Thread: Not a hunting dog as such

Dog has been out into the hills a few more times since I last posted. Shes about 10-11 months now and coming along nicely. She has a great calm nature and has been a real joy to have around the house and up the hill.

Took the pup and a couple of mates away to a wee spot close to home last week where we came across a couple of hinds and a small group of pigs. One of the guys we took away hadn't seen deer or pigs in the wild so was good to see something on the first evening. Got some cool footage of some little suckers scaring off a hind and a yearling at around 700meters away. Camped down on the flats and the dog tucked up in my swazi tahr for the night.

Climbed up a creek the following morning before pushing up through a beech spur absolutely riddled with sign. Came across a ton of fresh hind and stag sign, some of it less than 24 hours old but no animals seen. Broke out onto the tops and the fog and clag kept rolling through so glassing was a bit hit and miss. Some good country seen and it was great to get out and explore a new area. Came back from the tops down a scree slope, dog was a bit hesitant about all the noise and movement but after a bit of whining (not sure whether excited or scare) she got the hang of it. By the time we got to the bottom we were both down into the creek for a much needed drink.





A couple of days ago I had a bit of time off work and a mate called and asked whether I wanted to head up past the lake to have a play with some of his rifles and new chrono. Decided it would be a good opportunity to give the pup some exposure to gun shots. Had 280, 7mm rem mag, 22 swift and 300 win mag out. Testing them out with the magnetospeed v3 and shooting out to 800 yards. Had the truck parked about 10 meters away from where we were with the windows half down. Pup was pretty content just hanging out in the truck for a couple of hours while we were shooting.



Yesterday I took her into the vet in Christchurch to have a wee surgery. Felt a bit bad as she has a wonderful nature and a litter of pups from her could have been a cool thing to try out in the future. Picked her up around 3pm and shes a bit unsteady on her feet in the clinic. When she saw me she just sprawled out on the ground like a starfish and lay there. She started licking at her stitches before we'd even left the clinic so I had to purchase a cone of shame for her. A wee bit of food for her when she got home and she tucked up for the night. Shes a bit unsettled today and taking a while to get used to her silly cone but she gets the luxury of sleeping inside for a few nights.



Changed her diet from dry kibble to frozen cubes of minced mixed meats from Canterbury Pet Foods about 2 months ago. Spending roughly the same money but for a much higher quality feed. $70 gets a 20kg box of 1" cube of frozen meat. I think the one I have been purchasing has a range of beef, chicken, fish, and a few other meats. Have noticed she isn't pooing anywhere near as often as she was on the kibble. Kibble was causing her to poo at least 3 times every day. Now shes down to one. She seems to like it a lot more than the biscuits. Still take the biscuits with me when I head away into the hills for convenience but she doesn't seem to interested in eating them.