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| Gideon with one of yesterday's groundhogs. |
Gideon works two holes on video. Without sound, for unknown reasons: (hole 1, hole 2).
Technology is having its way with me these days; I have a new cell phone and I think my "tech brain" is full from trying to figure out how to work it. I have never taken video with the point-and-shoot and not had sound before. Oh well. I ran out of batteries in the field too. Wonder if that had something to do with it?
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9 comments:
So - how is Gideon shaping up? it all looks very promising.
Quite excellent, actually. He's having fun, slide into holes as eagerly as Mountain, and is clearly learning, learning, learning. His voice is a little weaker than Mountain, but he's smaller chested, and can get places few other dogs can. This groundhog, for example, was past a mass of roots than Mounain could not negotiate until they were cut away. By then, Gideon was past them and baying a nice metronome like rhythym. She has seen raccon, possum and groundhog so far, but no fox.
P.
I look forward to your Monday reports on your Sunday outings with the dogs. It looks as if Gideon is progressing will and with your training and Mountain as a role-model, he will be a great dog.
I love your vids. I know you kill most of the groundhogs, but what happens when something bolts from the hole? Do your dogs go after it or can you call them back? Or do you always have a catch net at the other end?
Curious Debi (who's never done this obviously) and the TX JRTs
Groundhogs are a major agricultural pest, and we dispatch them *most* of the time.
If a groundhog bolts, I almost always let them go, as they disappear into the thickets or bolt up trees (they can climb a tree almost as quick as a squirrel).
If an animal is injured, I ALWAYS dispatch, but with the exception of possum, release is generally possible. The farmers, however, generally want the groundhogs gone, so this becomes pest control, and that is why I am given some of my permissions.
About 90 percent of what I dig is groundhogs.
I let ALL fox go (the only one that ever died with me in attendance had a heart attack or suffocated in the tube - not sure which).
Raccoons are generally let go if uninjured, though they are a major predator on bird populations and are far, far, far in excess of their historical numbers due to massive corn and soy production in this country.
Dispatch, for the record, is very quick, and is NOT done by the dogs, but by me with a powerful blow to the head. It is quite humane and instantaneous.
P.
I have to agree - I look forward every week to seeing Gideon's shining face poking out from behind a mound of fur - or his adorable tail poking out from a dirt hole.
The fact you're able, willing, and dedicated enough to provide this level of stimulation to your dogs provides me with great ammunition every time one of my clients gives me some song and dance about how they don't have time to exercise their dog sufficiently.
I point them to your website, and then point out that along with raising a family, you hold a full time job and still have time to write AND work your dogs.
Of course, few of us have the ability to truly work our dogs - I'm stopped only by the fact that my city zoning outlaws sheep - and while other activities can provide an outlet for that energy, nothing fills up a dog's happy meter faster than being given the job it was born to do.
Any doubts are summarily dismissed by one look at Gideon's ear-to-ear grin. :O)
I gotta be honest...when I see a dog in so tightly (second video), it makes me a little nervous. I feel the same way when I see a film with a drowning-in-tight-places sort of scene. I imagine with the dogs in a pipe it's actually better to be there, hearing them and knowing they are fine than to see this silent footage, but I think this novice's field nerves might need tempering.
Seahorse
Digging on the dogs is not for the faint of heart, especially not in the beninning when you don't really know how to assess risk and danger, and don't know what to do when things don't go smooth.
I used to think there was a lot to know, and I was not wrong! I know what I know now because I made it my job to keep the dogs alive, and I wrote it all down (mistake and victoru) as an excercise in memory. Now I generally know what to do and how to do it -- and how far to trust the dogs. I have never lost a dog underground, but I have dug deep, at night, solo, and in a snowstorm on a dog I thought was dead. She was fine, but for four hours I did not know that. Now I trust the dogs and they trust me, and I tend to return to the same 5,000 acres of land (various farms) to avoid surprise locations such as old dump sites that can be a nightmare. Mountain knows stuff, and so does Pearl, and Gideon is learning quickly. I am always in charge, of course, and Job One is to always bring the tools and the knowledge. The dog cannot afford my failures, and I know that. But no, there are no guarantees and every dig is a risk, same as every drive to the store.
P.
I think once a person has become fairly good at something they are passionate about, they go one of two ways. Either they get puffed-up and think they know about every damned thing, or they realize there is SO much to know out there they recognize their limitations and try to remain humble and studious. It can be a struggle with one's ego, but the humble and studious tend to live longer.
Seahorse
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