The Vizsla Newzsletter (Apr/May 98)
"The Starting Point"
As the Grizzled One sees it!
- Chapter 4 -
By Roy Greffin

Photo: Gellert (Sage Grouse of Szep-Allat)
owned by Peter & Vicky Jones
enjoys a day's field trialling on April 5th

The area that the Grizzled One wanted King to work was a few moments walk from the parking lot where the van was. He did not want to turn King loose until they reached that spot. It was an area that was not near roads or highways and hopefully had few or no other hunters so King would have to wait to be turned loose until they got there. It was a pretty fall morning. Not at all like the foul weather of the day before at the Chain. A crisp, blue, cloudless sky. Air temperature about 30 degrees. Most of the frost cover had melted in the morning sun. Just enough of a breeze to move scent around. A great day for a guy(or gal) to be out in the field with their gundog.

Time for another photo: Kushla at home on the chair

The hunter headed towards the last place he had seen King, veering to the right though because the dog would have kept moving against the breeze unless he came across scent and was working that. If that was the case, hopefully the beeper would let the Grizzled One know what his dog was up to. As he reached the tree line there was no beeper sound. The Grizzled One crossed through the tree line to the other side to see if he could spot King moving in the area beyond the line. A large grass field bordered that side of the line but no familiar flash of blaze orange or call from the beeper was there. "Well then, the big boy must have run the line to its end," thought the Grizzled

One. So he walked back to the other side of the line and began moving along towards where the corn strips lie. As he neared the end of the tree line he suddenly heard, very faintly, the beeper. The sound was in the long, drawn out sound mode of the dog standing motionless. Knowing King, the Grizzled One was positive the dog was standing on game. Taking a quick glance at his watch the hunter figured that the dog must have been standing on game for 3 to 4 minutes at that point. The pheasant, if that was what King was standing on, must be getting a bit antsy what with the dog standing near him and the beeper giving out its signal. The Grizzled One thought that a quiet approach was in order to lessen the chances of a premature flush. However, he did want King to know that he was in the area and on his way. Knowing his handler was coming would lessen some of the stress that was building up in the dog. The Grizzled One began his low sing-song of "easy-easy-easy" that he used when King was working game in competition. Zeroing in on the beeper calls the Grizzled One finally spotted a bit of blaze orange in weedcover adjacent to a cornstrip. Moving in a circular pattern so that he would emerge in the dog's peripheral vision and then move in to work the bird, rather than come up from behind the dog and move to its front, the Grizzled One came in carefully, now giving King a low "stay" command. Carefully noting the direction of the dog's intense gaze the Grizzled One moved that way and all of a sudden the weeds exploded as a gray-brown missile hit the air. A hen pheasant. Even though hens were legal game the Grizzled One really did not want to drop it. He fired a round from his little side by side straight up into the air, watching his dog carefully. King did not move an iota. Now the acid test. Gunners miss birds in competition all the time and the dog must be able to properly handle such a situation. The Grizzled One gave the "heel" command to King. Proper performance required that the dog turn and move in an opposite direction the bird had flown. To move forward in the direction the bird went would be regarded as a "delayed chase" and in competition would disqualify the dog from the event. In that the dog had been standing on point on the pheasant for a period of time and a shot had been fired and the adrenalin was racing through the dog's body it would be understandable that he would want to find and retrieve that bird. This was always a racing moment for the handler. What would the dog do? King truly lived up to his name at that moment. He regally turned and walked by the left side of the Grizzled One who reached down and gently stroked an ear and gave the big pointer an affectionate "good boy". After walking about 100 feet from where the bird had flushed, the Grizzled One put King on stay and then tooted him on. The big dog made a gorgeous cast towards weedcover that lie at the end of a cornstrip about 150 yards away. What a morning. The Grizzled One felt privileged on days like this. His buddy had executed an almost perfect piece of birdwork and it was all his own training. He felt real good.

As he approached the weedcover, King made a half-circle swing that would bring him downwind of the weedcover, Before he could finalize his move a cock pheasant flushed out of the weedcover and flew first towards the Grizzled One and then the bird, spotting him, made an abrupt right turn and headed towards the tree line that King had earlier scanned. What would King do? Proper bird manners dictated that he stand, frozen in time and space until commanded. The Grizzled One thought to himself," Well King gets another acid test this morning." The dog was too far to hear any verbal commands. In competition when a situation like this arises, if the dog is close enough to hear a gunshot then the handler would fire his gun in the air, the dog would swing his head around and see his handler who could, by hand signal command the dog to come to him. If the dog was too far to hear a gunshot then the handler would have to "move his/her buns" and get to the dog as soon as possible. Then fire a shot into the air and order the dog to "heel" and cast it off in a different direction from that which the flying bird took. The problem with King's situation was that the flushed pheasant had flown towards the Grizzled One and he could not do anything that might cause the pointer to break off his stand and move towards him. While it would not be technically a delayed chase, it certainly would not be a class performance. The thing here is that in competition, a handler tries to "sell" his/her dog , to the judges., whenever the chance arises. If King would have "broke"(left his point and chased the bird} the Grizzled One would have called him back in and resumed the hunt. This was, after all, R&R for the dog. However, King had performed beautifully and the Grizzled One had to do what was best for helping the dog stay "clean"; that is not committing an error in bird handling that would have disqualified him in competition. The only course of action here was for the Grizzled One to walk towards the standing dog and when close enough so the dog would hear order him to "stay. Then come up to him, give him another "stay" and fire a round into the air. Give him the "heel" command and walk him a ways in the opposite direction from the bird flight and cast him off. Everything went like clockwork. As King ran towards a distant thicket, the Grizzled One looked at his watch. It was time to start swinging King and move towards the parking lot. The Grizzled One hoped that in the time remaining the opportunity to shoot a bird over King would arise but, even without that, it had been a great morning. King's bird manners had been, so far impeccable. The big red dog had left the thicket area and was making a cast that put him moving directly across the Grizzled One's front at about 100 yards. The old hunter figured that King would keep moving in that direction as there was a small tree line and thicket clumps in front of him. That would be in the general direction of the parking lot and would place both of them on the top of the rise overlooking the bowl that they had hunted.

When they reached the parking lot, a couple of hunters, taking a midmorning break from their hunting, asked what kind of dog King was. The Grizzled One, always anxious to promote the Vizsla breed, gladly answered all their questions and added additional information. During the course of conversation the hunters told the older hunter that they had not even seen a pheasant that morning. The Grizzled One wished that he had a bird or two to give them but he didn't. He thought about asking them if they would like to hunt over King but decided against that. King had run hard that morning and had performed well. No, it was time for him to pack it in and go home. As they neared the van, King, who was walking on the Grizzled One's left suddenly swung to the left and went on point. Looking, with great intensity, at a red dogwood thicket that was near the edge of the parking lot, jutting up out some tall grass. Giving King the "stay" command, the Grizzled One dropped his lead and walked to where the two hunters he had just conversed with were still standing. "My dog is standing on point over there and if you fellows want to take the shot you are welcome" he said to the men. As they walked towards where King was standing the Grizzled One give them his rules. He would position them in a way that was best for the dog and them. He would handle the dog and flush the bird. If the bird flew towards and across the parking lot they would have to let it go. Under no circumstances would there be any ground shooting. They agreed and so upon reading the standing dog the Grizzled One put each hunter in position and then came in from King's right front to work the bird. As he neared the dog the Grizzled One looked at the area of the thicket that King was staring at and spotted the tail feathers of a cock pheasant." OK. gentleman we have a nice rooster sitting in the dogwood. He is facing away from the parking lot so I think I will be able to flush in the direction of the open field. If that happens, he is all yours" Giving King a quiet "stay" command, the Grizzled One quickly moved towards the bird making stamping sounds as he walked. A simultaneous explosion of color and the cackling cry of a ringneck cock pheasant occurred and two shotguns detonated. The bird dropped and the Grizzled One informed the two hunters that he was going to send King for the retrieve. The Grizzled One gently tapped King on the head while giving him the "fetch" command. King, who had stood motionless through the whole proceeding, bounded towards where the bird had dropped, snapped it up and bounded back to the Grizzled One to whom he presented the bird. Handing the bird over to the closest hunter the Grizzled One said "You fellows will have to decide who the bird goes to. It was nice shooting". Having seen King in action the two hunters began to ask more specific questions about Viszlas and where they could be obtained. The Grizzled One gave each of them a card with his name and phone number on it and told them to call him if they were serious and he would put them in touch with Viszla breeders. After the ritual of eyewashing and some warm water with fructose, King was crated in the van and the duo was on the way home. It had been a fantastic morning.

"What time was that fellow supposed to be here with the puppy?"asked "she who must be obeyed" as she poured a bowl of soup out for the Grizzled One's lunch. "Around 4 o'clock" replied the Grizzled One. "We should have just enough daylight to introduce the pup to live birds. You think you might want to help?" "I might come out and watch after a while but I am going to leave you men solo it this time. I'll have a pot of coffee ready when you fellows are through with the puppy " his wife retorted. "Suit yourself. That coffeepot sounds good. We will be ready for some when we are finished. In the meantime I have to go out and check the electric shocking system on the pigeon coop. When I went out to the pens this morning to feed and water the birds the testing light for the shocker was a bit dim. I am going to have to check all the connections in the system otherwise a marauding raccoon might be able to get into one of the pens."

Like so many, what seems be a simple task becomes complicated and time consuming, troubleshooting the electrical shock system for the bird pens became more involved and time consuming than the Grizzled One had anticipated and late afternoon was suddenly there. Everything seemed to be ok with the shocking system. Bre'r Coon would have his fur coat stand up straight if he tried to turn the Grizzled One's bird pens into a free lunch counter. After snagging and bagging( Griz uses specially constructed vinyl mesh bags that allow for a free flow of air to the birds inside the bag) 8 pigeons, the Grizzled One snagged a 9th pigeon that he put into an old sock of his. The sock had holes in it that allowed the bird's head, feet, and tail to be exposed. The wings were encased inside the sock. The bird would not be able to flap its wings and possibly startle Benji the pup. This was, after all, the puppy's first contact with a live bird and the Grizzled One wanted it to be the kind that would leave the puppy panting for more bird.

A few minutes before 4:00, a car swung into the Grizzled One's driveway. The Grizzled One immediately spotted a brand new dog crate on the back seat. "The young fellow does learn. This is good" thought the old hunter. He showed Ed around his place, pointing out the bird pens and the peculiarities of each. Upon his instruction, Benji was allowed out of his crate and the freedom to follow his nose wherever he wanted to go on the Grizzled One's place, which was all fenced in. "Let the pup bum around the place for a little while and while he is satisfying his curiosity we'll have a cup of my wife's great coffee and talk a little bit about what we are gong to do with Benji today."

Sitting on the Grizzled One's deck, sipping hot coffee, Ed was told how Benji's introduction to live birds would be played out. Finishing their coffee, the two men headed out towards the bird pens. Opening the pigeon coop door, the Grizzled One handed Ed a 12 foot checkcord that was attached to a very wide dog collar covered with a bright yellow color . "Put this on your dog. No matter how hard he pulls he can't hurt himself with this kind of collar." While Ed was placing the collar on Benji the Grizzled One opened the door to the pigeon coop and took out a bamboo fishing pole with the wing and string attached to it. He reached inside the coop again and brought out another fishing pole that had a line that was attached to the sock that encased the pigeon described earlier. The Grizzled One gently placed the pigeon into the gamebag of the hunting vest he was wearing. Picking up both poles he walked out into the center of the yard that the pens were located in and called to Ed to bring Benji over. When Ed and the pup reached him, he gave Ed the pole with the wing and string and told him to work Benji with it for a while. After the puppy had made his third point on the pheasant wing, the Grizzled One instructed Ed to quickly conceal the pheasant wing and the encased pigeon was brought out and slowly swung in the air to catch the eye of the puppy and when that was accomplished, the pigeon was gently lowered to the ground. Downwind from the puppy, Benji immediately went on point at the sight of the encased pigeon. Unlike the piece of pheasant wing though, the encased pigeon exuded odors no dead pheasant wing could ever do plus it walked around at bit. Too much for the pup. Benji charged and the fishing pole flicked the bird up and beyond the puppy's reach and lowered it to the ground at a different location, still downwind from the puppy. Again a point, again the bird walks and the pup charges. Two more successful contacts (pup pointed) are made, at which time the Grizzled One tells Ed to pick up the checkcord and walk Benji out of the area. The encased pigeon is released and put back into the coop, the poles put away and the first of the two mesh bags of pigeons is placed over one of the Grizzled One's shoulders.

The Grizzled One took a pigeon out of the bag and quickly put it to sleep (gently place the pigeon's head under a wing , exert mild pressure on the wings, gently pull the feet straight out to the back of the bird. If done properly the bird can then be planted and the trainer can expect the bird to be there when the training dog is brought up) and placed it in one of the grass strips that made up the yard in that area.(The Grizzled One lets 1 to 2 footwide strips of grass grow uncut in that particular area. This makes for great training for young dogs) He called to Ed to bring the puppy up on the check cord and pointed to the area that he wanted Ed to stand holding the checkcord. It was, of course, downwind from the planted pigeon. Ed did as he was bid and almost instantly the puppy was drinking in the enticing smell of live pigeon. But, he couldn't see it. Where was it? He was going to look for it! "Hold his checkcord tight Ed. I am going to put this bird into the air" The Grizzled One carefully put a booted toe under the sleeping pigeon and lofted it up into the air. In an instant the pigeon was awake and with flapping wings airborne. Benji was having cat fits at the end of the checkcord. "Why didn't he point that bird instead of lunging the way he did" asked Ed. "Because he thinks he has to see it. He has to learn to trust his nose. He has to learn that when bird scent is of a certain intensity there is a bird there. He doesn't have to see it. What we are doing now is helping him learn that. The pointing will naturally fall into place".The Grizzled One had Ed walk the pup away from the area. The puppy , of course, thought there was a bird in every grass clump. "Good boy," thought the Grizzled One as he watched the pup; "you're looking and that is great." He planted another pigeon and called Ed to bring the pup up again on the sleeping bird. Same reaction. The pup got scent of the bird, wanted to follow the scent to its source; a taut checkcord preventing him from jumping the bird and the bird flushed. The scenario repeated itself three more times. "What is the matter with my dog," asked Ed. He's acting like he doesn't know what pointing is!" The Grizzled One replied, "Ed your dog is really doing fine. He is birdy, he is picking up scent, he wants to find the birds. The pointing is going to come, trust me. However, I think he has had enough for this session. You have to watch it with training. Keep the sessions short and as much fun as possible for the dog. There are days when the dog just will not address the task that the trainer wants him to. Stop the training session and do something entirely different. Take the dog for a run, throw a retrieving dummy. Anything that is a complete change of pace and is something the dog loves to do. Don't ever let the situation become a ego power struggle where the handler-trainer is determined he is going to make the dog perform. As a judge I have seen too many young dogs sit down, lay down, or "blink" (deliberately avoid) situations that have high stress levels (birdwork, backing etc.) because they have been over trained on these situations and the training has created such high levels of anxiety that the dog copes by sitting down, laying down, or blinking. These are only dogs Ed. They are not machines. Treat them right and they will generally do what you want them to do. Always remember, the best of them makes mistakes. Never, never allow this to become a ego thing with you. Enjoy your dog for what it is and it will come through for you. None of us ever has a perfect day every day of our life and the same is true of your hunting buddy. If ever the idea of the Golden Rule applied it does here. You treat your dog as you would like to be treated and you and your pup will be fine."

Ed declined the offer of hot coffee, had to get home to supper, but he and the Grizzled One agreed that they would work on Benji same time tomorrow. As Ed's car left the driveway for the road to the highway, the Grizzled One went into his pigeon coop and shagged the birds into the now vacant squabbie enclosure and put the birds that were not used in the training session in there also. He did not want the flock leaving the coop so late in the day, The birds used in the training session were on the roof of the coop waiting for the coop flight door to be opened so that they could get inside to their food and water. In a matter of minutes the flock was secured in their coop and the Grizzled One was headed towards the house where "She Who Must Be Obeyed" was preparing their supper. Before he entered the house the Grizzled One took a last look at the glowing western sky. A late foursome of Mallards came rocketing out of the twilight purple of the East and dropped into a pocket of open water in the marsh behind the house. The November air had a bite to it it had not yet displayed that fall; "Hard freeze tonight" thought the Grizzled One as he stepped into the warm glow of the house..It had been a good day.

Editors Note: We are printing this story for your enjoyment. While there is much good advice in it, PLEASE REMEMBER that it is written for the USA reader and much of the advice may not be relevant to NZ conditions. As examples, we do not have many of the hunting titles mentioned and asking our conservation about hunting dog breeders is probably a waste of your time.