It's puppy season. Franklin Goes to Hollywood
- Thread starter fleabagmatt
- Start date
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
Thank you. The evening light was perfect with the stormy skies.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
We took Franklin out looking for quail the other night. I've done some gun intro work with him, but had not yet shot a bird over him, and really haven't done any sort of formal retrieve training either. At the end of our hunt we took a detour past a pond thinking there might be some birds in the area. On approach a duck flew off the pond and I managed to down it (my first duck!). With no prompting from us, Franklin watched it fall, bolted out into the pond and grabbed the still alive duck. I expected to have to coax him back and force the bird from his jaws, but to my utter amazement he trotted back up the bank right to me and released the bird into my hand all on his own. This boy is such a natural, he is an amazing pupper.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
Most important part of a hunt: Post outing snuggies.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
This boyo is figuring things out quickly. He's having a heyday learning to hold up and point wild quail. I really need to learn how to shoot, I am terrible.
Unfortunately he's picked up the bad habit of stealing birds from the other dog when she retrieves them, which has resulted in a couple games of tug-of-war with birds. I need to figure out how to break him of that.
Unfortunately he's picked up the bad habit of stealing birds from the other dog when she retrieves them, which has resulted in a couple games of tug-of-war with birds. I need to figure out how to break him of that.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
He doesn't have the shaggy eyebrows of most griffs, but his beard is pretty epic.
We were away for a week on vacation, so I took him out for a long morning hunt yesterday. He racked up 19 miles and slept well last night.
All that hiking and about $30 worth of shells and I only managed to come away with one quail.
He didn't see it fall, but did a great job tracking it down for me. His big sister managed to find and track six pheasants, all of which flushed well out of shooting range. She was a rock star yesterday.
Upland season ends next week, but chukar is open through the end of the month. I may see if I can find some places to go searching for those bastards. I think Franklin and Ruby would do well chasing birds out in the open spaces.
We were away for a week on vacation, so I took him out for a long morning hunt yesterday. He racked up 19 miles and slept well last night.
All that hiking and about $30 worth of shells and I only managed to come away with one quail.
He didn't see it fall, but did a great job tracking it down for me. His big sister managed to find and track six pheasants, all of which flushed well out of shooting range. She was a rock star yesterday.Upland season ends next week, but chukar is open through the end of the month. I may see if I can find some places to go searching for those bastards. I think Franklin and Ruby would do well chasing birds out in the open spaces.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
Well that's a wrap for upland season for Franklin. We took a 2am trip to the emergency vet on Sunday. Turns out he had, unbeknownst to us, ingested not one, but TWO socks and they were bunched up in his stomach trying to move into his small intestine. He's recovering well from surgery, the hardest part now is keeping him from running around and jumping/playing. Silly dog.
Chixfishing
Member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2023
- Messages
- 14
Here’s my DD. The fuzz collects snow and birds. Life is better w dogs 
Wyhunter
Well-known member
My Griff. Sadly, passed he away 2 years ago. I have been waiting to get another one. Maybe this year will be the year.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
There is an AKC hunt test coming up in a few weeks, thinking about registering Franklin. I've never done such a thing before, but it might be fun. I think there are 4 tests that weekend, so he could earn himself a Jr Hunter title in one shot. He's more than ready for his Natural Ability test in May as well.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
Here's Franklin in a nutshell: Ruby on point, holding steady for some Huns. Franklin comin' in hot, ready to blow up the spot. 
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
Both Franklin and I had a new experience this past weekend, I ran him in a series of AKC hunt tests. It was four tests over two days and he managed passing scores on all of them, so now he gets to have the title of Jr. Hunter added to his AKC registered name. His intelligence and drive never cease to amaze me. He learned very quickly how to run in a brace with another dog, he had not experienced that before. At the start of his first test he chased around a Vizsla for a bit, but once I called him off he got to work and ignored the rest of the dogs in all his other tests.
This was a really good way to discover where he needs the most training work. Turns out that having "okay" recall at home or even out in a real hunting field is not the same as being in a field loaded with two days' worth of chukar plantings. I had quite a bit of difficulty getting him to quit hunting and come back to me a couple times. He was just so overstimulated and couldn't tear himself away from the birds. Lesson learned and it's time to get back to the check cord and e-collar for a bit before his NAVHDA NA test in May.
He constantly gets mistaken for a German Wirehaired Pointer, he certainly has a somewhat unique coat for a Griff. His coat is perfect for hunting here as far as I'm concerned, he rarely comes home with more than a few burrs in his coat. And his beard is pretty epic!
Gripfast Franklin Goes to Hollywood JH
This was a really good way to discover where he needs the most training work. Turns out that having "okay" recall at home or even out in a real hunting field is not the same as being in a field loaded with two days' worth of chukar plantings. I had quite a bit of difficulty getting him to quit hunting and come back to me a couple times. He was just so overstimulated and couldn't tear himself away from the birds. Lesson learned and it's time to get back to the check cord and e-collar for a bit before his NAVHDA NA test in May.
He constantly gets mistaken for a German Wirehaired Pointer, he certainly has a somewhat unique coat for a Griff. His coat is perfect for hunting here as far as I'm concerned, he rarely comes home with more than a few burrs in his coat. And his beard is pretty epic!
Gripfast Franklin Goes to Hollywood JH
Irrelevant
Well-known member
He's a great looking dog, I'm jealous, my is much homelier.
fleabagmatt
Well-known member
I'm hoping Franklin has it in him to be a chukar dog like your pup. I've gotten him on some huns over the last few weeks, he seems to do well in wide open spaces. I just need to make the effort to seek out some chukar country this coming season.
