I admit I am excited for the new blog, but wasnt the FS Huntress Blog cut for financial reason? So F&S Editiors, how is it that a new blog related to training a dog is able to be started up but a blog that recruits and keep women interested in the outdoors is let go?

Makes no sense to me at all, like I said I am excited for another new blog, but this just proves you did not need to get rid of FS Huntress.

Never heard of a Boykin. But then, I'm just a lowly yankee.
Looks like my kind of dog! I will certainly keep my eyes peeled for one as my Brittany ages. I look forward to learning from this blog.

Cool thats awesome.

Is Pritch as stubborn as my Boykin Abigail? I have a 4 year old Boykin that I would swear is part mule. She is as loyal as they come, and a great bird dog. Check out http://www.yankeeboykinspaniel.net/. Good luck with her!
P.S. If she is anything like Abigail, or her mother Lucy you may want to start investing in tennis balls. You can find used ones on ebay for cheap.

Can't wait to see how it goes. Im in the process of training my new lab.

I was thrilled to see a Boykin featured in a prominent outdoor journal. I fell in love with this breed within seconds of adopting my first, Bess, 5yr ago. She turned into a crackerjack retriever and upland bird dog. Sadly I lost her this FEB but now have my little Bonnie who is proving to be everybit as great a dog as her big half-sister(same sire). I was a newbie with Bess but she would sit/come to command/hand/whistle by 4mos. Had her professionally trained for retriever skills. Bonnie will already sit and come to command @10wks. Would it be imprudent to ask from what breeder you acquired her?
You will likely never have a more wonderful companion in the field than this "little brown dog"

Glad to hear that there is a new blog for hunting dogs but it does raise a question about why did FSHuntress have to leave for a new blog to be opened? But that is besides the point... I am very interested in how to train the dog for retrieving purposes... will be watching.

Boykins are the best! We have 2; a 9 year old and a soon to be 2 year old. My profile picture is our 2 year old; FairOaks Somethin' Xtra. I look forward to following Pritchards progress.

Nate, Walt, It does sound strange that they would take away a blog that was accepted only to give it to a guy from NY city who doesn't even introduce himself on his first blog. This may go over like the proverbial lead balloon.

i'm very excited about this new blog, i have 2 brittany puppies that are going to be bird dogging this year. i always felt the dog thing was a missing piece here at field and stream and am glad to see it.

TO THE EDITORS: come on, you get of huntress when the sport vitally needs new blood for "economic" reasons and then start a new one. not really a sound move.

STUMPTHUMPER: if you haven't already tried try setting off fire crackers or a cap gun about 25 yards away when you give the dog food. if that doesnt work and the dogs runs away from the food then take the bowl away and try again the next day. eventually the hunger will outweigh the fear and the dog will stay and eat through it. then everyday fire a cap gun and work up to a starter pistol. it's kinda cruel but is the best last resort i've heard of. i have not done this, i'm blessed with dogs that arent gun shy. sorry if you already tried it but thought maybe it would help. if you want to put some money into it Quailhollowkennel.com the owner is named steve and he's very good, pricey but the training is top notch.

jersey pig,
Your absolutely correct with the introduction of guns or explosions with dog training. I've mentioned in the past I grew up next to large duck clubs while in grade school. My best friends dad was a guide for the club and they also had a small breeding operation going. When a liter was weened us boys got fifty cents each (1966 $)and a 22 with a pocket full of bullets and as the pups would eat solid food we would stand at least fifty yards away and shoot at tin cans. As the days went by we'd move closer and closer. Eventually we were given a shotgun and started all over. It worked then and it'll work now.

Check The Charleston Retriever Club out(all breeds)..they are down in your area,..and also The Carolina Boykin Spaniel Retriever Club (Boykins only) www.boykinspaniel.net. The CBSRC has 6 trials a year,.one every other month (Feb, April, June, Aug, Oct & Dec) in different locations around SC and usually one in NC/VA area. The Boykin Spaniel Society (the official registry of the Boykin Spaniel) www.boykinspaniel.org has 2 National field trials a year,.one in Spring (non-slip retriever) usually at the end of March and one in January over the weekend before the Martin Luther King Jr Holiday which is the Upland event. We had about 225 people and 100+ browns at the Spring National trial and around 125 people and 70+ browns at the Upland National trial in 2009. The BSS also host an Upland Seminar the first weekend of December for Boykins only with a limit of usually 30 participants. It is a great learning event, lots of fun, and you make great brown dog friends. The Boykin Spaniel Foundation provides free eye and heart Cerf clinics at each National Field Trial for Boykin Spaniel Society members as well as a (one brown per household) $75 reimbursement check for OFA hip evaluation on your brown at 2 years old. There is a club trial at The Clinton House Saturday June 27th in Clinton, SC hosted by The Carolina Boykin Spaniel Retriever Club,..there are a couple of different puppy stakes for you and your pup....if nothing else,.it will be good to mingle with other brown dogs and brown dog owners,..ask questions and get tips. We'd love to see you and your new little brown,.. There is nothing in this world like a little brown dog,..I would never be without one,.or 2,.or 3...best of luck to you and yours!

Oh, and for a prize a new Purdey shotgun would be nice, heh,heh. Too expensive? OK how about one of those Benelli semi-autos.

good looking pup good luck with your hunting I got a new chocolate lab pup about the same age who will hopefully be doing the same thing come this fall. A post on some training techniques might help though (hint,hint). Well good luck looking forward to the new post.

Nice dog. I like the idea of a dog photo contest!

I second the comment about contacting Ms. Kadlec @ Just Ducky Kennels. She was most helpful to me during the early stages of training with my first Boykin and her book is what I primarily referred to during that phase. It has been my experience that Boykins will readily learn a new command if treats are involved:). A couple of personal thoughts; I use the command "HUP" for sit, and never taught "stay" as HUP theoretically should require no further command-pup is supposed to remain "hupped" until released. I can't recall where I read this but it works great.

Welcome to wonderful world of Boykins. We have 4 boykins. We love our LBD (little brown dogs). We hunt, field trial and hunt test our dogs. We are members of the Carolina Boykin Spaniel Retriever Club. We would love to have you come out to our field trials. We have a great time. Our next field trial will be held in June @ the Clinton House in Clinton, SC. Due to my husband's work schedule we will not be able to attend the June trial but I promise you there will be plenty of good folks that will welcome you with open arms. In addition to our Boykins we have 2 little girls that love to train and run their dogs in field trials and hunt test. Pam Kadlec w/ Just Ducky Kennels is full of knowledge about the breed and I am sure will be more than helpful with any questions you may have. Good luck w/ the training.

Good luck Dave with your new blog. I can tell the audience that having formerly worked with Dave at Salt Water Sportsman where he led the edit team, this blog will rock. Even though he is making sure people know he's from GA, I can tell you he can run down Northeast stripers with the best of dem yanks! Good luck buddy, I subscribed and tweeted it.

Mr. David, I've been training sporting dogs (pointing breeds) for 47 years. I don't represent myself as an expert. I've never met an expert in anything; just those more experienced than others. I've had the rare privilege of being trained myself by an AWESOME young Boykin now for the past two years. You, young man, are in for a wonderful ride <>. The greatest training tip I can give you is this: Let your puppy be a puppy for a year!!! You can never give them back their puppyhood; NEVER. Insist they come when you call them and HUP and stay there until released because those two things will save your pup's life, but all else is forgivable. Find the humor in their mistakes and maintain your sense of humor always. And please do not let anyone talk you into doing a "condition retrieve" (force breaking) until after your puppy is a year old. Good luck and we look forward to seeing you at the Boykin Spaniel events. Join the Boykin Spaniel Society.

Ha-rumpf...and about time. Look forward to reading this one!
(lost your address, so send me a note when you can)

Devil_Dog, I'm certainly no pro, either, or even a marginally talented amateur. There are as many training methods and philosophies out there as there are trainers and if someone wants to use both sit and stay commands there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

Having said that, I'm in the camp that believes a dog who sits on command but then breaks isn't in point of fact doing what he was told to do.

Plus I think it confuses the dog when you progress into yard work. You have a dog that knows two commands for basically the same action so how do you teach that when you start in on remote sitting on the whistle? Two whistle commands? One for sit and one for stay?

I'm not a good enough handler or trainer to juggle so many different whistle commands. When I send a dog on a blind and he starts drifting off the line I want that dog when he hears the sit whistle to turn around, plant his butt, keep it there and look at me waiting for a cast.

I would hope this blog will not be strictly about pointers and retrievers. Hounds are dogs too, although some of them are hard to convince of this fact, and squirrel dogs are blessed with their own brand of independent canine genius. Don't misunderstand, I love to bird hunt behind a good pointer or setter,
but have had all kinds of dogs and enjoy reading about some of the other types also.

We have had the great pleasure of being owned by Boykins since 1993. First Sable and Mack and when they moved on (Mack 2003 to cancer) and (Sable 2007oleage) and now the great 5xs nephews of Mack&sable Stryker and Dakota littermates and 14months old. They have both been chukar and pheasant hunting once and showed promise. This is an amazing breed and very birdy by nature!! We love em. Go PRITCHARD

Have you ever noticed some poor fella driving an old beat up truck with “JUST MARRIED” on the back window with a Bullmastiff hanging its head out the passenger window ?

Love this story! Lilly, my 4 yr old Boykin and soon to be mommie Boykin, will be watching your progress together!
Share with us your pups breeding! Us Southerners LOVE to know our roots!

David,
Best of luck with Pritchard. I think you chose a great breed for training as the Boykin spaniel is very smart dog (not biased or anything). As long as you stay one step ahead of your girl in training you will have an awesome retriever. Keep your lessons short, fun and positive and always end on a good note. I look forward to hearing of your progress and would be glad to add my two cents if needed.
Best afield,
Pam

David,
There is a free Boykin spaniel online forum. The guys here are friendly and offer some good advice.

http://msbsrc.proboards.com/index.cgi

I agree with Pam. Keep the lessons short and fun and remember not to spoil the hunting dog ;)

Good luck.

Us ladies got crapped on for this? We lost our blog for "economic" reasons, yet a new one starts right after? Something stinks here! Wish I could believe in the honesty of F&S! To my friends I met on this site, good hunting to you... (especially Judy and her bear hunt) I am sorry but I think this is the last straw for me!

I have a boykin pup coming in about a month (my first boykin) hope to make a turkey dog of him wish me luck

Hi Pritchard, my name is Murphy and Im a 7 month old Boykin that lives in California. I love long walks on the beach and am a world class swimmer, I don't hunt much but love to play fetch and retrieve anything my owner throws. My owner tells me Im probably the smartest pup he has ever owned, so I doubt you will have any problem being a spoiled house dog and still up for a weekend of hunting.

Warren/Missy

You are so very lucky to have a LBD Boykin! They are the best, most luvable, smartest and most stubborn dog on the face of the earth. I was raised in SC and moved to VA when 16. I wanted a Boykin for Years. I found wonderful Boykin people at the few events that I have been able to attend. They all love their dogs and give great tips. Sheila Johnston and Jayne Raymond are wonderful breeders, and we got a WONDERUL little boy from them last year. He's the best! He works harder than our lab and plays with her like they're litter mates. Love em with all you got and hunt them like there's no tomorrow. Mr. Buffet also LOVES to go in the canoe with his "daddy" and his sister Sandy - the 90 pound lab. He loves to kayak with me "mommy" and swims like a champ. Good Luck. I look forward to keeping up with your pup.

Hey, how about an update? Hows Pritchard doing?

As I was sitting in the barbershop this morning, thumbing through an old copy of field & stream, I stumbled upon an article about a new blog about raising up a Boykin spaniel. This peaked my interest as I am a proud owner of a Boykin. I log into the site and amazingly this is right in my own backyard. I recognize many of the club names and even some of the people.

Further down, I actually see the breeders of my dog mentioned, Sheila and Jayne. I also participated in the Carolina Boykin Spaniel Retriever Club and ran in the local field trials. All of these folks are great. Everyone was very helpful and the people at the events really are supportive as they have gone through the same efforts.
This is great exposure for a fantastic dog that many people have never heard of.

We just got back from our annual SD pheasant hunting trip and my dog Cooper did wonderfully. I welled up with pride when he flushed a big rooster right in front of us and then after downing the bird he brings it back to hand. That makes all the hard work of training worthwhile.
BoyKins are great dogs... great hunters and great family dogs. But, beware, my dog had a taste for socks that eventually led us to the operating room. (But that is another post)
Best of luck with the training.

How about an update??