The Brittany Forum

Sokoly · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:57 am Post subject:

I went to see the bitch this weekend. She is a beauty. The owner said that he has not been taking her on hunt this last 5 mounths because she had puppies. She was in her box most of the time. She is a little bit over weight also. He took her out of the box and take her to the fields so we can see if she is a good working dog. Unfortunatelly we could not see much point's because the partridges are in pairs now and they are scatered all over the fields. The young weat fields are sprayed with pesticides and he (the owner) was scared to let the dog scanne all the fields because as he said last year a bitch ate some of the wheat and got poisoned and had to give birth to premature puppies that all died out. I am not that much informed so decided to believe him. After awhile although the bitch has not worked in a mounths time she flushed a partridge. The mark was very short before the bird bursed in front of her.This may be due to the breeding season the partridges are in. Perhaps they are more flushy during this period of year. Is this a mistake or a normal thing at this time of year considering that this dog has not hunted in a long time. Is this sometihing I can fix? Is her nose o.k.? She did not run for the partridge but came back to us. After a few metters another partridge bursed out of the wheat. Probably more scared from us than the dog. Buba-the dog, was searching for the partridge in a perimeter of around 30-40 meters. As we stoped she would stop searching.When we continued our walk she would continue hers. The owner was conviencing me that this dog would need some more excercise and more field work and by the time the falconry season would come she would be great. I am thinking of taking her in few days. If you can see anything interesting and worth notifying me about in this text, please give me your thoughts.
Sokoly

Sokoly · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:22 am Post subject:

Victoria, I have peregrine falcons. I have eight of them in my small breeding facility. As the time went by working with falcons I learned that a person like me, very tightly bonding to his pets or falcons (falcons are not pets)!! should not give names to them. Why? Simply because when you spend so much time tamming them and manning them if some they they choose not to come back from a flight I would feel more misarable if the falcon had name. The name is the atribute that we will connect the particular falcon to. So in order not to be broken hearted again, I decided not to give my falcons any names. It kind a keep some space in between us. If you know what I mean. :-)

Victoria · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:49 am Post subject:

Sokoly I have so admired the peregrine falcon only from photographs of course as we do not have them in this country. I understand perfectly what you say about naming them! The thought of having eight of those glorious birds; wow!!! At what age do you start training them?
Nor do I know anything of partridge except of what I saw at the Club de l'Epageul Breton's TAN and show last August; I had never seen them before so it was a wonderful experience to see them so close and to hear them...why is the man selling Buba? I look forward to seeing fotos of her!!
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"...amitie, respect mutuel et amour..."

Sokoly · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:55 am Post subject:

Victoria The dog breeder is selling Buba because thats his job he has a small breeding center for English pointers and Britannies. He also sells a very good male Britannie, but he is 3,5 years old, and bigger than the female. Also Bubba is the quitest of all I saw.
I start training the falcons write after their moult, or if it's a young bird somewhere around end of August-September. You have New zealand Falcons there. They are very interesting because they have a longer and broader tails which is a usual trade of Hawks.They are more manuverable.

Mugi · Bretonnier Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 1304

Hi, I am not experienced enough in the breed to be able to discuss Buba's hunting ability and how to take her forward but can I just ask one thing please??

In your first post you mentioned she was a year old but apparently she has already had a litter of pups??? This seems very young to have been a mother and I would want to be sure that she is fully sound, having a litter very young and before the dog is finished growing herself can put a lot of strain on her.
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Sue, Chase and the non-Brittany boys - Brice & Piper. Pets first and foremost.

Never forgetting Mugi and Freddy

Sokoly · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:01 am Post subject:

Mugi as I have been told Buba is 1,5 years old. I have also heard that dogs that have a litter very young they stay smaller. But can this have any illeffects on her health?

Victoria · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:19 am Post subject:

I think if you feed the young bitch really well I cannot see that it is detrimental in the long run; I had a one year old (not a Breton) get in whelp and I refused to have the puppies aborted as this can cause sterility and other conditions in the female dog which is worse (in my opinion)! My bitch Jean (an Australian Cattle Dog) had only three puppies and did them very well. I fed her alot of fresh meat and she was fine. I guess it all depends on the individual dog. It was an unintended pregnancy but my other bitches were 2 and a half before they were bred.
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"...amitie, respect mutuel et amour..."

Annie as admin · Bretonnier Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 1757

Hi Sokoly
From what you write about being in the field with the trainer and Bubba I have deduced the following:
1. She is, as Sue says, far too young to have had pups
2. She may be older than 1 and half - will you see her registration papers before buying then you can check?
3. If she is fat she hasn't been out much so won't have much experience.
4. To point(mark) a bird with little experience and then flush is very good (the birds will be jumpy if they are pairing)
5. To stay within 30/40 metres is also good in a young dog
6. To come back to you is also very good at that age.

My Advice:
1. You have a good dog there
2. You should rescue her now as I am sure this man is in it for money only and will breed her again
3. Make sure she has not been frightened by him - it sounds as if she is OK though
Good luck!
Annie

Sokoly · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:23 pm Post subject:

I kind a noticed that she is sort of affraid of him, perhaps this man had beaten her?????? Can this leave a longterm effects on the dog? Also he said that she is affraid of other dogs and she doesnt like to work when there are other dogs in the field?

Mugi · Bretonnier Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 1304