When I was a young man (25 years old) I got a young brittany puppy, I would leave him on an outside run during the day, and would work next door to my house building furniture for my brother. He got off his run and ran out in the road and got killed. I never went hunting again after that for almost 40 years. Last year I bought a shotgun and found a guy that has 2 brittanies and he is a fishing guide also. He and I hunted last fall, and last winter and had a blast. I told my wife that I might consider getting another brittany someday (just thinking out loud) My wife is a dog lover, she goes into craiglist pet section every day. That next morning our rescue dog was on craiglist, and the only brittany my wife has ever seen on craiglist, he was a registered brittany and the couple had moved into a condo and could not keep him any longer. I eventually found out our dog was bred by one of the top brittany breeders in the u.s. he lives less than 2 miles from me. When we got our rescue dog, he weighed 69 pounds. (they are supposed to weigh around 40 pounds) We rescued him in November, and my wife walked that dog everyday, we finally got him on a training collar a couple months later and let him run, he is down to about 45 pounds now. The breeder helped me all spring and summer training him with quail. Opening day "cash" found and or pointed 8 ruffed grouse and 1 woodcock. Last sunday we got our first woodcock together ( I missed a lot of grouse and woodcock in between opening day and Sunday) today we got our limit of woodcock. This dog amazes me, he gets better every time he goes out, figures things out quickly, uses the wind, he even comes back when I call him :laugh: We have 2 other havanese dogs which are about 12 pounds. Cash has really found a home with us, the other couple just could not give him the time and exercise he needed. Every day that dog lets us know how happy he is living with us. If I could figure out how to post a picture I would. I am just happy to be outside again, and I really don't care about shooting birds as much as just watching him run. When I grab the "gun bag" with collars etc. he flies off the couch runs into the door with his nose to open it and gallops outside and runs around the house a few times, and literally will start quivering with excitement when we get to the hunting area. The little dogs play with him all the time, they sleep together, nap together and he has fit right in. I just wanted to share this, I cannot believe how lucky my wife and I are to have these dogs in our life.
Well done and congratulations. I know you guys will have a blast with the new dog. Spaniels are great dogs IMHO.
Congratulations! Watching a good bird dog work is more fun than the hunting itself! I can get so entertained by the dog that I'm not ready for my part when the bird flushes!😂
You are lucky that cash found you.
Always good to hear about pets getting rescued, even better when it turns out like that. I'm babysitting a rescue black lab right now for a friend that's moving. I'll be bringing him to TX next month. I'm sure going to miss that boy
thanks guys,
I will try to get a before and after picture of when we first got him until now. The breeder has offered to help me train some more next spring. He was happy with the weight loss results. I met my wife 10 years ago, she always had dogs in her life, she had a doberman and she walked that dog every day unless it was a blizzard out, he lived to be 14 years old. She deserves a lot of credit, my wife went on a diet, between walking the dog and her diet, she lost 30 pounds. Our rescue dogs full name is "Johnny Cash" cash for short. He managed to find his first full grown porcupine last spring 8 quills, I pulled them myself. I put him on his leash took him back over to porcupine again, and he wanted more :-\. My wife walked him last summer, he found a baby porcupine, and vet said he tried to eat that one. My wife called in a panic, I said how many quills? She thought he had 20 or so quills, vet said he had 85 quills, and the vet could tell by the size it was a baby porcupine. She put them in a glass vile for us. She said it was a record for any dog she has ever seen. Just before bird season my buddy that has 2 brittanies and I took his 2 dogs and cash to a bird farm, I put out 3 chukar for cash, he found the first 2, then we took him outside the field area to get downwind of the 3rd, he went on point under a small pine tree, we thought sure it was another chukar because guys had been in that field with chukars earlier. I kicked around the pine and released cash, he put up a good fight with that skunk for about 5 seconds, enough for 3 good squirts before I could drag him away. I washed his eye out, the side of his face and leg as best I could where he got squirted. He shook his head, headed back for the pine tree, thought better of it and went and pointed the 3rd chukar. :laugh:
I tried to figure out how to put a picture on, its like trying to read chinese for me :-\ If anyone knows how to put a picture on this post and would do that for me, I can send them the pictures. kalglass@charter.net is my e mail.
Quote from: glassman_48 on October 16, 2018, 10:05:36 PM
When I was a young man (25 years old) I got a young brittany puppy, I would leave him on an outside run during the day, and would work next door to my house building furniture for my brother. He got off his run and ran out in the road and got killed.
I never went hunting again after that for almost 40 years. I am just happy to be outside again, and I really don't care about shooting birds as much as just watching him run.
Exactly who rescued whom? Not that it's particularly important.
The next test in your relationship is when you miss an easy bird, and avoid looking Cash in the eyes, as he questions your shooting skills.
IlI' try to put the pictures up if you want. I figured out how to do it from my phone I'll try from email next. Send them to flywheelrigger@gmail.com and ilI' give it a shot
Brittanies are special, congratulations, mine had to be put down in his old age. Never replaced.
8) 8) 8) Rescue dogs are the best 8) 8) 8) 8)
claybraker, I believe I have gotten that look several times between opening day until the first bird down :laugh: I cannot believe how much he figured out in such a short time. He found a woodcock today that I shot, he will pick them up already, wont bring them to me yet. The breeder of cash said his mother is the only brittany that he has owned that will pick up woodcock easily without any coaching/teaching. What is helping is watching my buddy with his 2 brittanies and how he explains and answers all my questions. There is a lot involved in the training process, his dogs are 9 and 10 years old. Both the breeder and my other friends advice has been invaluable. The guy with 2 brittanies has actually considered buying a larger s.u.v. so we can fit 3 kennels in his vehicle so we can take the hour drive to a pheasant farm together. Pretty amazing, I may purchase the larger s.u.v. myself so we can ride together. An hour ride each way gives me time to learn a bunch, then we put it to use hunting. Texas Ranger, I feel for you, my little havanese is 10 years old now, his bark is even starting to sound old now. Cub, I will try sending pictures shortly, thank you.
It's funny how terms change I used to call them pound dogs now there rescued dogs any way over the last 35 years that I have been married and on a farm we have had two brittany's that had came from the pound. We had a older lady that we farmed some ground for that worked at the pound and see knew my wife was a soft touch for dogs so when they would get a older dog folks didn't want and were going to be put down she would call and we would go down to the pound and they normally would come home. Both of those brittanys were great dogs and loved everyone.They loved to ride on the flat bed of the pickup. Didn't have them at the same time. I don't hunt but they would go along with a couple of my buddies that did. Someone had hunted with them at one time. Both lived to be a ripe old age. Glassman 48 your story reminded me of some good times.
hedgerow,
Thanks, I have had more good times with this dog, we got him last november, he rides in the front seat of my pickup all the time. The breeder said he never saw such a calm brittany riding in a vehicle. I lost him last spring when snow was on the ground for almost an hour. That was heartwrenching, my buddy that has 2 brittanies came right over, my wife and her girlfriend came too. I left my hat on a tree where he disappeared, and sent my wife and her girlfriend in their car down a 2 track towards where he was headed. About a quarter mile down that 2 track, cash came bounding out of the woods, he jumped on my wifes lap scared to death, and licked her face like a popsicle. The one good thing that came out of that is now he stays close in dense cover, and when it opens up like a woods, he moves on out to about 50 yards as long as he can see me. He usually checks back in, I see him getting bolder by the week. He had 4 points today and 2 flushes, I think the other 2 points the birds ran off. The next day after we lost him I went to collar clinic and got a gps collar, it was the best money I ever spent for that dogs sake. The only thing I can think of is he saw a deer and took off, I sent him into some pine trees after I saw a partridge flush so he could smell the area where the bird took off, I walked in there after about 15 seconds and he was gone. He now has a bell, a gps collar and a beeper, almost looks comical 3 things around his neck like that, but they work.
Its been about 2 years now since we have had a dog on the farm last one was a brown lab cross that had come from the pound too and was probably six years old when we got her she was around here 14 years before we had to put her down Vet said she has to be at least 20. The older lady that worked at the pound is gone also. Its probably time for us to go rescue another older dog and give them a good home.
hedgerow,
I hope you get another dog, every dog deserves a family like yours. Hope you get to enjoy another one.
Rescue dogs are the best here's ours thinks I should play not saw figures if he sits on log I'll play
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Lko67,
That is a good looking dog, I came home early today, grabbed my collar bag, my brittany almost knocked me over getting to the door :laugh: I emailed 51 cub 3 photos, hopefully he can get them put on here.
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These are cash's pictures. Sorry about the one that's got the wow in it. I'll be doggoned if I know what I did wrong. Either way, what a looker! I'm glad to get them up there
51cub,
thanks for posting my pictures, the first picture is right after we got cash last november. All we were doing is walking him on a lead every day. We got an electric shock collar after about a month, and took him to an outdoor tennis court to train him to come. The previous owner said if you let him off a leash, he will run off. I only shocked him twice on low, after a couple of weeks, we let him run free, then he started losing weight. My wife is my hero, she tried to walk him every morning, she works second shift, any day she could not run him I would after work. If I got home early enough, I would give him a second walk. He loves to run, he jumped a 5' snowdrift piled along our street one day, it is pretty amazing watching him lose all that weight. Thanks again cub51
I can't believe how big he was, he is so happy now losing all that weight. The breeder told me a while ago that one of his litter mates was one of the top derby dogs in the united states a while back. I cannot believe we got a brittany that is such a good dog and hunter. cub51, I did not see a wow in the picture at all. Thanks again
Nice looking dog glassman hunting dogs are alot of fun. My son has a German short hair very nice dog
Lko67,
Thanks, After not hunting for 40 years, I haven't slept well since opening day, I am so happy for that dog. Nice to be my age and get this excited again :laugh:
Best dog I will likely ever have was a Brittany. He was a hunting machine that always turned heads and was usually always underestimated by other dogs and proud dog owners.
DPatton,
I read a book about 2 brothers back in the 60's that raised brittany's, at the end of the book was a poem about his dog "beau" they had a bet with their other hunting buddies that had pointers about which dogs were better :laugh: From what I can remember the 2 breeds stayed neck and neck the first day, the brittany pulled ahead the second day, and the third day the pointers were running out of gas and the brittany was still hunting. One of my goals after I get this guy hunting well is to head out your way for a week. A bunch of guys in Michigan make that annual trek to Nebraska for pheasants. Yesterday, I ran cash in some woods that were pretty thick, but he could still run pretty hard. Its the best he has ever hunted, it was just like I wanted, he would always check back, I only called him back a couple of times when he ranged out farther than I like. He is staying closer in the thick stuff, and farther out in the open. He was 2.5 years old when we rescued him, without hunting experience so its like having a pup in some ways. I see him do stuff in the woods that I think are accidents, but they are not. That dog is just that smart I think. I am not doubting him in the field anymore :laugh:
The brittany breeder has a buddy that has a small female gsp, and the brittany breeder has a young female brittany. They hunt together all the time, I have never seen anything like those 2 little pocket rockets, my dog cash has a longer stride, watching those 2 females makes you think nothing out there in the field could escape them. I wonder if part of that might be that they hunt them together? And they learn from each other that style. I watched cashs mom last summer, and she hunts similar I call it pocket rocket style :laugh: My other buddy has 2 brittanies that are 9 and 10 years old, before I got cash our hour long rides to a pheasant farm gave me a good base for learning about brittanies and hunting them in general. Then out in the field whenever we had a chance, he would explain why he did something the way he did, or why the dogs did something a certain way. Man I learned a lot. Now we have 3 dogs so unless we get a bigger vehicle, we can't ride together. Half the fun is my ride down and back with a brittany dictionary thats willing to share :laugh:
Glassman, that sounds a lot like my experience with them. My Brit lived 15 years 3 months. He hunted upland birds a full 13 of those years in multiple states and never stopped teaching me or the guys I hunt with new tricks. He always had a hot nose with good pointing and retrieving skills. But it wasn't till he was 3 years old that I got in a pickle with some wounded speckle belly geese one day that he showed me his full capabilities.
See I was waterfowl hunting a 40 acre pond by myself (no dog) when I brought down two specks, but they were only wounded and swimming around this lake. I couldn't get close enuf to finish em off and I wasn't about to leave em. I didn't know what else to do so I quick drove home and got Gunner as a desperate last attempt. After that day for the next ten years I never went waterfowl hunting without him again! He was my best asset laying in my lay down blind next to me for 30-45 days a typical season. Best part was watching buddies and acquaintances with trained retrievers just shake their heads in disbelief.
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Brittanies are my favorite dogs. We rescued my old dog Lincoln. A friend of ours had taken him from a kill shelter so they wouldn't kill him. We got him when he was about 1 year old. He lived to be 14. He was very different than yours. We could never get him to out on any weight, no matter how we tried. My new dog is maybe part Brittany and part springer. We rescued Junebug too.
First pic is new dog. Second pic is older dog, all Brittany.
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DPatton,
Thats a great story with the geese. My buddies 2 brittanies often go into a pond after pheasants that we shoot. My buddy Fred said every one of his brittanies did the same thing. I havent worked with cash yet on that. Yesterday, he found his 3rd porcupine, at least he got a half hour run in before that happened. >:( >:( I pulled out probably 20 quills out of his legs, the ones in his nose and around his mouth he didn't like me pulling. One emergency room later,,,,,,,Firefighter, I am glad you rescued those dogs, those eyes will just melt a person. I think dogs know when they are rescued, or just treated well, or both, I get those "eyes" from my dogs a lot too. It really makes my life better having them around. My wife was the dog lover before she met me, now I make room for them in my busy life, its taught me patience. My 2 year old havanese follows me everywhere in the house, if I am on computer he is laying next to my chair, if I am on recliner, he is on my lap, if I lay on couch, he lays near my head :laugh: When I get home from work, its a circus which one gets to me first, the 2 year old often jumps over the brittanies back to get to me :laugh: Those 3 dogs have made me a better person, and my marriage is stronger because of them.
Just an update :laugh: Johnny Cash found 3 porcupines in 1 week, 2 emergency room visits, he found probably a week old dead porcupine today while hunting, he ran up to it before I knew what he was after, sniffed it, then left immediately, I ran up saw it had been dead for a while, looked at his face, no quills, I scolded him, then started hunting again, saw him head back that way, had my shock collar on a higher than normal setting. when he went back, I scolded and shocked at the same time. He trotted away looking back, I gave him the chance to go back on his own and he ignored the porcupine after that. I am hoping this will help. The breeder wants to try a similar approach with a fresh road kill porcupine. I will take his advice on this. This should be the last week around here for woodcock, there arent as many points as a couple weeks ago. This has been a blast watching him hunt, he is getting better every week. He is starting to trail running birds, going to take a bit for him to figure this all out, but he is all business out in the field.
Lucky for me porcupine is real scarce where I'm from. But I have spent far too many days holed up in a lay-down blind with a Britt that had tangled with a skunk on the way in to our duck hunting spot that morning >:( >:( >:(. After the first week or so the intensity of that smell starts to fade. But every time he'd get wet retrieving a duck or goose the smell kept coming back.
Dpatton,
I think I posted earlier about cash finding a skunk about a month ago. He is setting records, 1 skunk, 3 porcupines, thats 1 per week average >:( Part of it is me I know, I watch the guys with brittanies and they are more alert to situations than I have been. I am learning to look ahead of him for trouble. He still has a very slight skunk odor from a month ago.
I had to look up the Havanese. I'd never heard of that breed. Well, it sure looks a lot like my other dog, Sprocket. We named him after the muppet dog, Sprocket, on the show Fragglerock. He may not be all Havanese, but I'd bet he's part.
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firefighter,
They look a little like a shitzu, about 12 pounds. My 10 year old rules the roost :laugh: The brittany doesnt mess with him, but plays with the 2 year old havanese all the time. Havanese are hypoallergenic, I am allergic to dogs, but wife loves them so wanted her not to go through life with me without at least one dog, so now we have three. Does anyone know how to say my wife might be a little spoiled 8) I remind her of that all the time. I bought her a pair of brush pants so she can watch the brittany out in the woods. Her first day will be tomorrow in the woods. I usually find a spot she can walk on a powerline, and I go into the thicker stuff. She hasn't seen the brittany point a wild bird yet. She wants to see that. We got a partridge today, they are tough and usually run and in thick stuff not much of a chance to get a shot. Got lucky today.