Conformation Critique

I will have pictures to go with these critiques uploaded soon.

Graded for us by professional show handler, Ashley Watkins.
GIRLS

Blue
A smaller compact puppy at this age.
Head: Balanced muzzle and skull lengths well proportioned, would like to see some more fill in the muzzle. Good ear length and well set on the head. Correct bite. (Correct now, prone to seem tight and then resolve as she grows, thus far - noted from breeder)  Well set eyes, not too light on color.
Front: Very nice front assembly, nice chest fill, and long feminine neck. Nice straight front legs, and tight compact feet. A very nice front for the breed.
Rear:Nice rear assembly, with very nice turn of stifle, hock a touch long, but may be age. Lower tail set with high tail carriage.
Body: correctly shorter coupled, not overly long with good loin, and good chest. Top line may be a bit arched.

Red
Head: Very nice proportional skull and muzzle length, good muzzle fill, correct bite. Ears set a bit low giving impression of more length than needed.
Front: Nice shoulder lay back, and top assembly, a bit short in lower shoulder with respect to withers to shoulder blade length. Nice straight front legs, and good feet. Very nice long well placed neck.
Rear: Would like to see a bit more rear angulation, good high set but not over done tail set, tail usually very high field style.
Body: Nice short backed girl, with good loin length and good chest fill. Could be a bit deeper in chest. Very nice top line, and overall image.
A bit lighter in skin tone.
More of a classic "Field type" girl, but very showable

B&W
Head: Nice breadth of skull and muzzle, muzzle length a bit shorter than skull length, giving appearance of broader head.Correct ear set and length. Bite correct.
Front: Would like to see a bit more angulation in the front, and shoulders, to give the neck more length. Nice straight front legs good length, tight compact feet.
Rear: A bit straighter in stifle than Blue and Green , Tail set well, and carried nicely. Not as high as some field people prefer.
Nice rich color, dark eyes, and nice dark skin pigment.

Green
Very well balanced, compact girl, a bit lighter in color but rich and with dark skin tones, and darker coat growing in
Head: Nice face, nice correct muzzle fill, feminine but not underdone, Skull length proportional to muzzle length, nice ear set and correct ear length. Nice dark eyes. Correct nice bite
Front: Nice front angulation, could stand a bit more lay back, but nice long neck and overall nicely agulated front. Front legs nice and straight, feet slightly less tight, but held well up. Perhaps affected by variations in growth at this age.
Rear: Best rear so far with nice turn of stifle, and nice angulation. Tail set well, with good carriage.
Body: Less short in back than blue, and nice top line when stacked.

Pink
Overall a bit boxy
Head: Nice dark well set eyes, correct ear set and length. Skull and muzzle length proportional, muzzle a bit over done and doggy.
Front: straight in front, lacking in angulation and chest fill.  Straight front legs and nice tight feet. Lovely long neck.
Rear: straight and boxy in rear, tail well set and carried.
Top line tending to level. Nice rich color and dark skin pigment.

BOYS

Blue
Head: proportional muzzle and skull length, well set eyes and ears. Could stand more muzzle fill and breadth of skull. Correct well set bite. Nice expression.
Front: Striking long neck with head held high and proud. Shoulder lay back and placement are adequate. Front legs straight and feet nice.
Rear: nice rear angulation, hocks a bit long, at this age.
Long in body, but top line is very well held. Tail set very high, with equally high tail carriage.
A white factored GSP, with lighter skin pigment.

Red
Head: Very nice masculine head, correct bite, ears set correctly and appropriately long, eyes well placed and dark.
Front: Nice lay back, could use a bit more chest, and a bit more angulation. Nice depth of chest. Straight front legs, standing lower on feet, but holding outer toes well in.
Rear: A bit long in stifle and tall in rear, top line holding together well, with nice downward slope.
Nice proportionate length of body and rib.

B&W
A very nice whole package, needs to mature into his potential
Head: Nice face well set very dark eyes, nice ears and well set, correct bite.
Front: Very nice shoulder and front assembly. Well angled, well nice lay back, Straight legs, tight little compact feet.
Rear: well angulated and proportioned. Hair less turn of stifle
Body: Nicely short coupled, good length of loin and rib.
A very nice deep rich liver color, striking.

Green

Head: Nice head with good lengths and fill. Correct bite, nice ear and eye placement, pretty face. Correct bite.
Front: A bit straight in the top of shoulder, nice fore chest, front legs straight well placed, a bit low on feet but a fast growing large puppy.
A bit too long in loin, very nice top line, high well placed tail, with correct tail carriage.

Purple
A very nice whole package
Nice masculine head not over or under done, with correct bite, eyes, ears all very nice.
Well agulated front, good shoulder lay back, nice long neck. A bit long in upper arm, and though fur color holds dark color, skin pigment is less dark for his liver color.
Very nice rear and top line, perhaps the best whole package male puppy, with the exception of a poor looking tail dock. Tail set high and tail carriage is well matched.

Live birds!

Wow!  I am really pleased. The birds were extremely "flighty" which is good for the hunting but I had to pull the primary feathers on one wing to keep them down long enough for the puppies to see. But once the puppies discovered them the chase was on. Several of the liver puppies fell right into pointing. Red girl followed shortly, after some chasing. Green girl and blue girl and blue boy were unstoppable in trying to out compete the others. They caught and carried the birds all over the yard. Staying just ahead of the big guys most of the time. They ALL became very quickly obsessed. Red girl and Geen girl tracked the running birds for 10-15 yards through some very thick and tall grass much taller than the puppies.

Listen to the Wise

Although I use lots of newer training methods, the old ways are often just as good. Delmar Smith was a well known trainer and about as eccentric as they come. I still use many of his concepts. He allowed puppies to take walks and experience the world, without rules and restrictions. Puppies develop confidence and desire, without being pushed.  "Happy Timing" remains a part of my training program and I continue with the daily walks and romps for many months. Just get out and have fun. Learn about the world, and learn to love it. It's as good for my own soul as it is for their learning!  He also uses a process he called, "getting the boogeries out." He places slip knotted ropes on each puppy and allows them to play with each other. The puppies tug and pull each other around and those ropes are oh so tempting. This MUST BE SUPERVISED WELL, but it is fantastic at helping puppies overcome fear and panic with collars and leads. They learn to give to the leash when it gets tight, and that panic does not help. Still, despite this help, most puppies will still fight the leash when they want something they can not reach, but they seem to learn faster and adapt more easily when they have have had Delmar's "Boogeries" method. I feel like I should put "" around the word method also, but I will resist.

Happy Timing


Boogeries

7 week School - Girls

Blue girl


Red girl


BW girl


Green girl



Pink girl

School days, 7 weeks

BOYS

Purple

Blue


Red


Green


BW

Playing and growing...

Blue boy plays in the mud

Blue girl exploring the field

TALL grass...

more mud, red girl this time

Come on, you gotta laugh. That's green girl on the right maybe saying, "please! ick..." and averting her eyes...

Everyone has been weaned for a long time now, but Sky still loves to play with them.

(almost) 7 week pictures

Girls

Blue



She is equally ticked on both sides, but you can see how the
 camera sometimes washes it out.  Nice shoulder patch on this side though.



in between about 20 wiggly shots, we take a break...

 

Red

BW girl

Green

Pink

Boys



Blue (Available)

Red (sold - staying here)

BW (available)

                                                                             Green (sold)

                                                                              Purple (available)





Catching Up

We have been busy, and I have been remiss in updating the blog. So here is a little catch up, from my ipod notes. Pictures will be loaded soon also...


Sunday, May 8 - training and learning
As the puppies all move onto their brave exploration phase, we are putting more emphasis on confidence and less on obedience. When in the house and yard, we run through a bit of "training," but have been giving them opportunities to play and learn, encouraging them to carry toys of different textures, giving them things to climb over and around, etc. When I have a puppy inside, the others are out in the yard playing, and often the inside puppy notices and whines at the door (glass door) to play. Well, this makes for a great way to teach how to ask to go outside. They want out to play, they whine, the door is opened for them. Many of them are starting to get this very well. Little steps towards house breaking. Most everyone is doing very well, with immediately "finding a spot" as soon as they are brought outside. They still require VERY close supervision right now, as there are only a few seconds to realize that they might be about to "potty" and get them outside.
We have also started to add in "whoa" at feeding time by moving a puppy away and holding them back calmly repeating "whoa" until they briefly pause the struggling. As soon as they stay still I, praise them and let them return to the food. Also everyone has been rotating through car rides to school. B&W girl and Pink girl were thinking about being nauseous, but we made it with some small treats and keeping them from looking out the window. We will try a few shorter trips with them next time.

Tuesday, May 10 - First day to the Spring Pond
The weather has finally stayed warm for several days now allowing the water to warm up. The puppies all loaded up in the crate in the car, and we rode to the pond for a several hours of play. Everybody explored and played and chewed on grass, pounced on flowers, chased grasshoppers and frogs, and splashed in the water and mud. And most everyone ate some mud and drank the pond water, chewed on the pond weeds. No one was brave enough to swim, yet, but some came very close. I was up to my knees in the water also, and playing with them and giving them treats as they explored and splashed deeper.

Weigh in Tuesday night:
6 Week Weigh-in


Boys
Blue 5 # 2 oz
Red 6 # 5 oz
Green 6# 14 oz
B&W 4# 11oz
Purple 5# 10oz

Girls
Blue 5# 0.2 oz
Red 6# 1.5 oz
B&W 6# 1.1 oz
Green 5# 0.3oz
Pink 6# 12 oz

Wednesday, May 11 - too much pond muck...
Everybody has a touch of diarrhea today, so we kept it a light day and just stayed in the yard.

Thursday, May 12 - Vaccine day
Today was the first vaccine for the puppies, at six weeks, done by Dr. Donna Crow, DVM. Hard to believe, but 2 puppies are over 7 pounds! Half a pound more than 2 days ago. We ran a fecal to check on the diarrhea, and found nothing, but she gave me some metronidazole just in case some pond bacteria are disagreeing with them. Otherwise, everyone looked great, all vital signs good, and puppies were very well behaved for their shots.

Friday, May 13 - back to normal
Diarrhea is gone and everyone is normal, and very active. After working last night, I had hoped for a nap this morning, but the puppies were READY TO GO! So, I didn't get my nap until they fell asleep themselves, closer to noon.

More Future Birddogs...

Blue boy

Red boy

B&W boy (pending)

Green boy (Pending)

Purple boy

-- On the "Rod & Wing" --
It's a useful tool to see some early points, and notice style, but it's important not to read too much into it. Style that they show here will stay and probably be even better on real birds, but a lack of style really says nothing. This is not the real thing, and these puppies are 5WEEKS old. I have puppies in the past not care about this game, or chase and never point, but stop on a dime if you put out scent or a live quail. We try not to overdo this, as pointing something they SEE too often (sight pointing) can lead them to expect to SEE their birds later. This can give you issues with a dog pushing in too close and bumping up birds. All that said I am really please with the early style I see in these puppies. Some NICE looking birddogs in the making!



Future Birddogs!

Blue girl

Red girl

B&W girl

Green girl (got this pointing game first! LOVES it!)

Pink Girl

I'll put the boys in the next post so I don't overload the poor computer with images. I am just more and more pleased with these puppies :)