He’s looking to fly the Coop so I’ll put a breeze block in the outside tunnel so that he can get back in, should he actually get out. He is now willing to follow me about and he seems to enjoy my company. Not bad for five weeks old. Fingers all crossed. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 26th March 2009
Beechfield. I feel I haven’t given Roxy full credit as a mother. I hadn’t spent that much time with both her and Lucky together, they had plenty of time , just not together. I spent about an hour and a half in the kennel tonight and I have to say she is an excellent mother. I saw another side of Lucky as well. Pups are never more confident than when in their kennel with their mum there as well. He is actually a bit of an extrovert. A big extrovert actually, he now weighs 3063 gms, and a lazy extrovert, he will eat off a spoon but not out of the bowl. There is one explanation for the latter. He isn’t hungry. I have seen enough to suggest that I would be an idiot not to breed her again. If the season gods are favourable it could be achieved before she is eight years old and after Lucky’s first birthday, just. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 29th March 2009
Pierce’s Castle, The Mournes. Bright sunny Spring day. Starting off just below freezing at -.5c and ending up 9c Quite an eventful day. Between Saintfield and Ballynahinch there is somebody working at a house and there is water lying on the road. As you top the rise near this house there is water running on the road down hill towards you. The roads are as dry as snuff everywhere else but just over the crest I spot two cars sitting in the field near the road and it is at this point I realise that the spray from the running water has frozen and we have a sheet of ice covering the road from one verge to the other. At one stage I have the Skoda sideways on to the general direction of travel and then I get grip and I make it through unscathed. Just. We were out on the hill for about three and a quarter hours. The first forty minutes of our walk is at an angle of about 45 degrees. We then walked down wind for about twenty minutes before swinging round back into the wind and working across the face of the hill for about an hour and a half leaving us a shorter walk down the same path to the cars. Basso, Chris, Coco & Jalad. Coco. This was a major undertaking for the pup. I would say he was off the lead for about half the time we were out. By the end there wasn’t a lot of go left in him but this is hard ground for both man and dog and apart from one little bark whilst trying to chase Jalad he did OK. The heather isn’t bad on this hill but the ground is bone dry, and you tend to get your toes stuck in the heather, or wet and slimy and very hard to maintain your footing. There is of course the odd obligatory bog hole for you to step in just to keep you guessing. Chris. All the adult dogs had something good about their day. Chris did the neatest work by far. He covered a lot of ground and handled nicely but it took him a while to get to grips with this hill, which surprised my as although I haven’t been on a hill in Scandinavia I have seen a lot of ground like today in pictures and I would have thought he would have been used to this. Chris does something I would like all my dogs to do. He turns to the whistle but I don’t mean just at the end of his cast. If he turns short in the middle of the beat all I have to do is blow his turn whistle and he will turn again and go out the correct side. I noticed it some time ago while shooting over him. I feel I have to drop and redirect my own dogs and although I never tried to get them to turn in this sort of situation I just don’t think they would do it. I will have to question Alex to see if it would have been trained into him. It certainly isn’t in my dogs job description. Jalad. Covered the most ground and at pace and was very wide but then he got the best bit to run on his own. May have had a joint find on the second pair (see below). Not much to say other than it was good work. Basso. Was by far the fastest over the ground and had three involvements with game. First off he was running down wind and was being pulled about by lark scent and larks. Eventually he came on point away down wind. I walked to him and when eventually I was near him I sent him in. He immediately whipped round and started working, quite quickly, directly down wind. I saw the first bird on the ground just before the pair flushed. Perhaps third yards down wind from where he had originally pointed. He didn’t exactly drop immediately to the first flush but he was going that fast I will give him the benefit of the doubt and he was stopped for the second bird. Applying the Shooting Day Test he was fine. I could probably have swatted them both with a tennis racket. I have to say that although I like Basso and feel he will make a good dog I really didn’t think he had this sort of work in him. He doesn’t realise he has now made a rod for his own back. Later on I had just let off Jalad to run with Basso but I was bent over untangling Coco when out of the corner of my eye I spotted the two dogs pointing, them not twenty yards away and it looking like a joint find. I heard the cock crow and what sounded like two birds going away. Coco was going mental and by the time I had him sorted out I was too late to see the birds. Earlier on Basso had had a flash point on a snipe while working down wind. I doubt that we will get back to this hill before the 15 April (cut off) but when we go in the summer I will take less dogs, or more dog boys. I was pleased with the dogs' desire and pace. For once this outing was about me more than the dogs. This is just about as gruelling a climb I would undertake anywhere in Ireland and I was pleased to be able to make it up the hill. There have been a few health concerns of late and this helps dispel any lingering doubts. I’ll just have to do it more often. |
| Des O'Neile |
Tuesday 31st March 2009
The Wee Res & Beechfield. Coco. I’ll put it down to the weather. It is warm and muggy here today. The thermometer topped out at 17 c and there could be a down pour any minute. Or then again maybe not. I came home ready to kill dead things. The things I was going to achieve today were nothing short of amazing. However, there are two of the noisiest terriers live next door to me. Normally I consider them a good thing because they take attention away from my dogs. They were yapping something shocking today and that seemed to put Coco off before I even had him in the car. When we got to the reservoir he didn’t want to leave myside. I sat on the ground and he ran about a bit and he seemed to be ready to do some work with but the minute I stood up he was by my side again. The only thing I asked him to do was to come to me and sit and he did just that. The last time I saw a dog act anything like this the minute I saw him I knew he was gun shy. Now Coco was all over Basso when we got back and he hasn’t heard any really loud noises that I’m aware of but he was distinctly off colour. Lucky. Much more positive. Six weeks old on Thursday. A routine has developed. While the big dogs are feeding I take Lucky to the front of the house and feed him strips of tripe. This all consumed I put him on the grass and we have a bit of a roll about. I am very aware that Lucky has no siblings so I give him a hard time. I even nip his ear should he bite me, just enough to make him yelp, I’m trying to be his brother, not his Dad. I think we both enjoy it. For the first time today he came when I called his name. No clapping of hands or clicking of fingers or patting the ground, just his name, and he came. Backward somersaults through hoops of fire without the aid of a net! When I said he was over three kilograms the other day I must have got my sums wrong for he is 2187 grams today which would represent an increase in weight of 120 odd grams from 2063 and not 3063 as I reported earlier. I don’t seem him like his dad Chris but I do see him awfully like his half brother Dirty ( DKCH,DKJCH. Dirty Dancer) and also there is a startling family resemblance to Dirty’s pups which you can see on the Kennel Oksby site. All in all a nice pup. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 3rd April 2009
Bangor. Took The Luckster to the vet for his first jab. Officially he is 3.6 kgs. He is one day over 6 weeks old and they won’t give it till he is six weeks. Interestingly he can’t get the second till he’s ten weeks. This week he has come on in leaps and bounds. He comes when called and is very content to mess about. I can also sit him on verbal. I’m not going to do much with him over the next couple of days as I expect him to be a bit low because of the jab. Over the next few weeks I will be doing a lot with Coco. He needs to be made more confident when out on his own and I’ll have to punch the hours to achieve this. It is strange to have a dog that is nothing short of a hooligan with other dogs but so timorous on his own. I think I can bring him round but if I ever think he won’t make it he’s history. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 5th April 2009
Saturday. The Round. Me and her took Coco and Tam round the round. I gave Coco a good bit of recalling and sitting and it worked well. He is much happier out with another dog, but I’m not particularly happy wih that situation. Tam felt the heat badly so I won’t take him counting tomorrow. Sunday. Glenwherry. Loaded up the trailer and headed for Co Antrim. Even took Roxy and The Luckster.I really don’t enjoy this form of counting but it is a job that has to be done. It was a job worth doing as well and I’m sure Lee was pleased with the result. Even not including various singles in the count in case they are from previously counted pairs the number of breeding pairs going into the breeding season is up 75%, yes seventy five, on last year. Roxy, Lucky, Tam and Coco had a bit of a skip about when the job was over. The other dogs didn’t have much opportunity with Basso and Chris having a back on a find by one of Desi Linton’s Red & Whites but I was very pleased with the way they dealt with some horrendous heather. Jalad never breaks his stride even if he is a bit down on pace, Judy doesn’t exactly sparkle but she never gives up and Chris is “Very tough as old boots”. The most pleasing performance for me though was Basso. He ran the wind well, at pace, and turned when required. Just now needs birds, and more birds. http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/ |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 11th April 2009.
Beechfield. This is only the first weekend of the lay off and I’m bored already. I have plenty to do but I’m grounded as I have lent the Skoda to Ryan so that he and four mates can go camping and it is the only vehicle that has a tow bar or space for a dog box. I have next week off so when I get the car back I’ll get stuck in to the pups. What’s not to like about puppies? I have yet to find one that it isn’t fun to work with but every now and again you meet one with a bit of presence. Lucky is such a pup. In this respect he is so much more a dog that Coco who is a bit coarse by comparison although a nice enough character in himself. Then of course I have had Lucky from day one and to me, a trainer of very average ability, this makes so much difference. The plan is to get Roxy completely away from Lucky and to get him and Coco kennelled up together and his mother dried off. Although she only had one pup to rear and is holding on to too much condition she has that “used” look of bitches that have been rearing pups and it will take a few runs and a swim or two in the sea to get her looking right again. Once the pups are making some progress I will be starting on the adults with a view to having dogs more compliant to orders this year. Whether this is a success will be more about me and Ross that it will be about the dogs. I have booked some time off in July to go counting in Yorkshire so I will have ample opportunity to stamp my authority. All of a sudden I’m not bored any more. July isn’t that far away, even the end of July seems just round the corner and there’s so much to do. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 12th April 2009.
Beechfield and The Round. Took Basso and Coco for a walk and accomplished quite a bit but there was a sting in the tail. This was a really warm day and the only reason the dogs kept going was that there was plenty of water in the streams. Basso just ran, and ran , and ran. Coco followed him. I recalled Coco a few times and sat him on the verbal. Unfortunately when running quite fast he came to a tree trunk across his path. It wasn’t really that big, he could have stepped over it and as he was going at full tilt he should have sailed over easily but he hit it ackwardly. I hadn’t seen a dog give itself a dead leg before. At first I thought he had broken it but after a good howl he was able to limp home on the lead. I then got the Lucky Dog out on the lawn and gave him a good mawling. He enjoyed every minute of it. |
| Des O'Neile |
http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/
Friday 17th April 2009 Beechfield etc. It isn’t that there’s nothing going on. Its just that it isn’t really all that exciting. Some of it is very important but on a day to day basis it can be mind numbingly boring. Weather permitting each day at least a pair of dogs gets a walk round The Round. This takes about an hour and although it is flat ground it is still fairly arduous as the ground is nearly always very slippy. The dogs involved are off lead for all but about ten minutes of this. In addition to this Roxy gets a trip to the shore and I take her into the tide on a lead so that she gets more or less soaked all over. Lucky goes on this trip as well and if over the summer any dog has coat problems then they will join the bathing party too. This side of the arrival of some more pigeons I won’t be able to do any bird work but the task of training the pups is getting nearly all my remaining time. Lucky has been really easy so far. At eight weeks old he will come when called and will sit on the verbal. Coco is another matter. He will also come when called, most times, and will also sit on the verbal but it is time to up the anti and get him dropping. He will drop at my side but it isn’t really dropping as such and I have no mission at anything outside touching range. The Blunder is being clipped, as I write this, so hopefully he will be more comfortable. I have a feeling the Clumber Brigade are a bit like English Setter owners. More interested in the look that the performance. I have yet to meet any Clumber owner who will admit to having their dogs shorn in the summer. Perhaps Tam has a particularly thick coat. He does sleep out in frost but if he is in the car at this time of the year the moment the air conditioning is switched off he is in diffs. If I’m too warm I take off my coat. I think the dog deserves the same consideration. Some have suggested that the reason he needs clipped is that he has been clipped. I’ll agree clipping may stimulate growth but he needed it in his first year. 871 |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 24th April 2009
Beechfield. Same old same old. Doing my best to get at least two of the dogs out for an hour run in the forest each day. All the dogs are in good form and condition. Lucky is eating more and taking less from his mum who doesn’t seem to be making as much milk. The only sour note is Coco. A couple of weekends ago he hurt himself in the forest. He thumped a log with his foot and gave himself a dead leg. The the other night he tried to get out of the run past me when I was feeding and he aggravated the injury. Now it seems that every night when he gets excited at feeding time he hurts himself again. It is one of those self fulfilling prophesies. The more I curtail his activities in an attempt to let his injury heal the more excited he gets and therefore the more likely he is to hurt himself again. It will be a long haul. Chris and Roxy are taken to the tide as often as I can to help with some minor skin problems and I have noticed that mites seem to be a problem. I can keep them under control with Thornit but its something that will need regular attention. Things have been a bit damper just recently. Humidity and sun. Perfect for breeding ear mites. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 2nd May 2009
Ballywalter Park. I suppose today was technically a beautiful summer’s day so Jay and I took Chris to the Northern Ireland Game Fair at Ballywalter. Just a pity that we were faced with about the worst quagmire I have ever seen at a game fair. I suspect it has the potential to be as bad as the abandoned CLA a few years back. I don’t know exactly what happened but I suspect the lake had over flowed.Well we managed to get what we went for, had a chat with a few friends and then went to “Hoops” where Ross works for lunch. I was sort of weigh laid last week as I was baby sitting China, a ten year old German Shepherd bitch. She’s a big dog. I have to say that it is a bit daunting to end up sitting on the couch, eye to eye, beside a dog that two minutes earlier looked as if it would come through the front window at you. She’s the best of both worlds, looks and sounds horrendous but is a real pussycat once you’re through the door. China took up most of my spare time but there was little I could have done anyway. Ross walked all the dogs except Basso and Coco who I didn’t want out any way as I’m still doubtful that he is sound. The next time the tide is right I’ll take him on a falling tide and hopefully he won’t aggravate his injury. All the dogs are in great shape except Roxy. Lucky got his second jag yesterday so I will have to split him from Roxy and start getting her back in shape. I was worried that Lucky maybe hadn’t put on much weight since his first jag four weels ago. It was therefore a bit of a surprise when the scales read 6.7 kgs. almost double the 3.6 he weighed previously. He continues to please me greatly. He is very responsive but more importantly he is a happy pup and the compliance is willing. He promises much but it is also a bit daunting to consider that the pressure is all on me to bring this animal to the level of his potential. I have to avoid snatching depeat from the jaws of victory. It’s still very exciting though. |
| Des O'Neile |
Monday 4th May 2009
The Flaps. We’re still working and getting at least one pair of dogs out each day, just for a walk, but yesterday I took Judy and Jalad to the mud flats. The tide was well out (.8 of a mile out I measured it in the car) and I ran Jalad on the way out and tried to run Judy on the way in. She put up a tern and chased it away out into the bay. The only reason I could tell where she was was the plume of water in the air behind her. At .8 of a mile she is a very small white dot and I reckon she was the same again out in the bay. She eventually deigned to return, looking very pleased with herself. Back home I took Roxy and Lucky to The Practice for a gallop. Surprisingly Lucky doesn’t really go far away after his mum unless she is stopped. He seems quite happy to stay with me. |
| Des O'Neile |
Tuesday 5th May 2009
The Round. A walk in the forest wouldn’t achieve much at this time of the year but today Chris had an amazing find. He was running down wind along the path, at pace. He whipped round and came back about forty yards before stepping gingerly into the high cover where he pointed. I let him stand for a while and the bird flushed of its own accord after about a minute. Both the dogs had hunted hard once we started to move along the hedge of the maze field and it is surprising that we only saw the one bird. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 9th May 2009
Beechfield. Some good, some bad. This was the weekend I had planned to separate Roxy & Lucky. I have them split up and things have been quiet so far. However Judy has come into season. This also is good news but it sort of upsets the plans for who would go with who. As it is Judy is on her own as she and Roxy hate each other with a passion and Lucky, Basso and Coco are in the big run. I can’t see Lucky and Coco not playing together but I will have to wait and see how it pans out. It is great to have Judy’s season out of the way and I will have to decide how to manage Roxy’s seasons to get the most from this trial season. All the dogs starting to look a bit sleek so the food has been cut down a bit. Apart form walking and exercising, not much can be done this side of the arrival of this year’s pigeons. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 16th May 2009.
Beechfield. With one exception things are going extremely well. Judy has now been in season for a week and is in the garage kennel on her own. I have started to switch the other dogs about. There are several reasons for this. Firstly Coco is now sharing with some of the big boys. I have always found that being with an adult dog that isn’t as inclined to play and wants to be left alone a fair bit forces maturity on a young dog and seems to help with concentration when they are away from the kennel. Secondly dogs are like humans in that they get on with most other dogs but there are some that they don’t get on so well with. Judy and Roxy are an example. They can tollerate each other, just, when nobody is in season but they really can’t stand each other so I don’t force the issue. Kennelling dogs with other partners lets you know who gets on best with whom and when it comes to the season I pair up the dogs with their favourite kennel mates as a happy dog gives of its best. All the dogs are being exercised in collars. Again there are two reasons. The main one is that we have a dog licencing system over here and if you loose a dog and it has no collar or tag you may well have to pay for a couple of days in the pound while you produce your licence. Secondly, although it doesn’t happen that often in Ireland dogs can be required to wear a collar in a competition and it helps to have a dog that is used to running with a collar. I have seen dogs that probably never have had to wear a collar basically refuse to run though that is an extreme reaction, still ,from time to time you see dogs that obviously aren’t comfortable and it really shows. All the dogs, even Jalad, are on reduced rations just now. I must take Jalad and get him weighed as he looks a lot better the way he is at the moment. Whether it will work or not but I’m going to try and keep him at this weight through the season. With so much more tripe available it is actually quite difficult to keep the weight off the dogs, even with the regular exercising. This exercising is keeping the dogs in good heart and we have even come across the odd wayward pheasant that keeps the dogs on their toes. I don’t know where these birds have come from. Either the next door estate didn’t catch up this year or they had a bigger than usual surplus at the end of the season and the birds, mostly cocks, seem to be all over the place, and quite territorial. The handlers are getting a bit of fitness training as well. We have started using the paths in the estate that lead up to lady Hellen’s Tower. There is sufficient of a climb involved to test the calf muscles and we do it at sufficiently fast a pace to raise the heart beat appreciably. I will need to get Roxy tightened up before serious training starts in about six weeks time. She has a tendency to have pendulous udders that take a bit of a hiding in heather. It would be really handy if she would come into season very soon. Those of you that keep a mixed kennel know that bitches will tollerate being sniffed by a dog, until that is , they are nearly in season. This “nearly” period can be anything from a week to six weeks. In the last week Roxy has punched a few tickets at feeding time and it would be wonderful if she broke today but if she isn’t in by the end of the month I will have to break out the Durateston. My one problem dog is Coco. I didn’t see it comming either. Now when I take him out on his own there is a distinct nervousness about him. He responds to commands like come and sit well, maybe even too well but he doesn’t want to let me out of his sight. A good chase ot two after one of the resident pheasants would work wonders. In fact a good riot after a covey of grouse but we’re a good bit away from that. I’ll have to get him out plenty and not put him under any pressure. |
| Des O'Neile |
Update on the kennelThe current members of the kennel.Judy, Exile on Main Street, Pointer bitch. Open stake winner. Roxy, Oxspring Roxanne, Pointer bitch. Open stake winner. Jalad, Ballincoher Barcley, Pointer dog. Open stake awards. Jump, Ir.F.T.Ch. Sugarloaf Bold. Pointer dog. Chris, Toftens Chris, Pointer dog. Open stake awards in Denmark. Coco, Cookstown Cocopop, Pointer dog pup. Tam, Julchris Super Trooper, Clumber dog. Shooting dog. Basso, Oksby Basso, Pointer dog. Lucky, Glencuan Lucky Pointer dog pup by Chris X Roxy. Ross, Ross O'Neile #2 son. Jay, Jay Black grandson. Bess, Cuan Black Bess, Pointer bitch. (Sold) Gina, Glencuan Orangina, Pointer bitch. (Missing presumed stolen) |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 17th may 2009
The Round. Ross and I took Jalad and Roxy round The Round. We walked at a fair old pace and were able to do so mainly because the digs were well behaved and stayed handy. I can only think of one time in the last eighteen years that my dogs have had two points during one walk. First off Jalad had a clever find on a pheasant that doubled back into cover and along a drain filled with dry leaves. Ross steadied the dog up and the bird flushed ten yards into the cover. Then a bit later Roxy came on point in cover and although neither of us saw a bird fly I reckon I heard movement in the bushes. I completed the restoration of front panels of the loft and fitted new drinkers for the pigeons which I will get tomorrow evening. Over the last few days all dogs have had a walk and if you consider that each pair gets about an hour and there are five groups I have litle time to sit about. |
| Victoria |
Des, please write about pigeons...will they be just young ones, how long do you keep them locked up before letting them fly, etc...would be very interested to read about this...thank you. |
| Des O'Neile |
None of these birds are more than a year old and most have flown. They are however due to breed and once that happens they and their young will continue to come to my loft. They were terribly useful last year until I had a rush of blood to the head and took them somewhere they hadn't been before, fifty miles in the opposite direction from our usual place. That's a mistake I won't make this year. I'm not very good at aging pigeons but several of this years birds have been marked and I will let them out one at a time after about three weeks. The rest are kept in until they breed. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 24th May 2009
Moira and Beechfield. Went to the Moira Game Fair today with Ross. There was a stand I should have been manning had anybody bothered to tell me. Saw my old friend and Field Trial Legend Frank McManus and Alan Neill with his shadow, Godfrey McRoberts. Alan was there with his Tim dog and a couple of saplings bred by Sue langford. I also bumped into John Gibson with his Clumbers, one of them a Field Trial Winner. This morning I took Basso and Lucky to The practice and this evening Ross and I took Chris, Coco and Tam to Lady Helen’s Tower. If it hadn’t been for the lake, where he had a swim, Tam would have had a hard time of it, even though he has been clipped out. Coco has had a lot of work this week and I have made a bit of a start on The Luckster. All dogs wormed this week and one or two had a half a mug added to their feed. One of the pigeons has died so I’m down to nine. |
| Des O'Neile |
Monday 25th May 2009
The Wee Res. This is the first time I have taken Lucky on his own with serious intent. I gave him a fair bit of recalling and it worked well, mostly. He would be inclined to run on past but he always returns to between my legs, eventually. I place him in the sit position, and say sit, every time he comes to me but as yet he shows no inclination to sit simply on the verbal command, or what would be even better, without being told. When on his own there is a slight nervousness about him. There is a house that keeps chickens that we walk past and when we were there this morning the cocks were crowing. He didn’t like that even though we were a good bit off and the hens were hidden from view. By the end of the walk he was happy to go maybe even a hundred yards away and I was able to call him back to me from that distance and I do mean call him back rather than just wait till he decided to come and look for me. Nearly back at the car a pigeon flushed from low in the hedge. It made a bit of a racket but instead of shying away he watched it away with a quizzical look on his face. He didn’t chase it. One of my pigeons is trying to lay. I’ll have to make a nesting box for with the birds only being here a short time they won’t be able to get out to gather up nesting material. Later. I gave up on the nesting box idea and bought two clay nesting dishes and put felt liners in them. There are, probably drainage ,holes in the bottom of the dishes so I screwed them to the shelf to make them more secure. This evening I will liberate one of the remaining pigeons. It is getting a hard time from some of the older birds and if I leave it in amongst them it will be killed. If it returns I will be able to start using it right away if not then at least I won’t have its demise on my conscience. The Practice. This was easy. No! This was ridiculously easy. All I was hoping for was a noise free run from Coco. When unsure of himself he gives a wee whine, barely audible but a whine none the less. I wanted him to gallop about and make no noise. I let him off the lead and he went away like a bullet. I expected him to stop at about fifty yards but he just motored on until I blew the whistle and he turned at about a hundred and fifty yards. As he neared me I decided to try and get him to sit. I haven’t taught him to drop yet. When about twenty yards away I blew the drop whistle, I haven’t taught him that yet either, and what did he do? He dropped! Whoa! I tried it again. It worked again. I then decided to try sending him on and it worked with just one or two exceptions. By the time we were finished Coco had effectively quartered The Practice from one end to the other. He was dropping every time I asked him even if not exactly like a sack of spuds. I fully expect the wheels to fall off in the future but for now I’m extremely pleased. If it doesn’t bucket this evening I’ll take Chris to the Signal centre with the soon to be liberated pigeon and bring Coco along for a look see. After tea. Ross and I took Chris, Coco and the pigeon to the far end of the Signal centre. This would have been nothing exceptional had Chris been doing it for weeks like last year but this was straight out of the box. However he was on to the pigeon after only two or three cuts. He feathered up and eventually pointed about ten yards from the bird. We had arranged to let Chris stand for a good while but it soon became clear that Coco was no more than vaguely interested in what Chris was doing.I was holding Coco on the lead. I triggered the launcher and Ross peeped Chris just to keep him steady. I don’t know if the launcher was too fast for Coco, or whether he was distracted by Ross and the whistle but I reckon he didn’t follow the bird even with his eyes. He was very interested in what was going on between Ross and Chris. He didn’t even jerk on the lead, just stood and watched, intently. I don’t really know what to make of it. I don’t think we’ll see the pigeon again. It landed in a nearby field and I decided not to go after it again in case Chris was tempted to peg it. By the time we were driving away about six grey crows were sitting round it. I don’t think they were planning a beetle drive. |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 30th May 2009
The Spelga. This was a sort of a shakedown cruise for the trailer and the car. This is the first time I have driven the car with the trailer fully loaded since I had the air flow sensor replaced. The Skoda pulls really well and is quite capable of exceeding the legal limit for a trailer and pulls away from a standing start really well. Only problem is that the side lights aren’t working again. The car was the only good bit. Yes, the dogs enjoyed the skip down to the reservoir and most, including Lucky had a swim, or at least a paddle. The bad news is that there is a flock of sheep in the fenced off area. Over the last twenty years there hasn’t been any sheep at all. I can only assume that either the Spelga no longer supplies water for human consumption or it is no longer a requirement to keep sheep away from drinking water. I think I feel a FOI enquiry coming on. It is a real kick in the wedding tackle if I can’t use this place in June. Tam is being very hard on Coco and Basso equally so on Lucky but if I put the two pups together they make such a racket playing. |
| Des O'Neile |
Monday 1st June 2009
The Wee Res. I remember watching a television programme a long time ago about “Natural Instinct” in animals. It went into great detail about such phenomena as the geese flying south in the winter. The programme concluded that this was not instinct or intelligence but simply a demonstration that the geese had triggers that they could feel that we couldn’t. Perhaps it was the temperature or the number of daylight hours. I was unable to look at peoples’ assertions about the intelligence of there animals in the same light, after this. When Jalad pointed his first snipe on the mountain after watching Jump, his sire, produce in the region of two dozen the same afternoon I didn’t know if it was instinct or intelligence. Well it was real Wimbledon weather here this afternoon, 28c and only the merest zephyr of a breeze. I decided to take Tam and Coco to the small reservoir to give Tam a swim. Even with his coat thinned out Tam suffers in these conditions. He could cope with the water retrieves but the few on dry land left him a good deal drier but knackered. Coco had watched all this and run about with Tam while he was searching for the dummies. Sitting till Tam got his breath back I threw the dummy and said, ” OK Coco, fetch.” and he did. Not, once, or twice but three times. Does this mean he’s intelligent, or was this instinct? Whatever it was it seems to run in the family. I sincerely hope it’s not intelligence. Intelligent dogs are never easy to train. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 4th June 2009
Beechfield. James Smith remembered me talking about trying to see Wm. Arkwrights Ch. Sea Breeze. Well I would have looked a long time to see her in Tain Museum. She is in TRING. 
I had seen her described as “lemon” which appears to be borne out by the nose colour. It is difficult to see how she could have been described as “leggy” as she appears quite squat but then that’s photography for you. I’ll just have to go see for myself. |
| guy |
Des do you mean by intelligent - able to think independently - by this I mean be doing one thing and then all of a sudden do something unrelated (be lying down quietly and all of a sudden get up and go and find something that was previously hidden (by the dog)) or do you mean able to work out a problem from previous experience? (getting to a fence and instead of negotiating it running the fence to an adjacent gateway) ? |
| Des O'Neile |
Capable of independent thought. The sort of dog that will swim nearly the lenght of the reservoir to pick the water retrieve but then swim on the twenty yards to the far bank and run round the bank to you. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 7th June 2009
Black Mountain. Jay, Ross and I took Tam, Coco and Lucky up the road to Black Mountain. The intention was to go to the summit but Jay threw the towel in on the shoulder. Tam suffered in the heat and Coco seems to have sore feet. We were out for about an hour but obviously we were on the road and that’s probably why Coco is suffering. With the exception of Coco I have all the dogs in reasonable shape. Coco is looking a bit spare just now and I have upped his grub by 20% and he may get another 20% for a while. Basso’s pad is healing steadily but is still far from right. I have had to do some of the dogs’ ears for wax which is something doesn’t usually need much attention at this time of the year. I am off on holidays for the next fortnight and will be away for a week of that. When I return I will make a concerted effort to start the job of getting the dogs fit. The Old Girl, Judy will take some work this year as she is now eight and I don’t want her to damage herself as she is a dog that wouldn’t spare herself. Judy doesn’t do “Taking it easy” The rest will get a fair bit of work as well. It will be interesting to see how difficult it will be to keep the condition on Jalad once he starts working. I will have to get him weighed to see just how heavy he is. |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 18th June 2009
Beechfield. So that was The Med. Haven’t seen rain in a week. Thermometer wasn’t under 20c any time I saw it, day or night and it was somewhere around 40c in Rome. Hot and cold running waiters and smashing entertainment. I have been very lucky to have Ryan to look after the dogs when I’m away but I always like to give them a once over when I get home. In general they are all in good shape but Lucky and Coco look a bit spare so I will up their grub. Coco has a lump in this throat. I don’t know what happened but I think it must have happened before I left. I reckon a flesh wound has healed from the outside. I’ll get a course of strong anti bods and hopefully that will clear that up. In addition Chris has a number of sores on his rump. He is a creature of habit and lies exactly the same way in the kennel every night with the result that these sores appear. The only way to keep them in check is to move him between kennels on a regular basis. I normally alternate the dogs every day but I forgot to tell Ryan to do it. In fact I h0ld him to leave them in the same kennels for the time I was away so it’s down to me. I have the tripe out to defrost so from tomorrow afternoon, I’m going to Specsavers, it will be “Game on” for 2009. P.S. Pigeons looking fat and sleek but there’s no sign of any eggs. http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/ |
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 20th June 2009
Cave Hill. 16.5c. Humid. Dull at times, threatening rain but mostly sunny. Jalad, Roxy, Judy & Chris. I wasn’t expecting any discipline problems and I didn’t get any but to start off I only ran the dogs in rotating pairs but eventually I just let them all go. We were out of about an hour and a half and they all did OK but Jalad did drink a lot of water. I use Cave Hill for this time of the year because for a start off it is the only place I can go before 1st July and also because there is always water available and if I can keep dogs properly hydrated then they can run for longer, even when unfit, and therefore real fitness comes more quickly. Before we went to the hill I got Jalad weighed and he is 30.35 kgs. I guess if I can get him fit at 30kgs then I will be really pleased. I can’t say why but I decided to try one of the pigeons out last night. I had it out twice and on the basis of the success with that bird I tried another this morning. As I write it is sitting on a roof of the house behind so I hope it will be back in tonight. http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/ |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 21st June 2009
The Practice & The Big Res. Jay and I first off took Coco & Lucky to The Practice and just let them gallop about. Lucky is a lot firmer on his feet so he was able to keep up with Coco a lot better, until, that is, Coco took off after a swallow. Both then ended up giving tongue but it was towards the end of their walk so it didn’t last for long. We then went back and took Tam and Basso to the Big Res. I let Jay give Tam his water retrieves and I spent the time dropping Basso and keeping him down. This hard ground is exactly what Basso was bred to run on and he is really impressive when running. He is also is a relative compliant dog and he is quite easy to handle. I have decided that Jay is now capable of handling a dog but there is just one big problem. He isn’t unique as I have found that young handlers have difficulty blowing a whistle. Oh they can get a noise out of it all right but Jay just can’t blow ther required sequences for a trained dog. He’ll just have to work at it. I have had the first pigeon out several times this morning but there hasn’t been any sign of the second bird since it was seen on the roof yesterday afternoon. http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/ |
| Des O'Neile |
Monday 22nd June 2009
The Wee Res. 18.5c. Clear blue sky, sunny. Because of the on going dispute in The South there are no trials before 1st August this year and because a fair number of Northern Ireland competitors head for the circuit on The Mainland thare are none in Northern Ireland either. The net result is that I’m not in as big a hurry this year so I have decided to do things slightly differently. I am concentrating on control, dropping and all that good stuff. I take the dogs to the reservoir, let them gallop about a good bit, until they start to blow ( not too long at this time and with these conditions) and then I do two minute drills.Tonight it was Jalad and Judy and as two auld hands they did it perfectly. I’m not going to test any more pigeons as they are dropping like flies. I only have one that’s doing the biz, the others that I have tried have buggered off. I have four more unfledged squabs lined up and it they don’t work out I’ll shoot myself. Coco’s overall condition improving and Lucky looking great. |
| Des O'Neile |
Wednesday 24th June 2009
The Signal Centre. I took Chris and Roxy to the Signal Centre after work. It was a really sunny, warm (26.5c) and nearly windless day. I actually wanted to see Chris backing Roxy but it didn’t work out that way at first. Chris got to the bird first and then both he and Roxy left the point. I get the impression that they didn’t believe that there was a bird there. Eventually it worked out as I wanted. Chris and Roxy did a big cross wind cut to the right. Roxy was back first and on point long before Chris hove into view. He feathered up and eventually backed at about fifteen yards. Both dogs were more or less perfect on the flush. It was quite strange as they had left a point when nearly on top of the bird and here they were, more or less perfect, from forty yards. The dogs know the routine. After they have been fed I empty a 210l. plastic barrel of water over the runs. The dogs usually head for the safety of their kennels when I start to tip the barrel over. Coco had tried in vain to pull a wayward piece of dog food under the dividing fence. He then sat down and watched the bit of food intently, not moving when I started to pull at the barrel. When the barrel was tipped over the water washed the bit of food under the fence where he pounced on it. I know he’s a smart dog but I just can’t believe that he anticipated what was going to happen. Or did he? He is turning into a fine lump of a dog. With the tripe ration his coat is gleaming and he is going to be a brute. Not so sure that the proportions are going to be completely right as he looks a tad short in the leg but he’s a handsome one, if you like that sort of thing. The Wee Res and The Practice. Took Basso and Tam out after tea. The idea was to let Tam cool down in the water and to get Basso a find. Tam thoroughly enjoyed himself. But even after all the swimming he was still badly under pressure due to the warmth in the evening sun. Technically I succeeded with Basso. He had a find, but it taught him and I absolutely nothing. The meadow was mowed sometime this week but I was still able to hide the launcher in a rut. Basso lept out of the car went through the gap in the hedge and pointed the pigeon about sixty yards away. He was a bit sticky when roading but as usual was impeccable on the flush. The Wee Res. Jalad. After doing the dishes I took Jalad for a spin. I planted the bird right at one end of where I had been with Basso and took Jalad further in the other direction. The net result was that he had much more of a run around before he came to the bird. There was no perceivable air and he did really well to take it but then Jalad, for all that he was trained on quail, pigeons and even the odd planted pheasant is just about the best dog I have ever owned, around game. I don’t know if there was a puff of a breeze for a second but he took the bird at about fifteen yards from the side. He was as steady as a rock and after a short road his manners were impeccable on the flush. There was more to this than just a bit of a gallop. With the exception of Judy, who just doesn’t do pigeons, all the adults have had a find. Judy will point the bird if everything is dead on but if I have miss marked the launcher, which I do frequently, and Judy ends up on top of it a pinioned bird means just one thing to her. A free lunch. This has confirmed my thoughts that Jalad, and Basso will be the best dogs to help introduce Coco and Lucky to pigeons. I will probably start with Basso for the two pups are best friends with Basso but once they show any inclination to point I will use Jalad. He is just so much steadier, especially if he is close to the bird, and it is helpful if the puppy can actually smell the bird. They will go to the pointing dog in the first place for no other reason than to see why it is standing like that. But the ones that actually pick up the scent seem to catch on the quickest. I wonder how long it will be before I have Coco pointing. A week, or a year? http://glencuanpointers.wordpress.com/ |
| Des O'Neile |
Thursday 25th June 2009
Signal Centre The first, and perhaps the only, effort today was a dismal failure, or to be more precise, battery failure. Just because of the way the dogs were split up at feeding time I took Jalad and Coco. Gave Jalad a good bit of space and he did what little ground he had to do quite nicely. I kept Coco on the lead after an initial blow out and Jalad eventually came to the bird and pointed. He was fairly close due to virtually no wind again but this was just what I wanted. I walked Coco up to a point slightly to one side of Jalad and about ten yards back so that he would have unrestricted sight of the flush. Initially he stood and watched and eventually sat and watched. Quite intently, obviously wondering what was going on. I waited until Coco was looking directly at Jalad and pushed the button. Nothing happened as the battery in the launcher had failed. I tied up the dogs and released the bird by hand. That got Coco’s attention but was way short of what I had wanted. After tea. Same venue. A bit cooler and a bit of a breeze. I asked a rhetorical question yesterday. Would Coco point in a week or a day? Well how does a day sound. Even after replacing the battery there were issues with the launcher so I decided, even before I had the dogs out of the car, not to let Coco off. He may have behaved correctly but if the launcher hadn’t functioned then the dog could have been put back weeks. I let Jalad have a good wander about before he got to the bird and just as required he pointed about six feet off the bird. I positioned Coco about ten feet back and slightly to the right so that he could see the flush. He backed/pointed. The lead was slack and the dog was steady and in a loose pointing stance. When I triggered the launcher he started, just a slight forward jerk and then he stood and watched the bird away with his ears up. There’s no doubt that if not on the lead he would have gone after it but, what the heck? He pointed! We have had a mini drought here of late and Jalad was uncomfortable on the hard ground and it’s going to be interesting getting him fit at his new fighting weight of 30 kgs. |
| Des O'Neile |
Friday 26th June 2009
The Signal Centre. Another typical Wimbledon Week scorcher. Ran the dogs about as much as is possible in a relatively small area before taking them near the bird. It shaped up well, Roxy pointing and Chris backing close by. The makings of a perfect picture, however the minute I went in front of them Chris was having none of it. There was something afoot and he didn’t want any. So it just had to be her, all by herself, alone with nobody with her. She wasn’t moving. I could have turned cartwheels and she wouldn’t budge and she was as steady as a rock on the flush, watching the bird away intently. 
|
| Des O'Neile |
Saturday 27th June 2009
Gransha School. Warm, 21.5c, but a bit muggy. Didn’t work out as I wanted as even though this is a big area there has been so much rain and warm weather that most of the place is waist high. Luckily there was an area to the left of the drive that was just about doable. I was wetting myself at first. I cast Basso off and he ran back to the drive and headed, I thought, to the road but just before exiting the gate he cut back into the grass and pointed. Basso must trust me more that Chris, his Dad, and he didn’t mind me going in front of him. 
Basso did everything perfectly here as you can see from the photos. I didn’t have to drop him, in fact I couldn’t get to the whistle round the camera, but it didn’t matter anyway. 
It is difficult doing this sort of thig with Basso as he is anything but stupid. Of course it could be his nose that tells him what’s going on but he seems to have a road map to birds and unless you have a big area to hide the bird in, and do all the obvious stuff, like place the bird at one end of the field and drive round to the far end he more often than not is pointing once off the lead. As I said he’s a clever one but I think its his nose. Later. Took him to the Signal Centre. Complete and utter waste of time. Polished my shoes until we came to the bird, which he handled perfectly, dropping himself. Only after the bird was produced did he make any real effort to run. Won’t be doing this again with him any time soon, at least on his own. |
| Des O'Neile |
Sunday 28th June 2009.
The N.I. Country Lifestyle and Medieval Fair, Shane’s Castle. Lovely day, typical Wimbledon weather. Just about as good a game fair that I have attended in some time. Not the biggest by any means but the long fine spell mean the ground was in top nick and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves. Took Basso and Chris as I had a bitch lined up for Chris on the way home. Couldn’t leave them all day in the car so I walked them about a bit, got some nice comments, and then left them back in the car to be able to have lunch in peace. Met Alan Neill, Godfrey McRoberts, John Christie and Frank McManus and the only bad news was that Davy Reid, Innistona, has had a mild stroke and isn’t too well. Called at Larry lee’s on the way home and Chris did the business.It didn’t look as if the bitch was going to wear is at first but Larry and I repaired to the kitchen for a brew and in our absense the deed was done.The bitch is a sister of Misty, White Mountain Queen who was sired by Jump, Ir.F.T.Ch. Sugarloaf Bold. Judy, as she’s called is slightly more robust than Misty who was a very elegant bitch but very much a pound of washers in a velvet glove. There is nothing to suggest the pups will be anything other than good workers, and good lookers as well. The Signal Centre. Took BBD, Big Black Dog for a bird. Can’t post it now but eventually I will have it on uTube so I won’t be able to tell any lies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk9yDBPZ__0 |