Well, since the bird (I really need to think of a name for her....) is down for the count, and there is a lot of snow on the ground, I thought it would be a good day to go scout some fields. Had I planned on doing this, I would have gotten to work early (like on a hawkin day), and would have had plenty of time to drive to some of my new "potential" fields....but I didn't, so it had to be a quick session on the lunch break. Swung by the house, and after putting some more ointment on the bird, grabbed Maggie Mae, and we headed out to the train track field. If you recall, the part of the field I had been hawkin had pretty much dried up on me, so I havn't been here for a cool minute. The habitat is great though, and I KNOW they have to be there somewhere, so we went lookin.
The field is pretty darn large, and I had only been in a small section of it (the part that looked the most condusive to bunnies), so I was hoping to find some new sections to fly. Parked at the normal spot, and quickly passed through the area I normally fly. Like I expected, there where no signs of rabbits, so we broke through the tree line, and started heading back into the open section of the field. Maggie is fat.....really fat. She is also pretty out of shape. See, she has been "neglected" for a bit, b/c of the new baby and bird, and though she started out at break neck speed (as usual), she quickly slowed down. Some of the sections had pretty darn deep snow, and she just wasn't prepared for the snow plowing apparently. She was having a ball though, and since I wanted her to stay pretty tight anyways, it worked out well.
Anyways, started walking through the open section, and after a good minute, she slammed on point pretty darn hard (she was at full run, and when she stopped, she pretty much twisted herself into a half moon shape). I saw her tail twitch, and gave her a "whoa", and she did it! For those of you who don't know Maggie, she doesn't really like to stay on point. She would prefer to hold it till I get pretty near, and then run in and flush (we WHERE workin on this...but being that I'm an irresponsible dog owner, we havn't recently). Anyways, I was psyched, and when I ran in for the flush, two meadow larks busted out from the snow! GOOD GIRL!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, as soon as they busted, Maggie took off after them. I was not pleased with this, but a tiny nick from the collar was all it took, and she was heeling on my side in moments. Told her "alright," and we started cutting over toward the west side of the field searching for more birds. Ryan and I had checked out an abandoned landscaping sort of place over there, and had kicked up a rabbit and saw tons of signs that day. The back part of that property backs up to this field, and it looked like there where little patchs of briars scattered across the open expanse. Maggie was moving slower by now....pretty much just trotting around, and WALKING through the deep stuff, so I stopped lookin for birds, and started focusing on bunnies.
The ground dropped down a bit, into what looked like an old wash out sort of thing. There where little briar clumps everywhere, and we started expoloring those. Pretty quickly, I started to realize that this is where all the rabbits had been hiding, b/c there where TONS of rabbit droppings EVERYWHERE! Pretty much every briar had crap inside of it, and I started getting that "happy rabbit feeling" that we all know and love. Well, found a nice stick laying around, so I started beating brush as I continued on my way. Wasn't too long, before I kicked up a rabbit, and Maggie took off after it. Got a couple reflushs out of it, and then it escaped into a huge patch of briars. Now, I'm not really sure if Maggie has picked up that she is supposed to be "searching" for bunnies or not....I'm pretty sure she just runs around, and when she (or I) kicks one up....then chase is on! Well, that all changed after today! Went and started kicking around in the big briar the bunny had escaped to, and THREE....that's right...count em...one, two, THREE rabbits popped out the back.
Maggie had been on the side perpendicular to me, and when she saw them bolt, she took off! Didn't get very far before she got burned, and came back and started sniffing around the bush like crazy! I guess she got their scent or something, b/c for the rest of the "rabbit" portion of the session, her nose was toward the ground (like it is when we are lookin for birds...)!!! Cut back toward the front portion of the field (that runs along the road), and the briars just got thicker. See...this is what happened...when I used to fly this field, the "rabbit" section I was hitting runs along this same road. It opens up for a bit, and I guess I just assumed that it continued on being open (so I never kept walking). This assumption was correct (in that there arn't many tress, and there really arn't any bushs), but instead of being like the rest of the field and baren, there are TONS of little briar patchs everywhere! It was time to get back to work, so I abandoned my beating stick, and started heading through this part, making my way back to the car. Maggie was pretty much walking by this point (OUT OF SHAPE!!!!), when all of a sudden, she tensed up, and broke straight for a briar patch. Mae doesn't really like to "crash brush" if you will, so I was pretty surprised when she started climbing into the bush (though this one had a lot of honey suckle, so it may have been more "friendly" than the other ones...) Took a short little video clip (as seen here...)
, and then it was time to keep moving on. Well...she left the bush for a little bit, and I continued on my walk. Well, she broke off, and headed straight back to the bush, and started climbing in again. I was like..."may as well", so I walked back to her, and went on the other side of the bush. I started kicking my way through it, and Maggie left the bush, and started circling the side of it. All of a sudden, a rabbit bolts out the side pretty darn near to her, and starts hauling balls toward a tiny briar patch. Well, Maggie dug down to the reserve energy tank, and freakin turned on the after burners. She closes the gap REALLY quickly, and they both get to the briar patch at pretty much the same time. Maggie doesn't even slow down, and just plows into the side, and you're not going to believe this $hit.........SQUEEL!!!!!
I couldn't believe it! I call her over, and she come bounding out of the bush with the rabbit (now dead) in her mouth! I'm pretty dumb founded...I didn't think she had a chance....maybe without snow on the ground or something, but not today. I told her to leave it, and guess what she did????? She left it!!!!! Mind is blown again. I know you don't want your rabbit dogs actually catching the rabbits, but I sure did like the intensity that she chased it with, so split second decision...I tore the head and front legs off, and let her chow down. I left the rabbit body in the snow, and after she finished eating her portion, she started walking over to the rest of the rabbit. Clipped off a few pictures while she was messin with it, but I wouldn't let her pick it up again. I told her to "leave it", and she just sniffed around it. About that time, I decided she was WAY too close (b/c if the bird had caught it, that means Maggie would have gotten her reward, and was now messing with the bird and her rabbit....not cool! Granted, when Dee caught one over her, she respected the hawks space, but I didn't want to give her the idea that it may be ok to come in on it sometimes), so I made her keep her distance. Did a little training at this point...I would walk away and around stuff, etc, etc, and made Maggie keep her distance even when i wasn't around....she did pretty well at this (considering this is the dog that likes to steal food off of counter tops, peoples plates, etc, etc.....lets face it...she has a soft spot for food, and her listening usually goes out the window), and I only had to give her a couple taps from her collar.
Not really sure if I did the correct thing as far as enforcing the behavior and what not.....I'm pretty darn sure I shouldn't have let her get anywhere near the body, but oh well.....it is what it is. Can't go back and change it, so we will progress from here. Got back to the car, stuck her in her kennel, and she had TONS of briars in her chest, face, and front legs....apparently crashing into a briar patchs at full speed after a rabbit has it's consequences. Pulled out as many as I could, but will be spending quite a bit of time with some tweezers tonight. Made it back to work ONLY ten minutes late, so I was pleased with the day!
The field is pretty darn large, and I had only been in a small section of it (the part that looked the most condusive to bunnies), so I was hoping to find some new sections to fly. Parked at the normal spot, and quickly passed through the area I normally fly. Like I expected, there where no signs of rabbits, so we broke through the tree line, and started heading back into the open section of the field. Maggie is fat.....really fat. She is also pretty out of shape. See, she has been "neglected" for a bit, b/c of the new baby and bird, and though she started out at break neck speed (as usual), she quickly slowed down. Some of the sections had pretty darn deep snow, and she just wasn't prepared for the snow plowing apparently. She was having a ball though, and since I wanted her to stay pretty tight anyways, it worked out well.
Anyways, started walking through the open section, and after a good minute, she slammed on point pretty darn hard (she was at full run, and when she stopped, she pretty much twisted herself into a half moon shape). I saw her tail twitch, and gave her a "whoa", and she did it! For those of you who don't know Maggie, she doesn't really like to stay on point. She would prefer to hold it till I get pretty near, and then run in and flush (we WHERE workin on this...but being that I'm an irresponsible dog owner, we havn't recently). Anyways, I was psyched, and when I ran in for the flush, two meadow larks busted out from the snow! GOOD GIRL!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, as soon as they busted, Maggie took off after them. I was not pleased with this, but a tiny nick from the collar was all it took, and she was heeling on my side in moments. Told her "alright," and we started cutting over toward the west side of the field searching for more birds. Ryan and I had checked out an abandoned landscaping sort of place over there, and had kicked up a rabbit and saw tons of signs that day. The back part of that property backs up to this field, and it looked like there where little patchs of briars scattered across the open expanse. Maggie was moving slower by now....pretty much just trotting around, and WALKING through the deep stuff, so I stopped lookin for birds, and started focusing on bunnies.
The ground dropped down a bit, into what looked like an old wash out sort of thing. There where little briar clumps everywhere, and we started expoloring those. Pretty quickly, I started to realize that this is where all the rabbits had been hiding, b/c there where TONS of rabbit droppings EVERYWHERE! Pretty much every briar had crap inside of it, and I started getting that "happy rabbit feeling" that we all know and love. Well, found a nice stick laying around, so I started beating brush as I continued on my way. Wasn't too long, before I kicked up a rabbit, and Maggie took off after it. Got a couple reflushs out of it, and then it escaped into a huge patch of briars. Now, I'm not really sure if Maggie has picked up that she is supposed to be "searching" for bunnies or not....I'm pretty sure she just runs around, and when she (or I) kicks one up....then chase is on! Well, that all changed after today! Went and started kicking around in the big briar the bunny had escaped to, and THREE....that's right...count em...one, two, THREE rabbits popped out the back.
Maggie had been on the side perpendicular to me, and when she saw them bolt, she took off! Didn't get very far before she got burned, and came back and started sniffing around the bush like crazy! I guess she got their scent or something, b/c for the rest of the "rabbit" portion of the session, her nose was toward the ground (like it is when we are lookin for birds...)!!! Cut back toward the front portion of the field (that runs along the road), and the briars just got thicker. See...this is what happened...when I used to fly this field, the "rabbit" section I was hitting runs along this same road. It opens up for a bit, and I guess I just assumed that it continued on being open (so I never kept walking). This assumption was correct (in that there arn't many tress, and there really arn't any bushs), but instead of being like the rest of the field and baren, there are TONS of little briar patchs everywhere! It was time to get back to work, so I abandoned my beating stick, and started heading through this part, making my way back to the car. Maggie was pretty much walking by this point (OUT OF SHAPE!!!!), when all of a sudden, she tensed up, and broke straight for a briar patch. Mae doesn't really like to "crash brush" if you will, so I was pretty surprised when she started climbing into the bush (though this one had a lot of honey suckle, so it may have been more "friendly" than the other ones...) Took a short little video clip (as seen here...), and then it was time to keep moving on. Well...she left the bush for a little bit, and I continued on my walk. Well, she broke off, and headed straight back to the bush, and started climbing in again. I was like..."may as well", so I walked back to her, and went on the other side of the bush. I started kicking my way through it, and Maggie left the bush, and started circling the side of it. All of a sudden, a rabbit bolts out the side pretty darn near to her, and starts hauling balls toward a tiny briar patch. Well, Maggie dug down to the reserve energy tank, and freakin turned on the after burners. She closes the gap REALLY quickly, and they both get to the briar patch at pretty much the same time. Maggie doesn't even slow down, and just plows into the side, and you're not going to believe this $hit.........SQUEEL!!!!!
I couldn't believe it! I call her over, and she come bounding out of the bush with the rabbit (now dead) in her mouth! I'm pretty dumb founded...I didn't think she had a chance....maybe without snow on the ground or something, but not today. I told her to leave it, and guess what she did????? She left it!!!!! Mind is blown again. I know you don't want your rabbit dogs actually catching the rabbits, but I sure did like the intensity that she chased it with, so split second decision...I tore the head and front legs off, and let her chow down. I left the rabbit body in the snow, and after she finished eating her portion, she started walking over to the rest of the rabbit. Clipped off a few pictures while she was messin with it, but I wouldn't let her pick it up again. I told her to "leave it", and she just sniffed around it. About that time, I decided she was WAY too close (b/c if the bird had caught it, that means Maggie would have gotten her reward, and was now messing with the bird and her rabbit....not cool! Granted, when Dee caught one over her, she respected the hawks space, but I didn't want to give her the idea that it may be ok to come in on it sometimes), so I made her keep her distance. Did a little training at this point...I would walk away and around stuff, etc, etc, and made Maggie keep her distance even when i wasn't around....she did pretty well at this (considering this is the dog that likes to steal food off of counter tops, peoples plates, etc, etc.....lets face it...she has a soft spot for food, and her listening usually goes out the window), and I only had to give her a couple taps from her collar.
Not really sure if I did the correct thing as far as enforcing the behavior and what not.....I'm pretty darn sure I shouldn't have let her get anywhere near the body, but oh well.....it is what it is. Can't go back and change it, so we will progress from here. Got back to the car, stuck her in her kennel, and she had TONS of briars in her chest, face, and front legs....apparently crashing into a briar patchs at full speed after a rabbit has it's consequences. Pulled out as many as I could, but will be spending quite a bit of time with some tweezers tonight. Made it back to work ONLY ten minutes late, so I was pleased with the day!
That is way too cool!!!
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