MiLisCer

Speak to Graham http://www.riverswaygundogs.co.uk/ Mike

Rob, PM replied too. Mike

Well I've since "moved" to the area for my sins! Mike

553 Graphic sight - bought for my son - never even been on a gun. Boxed with new batteries and instructions. Fits weaver/picitanny rails, with QD locking system. Red and Green switchable reticle, with auto/manual brightness control. Auto shut off etc £65 posted RMSD (paypal or cheque) - can collect from Stoke-On-Trent if you like Mike

When Huw replies - listen to what he has to say - he is a really nice guy and knows his stuff - if he says forget it - then forget it. He will be open and honest with you! Mike

If you are sure Monday was day 63 - then I would be speaking to the vet first thing in the morning or even a quick call to them tonight, just so they can be made aware and give you some advice (Unless Apache is on tonight) - I never let mine go past 65 days without vet intervention/check Good luck, hopefully they will arrive tonight Mike

£129 per test, with £42 per additional possible sire!! http://www.dna-worldwide.com/pet-dna/dog-parentage-test/

Double post - can a mod remove this one please

I use A Sig 522 SWAT for .22 Gallery and it is a great little tool for the job, fitted with an Eotech sight - Ive put an awful lot of rounds through mine and as of yet (touch wood) never had a FTF or FTE. For actual gallery rifle - I use a Marlin in .44 Mike

Try Andy Richardson https://www.facebook.com/pages/Safari-in-Scotland/148423851859766?v=info Mike

With respect to people - dogs are not deaf - they do not need a load blast of the whistle, soft quiet whistle commands, same as soft quiet voice commands and your dog will learn to listen in for the commands - if you always blast the whistle all the time, what do you do when it all goes wrong? - I can sop my pointers at a couple of hundred yards with a gentle pip on the whistle - no need to blow your lungs out. You have all seen and heard people in the line blasting their whistle constantly - but what about the guy/girl who quietly uses their whistle - I bet you a pound their dog is more responsive to them Mike

edited out

They are great 'fowling dogs - and not too shoddy around the shoot either - I would not be without one now. Mike

Feed the food which suits your dog - not the food that suits the owner Mike

It is also first class stuff - lots of Boarding kennels & Catteries are using it. Our vets now use it too (He boards his dogs with us) Mike

As someone who does this large scale!! We now use Mistral - http://mistralie.co.uk/catalogue/product/214/ODOURFRESH-PET-DISINFECTANT---Standard?gclid=CLONzrGMyq0CFVBlfAodPmy-gA I have used most of the others over the years - stopped using Trigene when I was a RAFP dog handler after several dogs were badly burnt by it. You can get it in 5 litre bottles for home use - the "flavours" actually do smell really nice - we use Baby powder and bubble gum flavours in the kennels and they smell really good. It kills all known bugs/germs and is also a cleaner too. It is safe for the dogs, ferrets, chickens, birds etc too Mike

Take a lot of what you read on the International Fools Forum with a pinch of salt - there are some brilliant falconers on there - but more than its share of fools and idiots. Mike

Hi I am a bit far from you, but if you ever get up this way, you are more than welcome to come out with the birds, both the wife and I hunt with Falcons (Game), Hawks (Both Harris Hawks and Red Tails) and we also fly an Eagle at Hare. Regards Mike

Of course it is not! Enjoy her and let her learn at her own pace Mike

I don't know you or your dog - but from reading what you have written, I would say he is not holding his points - which is the problem, not that he is not steady to flush. As Jan has said, if he is holding his points you can get up to him prior to the flush and reinforce the drop with your voice/presence - if he is just flash pointing, then you are going to have more work to do. Are you working him in areas with large amounts of pheasant or where there are just one or two he has to work to find? Mike

Got a friend with a dog or two? This is a one session training fix! Put your dog on the LEAD and walk him somewhere where you know there will be no other dogs on the day - get your friend to appear at the other end of the field/park/path whatever with his dog(s) off the lead. As SOON as you see him and the dogs, sit your dog up and gently praise/reward. If your dog tries to pull to the other dogs, turn around and walk off out of sight of them - repeat until your dog is sitting before YOU even see your friend and their dogs appear. Now for the reward - once your dog is sitting and not imitating a salmon on a line, gently slip off his lead, keeping him in the sit and then let him go and play with the other dog(s) - this is under your control, you have let him go and see them - not under his own steam. This is a very easy and quick fix, it is also essential, as not all dogs are going to be friendly to your lab charging in to see them, neither will their owners be. You will find, that as long as you are consistent, you lad will start to sit whilst out with you when he sees another dog - gives YOU the control to either bring him in and clip him up or let him play. Mike

Best ever memory of a retrieve, Winter 1994, just outside Stirling in Scotland. Open Lab trial, I was number 4 in the line. We set off at just after 1030am, walking in a line. Cock bird broke cover and was shot to my left. No1 dog was asked to retrieve what looked like a strong runner. The dog was sent for the bird, after about 40 yards it flushed a Roe doe that was hiding flat in the reeds - the Bambi ran across the line from left to right - 9 of the 12 dogs chased the deer, including my bitch. The dog to my right who ran in too, then went on to retrieve the pheasant which No1 dog had failed to find. That was 10 dogs out of the trial and it was only about 1033am!! - long drive home. I went on to make that bitch up to FTCH though. Mike

Ok, everyone bangs on about hips and elbows, but an awful lot don't actually know what they mean. I get lots of enquirers asking what the pups hip scores are and do they have clear eyes. A quick break down for folk. Ensure both parents have low hip scores (The pups won't get scored until they are over 12 months old) the current breed average for labs is either 15 or 16 (I cant recall and don't have the time to check) this is the total of both hips, so a dog with 4:3 hips has a total of 7. Elbows - ONLY ever buy a pup from parent that have 0 elbows - you often see people post 0:0 elbows, no such thing. The results are either a total of 0, 1, 2 or 3. (but it makes it easier for folk to understand by putting 0:0 etc) Dogs used to breed from MUST have a clear current eye certificate - not 2 years out of date - The DNA test only looks for Prcd-PRA and not the other conditions labs get - these are important. You should also be looking for dogs which are genetically clear of Prcd-PRA (optigen tested or the Laboklin test for the same) and also clear for CNM - there are now a host of other DNA tests available and the AHT are also looking at a DNA test for hip dysplasia. The pedigree of the dog is NOT so important if you want a nice shooting dog/family pet etc - it only becomes important when you are looking for a top end trialling hound - and even then, a lot of that is stigma. To prove a point, I bought a young bitch last summer from a nothing matting - she only has 2 FTCH in her 5 generation pedigree - she won her first novice trial in September, first time out. To me, for a lab, looks are equally important. I like a lab to look like a lab and not like a lurcher or a collie, it needs to be able to swim in a flooding tide and pick my ducks or jump a 5 bar gate carrying a goose - some of these little snipey trial labs struggle to jump a fence with a rabbit! Try and see both parents - if the bitch owner does not own the stud dog, find out who does and either get some photos or go and see it if you can. Make sure you find parents that you like the look of. Once you know who the parents are, put the mating through the KC mate select, Mating Inbreeding Coefficient Prediction page. This will show the inbreeding coefficient of the matting against the breed mean - you should get a good idea from here about whether or not the breeder has thought about the matting. Mike

Take this as it is intended and not as some will see it. This problem has been created by you, at the start of the season, you had a nice dog that behaved well. Now he runs in. In all probability this will be down to your eagerness and lack of discipline. He would have learnt that shortly after the bird(s) hitting the floor he gets to retrieve one - when in fact as a young dog in his first season he, should have only been picking one or 2 in each session - this has led him to believe that all the birds are for him and he can go and get them as this pleases dad. Simple solution (and it is simple honestly) take him out shooting or picking up (as has been said without your gun) if you are walking then keep him on the lead at heel at first, if you are stood (either picking up or whatever) stand with YOU between the dog and where any birds are going to fall - as the birds are falling re-enforce the stay if need be - he is not going to get a retrieve today anyway (well not like this) - once the drive/shooting is over, leave him on the drop and YOU pick the birds by hand - do NOT take your eye off your dog - if he moves, correct him. Once the birds are all picked, return to your dog - do NOT call him to you - that will just encourage him to break his stay. Sort out the birds for the bag etc - but keep one out. Drop in to some COVER somewhere and use this for a 30/40m blind retrieve - to reward him for being good. For the rest of this season NEVER send him for a bird laying dead in the open - if it is a runner, wait until it hits cover before sending him. Mike

Sorry to be blunt, but those that know me will tell you that is how I am - You should have trained him before you started hunting him. A new dog will always pull a little from its initial training, but you should have seen this happening and correct it at the time. Once he has learned to range (or run riot) then you have got your work cut out. Go back to basics, teach him to STOP - this will be invaluable in stopping him going to far, as you can simply stop him, calm him, and re-direct him. Teach him to hunt his ground tight to you - you a combination of hand and body to do this, combined with the turn whistle - but I would suggest only introducing the turn whistle once he is turning in response to hand and body movement. NEVER let him range. Mike