So Luna and I went to the Arboretum yesterday to get some exercise.. I have been trying to get her out to stretch her legs and run a bit as much as possible, in hopes of putting some muscle on her. I wish I had a faster way to travel around the arboretum, like a horse or silent 4 wheeler to force her to run a bit more.. but alas I will have to settle for foot speed..
I wish I could get her to range a bit farther. I am glad she sticks pretty close due to it being easier to keep track of her, but I wish she would venture around a bit more than she does. This may looks like she’s pretty far, but she is not. Now, had she caught scent of something (especially) a bird, I think she would be out hunting way more. Right now it’s just exploring to her. I have been tempted to send her to “hunt” with a whistle like we do in hunt tests.. but I don’t know if this would be a bad thing as more than likely it would be a fruitless hunt.. and may discourage her at the hunt tests. I say that but I highly doubt it, because she would totally pick up on the different vibe at tests.. and usually finds birds or scent very soon into the tests and that just kicks her drive into full gear. Part of me wants her to range farther here so that we could really see if there are any wild birds around… so I’m at a loss as for what to do.
No log was left uninvestigated (yep doubt that’s a word). No birds/game here…
But there was lots of evidence of critters that HAD been there… (mouse tracks?)
LOTS of evidence.. this scene made me laugh. I wish i had been able to see these mice and little critters running all around on the snow. now on to the mystery track..
Our best guess is that it may be a mouse track that was blown over a bit.. any ideas? It was slightly larger than the other tracks, but again, that may be due to the winds influence. She did end finding another rabbit.. Well actually I did. I had found some tracks by a bush and had JUST taken a picture of them and called her over to point them out to her.. And as SOON as she was about 4 feet from the bush the rabbit shot past and they both took off. I called her back after a minute or two. I had not expected the rabbit to be there, it was pretty hilarious. I don’t want her to get into the habit of hunting for rabbits rather than birds right now. But again that chance of her doing that at an actual hunt test is slim due to how much bird scent there probably will be.
Has anyone planted a dummy with a bird wing on it while out “exploring” like we have been.. so that she can find something? or would this again confuse her? I could even drop it somewhere and then have it there for when we come back that way and see if she picks up the scent. I have pheasant wings and scent that I use for hide and seek in the house. Also, what whistle commands do you teach your dogs? and what types of whistle (as in short blast, long blast, two short etc) so you put to each? I want to fine tune Luna to the whistle as she tends to hear that better than me calling her name when she’s using her “hunting ears.”
Alright, one last luna pic
She was being a pill about “posing” for me.. too many other things going on. I missed what would have been a great “fake point” shot of her pointing some song birds.. soon as I brought my camera up she moved.. I need to get her next Whoa lesson in so I can apply it to while we are out.
Alright, she is getting antsy.. time to get ready for work. Take care
Vizsla Inspiration 