JUST ROCKY

The Field Trial season ended last week with the Lake States Championship Open Derby. Rocky ran well but unfortuantely went birdless and didn't place. So I picked him up from Scott Chaffee and took him to hunt a few days at LoBanks and give him some fun and R&R.

Don't ever let anyone tell you a field trial pointer won't make a good companion dog. Rocky came into LoBank and claimed the couch. I'm sure he thought he'd gone to a 5 star all-inclusive resort! He slept on the bed with Lu and I and had to be dragged up in the morning to go outside.

At 15 months old, Rocky has the breeding, the style on the ground, the speed and the strength to be a good competitor. What he needs now is experience. Grouse that have been hunted all season run like pheasants and flush wild well ahead of you. He bumped his share of the jumpy grouse and simply has to learn just how close he can get to them without putting them to flight. Thats something you can't teach a dog; its something he has to learn through experience and exposure to alot of wild birds.

Grouse season closes now for the firearms deer season but re-opens December 1st thru December 31st. Two years ago we had no snow and 40 degrees most of the month but last year a blizzard came in the first weekend of December and we didn't see the ground again until mid April.

If the snow comes we'll start again in the spring and get him into as many birds as possible but hopefully we'll have another weekend or two.