Training has started back up at the local NAVHDA chapter, here are a few pics from Saturday's training day, weather was beautiful.

Tessa brought a friend today - 12-year old Shane. He's the one who is currently getting laser treatments for his spine (working great) and he is still treated for a horse parasite . He hasn't hunted in 3 years so his owner wanted to put him on some birds and see...well, Tessa had better stamina but Shane had great style - you could tell he's an old pro. Here they are after their run, so pleased with themselves:

Then there was G, a one-year old English Pointer. Great dog and what muscles! Pointing a quail in a launcher.

Tessa and the Dokken...didn't go too well...we really need to do more duck work and work on retrieves.

After everyone had left, Tessa relaxed in the duck pond:

This was Tessa's first time on birds since the last HT in December. She got the hang of finding and pointing. The dang birds didn't fly too well so she caught one before I could get there. The funniest moment came when we flushed a bird and I fired a blank in the air and the bird hit a branch and fell to the ground - perfectly timed!

One of Tessa's points turned out to be a huge rabbit. When he took off she was in hot pursuit - first time she was chasing fur - but thanks to the e-collar we had a successful recall, so that was good.

Not much else was gained but it was great, great fun!

Francine: only once a month March-October. Because the chapter is hosting a test day in December (fun!) and some members want to run their dogs in the UT, it looks like there will be "unofficial" training days in-between this year.

Zodiak: I can't remember exactly but his owner took him in because he had symptoms of hip dysplasia. Hips were x-rayed and they look perfect. I think it is arthritis in his spine. He has much improved (and immediately so) after they started the laser treatments. They even lasered my friend's wife's hand (she has bad arthritis) while they were at it! I will get more info on the weekend and get back with you.

Here is a link, I believe this is the treatment he receives - class IV laser therapy.

www.veterinarypracticenews.com/vet-education-series/class-iv-laser-sheds-new-light-on-treatment-of-elderly-animals.aspx

What in the world kind of camera do you have?  Is it a 54 pixel or something....dang the quality of those pictures is amazing.  Makes mine look like water color paintings.