ATB: Wish on The Move

On the move? No other way to explain this girl lately! I tried for a half hour last night to get a 'still' photo of Wish but it was impossible. John has let a portion of our "field/front yard" grow up tall and all the Brittanys just love it. Wish especially so. I did get a lot of good video footage, and if there's time will do a youtube video. So here she is, truckin' it through some of the taller grass. She is extremely affectionate and energetic right now and her belly is definitely getting rounder with each passing day. Wish misses running with the other dogs but sometimes we don't want to risk her getting bumped. The other day John released some homers in preparation of upcoming field training. I was in the house and all of sudden heard Wish outside, whining and crying so of course I immediately ran to see what was going on. A couple of the bolder pigeons landed on top of the tin roof that shelters the outside runs, right where Wish just happened to be. She couldn't see them, but with her nose, she knew they were there! Trying to keep stress at a minimum for her, we put her inside and worked on getting the birds back to their "coop". Sorry, Wish! From on on when the homers are released, we'll be sure Wish is not nearby.


Pippin and I are getting ready for a show this weekend. She looks so beautiful. We are hoping to get back up to the bird field with her again soon. The day after the Maine Bird Dog Field Trial we took Jack and Pippin back up to the grounds and she had a magnificent "awakening" experience. Dawn had been concerned about Pippin's lack of confidence at one of the shows and said get her on birds and stay away from the indoor shows for awhile. It was good advice! John and I cut the dogs loose and enjoyed watching the pair demonstrate their inherent hunting skills. There was still a lot of ground scent from the weekends trial. Jack locked up solid so we knew there was a bird nearby. Wanting to take advantage of the moment with Pippin, I brought her back to me and put her on the check cord whil John collared Jack and led him off. Then I released Pippin and let her work the area all by herself and sure enough, she picked up the scent herself - and SLAMMED! into the finest, stylish point I have yet to seen in her! WOW~! CHILLS~! This is what it is all about for me... All the training, yard work, playing, etc... coming face to face with the genetics and the purpose of the Brittany breed itself adding up to that one moment in time. I quickly walked up the length of her check cord to establish some control and stood on it. John quietly approached her from the side so she could see him, and softly said 'who-a-a-a' with his palm held up in front of Pippin. She was all business, quivering, not moving her head left or right... and not budging. The only other movement was her nostrils and her eyes! John kicked and thrashed the brush around the area, deliberately being noisy and finally the bird flew up and away. He fired the blank gun twice. Pippin held steady, and I quickly led her away... not wanting to take any chances she would give to chase - and not wanting to push our luck! Shortly afterwards we released both Jack and Pippin and John and I could see the change in her. To watch the two working together from that moment on was breathtaking. He's a 4 year old finished close working gun dog, Johns buddy, and an AKC Junior Hunter who is a joy to hunt over and live with. She's a little "Pippin" just 14 months old, full of promise and potential which I can only pray we can develop to the fullest. No photos of this day - having a camera to worry about would have only taken away from that moment. Some things are better remembered by experiencing them in the moment and reliving them in later memories. There will be other moments like this, I'm sure!