I think they will be OK!!
True to form I am a little late posting this picture but this is Tripp at 1 year old!! Damn, where does the time go. I am chomping at the bit to run him in a hunt test but am going to wait until next spring and then turn him loose. (I think LOL) We are skipping the puppy class with him and going straight to Senior with him. (Yes, I think he is that good......don't let me down Tripp LOL) I was Hunt test cordinator at our clubs last hunt test and , anything can go wrong but I really thought he could have passed that test no problem. I need patience to hold back and just keep making him (us) better.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRIPP !!!
I have damn near let Tripps whole puppyhood go with almost no photos. That doesn't mean he is getting neglected. We are doing tons of training and the little guy is not letting me down. He is really showing a ton of promise.Even people I am training with are very impressed. Most times when our group trains we set up tougher marks and run them as singles. Dogs 3 to 5 years with Master Titles and Tripp runs them as good as any dog there. He is just transitioning from pattern field to cold blinds , which is a hard thing to do and he is just OK on it. No problem.....it just takes time. This is Tripp at 8 months old.
Better late than never! Middle of July and I finally get Tripp out in the boat for his first boat ride. He loved it as I knew he would. This is one of the few things the other dogs can really help on. When Tripp saw how excited the other two dogs were he just followed suit. First time he has been exposed to white caps and waves crashing as well......no problem. I have really lapsed on posting stuff but just so busy mounting birds and training that I just don't stop to take pictures. Tripp is doing pretty darn good for being under a year old.....I hope it continues.
Chase has really taken Tripp under his wing and these two are playmates beyond belief. Non stop when Tripp is out of his cage and they really go at it. Chase has been super calm with him and Tripp takes advantage of it and really gets rough. One of these days Chase is going to let him have it back and I for one won't care. LOL
Tripp is trying to buddy up to Chiloe. Chiloe tolerates him and that is about it. LOL Learn what you can from him Tripp.....he is one of a kind.
Well, I decided to roll the dice again with another puppy. I couldn't find a Chessie breeding I liked so I went back to my roots and bought a lab. His AKC Registered name is The last Tripp. Doing the math with my age I figure this could be it......but is it? Only time will tell. This boy comes from an incredble breeding which sometimes doesn't mean crap.......we will see.
Chiloe looks on while Chase dives for rocks.
Chase went deep for this one!
No , he is not!!!! But when you are the Chiloe dog certain rules get overlooked. He loves "sneaking " in the bedroom and laying near the bed. Ang thought she would punish him by giving him the pillow.
He is not about to let me leave him at home and I sure would not anyway! He did pretty good but did cheat the water a bit. Since he is retired I did "pretend" not to notice as the electric colar is more for show than anything. LOL
Took the boys down to the park. Chiloe to swim and Chase to train! LOL I can't believe Chiloe let me take this good of photo with him....every time I try his ears fold back and he looks like crap. Chase is looking so mature in this picture.....the little guy is growing up. I hope I don't jinx this but he has been running really good. Hope it continues as he is running a finished test this weekend. Today Chiloe was coming back with a dummy.....stopped and spit it out........and rolled around in the grass for a couple of seconds!!! I would have been pissed if I wasn't laughing so hard. Enjoy your retirement Chiloe, you earned it.
Damn, but this is getting depressing! We are at a training day at Butlers and everyone here is commenting how they can see Chiloe has lost a step or two. I don't care how bad he runs from here on out, but I know for a fact I will always be damn proud of him for what he has accomplished with a fumble fuk like me running and training him. For being April 22 I must say I froze my ass off.
385 dogs in the United States qualified for the Amateur Master National this year........9 were Chesapeake Bay Retrievers......and one of those was my partner....CHILOE!!!!! Chiloe's hearing has gone away enough he can't compete anymore which is a shame. My one last goal for him and myself was to run a National. Oh well, I still have him and he can sure as hell hunt with the bad hearing. It was a hell of a run Chiloe.....while all of the medical problems held us back a bit I wouldn't trade you for anything. You always made me so proud of you and you were so damn good, you even made me look like I knew what I was doing. The both of us still have a bunch more ducks to kill......together!!
Well, three more is better then none. Today I am afraid I let the boys down with my shooting. Good grief did I miss a couple of easy ones. The nice thing is Chase and Chiloe forgave me and we still managed to get these. Having two dogs and trying to hunt both is an absolute cluster f#%!......Chase has lots of talent he can't showcase because of Chiloe and Chiloe struggles a bit because he is not use to sharing with Chase. I just can't stand to leave either at home so we struggle. Sigh
Had one of our worst seasons ever.....warm, no water, not much use in even going out. At least the boys got to go for a swim tonight. Both dogs got to retrieve a bird.....both dogs needed me to come through better than this. I could tell Chiloe was antsy all season.......knowing we should be going and burning some gas through the boat but just wasn't meant to be. Chase could and should be soooo much better then he is but just not enough action for him to get the birds he needs.......cuz his big brother is going to get half the birds. Poor Chase gets bored from lack of action and just lays there but when the shooting starts the little guy is right in the ice water ready to rock.
Well, three is better than two!!! Had a hard time getting a picture of this as the geese were pouring in here after legal shooting time. LOL Ain't that the way she goes.
A very cold but productive morning for Chiloe. He had to hunt like hell for one of them before coming up with it. It fell in the perfect spot where he could not see or smell it but he will not give up on them. Poor Chase has to stay home asd he has a real anxiety disorder for this stuff. He has all the talent in the world to do this but gets so excited he just goes berserk whining and barking thus scareing all ducks away. I will keep working him but until this shit goes away he stays home.
Chiloe earned his 12th Master pass in a row yesterday but no time off for this guy! For some reason he really wasn't at his best so I wanted to throw him a couple to see what was going on. He was still running rough today but tomorrow is a new day and another hunt test so hopefully he keeps this train on the tracks. Poor Chase has to sit in the truck and observe......I feel so bad for him but he just is not ready for Master. I am going to get you to Master Chaser boy, even if it kills me.......and it just might. LOL
We are back up in Harrisvlle, Michigan again this year for the Blind Challenge. The pros place all kinds of blind retrieves out and for two days you pick and choose which ones you want to run. It is very stressful on the dogs as well as myself as it takes a great deal of teamwork as these are very hard blinds. If you can run these well you should ace any hunt test blind out there. Both dogs came out with the worst attitudes I have ever seen either dog display. I really feel they remembered from the start what they were in for and were not happy. Very slow running (mostly walking) and tail down pretty much saying this sucks as there are only dummies, no birds. However, they did execute the blinds and took handles from me almost flawlessly!!! On Sunday they both did a very very loooooong blind and the trainer said they were the first to complete them!!! Wasn't sure Chiloe would pull it off but wasn't shocked either......after all, he is my partner to the end. Chase....another story LOL....I thought I would just try to run him to the middle dummy which in itself is a very tough blind but as he got near it I saw he still had some confidence so I thought what the hell and kept him going. It was not as nicely done as Chiloe but he got it done!!! I was very proud of the little guy. It took guts and most of all trust in me to get him to the bird. A very big step in the right direction for both of us. As the pictures show, at the end of the day, we walked across the street to the beach. The boys got their swagger back quickly as we just swam around and crashed some waves to get rid of some stress. We all loved this!!LOL
Good grief Chiloe.....we are partners but this is a little over the top. LOL Everytime I get up he is crawling in there and in my way. Probably doesn't need to be said but the quality of my work goes down a bit when I am fighting the bird and Chiloe at the same time.
Chase , Chiloe and I spent the entire weekend at training days. One day at Chris and Robs in Warsaw and the other at Renee's in Bourban. Both days we used ducks.....both days Chiloe slammed everything...and both days Chase struggled. At Chris's he came out of the gate as poorly as it could be done....my goodness it was pitiful. It was so bad I brought him back out a second time and he at least showed up and half assed it. At Renee's he came out smoking hot on the land test and did fairly well on the water until the long blind and then he shut down on me refusing to go back another 20 yards to the dummies. It is so frustrating to see him come out and look like a Master caliber dog and then the next test look like he couldn't pass a Junior test. He has talent but I am just going to have to keep at it and see if I can pull it out of him. I just keep forgetting he is almost as good as Chiloe was at this age so I need to be patient and keep training. No worries Chase....No matter what I wouldn't give you up for the world! Now DAMMIT, pay attention LOL