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Posts Tagged ‘puppies’

The perfect combination; Pheasant Fest continues

Posted in News, tagged , , , on January 30, 2011| 2 Comments »

W.C. Fields once said “anyone who hates kids and dogs can’t be all bad.”

He was wrong. Way, way wrong. Watch:

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Pheasant Fest … more raw footage – enjoy!

Posted in News, tagged , , , , , , on January 29, 2011| 3 Comments »

More more more! Dogs, some kids, what could be cuter? Today’s greatest hits from the show floor.

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Pheasant Fest 2011: your first puppy fix and a few obscure breeds

Posted in News, tagged , , , , on January 28, 2011| 4 Comments »

Walk the aisles, smell the puppy breath. And meet some new breeds, too:

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What the (young) dog has taught me … so far

Posted in hunting dog, News, tagged , , , , , , , on July 19, 2010| 3 Comments »

Every day, in every way, Manny is a wonder. By keeping an open mind, I can learn as much as he does as he grows physically, emotionally, and intellectually. And there’s the pressing motivation of that fleeting time when he’s a puppy … moldable, impressionable, as Rush says, a “skull full of mush” just waiting to be influenced.

Settle down, boy, it's sleepy time.

He’s going on 15 weeks old today and so we’re still working on basics of all sorts. (I’m sure I’ll be able to say that for quite a while.) Many of the lessons don’t have a place of prominence, or even a place, in most of the books and videos I’ve seen. So here’s hoping my putting electronic pen to electronic paper will help you with your next (or current) pup.

Today’s lesson: sleeping through the night.

[Anyone who brags that their 10-week-old pup sleeps through the night is either a). very lucky; or b). hallucinating. A young dog’s bladder simply isn’t big enough to retain the fluid his body creates, so is likely somewhat dehydrated if he can “hold it” all night.]

That said, we were getting a good five hours of blissful REM sleep before the whimpering started when Manny was 10 (more…)

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Q&A re: pups and new owners … what’s critical, what’s not?

Posted in Bird hunting, hunting dog, News, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »

What does a breeder look for in an owner?

[Recent correspondence from a friend … Read my response, then ponder: how would YOU answer this?]

Question – one of my sons is in the market for a Griffon and like yours he wants a hunter and not a “show dog” – maybe they are one and the same but I’ve always had better luck going with a breeder who actually hunts their dogs vs. a breeder who is only showing their dogs. Anyway, wondered if you knew of any local breeders? I also seem to recall that a couple of your friends (you introduced me to one couple in Fields) actually had a Griffon too. Local could be the state of OR, ID, WA or northern part of Northern CA. Believe you told me your current dog is your second or third Griffon and that it is from a kennel back east.

Answer – My guy’s a German Wirehair but I can address the question nonetheless, at least in part. Griffs are a bit unique in that there are actually two breed clubs in the U.S. Philosophical differences separate them, but more practically, both monitor their breeding/sales pretty carefully. They want certain types of new owners and I’m not familiar with the current criteria but likely they include willingness to show, test and cooperate with their breeding system (which sometimes means not breeding your dog, or breeding it to dogs you may/may not like). (more…)

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