HEY...BOOG....you calling me a big mouth?? If you hurry up a bit, Mr. Denver.....the 'Fire Gawds might just crown us both 'Kahunas' in a double ceremony...LOL...
<<<together now.....do da do da do....thank God I'm a country boy>>> ....just yankin your chain so you'll catch up...lol
HoundGirl
Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog. -- Mark Twain
Part of me lives with the wind in my face, while the other part is barely alive.
We were with our dogs in the field farming and handling cattle all day every day and they were trained to work cattle first. All it took to make the switch to game was to point and PSSSST, just like siccing them on a recalcitrant cow.
The heeler daddy I mentioned was actually my Brother's dog which he got when he was in Jr High School. I inherited the dog when my brother died at the age of twenty. Both of these dogs would retrieve from the water anything which floated, right to the water's edge. They never let a crippled bird get away, but neither of them ever carried a bird back to our hand. They would catch, hold, and kill any running, swimming, or floating critter with feathers. But as for an actual retrieve, they both would just look at you as if to say, "You've got two perfectly good legs." "Get your lazy butt over here and pick up this stinky bird." "I did the hard part, what more do you want."
I can't wait til I get a chance to take him out and see how he behaves in the woods. Right now all we can really go after are squirrels and rabbits, but I'm sure if he does actually go after those, he'll flush birds too, even if we can't do anything about that til this Fall.
Many thanks for posting those pictures and especially the one with the pheasant. Just seeing it sitting there with its ears straight up brought back memories of Tina, the one I had, who was my loyal companion for over fifteen years. She went with me almost everywhere and saved me hundreds of steps when working cattle. It was a sad, sad day in my life when I was forced to put her down. I never could bring myself to get another Blue Heeler after that. even though today they remain my most favored breed of dog, because I feared I would compare it to Tina too much.
Although I never trained her to hunt, I am sure that it would have been plenty doable because she was the smartest dog I ever was fortunate enough to own. It's been said that a person usually only gets one great dog in their life and she was definately mine.
Larry *********** "Speed is fine but accuracy is final" - Bill Jordan "We do not exaggerate when we state positively that the remodelled Springfield is the best and most suitable "all 'round" rifle".......Seymour Griffin, GRIFFIN & HOWE, Inc.
I've got a Red Heeler that I've tried taking bird hunting with me. My ONLY hope is that I see the birds before he does! I'm not a bird dog expert, but do know that dogs fall into pointer, flusher, and retriever catagories. My Heeler is most definitely a flusher. I don't think even a turkey choke would be enough to hunt with him. He can hear/see quail easily from a couple hundred yards and then takes off after them. He's done the same thing with yotes, so when he takes off I just stand there and watch what flushes out. In the end, it's just a nice hike with a shotgun and an old friend. I don't have that stress of trying to fill my bird vest.....
He loves to tree squirrels too, and if that were my thing, he'd love to assignment.
Retrieving seems to be "beneath" him, as he only brings animals back about half way then drops them.
He LOVES the water, but fetches from the water as poorly as he does from land. Swimming is an easy way to keep him clean however.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. --Winston Churchill
Our dogs loved nothing more than chewing on the hind leg of a cow. The heeler male was especially aggressive. The type of abuse he could dish out to the cattle just was not needed with a herd of gentle milk cows. So the first and most important lesson he learned was the call back. He obeyed my brother religiously. He could be called off of game as easily as he could a cow. At least he could as long as my brother was alive.
He sometimes failed to pay as much attention to my commands as I did not have the heart to really get the old dog's attention as was sometimes necessary. The fact that old boy had sat at my brothers feet or more accurately ten feet out in front of him while literally thousands of rounds of ammo had been fired, and the dog was deaf as a stone by the time he was ten years old did not make him any easier to command in his old age. He still loved to hunt though.
Bottom line: If your dog is explicitly obedience trained. If he sits, stays, heels, and comes immediately without hesitation. And you never let him stray from those habits while hunting, then he will be controllable. If he is as hard headed as most heelers, an electronic collar might be advised to help remind him to come back the first time the temptation to chase a bird into the next county arises.
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.
Awesome. I love that it has a tail also. In fact she looks like my "Tina" did a lot.
On another note, have any of you had a Blue Heeler that smiled. Mine would if you told her she was a "Good Girl".
Last edited by Idared; 02/08/07.
Larry *********** "Speed is fine but accuracy is final" - Bill Jordan "We do not exaggerate when we state positively that the remodelled Springfield is the best and most suitable "all 'round" rifle".......Seymour Griffin, GRIFFIN & HOWE, Inc.
is it me or do all dogs lie on your clothes once they hit the floor? i see pepper and dobie my corgi have the same habit. love them heelers they've got to be the smartest dogs in the world
Must be how they are treated from the owners.They were all farm dogs.He's a pic of my mutt.Found him in a garbage can tied up in a sack when he was roughly 6 weeks old according to the vet.He was very sick but after some time in the animal hospital he pulled through. That was 6 years ago.Not one mean bone in his body.
On another note, have any of you had a Blue Heeler that smiled. Mine would if you told her she was a "Good Girl".
Yeah, my red ACD smiles sometimes. In my bachelor days I rented a doublewide on a 10K acre ranch. The front porch was elevated about waist high, so with him on the porch and me on the ground, we'd be eye to eye. When I pet him he'd smile and offer my a front paw.
Anyone else have their Heeler shake off on them after they swim? Mine will wait until he can catch me off guard then shake right next to me. I'll watch him glance up at me and wait for me to look away. He's always done it, and I guess it's his idea of Heeler Humor.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. --Winston Churchill
?? If you hurry up a bit, Mr. Denver.....the 'Fire Gawds might just crown us both 'Kahunas' in a double ceremony...LOL...
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