July

When it's 90 plus degrees training session require extra precautions to protect the dogs. Even though you start early in the morning there is a cut off point after which you need to take make sure you have shade and water. Don't leave the dog in a car without the windows open and a fan blowing on the crate.

We arrived at the fields early, set up the holding blinds, gunners' station and starting line quickly but it was hot. Fortunately there was some breeze and shade from the scrub oaks and pines, such as it was.

The dogs ran well, Sport was steady at the line when the guns went off and he found the pheasants without any problem. He returned to the line with a wagging tail and what I felt was a satisfied look. I was glad because as before he picked up the bird and returned directly to me when whistled into the line.

After training we went over to a water area where Sport got into the water and cooled down. The pond full of lilies but the water was clear and it felt about 10 degrees cooler than the training area.

The next day was another training session, here we worked in the water so the dogs were kept cool from the start. Again we picked up the birds with the exception of a cripple that kept swimming away from Sport. A good lesson for him to keep going after a bird, but the to be careful when it tries to swim away.

Where are the quail?

There was no sound of any quail at the training area the other day, not in the tall grasses nor at the edge of the tree line. I did not hear them the next night as we trained so I suspect they either moved to another safer location or more likely were dispatched by the feral cats or foxes.

Training started at 5pm on the shady side of the white pines, there was a breeze but it felt so much cooler than in the open areas. The temperature was dropping but it was still hot in the sun.

We had some birds and Sport was another dog. He does not really care for bumpers, he will go out for them but every time he sees a bumper he lopes out to it and returns to me not in a straight line but in a curved path.

Something is happening at the training area that I find very encouraging for everyone who visits the area. The other day around 5 PM we heard "Bob-bob-white" coming from the unmown areas. Yes, it appears that some quail have found their way into the fields.