Jaci Dawn

Don said this would be our “test run” with the dogs before a week long vacation. And it was a test run.

First, there was the logistics of packing two big dog crates into the rig plus all of our gear for just a weekend. Note to self: we need to streamline. We used to be streamlined, back when the kids were little and the only car we had was a 1984 Ford Escort that we took everywhere (and I mean on some roads you wouldn’t take a 4×4 down – we were pretty insane).

Anyway, dogs and camping. It was a lot of fun having them both with us and seeing how they interact. Harvey is young enough that he is still a puppy and he loves to watch Murphy. In fact, he’s started to emulate Murphy. <Ahem> That’s not funny, Harvey! But it could also bring wisdom.

The first time we put a shock collar on Harvey and let him off of his lead, he headed straight down the road to the wilderness, not a look back! ACK! After a quick lesson on boundaries, he started staying closer, but we still had to really watch him. He’s like a hound following his nose…

Speaking of his nose: he froze into a perfect point. Of course I have no photos because carrying the camera and trying to manage Harvey was not possible, so I left the camera in camp. Harvey not only pulled a perfect point, but he held it until I came up beside him and flushed the grouse out. Lordy, he was excited to have a bird! Both dogs worked that thicket for several minutes until we pulled them away. It was a beautiful thing, seeing the bird dog come out in my rescue dog.

He was into birds several times. We don’t know if he is gun-shy. But it was fun to watch him work grouse and band tailed pigeons in the woods.

Murphy was not having the best trip. First, he smelled COYOTE. He hugged the perimeter of the campfire and growled out into the woods, tail tucked. Murphy is third in a line of dogs we have owned that knew what a coyote was and knew it meant a dog should stay close to the fire and humans. He’s not willing to tackle a coyote.

(Sadly, Harvey was oblivious. He knew the coyote was out there but didn’t seem to grasp the danger that presented. Hopefully, he will learn by Murphy’s example.)

The coyote must den near the camp. We found fresh spoor and scratch markings in the dirt that were a clear warning to the dogs: This is MY place. Scattered around that were several old piles of spoor. It was all in one place, a definite boundary marker.

Murphy was also bothered by the deer flies. Must be the dark coat because they buzzed Harvey and they buzzed the humans, but they attacked poor Murphy.

“Save me from the flies, Dad!!”

It was too brushy for me to feel comfortable taking Harvey out and working with him on the collar. He ranges ahead with Murphy and I trail behind Don. I felt like a nervous ninny or an over-protective mother. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have.

Harvey? Harvey was in Heaven.

He got to play in the “lake”. He followed his nose. He followed Murphy. He was a dog and he loved every second of it.

There’s a world of difference between the two breeds. Murphy – the Wire-Haired Pointing Griffon – is a calmer dog. He doesn’t have the nervous energy of all the previous bird dogs we have owned. He can relax completely. He still steals things, but he isn’t compelled to be constantly moving.

Harvey is just like our previous bird dogs: a bundle of nervous energy, constantly on the move. In the house, he’s calm as calm can be, but outside he has to be on the move constantly. He’s learning to steal things.

Yeah: “What Murphy does, I can do better” is Harvey’s motto. Murphy’s motto is “I’ll teach him all I know.”

In the end, we had a good time and I know now what to expect when we head out on a real vacation.

All ready to go home. Camp site is picked up and clean, fire has been doused and stirred, and dogs are loaded into crates. (Note: trash bag on top of Murphy’s crate: Haul it in – Haul it OUT!!)

I have three weeks to get ready for a REAL camping trip.