Tex begins his third spring romping at the dog park. He has that German Shorthair drive to run and swim like he is in a race. The park is the perfect place to let him burn up some pent-up energy and wear him out for a while. At 94 pounds, he is our big moose GSP.
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Here are two wonderful dogs sharing a point that will never happen.
The dog in the back is Rio, a true hunting machine. She was the dog I learned to hunt with and was my hunting buddy for 6 years. We loved that dog but she was a tough animal to have in the house. At times, she was like a wild horse and did more than her fair share of damage. All things considered though, the mischief and cost were worth it. A good dog can get away with quite a lot. Sadly, we lost her to cancer in November of 2011.
Tex, in the foreground, is the sweet boy who is with us now. He is a solid hunter (but not the maniac that Rio was) and is our beloved family dog. With Tex, we get the best of both worlds. Tex was born in February of 2012 so he never got to hunt with Rio. They would have made quite a team.
Hopefully this is a glimpse of heaven.
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Filed under Bird Dogs
When you get old, Santa looks exactly like a UPS driver. A beardless skinny dude who wears shorts no matter what the weather is. This year Santa delivered a full frame Nikon D610 FX camera. This is an upgrade from the DX format camera that took all the pictures in this blog up until now. To test this thing out, Tex and I went to the dog park today and I snapped these shots.
This truly is a phenomenal camera. You can find plenty of reviews on the internet that tell you why this camera is awesome . . . almost as good as you can get. After a couple of days messing around with it, I believe them!
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Tex turns one and a half years old today and is celebrating at doggie day care with his pals. We have had a great summer and very soon Tex will be into his 2nd hunting season. Last year he hunted well and this year we expect him to come into his own. If the stars align, he might get to hunt 6 states this year. No matter what, it should be a great year!
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Here are the rest of the pictures from our hunt at The Bluffs. Be sure to check out “Part 1” as well.
The small Shorthair is a 6 month old bitch named Roux (pronounced [roo]). This is one of the puppies from the earlier post “Cajun-German Shorthaired Pointer Pups Available” where you can see her as a newborn pup. This was her first time hunting and she was astoundingly good!
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Tex turned one year old on the 8th. At just under 90 pounds he is a lot more dog that we expected but we wouldn’t trade him for anything!
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Filed under Bird Hunts
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We lost Rio one year ago today. I can’t believe how fast that year went by! Here are some shots of this beautiful dog.
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Tex is nine months old today. He is right at 80 pounds and a super-sweet guy. Next weekend he will be freezing his pecker off in North Dakota, his first big-time hunt. We will be hunting four days, he has no idea of the fun just ahead!
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Yesterday was a big day for Tex. Not quite 6 months old we put him on live birds for the first time. By nature Tex is a very sweet, mellow dog and we love him in the house but you wonder what will happen when he has feathers in his face. Will he have interest, not to mention intensity and an enthusiasm to hunt? Is he going to get it and fulfill his bird dog destiny, or is he going to lay in the shade under the truck and lick his balls?
Not to worry, Tex gets it. Within 45 minutes he went from mildly curious to a bird dog with fire in his eyes. With guidance from our trainer, John Augustine of Nickel Creek Gun Dogs, we had a tremendously successful day. Tex learned what a game bird is, what they smell like and how they taste. To see the light come on, to see the instinct kick in, to see your puppy perform is an incredible experience. I think I am tearing up.
Tex worked the field well, he picked up scent and worked it to the bird. He pointed and held point well and we were able to shoot over him with no ill effect. You always worry about gun shyness, but happily there was none of that. He did pretty good on the retrieve as well. Being his first time, none of this was flawless or executed consistently but the skills are certainly there. Most importantly he was into it and we have the opportunity to develop a terrific gun dog and also have a wonderful pal back at the ranch.
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My friend Grant from Melville, LA has an awesome litter of GSPs on the ground.
Here is what he says:
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Tomorrow Tex is 5 months old. He still is a puppy but at 48 pounds sometimes it doesn’t seem like it.
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Here is more Tex! He is 81 days old and, in the 4 weeks since he arrived, he has more than doubled in size. These wonderful puppy days are moving by too fast!
Tex left his littermates at Valhalla and came home on
Saturday morning. It was a perfect weekend of puppy fun that started with a quiet, reserved pooch trying to understand a new world and ended with a marauding alpha dog full of vinegar and armed with needles for teeth. Tex is confident, fearless and a very happy dog. We could not be more pleased with him.
Handsome boy!
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