Baylen and I have been experiencing our best year to date as he continues to improve. It seems to me that most dogs start hitting their stride once they have had about 3 years of experience. Baylen will be 2 on Dec. 1st.
Him and I definitely have room for improvement but it is neat to see how far we have come. For example, I have been grouse hunting for about 4 years and in that amount of time I shot only 4 grouse. This year after 3 weekends we have 8 birds under our belts.
Baylen is getting off the trail more, has started to find the birds for me after I shoot them, and recently has started pointing a few. He is also beginning to retrieve the birds, however, he only does this when he sees me coming. I have a sneaking suspicion that he is picking them up because he wants to show ownership. None the less I am content and excited that even with my limited training experience he is turning out to be a good hunting dog. There is definitely something to be said for good breeding!
Here is a picture of the two of us with 4 birds we shot a week ago.
