Sage's First Chukar at 12 weeks!

We've had such an AWFUL winter this year in the northeast. It's been a constant barrage of snow and ice storms. As a native Pennsylvanian, people here are ready to tar and feather that jerk groundhog Punxsutawney Phil because this is clearly all his fault. For those of you not accustomed to weird Pennsylvanian traditions which you should all be because Harold Ramis (may he rest in peace) made a hilarious movie called Groundhog Day staring Bill Murray in 1993. In that movie Bill Murray is forced to live Groundhog day over and over and over which is what this winter feels like. It's never frigging ending. But anyway for all of you who may live under rocks if our boy Phil sees his shadow, which he did this year, were doomed to 6 more weeks of winter. Because basing weather predictions on a stinky land beaver isn't weird at all. But anyway you cut it it's still snowing and the ice is still not melting and were still not working birds or hunting as much as we should be. Which is sad. And disappointing. I hate you extra worst than normal winter.

So this past weekend we escaped the PA snow and traveled to the Mills in NJ to join Bob Gelder and a group of his puppies to work them on some chukars. Bob owns Shore Shot GSP's in Ocean County, NJ and had a litter out of his VC female Bonnie 2 1/2 weeks before Cleo whelped her litter. Bob also owns Cleo and Luna's sire Max so all the puppies that were there were half siblings to our big girls which made it even more exciting to see them in action. I think Bob invited us because he knew I'd go crazy if we didn't get Sage out on some birds. Bob is a good friend.

It's like Ghostbusters....don't cross the streams (or leads in this case)

When we got there is was PUPPY OVERLOAD!! There were 6 or 7 puppies from Bonnie and Max's litter! Sage had a blast rolling in the dirt and sand with those pups. It was fantastic from a socialization standpoint and I swear it was the first time Sage has touched anything other than ice or snow in 5 weeks. She was loving every second of it.

I see you Chukar!!!

YEHAW!!!!

WHAT!?! Where are you going?

When it was time to get her out we threw out a chukar and just let her chase it trying to develop some drive in her. When she finally chased it down and got close enough it would hide and you could see her using her nose to locate it. She would flash point it a bit before eventually pouncing. She would pick it up and carry it for a bit. Another throw of the chukar would send her tearing off through the woods. She did an AWESOME job at 12 weeks of age. I think we will do this with her one more time and then transition into not allowing her to have the bird and start popping some pigeons.

Feathers are the new milk mustache

When Sage Monkey was done with her chukar Jimbo took the big girls out and ran them in a nearby field. After they were out about 5 minutes I took Sage up to the edge of the field to see if she wanted to run a bit. When we arrived Momma Cleo who was half a field away stopped dead in her tracks and looked hard in our direction. She took off towards us shifting through her gears and when she arrived she greeted Sage with tail wagging enthusiasm. She leaned in and touched her nose to Sage's nose and I could almost hear her say, come on kid lets go! And off they went with Sage running as fast her rabbit hoppy back legs could go. Momma Cleo and Auntie Luna ran her far across the field and Jim and I stood there together in awe with a feeling of real contentment. This is going to be the best summer ever.

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Pupdate: And Then There Was One and She was Wild

GSP Sandwich

Five weeks ago 7 of Cleo's 8 puppies headed home to begin their lives with their new families. That weekend was met with mixed emotions from Jim and I. The last two nights the entire pack was together Jim and I got uncharacteristically sentimental. We knew every second we had with them we had to make them count. Hugs were extra long, puppy kisses were even more cherished and when they transitioned into wild little devil dogs we laughed a little harder. When the weekend was over I took some extra solace in a glass of wine or two (in reality, if were being honest that's probably a gross under estimate.....don't throw stones people). We loved each and every one of those pups SO MUCH. But they have all been placed with the most amazing hunting families and we couldn't possibly be more pleased. And when it was all said and done and the dust finally settled there was one pup left and she is ours....and she is a flippin wild woman.

Sage Monkey

Sage is a free spirited trouble maker. She's not nearly to hell puppy level....yet. But in her defense we've had nothing but snow for weeks so she really hasn't had the opportunity to live up to Luna's hell puppy  Legend. I have no doubts that she will spawn some tall tales on this blog. 

She has moments when she is mellow and then moments when she is an absolute friggin handful. All sharp pointy puppy teeth and her mothers back talking Sass. She runs hard for hours at a time and then crumbles into a lap to snuggle and sleep. We are more relaxed with her than we ever were with Cleo or Luna. The third time down this path were not even remotely phased by anything she can throw at us. In fact we are incredibly entertained and loving every single minute of it. There is this line from the movie Parenthood that came out in 1989 with Steve Martin and Keanu Reeves when Mary Steenburgen's character says, "It's because he was our first. I mean, I think we were very tense when Kevin was little. If he got a scratch, we were hysterical. By the third kid, you know, you let them juggle knives." Or in our case toilet paper rolls. 

She's incredibly aware and smart for her age. We hope its a sign of good things to come especially in the field. If we would get rid of this never ending snow we'd be spending way more time outside with her. But good things come to those who wait (that is such horseshit btw....I WANT THE SNOW GONE....it's making me mental).

Cleo had enough of Sage's crap. She dug a hole with Aunt Lulu's 

help and they stuffed her in there. 

She LOVES battling her mother and testing her patience every single second she can, which feels incredibly vindicating for the years of torture Cleo has put me through. Now she has a savage little clone to push her buttons. Muhahahahaha! On the other hand Luna is her beloved snuggle buddy and they are constantly sharing dog cave snugs. Sage is also consistently trying to "share" (AKA Steal) her bones which has gone over like a lead balloon with Aunt Lu. Sage is the most food motivated puppy I have ever seen. She comes running the second she hears the refrigerator doors open, or when we open the cabinet that holds their doggie treats. She watches intently when I cook dinner and some how managed to steal an oven mitt the other night. Go figure how she pulled that off. 

Doesn't make you just want to climb in there with them!?

Puppy sleepy time

She's a gem of a puppy and we are completely smitten with her. And were excited to take you all along for the ride as she grows with us and our pack. Check back and follow our shenanigans on Facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer!