Scott Linden Outdoors

Watch. Learn. Do.

Larry Mueller’s book Speed Train Your Own Bird Dog is a wealth of information. I glommed onto Larry when he was the gun dogs editor of Outdoor Life and I was hosting a radio show for the magazine. His perceptions, insights, and all-around different way of looking at things are still a breath of fresh air, decades after publication of his book and the departure of most of the old-school writers for that venerable magazine. Miss you, Jim Zumbo and Pat McManus!

Anyway, I was re-reading the book last night and came upon a couple references to a pup at age 14 weeks being like a human in their “terrible two’s.” Today, we lived it.

Nothing serious, but some yard work was a mental wrestling match. In the field, a sudden onset of temporary hearing loss. I will consider it much like the beach lifeguard’s yellow flag, and be very, very careful.

Milestone: yesterday, Flick heard his first real shotgun boom. Still a blank, but very realistic in volume and pitch – thanks Fiocchi. If you’re training a puppy the inevitable question is what happened then? Not much. Flick was engrossed in chasing a pigeon (thanks Ronnie Smith), glanced my way to see what the commotion was, then continued his merry chase.

Sunday, wild birds, we hope.