Rooster Walks

Duke and I sitting on the hillside after a long walk along the creek toward the south bridge. Duke is 9.5 years old.....; his hunting seasons have consisted of one or two weekends a year. We ususally try to hunt ducks in a field early, but his favorite has been romping the CRP near Marietta,MN. This year concerned me, as he hunted as the lone dog. We rested him often, carrying water all over the field. His hips have always been a concern to me (they splay a bit), his pads were cherry red on Friday nite and his gait was very deliberate. I know he is getting older.....it takes about 3 days for him to recover from an event like the MEA hunt.

On Friday Duke walked the long walk along the big ditch into the wind,...and he did great. He "bumped" about 15 birds, although only about two were roosters close enough to shoot at. We completed a couple of "short walks" together during the weekend; my favorite. When he gets on bird it has become very entertaining; his tail goes in "circles" with excitement and he does a "play bow" to the bird trying to get it to jump. When that doesn't work, he does a short rearup and pounce....sorta like the red fox on TV shows. I'm not sure if he is trying to pin the bird down, or scare it to flush. Either way,....you can tell he is "birdy" when that action is happening.

Good job Duke!