birdie update

birdie is doing great with "sit stay come." i have started doing more structured retrieves with her. shes even done a few blind retrieves. trying to get as much socialization in with other dogs and people. lots of rides in the car on errands and a very tired pup at the end of every day.

new stencil

wasnt liking the other stencil very much so i drew and cut my own last night. its much more clean and not as busy. im pretty happy with it.

painting

today i finished all the base paint on the boat except the floor. still havent decided if im going to put plywood down or not. im also trying out some of the camo patterns. trying to get the right coloring for florida duck hunting. still too much light brown but i will figure it out.

back from the welders

just got the boat back from the welders and i am very happy with their work. i had the deck and back bench covered with aluminum diamond plate. there where several large holes from seats, trolling motor, switch panal and other things that had been removed in the past. there was also a large crack in the back bench where the tiller had smashed into it. i had that reenforced with double diamond plate so that it wont happen again. i had all the ribs welded where the rivets had popped out. that should add plenty of needed strength. the biggest up grade is the removable stand up grab ("oh shit") bar that i had fabricated. hopefully this will keep me on my feet when i hit logs and such. the guy that owned it before me drove the boat sitting on the poling platform with the tiller between his legs and seemed to think that was the best way to drive the boat. he also told me he had been thrown off several times. i do not plan to drive the boat in that manner. i plan to paint the new work tomorrow. at some point i am going to paint the whole thing and give it a fresh camo job.

boat project

i had to sell the bass boat. i took some of the money and purchased a duck boat. it is a 14 ft tracker with a 25hp go devil. i am having a few things added and repaired as i type. i am looking forward to getting it the way i want it. i will post new pics as i work on it.

fetch

fetch with the duck dummy

socializing & more swimming

trying to get birdie out every day so she can get socialized with as many dogs and people as possible in these early stages. she did some more swimming today and i fired some more .22 blanks over her. shes doing great and very tired at the end of the day.

birdie swims

over the last few days we have been doing a lot of swimming and fun retrieves

training with birdie

went out today for birdies 2nd day under gun shot. i use a dummy launcher that fires a .22 blank so she can get used to the gun sound. i didnt expect any retrieves today because i didnt think she would be able to fit the dummy in her mouth. once again she proves me wrong. i tossed the dummy by hand and birdie happily retrieved for me. the launcher fires to far for her at this age but she had fun chasing me as i ran for the dummy. i always let her pick it up. shes still a champ with the gun fire. she is unfazed by loud noises. good girl birdie!

meet birdie

thursday morning i drove to raleigh, nc to pick up our new dog, birdie. we got back home late last night. she is a beautiful german shorthaired pointer. cant wait to get her out in the marsh this season for a ride along on a few hunts. as soon as she settles in at her new home we will start our training. a big thanks to the robertson family for letting us be a part of the gsp family. they have a wonderful blog, German Shorthaired Pointers of Raleigh

also, a big thanks to chris boll for riding up and back with me to help handle birdie on the ride and to will and ellie campbell for letting us crash at their house for the night.

crawfish hunters

fern and lyla had a great time hunting for crawfish in the creek

nc trout final day

went out early yesterday caught two nice brookies before the rain started. had a blast in north carolina this year.