Setting up a new tool

I recently made the decision to purchase a new coyote/varmint gun. I decided that something lightweight, relatively inexpensive to shoot, and that could reach out and touch someone would be the ticket. I decided that the savage B-Mag would be that gun.

This is a relatively new rimfire caliber, a relatively new gun model, and a interesting concept in ammo design. The results are a fast - flat flying- lethal round.

Which begged the question, what scope to put on the darn thing? After much hymning and hawing over the matter I settled on the  vortex crossfire II 4 - 12 x 44 w/ dead hold BDC ret.

So far it is a stylish snappy little gun.

Dreaming of what lies beyond the bar....

I went tuna fishing over the weekend. Lovely trip that netted 5 fish for my freezer and family.

Very, very happy about it even if the numbers weren't stellar.

Baby steps

I took advantage of prime day and ordered a incubator. Chickens have been on my bucket list for some time. I am thinking of raising and keeping english orpingtons but am not going to hatch out anything expensive til I get this incubation thing down. So stopping by the grocery store I picked up some local eggs - cracked a couple and confirmed that they were fertile. Project is a go - we'll see where we end up.

About time

This weekend is one of those where I feel blessed and spoiled. I spent 18+ hours on the river in sweltering heat with my brother. Didn't catch a thing and that's ok. The river is a reward.

I spent a lovely birthday dinner with my sister in law and sister. The children played in the street on a lovely summer night.

Last week my country decided that everyone is equal in their bonds putting right decades of oppression and institutional bigotry. It's a small but very meaningful step in the right direction.

Life is mostly good. Good in, good out.

Dreaming of a Summer Run

Gardening season has come, fishing season has arrived, and hunting season will soon be here. There are simply not enough hours in the day for all of this fun. Too bad I have to work.

Vaccinate your pets -

Every year I am beaten over the head by anti vaxxers by tales of woe about dogs who get parvo and die right after getting a shot. They use this as irrefutable proof that vaccines don't work and that big pharma is out to kill and poison our dogs. These people are well intending fools sadly and their dogs pay for this silliness. 

Here's the problem. Their statements have no merit in reality.

First off - a vaccine is not a wand. It takes time from the moment of administration to the moment that the dog's immune system has time to develop antibodies to actually effectively fight the disease. For most about two to three weeks - so getting a shot then going directly to the dog park is a pretty stupid move.

Vaccines cannot and will never give a dog the disease it's designed to prevent a full outbreak of. They just don't work that way.

Vaccines are not full of toxic levels of heavy metals except in ridiculously high doses. In reality there is more toxins in a can of dog food than in a vaccine.

That said over vaccination is just as stupid as under vaccination. Latest studies tell us that vaccines may last 6 years to life for most pets. So if your vet is giving you grief about every year - do yourself a favor and find someone less worried about your wallet's contents being transferred to theirs. A great way to do this is to give your own vaccines where legal to do so.

How to be a good Cat Owner

To be clear - I still don't hate cats but I am dismayed at the sheer numbers neglected as a norm. Just this last week I saw a coyote absconding with some poor pet, a half dozen cat slain birds, and at least three road killed cats on my way to my job.

So I thought I would write about the best cat owner I know which happens to be a nearby neighbor of mine. The first thing you notice upon arriving to her home is a large english garden contained within what looks like a giant wire mesh box. This is in fact her cat habitat for her two cats who she adores very much. Everything within her home is laid out with the comfort of those two cats in mind.

Her two cats are both spayed and neutered. They are fed a species appropriate diet of wet and dry food. They have an access door during the day time to go outside and come in as desired. They are the best kept cats I have ever met.

There is no fear that these cats will be hit by a car, poisoned by some unknown substance, eaten by a coyote, or eating wildlife. Disease is less likely to claim them.They are not lonely and they are loved. This is the standard to be a good pet owner.

A good pet owner values their pet enough to not let it die of preventable tragedy. A good citizen does not let their pet harass and kill wildlife. A good neighbor does not let their pet shit in their neighbors garden. Be a good cat owner and confine your fucking cats.

The Truth in Why Certain Dogs from Certain Demographics cost Soo Much.

Every now and again someone posts up a nice little blurb about why dogs from certain people who show cost so much. They'll tell you a nice tale of getting a puppy made just for you, from well selected sires and dams who have earned ribbons, have passed health testing, and buying from them means that you will not be supporting "bad" people who only care about money.


This is of course a load of crap to an extent. The average cost is very breed dependent and very demand dependent. Some breeds with VERY expensive health testing can cost $600 a pup and others with next to no suggested health testing or even no real health testing done on either sire or dam can cost well over $3000. Cost doesn't tend to change much if the breeder shows every weekend - rather it tends to cost the same as the guy who maybe hits a show every 8 to 10 weeks. Price rarely changes even if the dam had a c - section or a easy whelp.

So ... what affects the cost of dogs? Easy answer - it's what the next guy claims to get for theirs. If the average guy who they know and they are kind of like gets $1200 for a dog you can bet that they will ask $1200 for theirs - even if they have put little more than half that into the dog.

Why is this? Well to put it simply breeding show dogs is a mad process that has little to do with true dollars and cents. It is about influence and the appearance of affluence rather than hard dollars and cents. There is a certain element who believe a high price will dissuade the riff raff and the related problems.

I once sat through a puppy interview with someone who couldn't help but tell me how proud she was to have sold a puppy to royalty. She seemed rather put out that I didn't care who she sold her last dog to - because truth be told I didn't care. I was concerned that she cared for her dogs - that they looked like the breed I wanted- that she selected them based upon somethings other than ribbons - and that her prices were fair.  I was that day the typical pet buyer and needless to say I didn't end up getting a dog from her.   She wanted more boot licking than I was able to supply.

So here's the thing however - if you have your heart set on a breed however - you will have to pay the piper of what the going rate is but never let that person fool you for a second that you're getting the realistic fair market rate.  The dog market like the art market is not rational and the more skilled the person is at their craft the greater the amount they can charge for it. Look around that dog and see what this person has spent that money on. If the walls are dripping in rosettes you are paying for the cost of campaigning dogs. If the dogs live in the out building and the house looks like a dog never set foot in it - you are paying for something else.  Pay money to match the values you hold most dear and proceed with eyes open.

On the rare occasion I do have puppies around I tend to charge about as much as the average pet of my breed out of the newspaper. Reason being is that I feel it is a fair market price and I don't use my dogs to finance anything. They are a losing operation - I can't imagine I'd want it any other way.

So when it comes to finding the right person to buy a dog from that is another ball of wax entire and a post for another day.

Understanding the ethics of the non hunter

I am a fairly recent hunter but in my time in the field I have learned a few things about the people around me. I have learned that 1st world people who were never part of their food chain are very uncomfortable with the idea of death and even more uncomfortable with the idea of surprise and pain. Most of them have never taken much more life than neglecting a goldfish as a child. Fewer yet of them have given much thought into what it takes to raise a steak, a porkchop, or a nugget. Even vegetarians don't get off free in this regard as habitat loss due to the ever expanding spread of agriculture is a wildlife destroyer worse than the average freeway kill toll.  Out of sight - out of mind is a comfort  until cognitive dissonance finally rears it's ugly head.

This brings me to the Ricky Gervais giraffe hunting nonsense on facebook. Ricky Gervais decided to pull a picture by a famous hunter and ask the question of "What must've happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal & then lie next to it smiling?"

Simple answer is  "because I like to hunt. I had an opportunity for a once in a lifetime perfectly legal hunt and I took it." A giraffe is not an endangered species - neither is an north american elk - nor a deer. They are all pretty and amazing in their own way. They are also all legally hunted by people comfortable with that idea.

There is also the perception that hunting cannot be fun to be ethical. For most hunting and fishing is very difficult - expensive - and a gamble. When it works out to be a successful day (usually it is not) it's hard to not grin from ear to ear. Why is this wrong? Work that works out should not be a solemn event.

So to the people who decry hunting exotic animals in far away lands - look at your own hypocrisy. If you eat - you are killing something. If you use energy you are killing something. Life must be extinguished for life to go on. Just because you don't see the blood doesn't mean the death didn't happen. To mentally disconnect the two is truly a first world problem.

Sorry to ruin your Disney Romance with Nature

Humane is a human concept. This is a wolf doing as a wolf does.

It's just a point of View

Someone brought up the idea of a chicken rescue drive. All I could think of that there is nothing in an overpopulation of chickens that I couldn't personally solve with enough charcoal and barbecue rub. Bring on to me all the homeless chickens, they will find a place in this world right next to the salad and potatoes.

This also reminds me of a class I was in where we were examining a giant old growth tree. The two teachers of this class were from very polar fields. One had run a lumber mill in Forks Washington. The other was a conservation and recreation officer with Olympic National park. The one teacher gazed upon this tree in all it's splendor and said I look at this tree and think to myself of the board feet of clear quality wood contained. The other told of the people from far and wide who would come to visit and appreciate this tree and in that effect there was value.

The debate between ecotourism, commercial harvest, and armchair interests begins.  All interested parties, all with money to gain from the exploitation of a tree. It's no wonder the national forests are in such crappy shape.

So to that effect I admit - I see a chicken and I see meat. Just as I see a cow and see steaks and burgers. It doesn't mean I don't like those animals, I appreciate them greatly both as creatures, but it also means that I understand what they are to my society. It's just one man's pet is another man's dinner.

Building an emergency kit for the car

I never have a specific list for every pack because emergency situations where one must abandon their vehicle and pack out to safety are pretty environmentally specific to both the seasons and needs of the evacuee. I live in the Pacific Northwest where we don't have a ton of heat but we do have a ton of water. We also have raised aging roadways and a shit ton of under built bridges so it's pretty well very likely that roads will be impassible and bridges will be down in the case of a major earthquake. Therefore to get home in the very likely event an earthquake strikes while I am at work 35 miles from home it will very likely be a 2 -5 day mostly urban journey on foot. Keep in mind I am also single - emergency survival and bug outs with kids is a different ball of wax. This kit is designed to get me from away to back to home base.

So for the dryer season here are my major components of my bug out bag.

A change of comfortable clothes, a belt, 3 pairs of woolsocks stored in a zip lock, a hat, and a change of decent broke in shoes because I can nearly be guaranteed to be wearing the most uncomfortable POS pair of shoes I own, cotton socks, and wearing something business casual when the big one hits.

Rain gear that's packable

light gloves
small flashlight or headlamp

Some kind of ultra light tent
a thermal bivvy

something I can light a fire with even if everything is wet

A decent quality fixed blade knife w built in sharpener.

a water bottle with a filter

a jet boil system like the mini mo

a eat n tool

mini bottle of dawn soap.

With just the above I can shelter in place and move around for a long time. However a good thought is to also have the following:

backpackers lantern (assume there will be no power)

bug spray
a backpackers towel
paracord fob
roll of TP

sun screen

5-7 days worth of medications

A good first aid kit meant for hiking

a good current road map (assume cel lines and data will be down)

a head net

small bag of wet wipes
My personal defense kit which includes bear spray and a collapsible baton.
A small amount of money (like $30 - $50) in small bills

Finally a backpack to put all this stuff in and a tub to store everything in - inside the car.

Food - what's good and what's worthless will be another post.

The Poisoning of Crufts Part 3 Answers and Questions

The kennel club released a statement after the release of the toxicology report. Seems as expected the poisoned setter was very likely poisoned very close to home.
The named toxins are:
Aldicarb - A once common pesticide for aphids called Temik. Banned in the EU. It is also an ingredient in rat poison common to some to latin america.
Carbofuran- Again a pesticide marketed for control of pests in soybeans under the name Furadan. Banned in the EU. Ingredient common in off label use as a poison to kill predators in some of the 3rd world.

So what does this mean? It means that certainly this dog was not poisoned in the UK. It was very likely poisoned in it's own yard - or in the neighborhood.

Now as for the story being told as I mentioned we are unlikely to ever find out the full story. It takes very little of this stuff to kill a dog and it's more than likely would have killed all their dogs if there were deliberate bait piles in the yard. We will probably never know if this was a dog targeted event or not but I am more apt to think that this was an incidental poisoning that was intended for wildlife. Probably in less than a kilometer of where the dog lived. You see often baits are moved by wildlife - birds if you're not careful. It's part of the reason you have to be so very careful trapping to make sure traps are not easily seen by birds.

Even the jackass that poisoned my sister's dog with antifreeze put out way more poison than what was needed to do the job. This again to me points to incidental poisoning as the most likely story. Sad day for a dog but certainly not something easily prevented - sometimes despite your best intentions and preventions - shit happens.

carbofuran

Purebred failures

I was surfing the web looking at pictures from Crufts when I came across this poor creature which probably in a visual encompasses everything wrong with purebred dogs.

This is a dog who made it to Crufts after earning his way there through showing. This creature who serves no purpose than human companionship who is wall eyed, cannot breathe properly, has misaligned teeth, and is losing hair around his eye rims is the best the Japanese chin has to offer the world. This dog will undoubtedly die younger and in worse health than a "normal" faced dog of similar size and background and will live life plagued by discomfort denied even the ability to see and breathe normally as a result of breeding for a standard that is a description based in nothing biological.

Again, I ask the question of why do we do this and tell the world it's for the dogs? Dogs care not a whit for ribbons nor titles nor do they hold a standard sacred. That is a human trait.

The Poisoning of Crufts Part II - the story unravels

So it seems that people who own watches and do a little thinking are seeing holes in the reasoning behind the alleged poisoning at Crufts by animal rights activists.This is of course probability nonsense - as I noted in a previous post.

However we do have clues about what most likely happened to Jagger. He ate cubes of beef and he had poison still in solid form in his stomach. His symptoms were sudden onset and massive - the dog died before ever seeing the vet.

The most likely suspect is in my opinion slug bait. It fits all the reported symptoms, timeline, and released post mort information. The toxicology report will be the real story.

Now the real question to me is why his owners are clinging to the story about Crufts being the source of this poison rather than accidental poisoning which seems to be the most likely story. I think I have come up with the two most likely answers - sometimes what you want to believe is more important than reality. Accidents happen. Dogs die every day. It can be a great comfort to place blame elsewhere.
My second theory is more financial. This dog is owned by what appears to be three families. If one person's negligence costs an investment there may be financial repercussions to consider.

Because of this I believe that even if the evidence shows irrefutably that this dog was poisoned at home that this is the story about being poisoning at Crufts will be what they cling to. It's good business sense to do so and it's good PR to do so. So my guess is that is what the story will be. 

Now comes forward other dog owners who want to camp on the attention by spreading allegations that their little pooch also suddenly came down with the case of the poisonings. No other dogs have been confirmed at this stage of the game which makes me think that any dog with a case of the sniffles will be deemed "poisoned" by their owners and handlers. It's easier to think that rather than stress, disease, and simple bad luck could be the cause of their dog's case of the runs. Odds are good when nearly 22,000 dogs enter a building a few will get sick, and a couple will die within short order of the show.

The Poison of Crufts

So it appears a dog at Crufts has died of some mystery ailment which his owners are describing as a poisoning. 

The reporting right now is as follows:
~The dog died in Belgium 26 hrs after Crufts
~Cubes of beef were found in the dog's stomach
~ We are being told up to three poisons are involved that were enough to "kill a horse."
~ We are being told that this is by some AR nutjob.
~ We are being told two or three other dogs may have also been poisoned but no one is coming forward yet.

I seem to be in a  minority that is raising my hand and questioning the validity of this story.

It seems unlikely to me that a dog would die of a poisoning 26 hrs after a show. It seems odder yet to me that the dog's other stomach contents could be identified. It also seems odd to me that they said they could identify three poisons that were enough to "kill a horse" without the dog dropping prior to that point.

To me it seems far more likely the dog got into something on the way home or upon arriving home. Either way if a dog is dead this is a sad event - but we need to wait for more information and not leap to hysterical conclusions or point fingers.

Picking Partners - Co ownership Realities

A popular method of selling show dogs these days is via co-ownership. Basically in exchange for money one party gains physical control of a dog while the breeder or previous owner of a dog keeps their name on the registration paperwork.

There are a fair number of reasons breeders like this:

• It gives the illusion of control of genes.
• It gives the illusion of control from further transfers
• It allows the breeder or co owner to gain points when showing
• It prevents further transfers of registration papers.

The reason I use the word illusions is that by itself a co ownership does none of these things. Nothing prevents a co owner from giving the dog away, breeding it, concealing it entirely, taking it out and shooting it, or hanging papers on it and selling it anyways. What it does do effectively is prevent further transfers of registration papers and allows the other co owner to accumulate points and credit to their name. Most of the real power still remains with the party who actually possesses the dog however that said there is a bit of dishonesty with owning half a dog. 

I am generally speaking not a fan of co ownerships on dogs.  A co ownership is often used as a crutch to replace a good binding contract and does little to actually protect the dog, or the new owner. When the dog doesn't turn out as promised often time the breeder/co-owner is no where to be found and the new share owner is left holding the bag/dog.

For instance unlike horse co ownerships typically a selling co owner share does not take any responsibility for the care, training, vetting, showing, health testing or expenses associated with this animal but wants a say in the breeding partners, show schedule, vetting decisions, sale decisions, and successes of that animal.Basically all the monetary glory with none of the poop scooping work beyond 8 to 12 weeks.

More often than not the buying party wants a champion family pet with a hobby on the side and all too often the selling party is looking at an investment opportunity with having another party take on all the expense and risk for all of their gain which is a fairly unreasonable proposition by most contract standards as all the risk and expense is carried by a single party with another party gaining the most benefit.

That said there is a third party in this which is the dog itself. A co ownership does nothing to protect the dog from being used like a bouncing commodity rather than a family member which most people professing to love dogs would agree is the ideal. On the flip side of that a co ownership does plenty to deter doing right by the dog for the dog's sake because it puts real decisions in the hands of someone who isn't totally vested in those decisions. There in lies the rub - do right by the dog above all else should be the mantra in this club - yet somehow it always seems to fall to the side in favor of human vanity and egos.

 That said - these breeder folks will quickly remind you that you don't have to sign a contract with them or you can buy a dog on a spay/neuter contract. Which is true - you don't and increasingly people don't and throw up their hands and the stupidity and greed that goes in these contracts. Registered dogs account for less than 10% of all dogs in this country and more and more people are deciding a non registered non show dog will do the job.

Dreaming of summer

Being an odd year it means another year of pinks is upon us. I find myself making plans for warmer weather, preparing the freezer, and gathering alder for smoking. Bring out the jigs and buzz bombs and let the protein hit the shores.

Dog recyclers

I am in contact in a fair number of dog breeders and there always seems to be a segment of the dog rearing and breeding population that always seems to be cycling through dogs while professing their commitment to those dogs.

There is one person I know of who was giving away a dog because she had no time and then a literal next week got a working dog puppy. Really?

On the flips side of this you will find folks always swapping animals - either on craigslist, facebook, or some other list. They claim that they are looking for a pet that they will love forever - which they promptly flip for double the adoption fee to cover the work they put in. These are the same folks who post sob stories about rescuing Fluffy from a fate worse than death but can't afford to give him the care he needs. Send money now or Fluffy may die.

A pet is a commitment folks. You can't espouse responsibility and commitment when you have never assumed any yourself.

Signs that you are dealing with a pet cycler or pet flipper:
~ They have dogs younger than the one your are looking at but are claiming no time.
~ Didn't they just get this dog? Are they scanning always for more?
~ They get cagey about where the dog actually came from. They also get very upset if you ask about  contacting the dog's previous owner.
~ They are a breeder for twenty years but don't own a dog over six.
~ They are always posting photos of dogs available or dogs they just adopted.
~ They take on pets they cannot afford.
~ They invest very little time or money in the animals they have before they decide to move on the dog to it's "forever" home.
~ They ask for money based on what they put into a dog. 
~ They keep more pets in a greater variety than any sane person should.

Picking Associations

I have been a member of three dog clubs. I currently belong to none and will likely never be a member of one again. My interests and theirs rarely align and the backstabbing reads like a roman political meeting.

I am currently a member of three specialty associations related to trapping, hunting, and farming. None of which is the NRA.

I am an active member of two web boards and am pretty active on facebook.

How does one decide what clubs and trade associations to be a member of? First off to me it is a question of value. A club that is little more than a logo is worthless. A club that is nothing but a gossip circle is equally worthless. Sadly this encompasses 80% or more of dog clubs where they are little more than a trade association for dealing puppies and spending money on judges and ribbons.
They also tend to be more about exclusion than inclusion. Typically their publications are private - and typically you need two or more members to vouch for you to join. This leads to a constant cycle of backstabbing and snarky behavior that should make an awesome experience into something completely dominated by the ability to navigate petty club politics.

In contrast joining a rabbit club with a quarterly publication with topics about rearing and research and a specialty show costs about $20 a year. It has open enrollment.

My trapping association sends out publications every other month. It contains information about sales, education seminars, and specific how to articles. They also present information on protecting trapping from special interest groups. Open enrollment and only $35 a year. A good value for supplies that are sometimes difficult to find.

Second to me is a question of what my dollars are truly supporting. If you donate to the NRA
one only needs to look at their financial statements to realize how little my membership matters and how much money the big gun manufacturers and retailers are willing to spend to buy congress.

So before you join a club I would suggest anyone consider the following
~ What do I really get out of joining?
~ Is the club accountable to it's membership?
~ Is what they say they are about actually what they do in action?
~ Are they transparent in finances?

If the answers are 100% acceptable to you - join. If not - spend your money elsewhere for better information based in reality.

Fuck PETA

Finally a law getting things right. I don't know how these assholes became the moral authority on animal rights because their background of hypocrisy and attention whoring should have got someone's attention. But now - at least a real win for the animals. PETA's "shelter" policy of blanket killing of healthy critters has been revoked. Thanks Virginia.

The trouble with something having no value:

If you've ever heard the saying worked like a 50 cent mule you will understand that something with little value is disposable, usually readily replaced with another "50 cent mule." Which brings me to the topic of the most neglected animal in all of America. The cat. Cats are by in large worthless. They serve no value to humanity, all the touted benefits of cats are by in large lies told by cat ladies and shelter association ethicists. They tend to attract rats and mice rather than repel them. They are also next to humanity the biggest cause for extinction of wildlife than any other species on the planet. There is nothing a cat can do for humans that a guinea pig can't except perhaps spread more disease to humans.

To double up on it - cats are worthless. How worthless? Go to your paper, craigslist, or any other animal swap or shelter and try to find a free cat. How many did you find? Could you pick the free cat you wanted by color? size? age? At what point in the selection process did you actually have to pay money for a cat?

Here if I wanted a cat - I would never pay for one. I can get a free cat - contract free - any sex or color - any coat type - any age -spayed or not - microchipped - and vaccinated free of charge. There is literally no barrier to owning one because there are too damn many of them. As a result they are very typically treated as lower than goldfish and typically neglected as a norm. An animal which has value even if it's just a few dozen dollars tends to receive better care as a norm than an animal that is without value. This is evident in the surrender statistics at shelters and abandonment rates.

Where but in cats could I allow my free roaming pet to be killed in traffic, wholesale slaughter wildlife, be eaten by coyotes and raccoons, spread disease, and defecate all over my neighbor's property and still be an ok responsible pet owner who tells people I love my pet? It is a form of insanity which funny enough may actually be caused by cats.

Now before you accuse me of cat hate - I actually don't hate cats. I do have a fair amount of loathing for most cat owners.  I have compassion for feral and free roaming cats as in my opinion no domestic animal should live this way but there is not enough money in the universe to save them all. We continue to flush good money down a hole to attempt to appease insane feral and freeroaming cat lovers who think TNR is a solution when it has never solved the problem anywhere.

 So I have a solution for the cat problem -

Better confinement laws and mandatory ID laws.
Fine people for animal cruelty/neglect if their pet is killed on the public road.
Pet licensing/taxes based on dependence on the public dime.
Shoot loose cats preying on wildlife and encourage their take by trappers through a bounty system.
Poison feral cats with a species specific poison campaign.
Normalize cat habitats for those who insist on keeping them outdoors. It is after all the only responsible way to keep a cat outside.

Now I realize this post might not be popular among the cat lovers and TNR crazies but my solution results in less death and suffering in the long run than the continued cycle of abandonment and re-abandonment.  The life of a feral cat is a life spent dodging cars, disease, starvation, and coyotes and typically is a abbreviated one that ends poorly.

Why exactly are we here?

So another Westminster is behind us.

I find myself waxing philosophical about the topic as I place very little value overall in dog shows as the competition rarely has much to do with fair play, honoring good breeding, or even rewarding excellence. It does have a lot to do with income, posturing, and the pursuit of hollow rewards but that is a post for another day.

There was controversy in my breed. Seems the judge forgot to judge the bitches before deciding on Best of Breed. There are rumors of grumbling about this breech of etiquette and comments about demanding entry refunds.


Then there was apparently some surprise over the BIS choice. Once again a beagle wins- a beagle who has probably never seen a hare that wasn't stuffed and squeaked. She was handled by a handler and is co owned by three people. She is also from Canada.  A much made reference to Uno the previous Westminster winner who also probably has never hunted nor could produce get.Seems Uno is a decidedly sterile winner in a competition that is suppose to be for breeding animals for a purpose which seems to be breeding more show dogs.

So once again I ask myself, Why are we here? Is it to honor a dog who cannot hunt, who was decided best among dogs that have never hunted nor will ever be hunted over?

I frequently ask "why are we here?" among those who raise my breed which is a pet breed well known for being hard to house break, yappy, and brilliant in all training ways. You often see "reputable" breeders of these dogs with a household of dogs wearing diapers if they are allowed out of kennels at all but winning on the weekends. "Really? Why are we here?! What is this excellence and merit we're all blathering about?"

The work of working dogs

In the upper echelons of the dog culture in this country is the notion of working dogs.  These animals are spoken of as proof of their breeding program's success and further proof of the novelty that form meets function. This of course for most "working" programs is a load of hooey - their programs rarely meets the sniff test. There are thousands of people in this country who claim to breed working dogs - the grand majority of them rarely work their dogs and fewer yet select their dogs based upon that work.

For those uninitiated a working dog is an animal that performs a function in exchange for it's keep. Anything short of this is a pet with a hobby. The depth of the level of that hobby is entirely dependent on the owner.

If one sees a police dog - it is a dog trained to a task. If the dog cannot perform that task it is typically sold, retrained, retired, or euthanized. It is a true working dog with all the selection pressures that should apply to a working dog. Perform or perish

A dog running agility is rarely a working dog - unless it's ability to run agility is how it keeps it's home. It is a more often than not a pet with a hobby.

A dog that herds domesticated sheep around a round pen two days a month is not a working dog. It's feed bill is not paid as a result of the work it does. The dog that does this task day in day out in exchange for a spot on the farm is the working dog.

A therapy dog is almost never a working dog. It is almost always a pet with a hobby. If the dog fails at being a service dog it is rarely if ever a deal breaker on it's home.


If you do not select for a trait it is lost - typically within 2 or 3 generations. This means that dogs who are primarily bred for show are more often than not worthless in their professed fields. One only need looks at what is winning in labs to see a fat dog who has never seen a live bird let alone a freshly dead one. Probably has never heard a gun shot either or sat silently tucked under a soggy bench in a blind waiting for the ducks to answer the call. Most photos with show labs on a bird are labs with frozen dead chukars or quail - which are easily purchased as snake food at any pet store.

So my answer to where to find a working dog for you dear reader is to find someone who actually does with their dog what you are wanting to do and has a breeding program at least partially based on that function and preferably with a side of health testing. Use breed as a footnote to the decision because more often than not the right dog is the right dog irregardless of breed or how many ribbons that breeder has.

Mother Nature is a Cruel Bitch

Internet wildlife ethicist seem to like to dictate that mother nature knows best because she loves us. Reality is mother nature typically is a cruel bitch that snuffs the life out of most things in this world that is whelped, hatched, pollinated, or fertilized usually long before it has much of a chance at life. She doesn't love you or anyone for that matter - you and all other life exist in spite of best efforts to squelch out your life through starvation, exposure, disease, and pure raw competition for finite resources. There is no woods vet nor morphine for most wildlife big or small and most of these lives end out of sight of human eyes as even the car struck possum tends to die in the ditch.

This is the true way of the world. We all owe a death that we will pay if we want to or not so it creates some questions about how we choose to live and how we choose to die. It also creates some questions of what we kill and in what quantities. Vegetarians - you don't get off free in this regard. Habitat loss due to human population and the ever needing expansion of agricultural land is the #1 wholesale killer of wildlife in this world. This means every acre of farm land dedicated solely to the mass production of a single crop invariably destroys a habitat.

So if you care about wildlife and care about people there are a few things you can do. One is reduce the distance between yourself and your food. If you live in Colorado and your eggs come from California produced on corn from Ohio please reconsider your choice. Either raise your own or find a more local source. You can create one to two days worth of meals easily at home and a minimal of expense and space. Join a co-op and share your wealth if you have more space. For goodness sake - HUNT!, eat all over the food chain, and eat locally. Wild animals are one of our greatest renewable resources if they are managed sanely.

Second is to eliminate excesses and monoculture in your own life. Do you really need six acres of fescue? Do you really need a four bedroom three bathroom house for just you and the SO in your life. Build some wild areas of easy to keep wild hedge and productive borders. Enjoy the show of wild creatures.

Declare war on the killers of wildlife that really serve no purpose ie, feral and freeroaming cats and wild hogs. Next to humanity and pavement the largest killers of wildlife and diversity. Strong leash laws and confinement laws would be a great step followed by the outlawing of the failed policy of Trap - Neuter - and release and feeding of feral cats. Wild hogs can devastate deer, underbrush, bird and small animal populations and are best given no quarter.

The Cult of the Positive sets it's sights on a new Goal

I find myself with an eyeroll reading about the pure positive trainers touting the newest thing in gun dog training. The positive bird dog.

This is of course nonsense and people seeking to push their culture on a population that really isn't looking for help. These people never speak of conservation of the hedge and other areas where birds exist, they never speak of ammo, the gun, or the responsibilities of the shooter as a sportsman and a conservationist. They speak of the dog and pushing their philosophy on dog training above all else.

This all over one part of the normal training of gun dogs called the forced fetch or compulsion training. Without a doubt this topic is one of the most misunderstood in the dog training arena and seems to be the dividing line for trainers who work and those who internet philosophize to the masses.

So anytime you are getting advice from someone about these topics I would ask you to give their credentials and advice a sniff test.

 First sign you are sniffing bullshit is that they don't actually hunt with a dog, some don't even own a gun but they're going to tell you all about how to hunt with a dog. 

Second sign of sniffing bullshit is that their biggest fans and page spreaders are those that don't actually hunt with a dog. Most of them seem to own shelties and run agility or also are offering R+ gun dog training.

The third sign is that their proof of superiority is a non witnessed trial anecdote about the performance of some dogs at trial and how you can just tell who is training what style. A trial is not a hunt - and a hunt typically isn't about the dog in the blind.

The fourth sign is that they form their own trade club to espouse their moral superiority but lack any endorsements from any hunting related clubs, associations, or speak to their dedication to outdoor sports.

They promise the world. A dog ready to start earlier. A dog performing more reliably. A dog who slices and dices, calls ducks and shoots them too, all for the cost of a clicker.

The final sign is that they can't produce a video with an actual finished gun trial dog, a dog on a actual hunt, or a list of clients that tout the reliability of the dogs they produce in the field. Even a picture of a dog holding a bumper correctly and giving a proper controlled retrieve would be fantastic.

What exactly is a humane death?

So the topic comes up from time to time on a death being inhumane. One notable charge came about after public outcry after some crazy asshole blew up his dog. Now one could make the argument that this is a horrible needless death that deserves to be punished but I will ask the question what exactly are we punishing? What should this punishment look like in a just society?

Without a doubt this lab died nearly instantly. That is without dispute. This dog died in a shorter span than the average dog being blue juiced at the vet or gassed at a crappy southern shelter. Which begs the question of what is a humane death and what is cruelty?

My state is pretty clear that first degree animal cruelty is causing the death of an animal with undue suffering or screwing one or being a party to either of those actions.

The humane slaughter act requires either an instantaneous death or some kind of stunning before being killed except as religious exemptions are applied.This dog was not being slaughtered but again, instant death.

I'm not saying that this was a good thing  but our laws are pretty clear on what is legal and what is illegal. You do have the right to kill your own dog except as exempted by law as long as you use a method that doesn't cause undue suffering.  For the better part of the history of mankind this was done with a axehandle or a bullet. Hard pill to swallow for many but let's examine this pill.

Death makes people uncomfortable. A not pretty death or sterile death makes people very uncomfortable. This is the aesthetics of being in the first world where the best way to die seems to be in an opium induced coma in a clean music filled room. If death could be nearly instant and if you didn't understand it was coming is it really cruel?

I think the true objection is twofold - people abhor a waste of life. We can easily accept the mass slaughter of chickens, pigs, and cows because it serves a purpose. We go out of our way now to make the slaughter process neat and tidy and most importantly out of sight. Second is the idea of a messy death - even if instant is somehow more wrong than a sterile one even if it is out of the sight of someone else. Even if in a bed - the end is almost never as nice and neat as one would hope for someone they care about.

I am glad to say the loon in the story above plead out. I assume because he had either a lawyer who was either incompetent or thought the greater social good would be served if this guy never had a pet again. I don't say this because I think he did the right thing or did nothing wrong.  There is a ton wrong with this story from explosives to the end of what was described as a very sweet dog but the justice system is not a popularity contest.

Little white lies - aka the service dog dilemmia

In the course of my job every single day I encounter at least one maybe up to five dogs whose handlers identify as service dogs. Most of these dogs are more than likely fraudulent - fewer yet are well trained and most of their owners are not well enough versed in service dog laws to know what their dog must do to be considered a service dog. No I cannot tell just by looking - many disabilities are hidden and this is where the difficulties lie and the little white lies begin.

A person does not have to be diagnosed as disabled to claim to be disabled enough to need a service dog. This means that someone can suddenly come down with an arbitrary case of the disableds any time they feel like it to claim this "benefit" so long as they have their scripted cues in line.

Which are:

Knowing to identify their dog as a service dog and not a pet when asked. A service animal is not a pet.
Knowing that if asked they should be able to name the "tasks" their dog performs for them. The dog does not have to demonstrate these tasks for any idiot asking. Most places of business will not ask this - because their employees cannot judge if a task is real or bogus.

That said a service animal can only be a dog or a miniature horse. All other animals DO NOT qualify for special access no matter how much their owner insists on it.

Businesses are in the business of selling stuff to anyone who offers more money than they take away from their business. This is true of any rational businessman. Please remember this as you read along.

This is where things become a gnashing of teeth as service dog advocates like to bitch and moan about the fake service dog problem ruining it for the rest of "them" and businesses who just want to sell stuff and not have to deal with the bullshit that comes with service dogs real, fake, and the guy on the end of it's leash disrupting and harming their business.

This is the unpopular part where I tell you that some of the loudest service dog advocates for the most part of full of shit who want the attention of the drama of victim-hood, fake service dogs, and want to draw attention of their club/cause-whatever. Very little of it is advocating for real people who truly need help with access - if it was you would see a great amount more of help being offered for the things that truly limit access and more community outreach rather than focus on the dog, the businesses, and fraud. Instead you see howls of bad service dog behavior with accompanying cel phone video, pissing and moaning about the responsibility of businesses to enforce a perceived code of ethics, and what people perceive to be fake service dogs. Again, no one can just look at any handler dog combo and know they are fakes - being disabled doesn't give anyone disabled radar just as needing a service dog doesn't mean you are a better than average dog trainer or owner.

For businesses this service dog business is a real pain in the ass because you just can't win. Most of them probably wouldn't give a crap about a dog being in their store as long as the dog was well behaved, non threatening, and not damaging merchandise. The problem is when you mix food into your store you have these government types that will tell you that suddenly no animals allowed for health reasons despite their food being very well packaged to prevent contamination. So you tell your customers no pets in the store. Which means your customer suddenly has an incentive to claim Farkle the dog is a service dog so he doesn't have to linger in the car. Which means the store can continue to not care about these special "service animals" being in the store because the government is satisfied because they can't ask for proof anymore than the store can.

Which leads service dog advocates to get pissy about:
Dogs being in carts
Dogs sitting on chairs 
Dogs eating something
Dogs being poorly controlled on/off lead.
Dogs approaching other people (specifically them)
Fake service dogs

Just because the store doesn't HAVE to let you have your dog in a cart or on a chair and your dog should be able to navigate the floor in a reasonable manner it doesn't mean they are prohibited from doing so because most stores espouse good customer service above all else which means you bend yourself into a knot to supply comfort, information, and direction to customers. This means that if the store does not mind that service dogs can indeed be accommodated most of the time. Brace yourselves accordingly - they accommodate most meth addicts and dirty children too which are far more dangerous to public health than the average halfway groomed dog. So again, while it's bad manners- it is also not illegal and I would caution anyone taking a cel phone video for youtube it is also exceptionally rude to do that. Especially when there is no real harm happening directly to you. 


So lets deal with the harm issue which is mostly characterized by people or other dogs screwing with your dog. Yep, this can be a real problem.Worse yet is when they have a strange dog who just wants to be "friends." My advise is to treat this like someone walking up and personally groping you. Dirty looks and scorn along with a What is Wrong with YOU! can tend to get people moving. Telling someone to get their dog under control is another way to let it be known that they are invading your bubble.  Be your own ass kicker because the guy you scorn today will think twice tomorrow and a better world it will be. In the horrid event your dog is actually attacked by another person's dog. Step 2 after getting your dog and yourself to a safe spot is to call the police and ask them to treat this as a personal attack on you and if the law in your state allows insist that the person is cited for an attack on a service dog Step 3 is the sue the shit out of them for the damage and needed retraining of your service dog.


Finally the perceived harm of someone ruining this access for you. No, it doesn't except in the mind and there is no legal protection for being uncomfortable - unless it is to the point of disability. You are protected by law (period, no buts) therefore as long as you assert your right to access to public areas, reasonable access should be available on a case by case basis which means one guys assholery doesn't reflect on you nor can a store owner bring that restriction upon you based on what the last guy did. I realize that this is not a one size fits all solution as there are truly souls in this world who cannot advocate for themselves easily but again if a solution or mitigation is sought one will be found that can work for most people.