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.