Part of the week slowed down while the other half flew by. That’s what happens when a homestead welcomes a puppy to the farm. Rudy, our newest and youngest English pointer, welcomed himself to our home, claiming it as his.
The flowers weren’t even looked at. Work on the dog kennel slowed down a little bit. The grass needed mowed, but could also wait a bit longer. These things slowed down as our mornings and afternoons after work sped up.
A little guy to play with in the morning. A friendship to build between an older dog and younger dog. Pee breaks, poop breaks, and loading the pup up with more.
Ruditiller. Rudy the Redneck. Tudor. Rudder. Rudy Tootie. Rudolph. Big Dee. Little Man. Rudy.
First Walk
Rudy is only 8 weeks old at this point; he is such a little guy. Pick up and hold with on hand type of deal.
He’s got strong legs on him though. We took him on our normal walk through the woods, and the same day took him to a farm to check game cameras.
What a world of difference compared to our full-grown dogs! Rudy stays near us, often right beside our feet.
Meeting the Chickens
A little pointer dog pointing at chickens. Makes me happy and fearful at the same time!
This is not the best mix to have a property, but it is manageable. The hardest we have had is having Golden Wyandotte hens escape the fence multiple times. We had to double-check the chickens were in before letting the dogs out.
Best Friends with an Aussie/Lab
Molly has become a gentle giant to Rudy. She was a little too excited at first and needed to learn how to slow herself down with a small puppy. After a few days, she’s become the protective older sis that allows her baby brother to tear at her fur, pull, and hang on.
Mr. Athlete
Rudy is named after real-life, book, and movie character Rudy Ruettiger. It is only fitting I came across some sports themed puppy toys, featuring basketball, baseball, and football.
The other sweet note, and I think how animals manage to get to our hearts, when Rudy plays with his toy football, it reminds me of our cat Katzen Jr. who use to run across the living room to tackle a beach style football. This cat, we could pick him up while he held the football.
Retrieving
English pointers do best at pointing, and sometimes struggle with retrieving. Our other pointer Ruger does well with retrieving, and being Rudy’s uncle, I hope it works out.
Being as small as Rudy is, he loves playing with the full size bumper. We can throw it across our backyard and he will take after it and bring it back to us- for the most part. He’s still a pup, but it is awesome that he will carry it back to us at all. He’s a strong little woofer for sure!
Dog Kennel Update
Never let anyone fool you into believing a DIY building project can be fit into a weekend. . .
Granted, we knew this, but I think with the steady progress of the kennel, a summertime project may end up turning into a two-year project, or at least a year and half.
All the house wrap is stapled on all the walls. The mountain berry colored vinyl siding is started on some sides along the bottom.
First Chukar Challenge
Windy Hill Fowl hosted their second bird dog challenge- a chukar challenge. Rudy tagged along so he didn’t have to stay at home all day with Molly, and it allowed me to tag along too to watch my older dogs Ruger and Bella.
Ruger’s Run
Ruger ran first in Field B. Usually we have two evenings to practice with the dogs with chukars, but this week, they were coming fresh off of training with Mike with Gray’s Smokin’ Gun Bird Dogs.
Although not a best run of the competition, which has some great dogs and handlers, Ruger did better than his first score in the series. He retrieved all three birds, even the one that flew up only a few feet from my husband, even though it was nasty! Breast feathers all blown off and a good chunk of the intestines blown apart.
Bella’s Run
Bella ran in Field A. She was with Ruger at training too with Mike. Her first retrieve was rough, a skillset she needs to work on, but through no fault of her own, she wasn’t able to retrieve the other two birds. Her second bird took off right above the judge’s head, and although they ducked, Shawn called a safety.
Her third bird was shot dead, but flew into the tree line, never falling to the ground. Bella is good at communicating this. She went to the trees, searched around, and popped back out giving the look to Shawn like he needed to climb the tree to knock it down to her- or for him to lift her up into the trees. She does not like letting birds go.
Rudy’s Day
Being 9 weeks at the chukar challenge, Rudy didn’t have a run, but he fit right into the culture of these events. He slept through the day with dogs barking all around him. On a leash, he did quite a bit better with his walks. He was not afraid of the gunshots in the background in the field. And being introduced to a chukar and a chukar wing, he already knows his job.
Not to mention everyone had to see the little guy. He’s a puppy. So small. So cute. Kids loved him. Moms wanted to hold him, see him, and pet him.
Never having a puppy before, the process to see him grow and develop is amazing. The way I think whether to adopt a dog or puppy, no matter what, you will still end up with a dog that touches your life that you love every single day, in the same way you end up with a beautiful garden whether you start everything from seed or your buy transplants. When you start a plant from seed though, you experience the whole life cycle of that plant, in the same way when you adopt a puppy, you experience the whole life of the dog.
Three Bird Dogs
As Bella and Ruger were leashed up outside of the truck, we brought Rudy over to see them.
Ruger can smell Rudy’s family scent. He’s a dude and plays a little too hard, but when Rudy is older, they are going to be an amazing pair of hunters together. Our only issue is they look very similar! Spots in the same exact locations, although Rudy’s is smaller. Their masks are similar besides Rudy has more white and a push button start on his head.
With Bella, she’s a mix of “mom” with the fun older sis. She wants to play with the little guy, although she has yet to learn to stay calm. She has met Ruger’s brother- Rudy’s dad- Chief before at a chukar challenge. She was so confused, seeing it was exactly like Ruger, but not Ruger. Sometimes I wonder if she sees a little Ruger in Rudy.
Build a Farm Life
If we ever own a farm with acres in the double digits, a portion will end up dedicated to bird dogs. Everything this past week has revolved around dogs- welcoming a new puppy home, introducing the dogs to the new pack member, working on their new home, and enjoying a chukar challenge.
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