Just another day

[hicntry]

Got a call last week from some folks that have a 3000 acre parcel to bring the dogs in and get rid of the hogs. The rain and snow has let up until Thursday so I took a couple of green dogs with me while I checked the place out to see how bad it was. The called because he saw a Smithsonian clip on tv about how destructive they were. He lives in southern Cal and comes up 4 or 5 times a year but he wants the hogs eradicated. Well, to hunt is one thimng, to eradicate is another and I am not buying tags for an eradication so I am going to pull a depradation permit for him this week and them we will get started. What is funny is I had his neighbor pull a depradation permit not long ago and the hogs here are probably the ones that left the neighbors place because of the pressure. It was a nice morning but turned real cold in the afternoon.. You can see some of the rooting as the dogs are working their way across the flat. I never leash a dog when out because they learn little of nothing about what they need to know. Maybe tomorrow we will jump some hogs and once I kill a few, there will be no doubt that hogs are the game......then I will need tracking collars on them. The taller dog in the first picture I have been experamenting with different training methods for basic obedience. Bill Koehlers trainig works like a charm compare to other methods I have experimented with so, now that I know, he get to try working the field.

[hicntry]

Another day with the green dogs. On the way down to this property I took this picture. This is one way in and was an old stagecoach road back in the day. You can see it doesn't get much use and you have to have all the keys to the gates to get in here....but it is a beautiful spot....and steep. I wouldn't be on any stagecoach coming down this.



Started the two dogs on roading today. They picked it up pretty fast but new dogs tend to want to hang back behind the truck. That doesn't work well because when they hit a track they are gone in a flash and iI may miss it. Roading is great for muscle and endurance.



BlackJack is heading up the bank.



On the way out. I took this picture of the property owners guest house.



His personal house. They come up mabe 6 times a year for a weekend.

[blathens]

Beautiful countryside. Too bad there are so many liberals in California.

Bill

[hicntry]

Tell me about it Bill. Most liberals stay in areas wher they got a lot of support. This area is pretty conservative overall. It's pretty easy to tell the liberals up here anyway. They have the cars with the left over glue on their car bumpers.....where they scraped off those Obama stickers and save the forest stickers after getting harrassed...... Everywhere.

[hicntry]

I was lucky to get that photo of Jack powering up that cutbank since I was driving. Looking at other parts of the bank you can see where the bank is sluffing off because it is so soft. Jack has spent his days in the yard, house or truck and yet handles the terrain with ease. Can't help how he will do after a month of roading. Having a real low tailset and being slightly roachbacked gives him great extension in the back for a 29 1/2 in dog. The last thing I want to see in these dogs is the straight flat back with a high tailset. I do like to see a bit of a roach.

[blathens]

D&B, Jon didn't you tell me Ken Vospet had a roach back? I guess I took it the wrong way, you were actually complementing his conformation:)

Bill

[DrahtsundBraats]

D&B, Jon didn't you tell me Ken Vospet had a roach back? I guess I took it the wrong way, you were actually complementing his conformation:)

Bill

No, Bill, I never said such a thing ... wouldn't because I never saw the dog in person. I've seen a few of his get and have never see any topline issues...nice dogs, more giddy-yap than I would have expected but the ones i have seen had some FT in the pedigrees too. I think Ken was a very positive contributor.

What hicntry calls roach backed is not what I would call it...a dog that is slightly high over the loin with a descending croup is going to have a powerful thrust...as long as it can extend to the rear....it can also fully "coil" or gather under the body before the explosion. I've always felt short backed, squarer dogs are built more for endurance...stride is more compact, speed is not as great but the large muscle groups are not as "loaded" during work. I think you can see this in horses....racing TBs are totally different to long distance Arabians....a fox hound is different than a Greyhound. It would appear to me that hicntry has found a happy medium...dogs that combine speed with endurance. The only sacrifice may have been athleticism and nimbleness in close quarters. A taller narrower animal is not going to turn as efficiently ... but we are probably discussing theory here more than any functional difference.

IMO, a square dog usually presents problems...because unless the shoulder and rear croup are perfect, the dog will have problems with foot placement underway....front and rear feet cross over (over reach) under the dog forcing the dog to offset the rear (crabbing). This costs energy. If the dog is more upright to avoid the crabbing, the stride is shorter. Better to have a dog that is a little longer than it is tall....better for brood bitches anyway.

[hicntry]

I don't consider a slight roach an issure unless were talking show dogs. It is actually beneficial. Out of the pictures Bill10979 posted to show the absence of roach backs, there were 3 dd's. The first had a sloping topline, the second two were slightly roachbacked in the pictures. It could well be the lay of the coat that gave them the appearance of a slight roach, but, I doubt it. Actually it is very beneficial to a dogs movement, rather than a fault, as Bill10979 put it. Several dogs in those pictures had a slight roaches but he didn't know it. The sickle hocked GSD was what he considered a roach.

Although an airedale is supposed to have a very high tailset, with the root of the taili coming off the back, and a short flat back, it is show stuff. they can't fold up like a dog with a low tailset and a slight roach....lijke the dogs pictures here.

[blathens]

Jon, it was the annual meeting for NAVHDA sponsored by the Potomac Chapter that you said you thought Ken was roach backed and too straight stifled. Actually it took a second to realize you were just busting my B****.

Bill

[hicntry]

Just got back from the Dept of Fish and Game. Gopt the depredation permit and was shocked that it is good until Dec,31. I thought they were only good for 30 to 60 days.Unlimitd take an no tags...until next year....doesn't get much better than that.

[hicntry]

Crazy Bill is now on the working dog forum doing his thing. LOL

[hicntry]

Whooie, Bill is out of his element on the WDF forum. They are eating him for lunch and he has no cohorts to help him out. He is accusing me of character assaination and threatening lawyers. Doesn't he know he has to have character before it can be assassinated.

[blathens]

How do you get on the WDF?

Bill

[hicntry]

Bill
http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulletin/
Looks like much has happened since last night. I had a whole thread that had been going for some time on the German pup and it is all gone because of this smuck. Don't know if he is still there orn not. He was there as Don Rumsberg. Last night he was threatening to sue me for assinattion of character and everything else...like he has one to assassinate.

[Kyle]

Bill
http://www.workingdogforum.com/vBulletin/
Looks like much has happened since last night. I had a whole thread that had been going for some time on the German pup and it is all gone because of this smuck. Don't know if he is still there orn not. He was there as Don Rumsberg. Last night he was threatening to sue me for assinattion of character and everything else...like he has one to assassinate.

Is this what is referred to as circling the wagons or are you recruiting cheerleaders?

Now you know how we feel when you do the same thing every time there is a question about DDs on this board.

Good luck with your battle on the other forum. I hope you are victorious!
Kyle