We picked up the new pup today. Okay well not exactly a pup as he is 2. With my current work schedule and that of my girlfriends we decided it just wasnt fair to get a young pup. Ended up going to look at a litter at a local kennel with a buddy and the trainer mentioned he had this dog that needed a good home.

It was the trainers personal dog and has had a virtual butt load of training and shot birds. His marking skills are superb and has force fetch done and a lot of casting training. I couldn't ignore the awesome price not to mention that the trainer is local and offered to let me come train with him any time.

He's all machine in the field but settles right down when told to sit. He LOVES attention and will fit in awesome at our home.

Only got one quick picture before we loaded up for home but I will be posting a bunch more in the next few days.

So without further delay, meet my new duck hunting buddy Onyx.

Yeah buddy!
He looks good.
Now to get the bonding going on, and have a fun life together.
Btw, i did the same thing. I bought trap as a year and a half old, already started.
Smart move for those that haven't the time for a pup.

Nice looking pooch, but ......blind????

L.W.

Oh he's not blind as in cant see, i was referring to a duck blind in my thread title.

He is out of a multiple FC- AFC - NFC bloodline. Both parents hold Master Hunter titles as do the vast majority of the dogs in his pedigree. His sister i believe has 1 pass left on her Senior Hunter then will start Masters this summer.

Two last pics for the night. All tucked in to his new kennel until we know for sure he is house broke. He isn't too enthused about it as he likes to be close but our house is only 9 months old so....

Today we built a wood chip bin as Onyx has learned to void in chips. Seems he may like the chips better then his dog bed for napping so we may soon extend that bin to span the end of his kennel.



Did a little obedience work today as he has had time off am is a little rusty. He's such a cool dog. So mellow on his short trips in the house and just loves to cuddle but is an animal when working.



He absolutely lives and breaths to retrieve.



Hopefully I will have some better pics of my new boy soon

Looks like a lot of great times ahead for both of you.

5 days in and Onyx is adapting well. Still mainly working obedience on the leash to reinforce that but good god does he love to retrieve.



He's adapting well to life in the house after being a kennel dog for all of his life. Nights are still a little rough in the kennel as he isn't used to being alone and we clearly have some separation anxiety issues to work through.



Gee doesn't he look so traumatized.

Nice. !

Dump the indoor kennel at night idea. You'll do it eventually anyway.

I wish I full trusted him in the house overnight not to pee. He's only 5 days removed from being in a 5x10 kennel every night and had never seen the inside of a house prior to last Thursday

They catch on pretty quick at that age. If you don't have a problem during the day, I doubt you will at night.

We still have the rare attempt to soil and let me tell ya momma ain't happy when he tries to piss on her fancy furniture. He'll I can't even set on it and am jealous I can't piss on it.....

He's doing well all in all and I'm guessing by week end he will be in with us at night

Nice find. Good luck and congrats.

Thank you sir. He managed to sleep inside last night for the first time with nary an issue.

He is still a little sporadic on eating, he will hesitate to eat for a day or so then eat normally. I think that is a virtue of his being used to being in his kennel with 30 other dogs around so meal time was a group event.

We went to friends for dinne last night an put his food down with the other dogs and he ate it right up.

Trying the tough luck approach for a few days. his food goes down for 30 minutes and if he doesnt eat we pick it up until the next meal with no dog treats in between. guessing he will quickly figure out that he needs to eat when given food or he loses out.

i know he wont starve but its still a bit peculiar.

Otherwise we love him and life is good.

I unquestionably cherish Buddy, Ivy, Mojo, Jimmy, and the group. It is a split snortin� great story! I spent the day meandering through my remembrances of my first adore while perusing Blind Buddy. It without a doubt afffected me quite profoundly.

how's onyx doing ?

haven't seen any updates.

when is your first hunt test ?

Splatt,

He's doing Awesome so far, running triple marks almost flawlessly. Junior tests shouldn't be a huge stretch so we have been working on senior stuff level stuff and starting back on handling soon.

Not sure when we will run the first test but thinking April work depending.

How's Trap doing for you.

He is great.
Next hunt test's are April 27 and 28.
He should get his last 2 passes and his title.
Gotta find out if i can also enter him in a senior level test at the same time.
If so, pass or fail, I'll know what to work on for the fall tests.
Going on 10 months of owning him. He has adjusted well. No potty in the house, no chewing, and unlike a dog, never barks.....
He is super quiet. Whine and groans when we play, kinda like trying to talk.

Keep us posted on onyx. I like life stories of older (not puppies) dogs adapting/bonding to a new life.

Will do

Well?
How is everything going?

In thinking onyx should ace JR's. have tests 05/05 and 05/12 then probably the double header at Sauvies Island Ore to wrap that up.

Onyx is doing 100+ yd marks super well and we are working on 75-80yd blinds. He's still rough on whistle sits and that's likely all that I holding him back from being a great handling dog.

Fingers crossed that we can get a senior pass or 2 by end of summer

sounds great.
is he doing whistle sits well enough to recast ?
how are his line manners and honoring ?
talking to some people, the honoring fails alot of dogs.

it seems the jump from jr to sr is quite a step. i am going to go watch sr this go around so i can get a feel for what's going on.
it's a double mark, the first being a memory, then a blind.
I wanna see how they set it all up and watch the handlers and dogs closely.
no collars, no talking to the dog, no touching. all the dog following at heel your body positions.
cheryl told me you get one handle in the sr marks. the blind is judged on how well the dog takes casts.

guess we will both see how well we home trained and progress with our dogs.
i am happy with the level trap is right now for any hunting situations we may encounter.
the doggie games are for fun during the off hunting season, and to confirm the higher training levels we achieve.
it sure beats the both both of us sitting on the couch all summer and getting fat.

Splatt,

I'm glad to hear Trap is doing good for you, sounds like his next 2 JR's should go easy and he's well on the way to Sr's. Onyx is doing very well. He stops on the whistle am eventually sits (3-5 seconds) and definitely recasts but isn't as "crisp" as he will be so.

So far Onyx has awesome line manners with super rare breaks and he is easily stopped and reheeled but I have yet to see a dog that has never broke. He is still a bit rough on honoring but I don't see me attempting a senior test until July or August. At this point we still need to do a little more work on the whistle sits, handling and blinds then onto honoring.

I agree, all I want in the end is a good bird dog. I would be content with a jr title and the ability to handle. Unfortunately my dog has way too much bloodlines not to try for master hunter to make him worth breeding.

My dog is out of an FC- AFC stud with multiple generations of FC, AFC, NFC,Master Hunter and Master National Hunters. He has produced several AFC, NFC and Master National dogs. So the pedigree is there to succeed and if he does I would love to spread the bloodlines.

All that aside my focus is my 4 Jr tests before Memorial Day.

Hey buddy,
How is onyx doing?
Updates, pics!

I know I have a new pup. I know I have admitted to myself I'm too old to be chasing/hunting with a flushing dog. But GOD, I miss my 2 Labs. Had the 1st one for over 10 years. Got the 2nd one a year before my first one left me and had my Bridger dog for 11 years. THANK you for your pictures. Enjoy your dog.