Wilkes,
Thanks and yes he is going to have some field time in that he will be 8months old come hunting season.
Toby has slowed down since last year, but he is big for a Cocker. Much like a stout Springer and it has worn on him.
Besides day trips, four of us-the other three pointer Men-rent a cabin up North for a week and spend the time hunting Grouse and hitting the Game Lands for stocked Pheasant. So Merlo should get into a lot of stocked Birds at minimum.
As an aside, Toby is trained to hup-or stop on a whistle-when a Pointers beeper goes off and he doesn't mess up their points. Merlo will have an early problem with that but we will work him into it.
On of the guys also raises a bunch of Quail to train his Dogs on, so Merlo will get to fool with them before the season.
Then three three of us are heading to Michigan for a week and usually get into a fair amount of Woodcock which should be great for a young Dog. Not sure exactly where we are going. One guy cancelled out this year and I was offered the chance to go.
Last week on a friends farm there is a pond and Merlo was jumping in and retrieving sticks. Toby was along and when he saw him going in, it took about 30minutes and he took the plunge. Fun to watch. I have it on my cell phone, but as of now haven't figured out how to upload it onto Google or Youtube and transfer it to here.
Lord willing, if things work out it should be a fun year.
I think you need another Boykin or start looking at a Cocker.
