Brittany might just become a bird dog

[Badger Matt]

We picked up a Brittany Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie, from show stock four years ago as a house pet with hope she might respond to training as well. Well, the last four years have seen extremely long hours as work and she got in a total of one dove hunt and a preserve pheasant hunt. Neither were anything to brag about, though she loves spendiing "time with dad" afield.

Last night I was playing with her and my new Golden Retriever pup hiding a couple of dead quail in the backyard. The Golden, Brandy, is bird-crazy. She used her nose and snatched that bird right quick...and then tore off to be sure I didn't take it from her. Rosie, on the other hand, would find the bird and give it a sniff but there wasn't any passion about it.

The missus, aka She Who Must Be Obeyed, suggested I take Rosie out for the day and let her have some fun. What the heck. We took off this morning for a place Shotster introduced me to. She bumped a covey early on and I fumbled the shot. She quarted nicely throughout the morning and showed interest a few times; no idea exactly what she was showing interest in, but she sure looked pretty.

I choose to believe the covey left just moments before.

We continued on and came upon a small ditch. Rosie showed intense interest while in the ditch and stopped to sniff a small bush. I've now decided to call this a stylish point. Seconds later, a hen California Valley Quail got up ten feet or so up the ditch and "up-nose" from Rosie. I dropped her and then a rooster a bit farther out. Rosie got pretty animated and I soon saw a rooster running up the ditch and cut him off. He took flight and I dropped him in some brush. I guided Rosie to where he fell and when he took off running a switched turned on and my little girl, who never wanted a bird in her mouth, chased him down and picked him up. I took the bird from her and showered her with praise - one happy dog and owner. I took her to where I'd dropped each of the other birds and she "pointed dead" each of them in turn.

Sorry about the angle, but I dropped the bird into a swale and took the pic from above. You can see the dead bird and the dog's 11 o'clock position.

The missus and I spent the next couple hours pulling burrs out of Rosie's coat.


She's no more skilled than I am, but she sure make the day a whole lot more fun.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Keep at it; she's got the genes and just needs some practice, and maybe a little training. I had a "pet" Golden who turned out to be a great upland bird dog, even tho he'd had only obedience training. Never lost a bird, even retrieved a few I hadn't shot!

Hunting with a dog is synergy. The FUN kind!

(Beautiful dog, by the way!).

 

[Hugh]

And there she looks like a bird dog.

I know you already know this; but, be sure to carefully check inside and around her ears for those burrs as well. My first English Springer; Winston of El Cajon was a burr magnet down there along the river at Santee, CA. Never shot over him, but he could find and retrieve anything; except a living duck.

 

[JTM47]

I have a 71/2 year old male brittany that I use for bobwhite hunting here in NW Florida. He doubles as companion/pet and is part of the family (me).
As a puppy, I just took him to the woods as often as I could...his breeding kicked in and he has turned out to be a real gun dog. I suspect that this approach would work fine with your dog also.
I plan to leave in a couple of days headed to Michigan with my brother on what has become an annual hunt for grouse and woodcock...Steeley just lives for these hunts.

By the way, that's a good looking SxS double gun...I shoot a 16 Ga. SxS.