[NSR]Hunting Dog: Paco is KILLING IT![NSR]

For those of you who care or are interested in dog training or hunting dogs, AKC Registered Chocolate Labrador Retriever Sir Soft Paco Supreme, aka my dog, Paco, is killin' it.

At 8 months now, he's weighing in at a huge 80+ pounds and is one of the most handsome dogs around, hands down. I've been training him with the whistle and fowl trainers, etc., pretty regularly since he was just a couple of months old.

Yesterday I took him to "Boot Camp" to meet his Drill Sargeant. Paco will be living there for a few months shortly to be polished on his advanced retrieving skills and commands. Well, he had to "try out" first, to even be excepted in this prestigious academy. I was nervous because while Paco is well trained, he's also just an eight month old goofball who loves to play. He also loves other dogs, which there were plenty of here at the kennel. So concentration and focus was my worry.

At the sarge's command, I began running him through basic verbal commands like sit, stay, here, heel, etc. Naturally he dialed them all because that's the easy part. Then came the whistle portion which is basically a series of whistle blasts that translate into the above verbal commands. He dialed those, too, which was nice. Then came the retrieving test. We started out with his own "dead duck trainer," a rubber duck which Paco is very familiar with. I threw the duck with Paco sitting attentively at my heel. He didn't break upon the throw, which was a relief, but sat there waiting instead. I had him hold for about 20 seconds, then gave the "Paco, BACK!" He took off full sprint, grabbed his favorite ducky, and ran back, dropping it at my feet and sitting attentively. I praised him. "Well, that's about it, Mark," I said to the sarge. "Oh no it's not, Rev," the sarge said. What? What was he going to do? This was all Paco knew! Was there something else I didn't train him for? Mark walked into the kennel building and then returned with a shotgun. Wheeeeeeeew! He just wanted to see if he was gunshy, which he wasn't. Thank god, I thought. But wait. In his other hand was something else. To my horror he produced a live bird. "You done any real birds, Rev?" "Well, no. I didn't think I was supposed to." "Depends on the dog. But we need to see if he likes birds or if he'll spook." Shit. I had thrown frozen dead ducks for Paco, but nothing like this. I was afraid he was going to freak out and either tear the bird to shreds or worse--he'd run away from it. I hollered to Paco to heel up and Mark waited for him to be sitting at my side. I swear Paco knew what was up, as he sat staring straight ahead, ears pricked and waiting. Mark through the bird up which started to fly and BOOM! Down went the bird about 30 yards away. I sent Paco in total fear.

Paco ran full speed, skidding on the ice at the barely dead bird. He gave a curious sniff then grabbed it in his mouth and sprinted back full speed to me, dropping it right at my feet and sitting at attention.

Mark was even blown away. "You say that's his first live bird? Bullshit!" "No, I swear!" I said with a huge grin, rubbing Paco's belly. "Well that's great. No hesitation, no playing around. Good work with this pup!"

So I'm stoked. I'm going to hunt Paco on Sunday for the first time ever. Then Paco will begin boot camp in about 3 weeks. You have to realize that I already had a dog when I got Paco and his sole purpose was to hunt. So I'm pretty stoked because so far it looks like he's going to be a spectacular hunting dog.

Just outa curiousity rev, is boot camp located southeast of Bellevue on the way to Point of Rocks? Can't remember the name of the road...

Nice pooch report! We've got a yellow lab that would be psyco-hot in trials or out of the blind....if you subtracted the water from the equation:rolleyes: and the birds were made of grade 8 steel...

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Originally posted by The Reverend Floater
I'm going to hunt Paco on Sunday for the first time ever.

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Hope you're a bad shot.

FUCKING A RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!

Nice Rev!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) :D :) :D :) :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

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Good luck on Sunday too! If I might offer one small tip it would be to have a buddy do most shooting and you mostly think about el paco!

(BTW- I'm sure you know to be careful but I just heard abou a guy who lost his dog yesterday when it fell in the river and went under an ice shelf :( )

The good Reverend should know that the NY Times categorically stated today that wild bird hunting is the hottest sport for yuppies. Designer hunting duds are all the rage. :D

Yo Rev, give a heads up when you breed him... My girl would love a Paco Puppy!

LB--yeah, fortunately it's supposed to warm up pretty good this weekend here. Definitely a concern, though. And yes, my friend will be doing most of the shooting. My priority is for Paco to have fun, and nothing more.

Z--We shoot yuppies in Idaho, designer duds or not.

For those who've never seen it, the mutual satification between hunting dog and owner for a job well done if difficult to explain. Congrats Rev for a job well done. Dale, my buddies lab I hunting, is on ducks for his second season and is kicking ass. Opening weekend he brought it two ducks 50 yds out in one retreive. Last weekend, he pulled a buffalo head out from under an iceshelf about 150 yds from where it went down.

Duck hunting = what to do when the skiing sucks!

Good job training Paco. I have a coworker that sends his springer spaniel to be trained. He is absolutely amazed at the difference in his dog when he gets her back.

When I was a kid my father took our chessapeake, Pepper, to a field trial just to see what she could do. The test was retrieval of 3 birds. My dad downed all three and Pepper sat anxiously at his side. When he gave the command she immediately got the first one and brought it back. She then retreived the second one with out a hitch. However on the third bird she stopped took a shit and then retreived the bird. That was pretty much the extent of Pepper's field trial days. I guess it's true, when you gotta go you gotta go.

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Originally posted by Lumpy
Just outa curiousity rev, is boot camp located southeast of Bellevue on the way to Point of Rocks? Can't remember the name of the road...

Nice pooch report! We've got a yellow lab that would be psyco-hot in trials or out of the blind....if you subtracted the water from the equation:rolleyes: and the birds were made of grade 8 steel...

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You got it, Lumps. Gannett Road.

sweet!

tomorrow is the final day of the season here and i'm kinda bummed about it. i'll be out there though....

Nice Roosters, X.

Labradogs are just plain comical in their expressions.

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Originally posted by xboat
sweet!

tomorrow is the final day of the season here and i'm kinda bummed about it. i'll be out there though....

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That's one beautiful girl, xboat! What's her name?

the two black ones are a buddy's.

the labramix is one of my brothers and this pic is another hunting buddy's dog. we usually have 3 of them around when we go out.

But what are their names?

takin Sue(baru) out tomorrow, season closes on the 18th :(

Post a pic of Sue, LB. I went hunting with a dog the other day which I think was the same breed. INCREDIBLE dog!

if all brown (maybe small white chest star) then it probably was.

The breeder I got mine from is in ID (Boise) and I think they're fairly popular there...

my favorite pic:

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Originally posted by lemon boy
But what are their names?

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sorry man. i've only hunted with the two black labs once and can't freakin' remember right now, damn crack...

the labramix (bros dog) on the tailgate is Raika.

the male yellow w/ the bird is Brit.

this is our duck dog (bros dog) Brandy -

Yup, exact same dog. Man, this dog I was with was incredible--much better than the springer also with us. Very cool dog!

very well then.
introducing,
in the deep snow,
weighing in at 45 pounds,
at just over 4 months in age,
the snow lovinist puppy on the planet,
the one seen at over 4 different WA ski resorts,
part golden part yellow lab,
da na dana
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilson!!!
http://biglines.com/photos/blpic16717.jpg
thanks for indulging

BTW congrats Rev, your dog's got a good life ahead of him

Good to hear Rev- Now I just have to work my ass off with Sue this spring summer, we've had a frusterating year, entirely my fault too :( Oh well. That's the way it goes in Colorado, land of no birds and no snows :) :rolleyes:

But, I luckily got turned onto a feed store here in town that sells pigeons pretty cheap so I'll be way more prepared. Going to pick some up this afternoon to spice up tomorrow's hunting :)

EDIT-

Xboat, that's such a sweet fuckin pick man!

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Originally posted by lemon boy

Xboat, that's such a sweet fuckin pick man!

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thanks LB!

yeah, probably the best one i've ever taken. i wish it would have been on a digital. the original is pretty sweet though, that is a decoy on the water but it's hard to tell in that pic.

That's definately cool. After I get out of college and have a house of my own i'd really like to have dogs of my own and try hunting..it looks like a ton of fun.

Just curious as to how you guys got into hunting? My Dad doesn't hunt and I don't really know anyone that does. Do most of you hunt grow up in a family that does?

Heh. That's funny, Pillars, because neither of my parents hunt, either. My mom used to when she was growing up, but my dad is terrified of guns. I got into it mostly because I loved my bb gun growing up! So I took Hunter's Safety classes with my best friend, and then my mom bought me a .22 and I started rabit hunting around 12. Finally, my mom asked a coworker to take me duck hunting at 14 or so, and I was hooked.

BUT...I have lots of friends who had never fired a firearm in their life before moving here who are now avid hunters. Sort of the place I live, I think. Bottom line is that it's never too late. Start with Hunter's Safety classes even if you don't legally need them. Then find a friend who's into it.

sorry for the hijack rev, i knew you like dog pics.

'bout forgot - the male yellow holding the bird (Brit) had a SEIZURE :eek: in the field later that same day. super scary shit, my buddy was freakin'.

we had got to the end of a draw and roosters were popping up all around us. after the smoke cleared i looked down to see Brit standing there shaking with a barbed wire fence going over the top of his neck. i though he was caught in the fence and set my gun down and yelled to my buddy that he was caught. i picked up on the wire fence and the dog wasn't caught at all. he was frozen stiff and drooling from the mouth. rob was freaked as this had never happened to his dog. my brother and i have seen it before and just laid him down and petted him to calm him down. after about 15 minutes the dog was walking again - slowly. that was the end of his day. took him out again a week later and all was well.

my brothers female yellow (in duck pic) has seizures also, although i don't think she has had one in a while. anyone else have yellow labs that do this?

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Originally posted by Pillars
That's definately cool. After I get out of college and have a house of my own i'd really like to have dogs of my own and try hunting..it looks like a ton of fun.

Just curious as to how you guys got into hunting? My Dad doesn't hunt and I don't really know anyone that does. Do most of you hunt grow up in a family that does?

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Find some gun clubs that offer sporting clays. You'll find a lot of folks there that a practicing in the early fall. Obviously, you'll need hunter safety. If you live somewhere that the hunting is good, you'll find many hunters. All in all, hunters get a bad rap from a few big game yahoos. I'm pretty jongish on the bird tip, and I've found everyone to be super helpful. There are may similarities between BC skiing and bird hunting. If your safe and courteous, you'll find many partners.

pillars - i grew up hunting. my dad would take my duck hunting when i was young before he would even let me carry a gun. i swear he just wanted me to carry some decoys and lighten the load for him. bastard ;)

i took hunters safety when i was like 12 yeas old and been an addict since the first day in the field. i personall enjoy bird hunting more than anything right now...

here's my bro holding a big rooster that we both brought down 3 weeks ago. his fiance's parents own a big construction company and they have a contest for all the contractors that pays $250 for the longest tailfeather of the year. well, this sucker took the cake. 24" total length - they said it was the longest one in 3 years of doing this. so...i tell my bro to pony up my half and he said it's going towards another shock collar for his other dog. i feel that's fair because i take them out when he can't go :D

man, i gotta get something done around here today. have a good weekend Rev and take a couple pics will ya?!

i will leave this as a good luck picture -

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Originally posted by xboat


here's my bro holding a big rooster that we both brought down

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Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhht.

Hunting Lesson Number 1, Pillars: When someone says "we both got it," the other guy really got it!

facker :D

hey, did you read about the seizures? you ever seen this happen to a lab?

Foggy- Wanna go tomorrow (Pheazzz) maybe pop in for an hour or two on the river somewhere? Goin out by Wray to some private.

Pillars

I just started two years ago (this is my third season) - It is kind of a pain to get into old and solo but: 1) take hunter's safety, even if you don't need it you will learn a LOT about it. I have a buddy that kept buggin me to go and finally went through all the hoops and then the faker moved leaving me all on my lonesome to figger shit out. Much like skiing you'll make lots of dumb moves (luckily almost all of them will result in not killing stuff). I think starting out bird hunting is way easier better and LOWER CONSEQUENCE than big game hunting. If you fuck up and shoot a bull instead of a cow you've got BIG trouble. Pop a hen pheasant and you probably ain't going to jail.

If you're in Colo you can come jong with me sometime...

But the best way to get into it is to go with someone who's really into it. BTW- great resource for duckin JONGS! = waterfowler.com


xboat- never seen a siezure (hope to never) but have heard about em... scary stuff. Been hearing about them in relation to very cold days lately too :shrug:

Thanks for all the input guys, i'll definately look into getting started soon. It just looks like a ton of fun and something I could really get into. Man and man's best friend spending some quality time outdoors. Can't beat that. :D

I think around here (NY), most of the hunting is deer. My uncle lives in AZ and he's big into elk and pheasants so i'll definately have to hook up with him sometime when i'm out there.

I swear, apart from Blurred, pheasants have to be the dumbest vertebrates on God's green earth...

haha! yeah, i call them road chickens. you would be suprised at how smart those things actually are....

Agreed, X. Dumb or not, they're not the easiest birds to hunt!

And X, I saw the siezure thread and no, have not heard of that before. KNOCK ON WOOD!