03-01-14 Saturday,
Four below zero when we parked at the tip of Long Lake in Harrison, ME. Bought a dozen smelts for bait hoping for a lake trout or salmon. We could see fish on the camera . White perch were the bite.

Beginning to think Jim, Tim and David are ice fishing chick magnets. This was the second time this season we have had ladies from the lakeshore come out on the ice to visit. The first on Saturday was a very good looking blonde who came to visit with her blonde dog. The two ladies in the picture walked a long way to our encampment. They had never been on ice before (from Seattle, WA). They left with two things, 1. A bag of white perch, 2. Instructions to go on YouTube and learn how to fillet them. #2 Jim gave them an ice fishing seminar. I sat in my chair and enjoyed the eye candy. I told Jim #1 (on left) that the ladies who have come to visit us this winter have a primal instinct to go see the men who provide. They bag up the bounty and return home to cook for their clans. Jim says we are as Jesus said “Fishers of men.”





Left Long Lake at 1 PM and took the ride to camp. It took over an hour and a half to get there. The roads were frost heave heaven. 35 MPH was too fast. I had the four wheeler strapped in on all four corners. She rode well. The guys with skidoo trailers were way less fortunate.

Got to camp and the snow was deep. Had to park at my neighbors and snowshoe in. Took the jet sled in with supplies and shoveled off the roof. Camper looked good inside and out. No mice damage. Camp log said December 14 was the last time I was there.

Sampson’s Bay 2014 is open.









03-02-14 Sunday,
36 degrees warmer than Saturday when we parked at Pawtuckaway. The bite was on. I had all I could do to fish four traps. I was setting my second when the first went off. Nonstop action from 0800 to 1300. Stopped on the way home and gave my fish to my buddy who was chasing the smelt bite which isn’t happening this winter.

Jay went home, filleted his and Courtney fish and brought them back to the homeowner for allowing us access to the lake. It was the best fishing day of the weekend. I knew we were in trouble Saturday when we pulled in the boat launch in Harrison and we were the only vehicles there. I thought Mainer's were tougher in cold weather. Sunday the lake was like a family reunion. Lot of people and families fishing.





Coalman's Panfish Party

Last hurrah and Poor cottontail

We got a couple inches out of yesterdays snowstorm. It might be our last hurrah for 2014.



This was the first winter in 15 years of living here we had a cottontail rabbit out back.

I'm afraid it may have also been its last hurrah. The dogs found this by the brook. My guess from the sign in the snow an avian predator.



It has been a good winter for outdoor exercise.

Looking forward to 2015.

It is just amazing what selective breeding can do for a dog. Bay came from a non hunting background. I made it my quest to reunite the frayed wires of her farm dog breeding. In the end I am very happy with her results.

Forward fast to Belle. She seems to be a natural. As many generations of hunters as I can count in her pedigree. And man does it show. Belle is a hunter and lives to retrieve. I can even see in her physical physique that the breeding was for a much leaner and faster dog with upland game and covering ground being her body style.

Belle is built for speed. Something I am not used to with Bay. Bay is a very close hunter. Belle lets her nose dictate her travel. I haven't had any problems with Belle when she has been off leash. She listens well and comes to my call. But the stubborn teenager phase is starting to emerge.

So in a life of dog ownership and seeing the potential of this bred hunter I broke down and bought a Garmin Alpha. More for its tracking ability than the e-collar but might as well teach two birds with one unit.

Our upland journey continues.

Both dogs got to wear the collar for the first time last night. For the next couple of weeks anytime we go for a walk they will be carrying. Made sure I took the collar off as soon as we returned home. When the juice first starts to flow I want them to know that our house is a safe place.

Training on the outside they better be good.

Bay



Belle as we were preparing for our walk.



Note the correction/pinch collar. I highly recommend one for anyone teaching a dog to walk and heel. Belle is a completely different dog on lead when she has her correction collar on. It took Bay a couple years and a hundred walks before the collar was not needed. Today it is a pure pleasure to walk Bay. No pulling and always at heel.

04-19-14
Took the yellow dogs up to camp for the weekend. This was landscaping and leaf blowing weekend, last weekend was clean the camper like it was a hospital weekend.

Two weeks ago the mountain trail was more the texture of soup than terra firma. This weekend it was much more stable but not four wheeler ready.

We hiked the mountain twice today between leaf blowing duties. Which came out pretty good. Grow grass grow.





Our first trip was a road scouting mission, our next was a road fixing mission. On our way back down the mountain we flushed a partridge. Bay was aware from the sound. Belle was clueless.

My brace of tired yellow dogs.



04-20-14
Darn, no gobbling at daybreak. But that didn't really matter because I've heard that silence before. I thanked the Lord in my own private way for his blessings on our life during my 1/2 hour Easter sunrise service. Who keeps ordering this frosty weather?

With the sun approaching high noon we took a turkey hike up the mountain. Lots of scratching's under the brown ash on the east side. The highlight of our hike was when a partridge exploded off the trail not 10 feet in front of both dogs. Belle isn't clueless anymore.

Went over to visit the first residents of Camp Mountain. They weren't home.



This is a center chimney foundation. It was a very popular structure in this part of colonial Maine. The old fireplace is the pile of rocks on the right. Note no brick which means this foundation pre dates the 1850's.

The last time I was here the well was all covered with sticks. Not this time. Nobody was home. This will be a chore that needs to be done to cover this old well. It was full of leaves. No telling how deep it was.



Great weekend with my two best canine friends!

06-01-14
Dropped Belle off yesterday at “Summer Camp for Gundogs”. She will be gone for 4 months. She is being boarded at Quail Ridge Kennels in Stafford Springs, CT , which is also a shooting preserve with plenty of birds and she is being personally trained by our own Irishwhistler.

What a great day Belle and I had in the field with Team TRAD and Mike or Irish "Whisperer" as he likes to be called. He is the most complete dog man I have met. Watching what he has his eight month old TRAD doing had to be seen to believe.

The first month will be obedience and collar training with introductory to birds and water. Mike has a fantastic network of family and friends training grounds. Belle took her first real swim here yesterday.



Thank you Irishwhistler for your willingness to take Belle to Summer Camp for Gundogs.

06-06-14
Belle update

The Dog Whistler has been sending us daily Belle training updates. I have to admit some are hard to read because my eyes water up with pride from his accomplishments with Belle. As Mike has learned Belle was really training Karen and I. She doesn't get away with any BS with Mike.

When I left Sunday Mike told me Belle would be swimming like a fish in a week or so. Got an email from him Wednesday saying he lied. Seems Belle has found her ballast.





I'm not much of a water fowler. Belle has a strong background in upland game so I asked Mike to make this a focus of her training. All reports have been very positive. Mike reports Belle has a very strong prey drive. His first test was a pheasant wing which she found and wanted to devour. So next it was pheasant scented tennis balls. Mike reports Belle hunts till she finds them.





Today was a dead pigeon. Belle was instructed to "Find Dead", which she did and promptly scooted away to eat her prize. As Mike said "not good but not bad". The test was to determine her prey drive. The Hold and Force Fetch training to come will take care of that tendency.

This week has mostly been a test week to see what potential Miss Belle has. I'll be honest with a little brag that I could tell right away Belle was a natural. But I also needed someone of Mike's caliber and commitment because I knew I could not get the cream to rise to the top.

I have a friend from Norfolk, VA who also owns an eight month old yellow lab named Bo. You can image my surprise when I opened an email Wednesday titled "You know this dog?" and there he was with Belle at the kennel. He was coming up to Boston on business and called Quail Ridge and asked to stop by. If things go as he plans Bo is coming up for a month of obedience training in July.



Thank you Dog Whistler for your time and commitment to making Belle and TRAD "the best they can be".

06-16-14
From Belle’s trainer…our own Irish (Dog) Whistler......

"I could not be more happy with Belle's raw talent, her work ethic, and her overall intelligence."

Thank you Betsie River Jones......



And Middlebranch Nova........



Mike and Belle at Summer Camp for Gundogs...upland



And waterfowl.



Thank you Mike!

06-18-14
As unhappy as I was about getting Bay spayed, I need to keep my better half happy as she is her basic care giver. Bay has had some issues this year with swelling mammary glands that were leaking milk and blood. The vet said false pregnancy.

On 06-10-14 Bay went under the knife. They spayed her, took out the mammary glands, a small fatty tumor under her front leg and stitched her up.

I brought Bay back to the vet Monday because fluids were being trapped in her belly and hind end. She was bloated and seemed uncomfortable. The vet said she looked OK and to keep warm compresses on the stitches.

Last night as I was getting ready to go fishing Bay was outside with me and sneezed. The force of the sneeze and the pressure in her belly burst a stitch and all those fluids came gushing out.

Pretty frightening at first but Bay didn't seem to mind. We let her drip, washed her up and she spent the rest of the night in her kennel so we could keep her mobility down. This morning Karen dropped her off at the vet and we pick her back up tonight.

I hate to put Bay through this but my wife has convinced me it is for her best health. Sadly I have to agree.

But I can tell you now as long as Belle stays healthy and has no female issues she will never see the knife.

How can a lab solicit the same emotions on us as our children do? Only a dog owner knows.

07-03-14
One month into Summer Camp and we really miss Belle.

From the look on her face she isn't missing us. What dogs wouldn't enjoy Mike as their Camp Counselor.



Thank you Madra Whistler.

07/05/14
It was Parent's Day at Quail Ridge Summer Camp today. My bride and I left NH at 0600 still in the grips of the torrential rain and wind from Hurricane Arthur. Midway through MA we could see blue sky on the Horizon. We drove from pouring rain into bright blue sunny sky. Not many times in my life have I witnessed the defining line of the end of a hurricane.

We arrived in CT to one of the most gorgeous summer days in memory. Temps in the 70's, a steady breeze and low humidity. A great day to see all the arts and crafts the pups have been working on.

Trad was up first on a triple memory retrieve which he aced. Mike knows the vocabulary much better than I for all the other tasks that TRAD performed like a senior in all aspects.

The Madra (Dog) Whistler with TRAD.



Mike asked Karen and I to ignore Belle when she was first let out of her kennel in order to limit any distractions. Belle acknowledged our presence with eye contact and fell in line with Mike.

Belle's arts and crafts table was full of accomplishments. You could tell from watching her that Mike has been concentrating on an upland aspect rather than a waterfowl aspect per my request.

I was so proud of both it made my eyes water.

Well the ignore portion didn't last long. As soon as Belle had completed half a circle through the training grounds it was all we could do to keep her tongue from giving each of us a bath. Our reunion was sweet. We love that dog and could tell the feeling was mutual.

The "Yellow Rocket".







Note where her eye contact....isn't.



What summer camper doesn't enjoy the water sports the best? With the field training review complete each dog had it's day in the pond.

TRAD starting a land, water, land retrieve. He also did a double retrieve going across to the point with one dummy and the second thrown 90 degrees into heavy vegetation. TRAD could have used the land for the memory bird but Mike's command kept TRAD in the water.





Next it was Belle's turn.



She is even dock diving.





When the pups retired to their cabins the adults settled in for a New England boil.

Corn on the cob, potato salad, little neck clam and mussel pasta, steamed clams and Great Bay lobsters, finishing out with strawberry shortcake. All along with a compliment of adult beverages.

Thank you Steve and Nancy owners of Quail Ridge for opening your home, supplying all the cooking utensils and sharing with us the edible bounty.

You can see the distraction Karen and I caused Belle when Mike was reviewing his training by her eye focus in a couple pictures above. It was squarely on Karen and I.

Later in the afternoon I went down to Belle's cabin for a little one on one that I have sorely missed. I duplicated Mike's approach and took her on the same circle she displayed her gains with Mike earlier in the day.

That yellah dawg did everything for me that Mike had demonstrated to us earlier in the day. The part I loved the most was the eye contact. Belle demonstrates personality through her gaze.

Thank you Mike for your commitment to training Belle. It shows!!

07-10-14
Miss Bay had her stiches out Tuesday and is back to her normal stand off ish self. She has such a personality. She's all over you if she wants something. If you want something from her it on her time. LOL!

I love that dog!

Belle on the other hand is a lap dog. Loves people and loves to be loved and touched. I miss her so much I am contemplating a kidnap....not really.

I have the best of both worlds.

Labs rule!

1.5 months down 2.5 months to go.

I really miss her.

From Belle's trainer Mike.

07-11-14
Stopped into QUAIL RIDGE on the way home from Brimfield again tonight and found Belle waiting for me at the gate to her run.

We immediately went for a "ramp down" session once she was calmed and at "SIT" for a while outside of her run. At first, "ramp down" was not out of the ordinary and it appeared Belle was just taking care of "airing out" and burning off some energy. I recalled her with the "BELLE HERE" command and she complied readily. I then sent her into some heavy cover two to four feet in height, with the command of "BELLE HUNT DEAD", having already thrown a scented tennis ball while she wasn't looking. Belle began showing sign like she was "HOT" on bird scent and then it happened, Belle flushed a hen turkey and damn near caught it in the air as it clawed for the sky. Belle stayed in very focused and hard pursuit of the bird as it flew to nearby hardwoods just west of us, a chase of about 60 yards. I recalled Belle with "BELLE HERE" and she returned to me. I cast her back into the original patch of cover and Belle managed to flush two poults. The Lass is bird driven and it will be interesting once I start running her on launchers to see how long it takes to steady her to sit to wing and shot.

After her adrenaline rush from the turkey, I continued to run her on an effort to "ramp down" and she did. We then worked our way back to the area I prefer to do yard work in. Belle and I then worked on intensive OB and she is handling the new level of focus very well.

A very, very, cool session for Belle and I. Dave and Karen, ye have a real winner here!

07-12-14
During tonight's "ramp down", I watched as a chukar crossed a trail and headed into cover about 60 yards up ahead of us. Walking north to the last place I saw the bird, I then saw it again approximately 70 yards west of us and on the run. I worked Belle toward the scent trail waiting to see if she would pick it up and track the bird on her own, and she did. Belle made a flush on the chukar. Another night of bird drive demonstrated by Belle.

Great work by Belle!

07-16-14
What better way to spend a summer day.

Team TRAD and Team Belle









Letting pups be pups.



Thank you Irish Whistler.

07-17-14
Hunting Buddies



The Dynamic Duo