A Q&A with the New Guy

Here in the Wilson home we recently did a Q & A with the new guy on the block, namely Jackson Wilson.  The interview went pretty well so I thought it would be nice to share and a good way for you, our long distance family and friends and blog visitors, to get to know him.

Q.  So Jackson, how old are you now and do you go by any other names?
A.  Oh I’m almost four months, have been living here with mom and dad for two months now, but it seems like it’s been about a year or two.  It’s a pretty cool place.  They call me Jackson, but I’m a.k.a. Colonel Jack, Jack, Super Stud, Mister, Dude, and Buddy, they throw all kinds of names at me and think I’m catching on.

Q.  I noticed you needed a nap in between our interview, are you pretty tired because you’re growing so fast?
A.  Yeah it wipes me out sometimes.  I’ve gone to the vet and found out I’ve been growing 4 pounds a week.  That’s about a half pound a day!  I now weigh about 35-40 lbs.

Q.  What are some of your favorite things?
A.  Treats, of course.  Also play time with mama and dad, meeting new people and other furry four-legged guys that bark.  I try to play with all of them but some of ’em are old and boring, kinda snobby, and just want to ignore me, snarl, and growl.  But I don’t mind I just keep trying to play with them and get them to act young again.  I also love fetching toys, love sleeping, smelling all the smells (especially of all the birds near home… pheasants, doves, geese), deer poop, horse poop (love that stuff but mom doesn’t let me eat it when I want), going for walks, running and exploring around the big wheat and straw fields by the house.  I’ve just started to like going for rides in mom and dad’s truck.  I really love anything that comes out of the laundry basket, socks, clothes, and shoes are good too.  These teeth have been bothering me lately so I really enjoy hard chewy things in my mouth, but I get in trouble most of the time when I get a hold of those things.

Q.  So you now live with your mom and dad, as the only child?  Do you have a favorite yet?
A.  Well I’m pretty much a mama’s boy right now, I spend most of my time with her.  She takes me walking and running every morning and evening, feeds me, and takes good care of me.  The ol’ Man is really cool, he’s my kind of guy.  He isn’t here at home everyday, but when he gets home after a few days it’s really exciting.  He takes me out in the fields and I find bird scents all over, he takes me off the leash a little more than mom, and he plays the best game ever with me using a fishing pole and a real bird wing at the end of the fishin’ line.  The wing smells like a real bird and I get to chase it, but have to listen to him say “Whoa” a lot, so I stand still and wait ’til he says “Fetch It”.  I’ve actually bonded to both of them pretty good already.  It’s a good life.

Q.  So they say you’re a Bird Dog, have you been hunting yet?
A.  Yeah I’m a Pointer.  Like I said, dad plays the game with me and the bird wing and is teaching me things to get ready to go hunting.  We haven’t gone yet but I really can’t wait.  He’s elk hunting right now but right when he’s done we’ll go get on some birds.  It’ll be a great family thing to do, I think we’ll start this Fall already.

Q.  What have you recently learned in life?
A.  Been catching on really good to a lot of the commands.  I now totally know ‘Whoa’, ‘Come’, ‘Sit’, ‘Stay’, ‘No’, ‘Fetch It’, ‘Get It’, ‘On Your Bed’, and ‘Heel’, thanks to the treats and the games that mom and dad play with me all the time.  Oh and I know “Where’s daddy?”, mom says that to me and I go look for him.  Mom also says “Go potty” when we’re outside and just started to catch on, I usually squat and pee when she says that if there’s a treat in her hand.  Also learning to hold my bladder and go pee outside, getting really good at that.

Q.  Would you like to give a shout-out to your extended family, anything to say to them?
A.  Yes I would love to see them soon, just tell ’em to come over anytime and play.  I haven’t met some of them yet, so hopefully soon!

Jackson and Co.

We’ve now had Jackson for more than a month and I’ve been meaning to share some pictures and stories.  So many cute things and funny things happen with him, I’ve intended on journaling them and sharing the funny stories but I wait too long and then there’s too much to tell.  All I really need to say is that he is awesome, so cute, and does the funniest puppy things and he makes me laugh everyday.

He sure is a handful!  Full of energy when awake, and then just wipes out and takes lots of naps.  I exercise him twice a day– morning and evening, where we go for a good walk down our country road.  He’s starting to run with me a little now with those long legs, which is awesome since the little intervals of running keep him from stopping everywhere to smell the smells!  He has quite the nose, these dogs are born and bred for their good noses and that keeps him really busy.  I think he’ll be a good hunting dog for Will, he’s been pointing butterflies and dragonflies, and watching the geese and birds flying, so he’ll be pointing birds in no time =)

It’s really fun to watch him around water, the first times with the hose on he was chasing and pawing at the moving water like he was trying to catch it, then figured out how he can drink out of the hose and just loves that.  Last week as I was in Thompson Falls with Will, we took him down to a nice beach area on the river.  Oh boy, he had no idea what he was in for… just went crazy flying all over the beach, digging in the sand, sniffing and snorting it, pretty much wearing it and trying to swim in it.  We threw some sticks in the water and he ended up swimming for the first time which was pretty fun to watch.

I’ve been wanting to share some pics of the evening I went to pick him up, these were taken more than a month ago but better late than never right?  And here’s some more recent ones from the last 1 1/2 months.

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Well there’s the update and pictures finally!  Hope you enjoyed them. =)

Puppy Excitement

Well I just went to visit our new puppy this evening, and am going to go get him tomorrow and bring him home!  I was in town shopping and stocking up on all the puppy goods, and since I was in the area I got to go see him for a bit.  It just made me all the more excited to get him and begin our new adventure and lives together!  I’m working tomorrow so I figured I’ll pick him up after that, so I won’t be leaving him home alone his first morning here.  That wouldn’t be very nice of me.  I hope he’ll adapt well, as he won’t have mama or his 10 brothers and sisters around to play with.  I am glad I don’t work 5 days/wk, 8-9 hr days, I would hate to leave him home alone that much.  We probably wouldn’t be getting one of these guys if I did work full time, they do not do well cooped up in a kennel all day without people and without exercise.

So I have been, and am, perusing the web, reading about German Wirehair Pointers.  Will has always been more familiar with these pointer breeds and has wanted one for a long time now, whereas I am more familiar with little lap/toy dogs like my two little Pomeranians that my family and I had for 15+ years.  So I’m reading up and we have both been reading this book, Gun Dog, by Richard Wolters.  Seems to be a classic and well-known among bird-dog owners.  Very informative and good guidance for training and having these dogs.

Found a few good things just on Wikipedia though.  So I thought I’d share in case you want to check it out and learn a little about them!  Some important and fun things to know about them… (from the wikepedia site)

“The German wirehaired pointer is very affectionate, active and intelligent. Eager to learn and loyal to its family…”

“This is one breed of dog that does not do well in a kennel environment. German wirehaired pointers are happiest and most well behaved when they are part of the family and can spend time with their people. They can be rather willful and they like to roam. Powerful and energetic, they can become bored and hard to manage without enough exercise. The German Wirehaired pointer is a good all-around gun dog, able to hunt any sort of game on any sort of terrain. This dog has a good nose and can track, point, and retrieve on both land and water. Steady, lively and vigorous.”

“This is a dog that can fully respond to the needs of its hunter. The goal was to develop a wire-coated, medium sized dog that could:

• Search for, locate and point upland game
• Work both feather and fur with equal skill and retrieve water fowl
• Be a close-working, easily trained gun dog
• Be able to track and locate wounded game
• Be fearless when hunting “sharp” game such as fox
• Be a devoted companion and pet; and
• Be a watchdog for its owner’s family and property.”

The more I learn about them the more awesome they are.  

We are still back and forth on the name.  The breeders are calling him Colonel.  He has some black/grey markings around his tail which look like a ring around it, and I guess a dog with those markings on the tail can be called ‘Colonel’ or ‘Sargent’ among people who know this breed.  🙂  So as of now he is Colonel Jack (short for Jackson).

Well more to come on the little guy soon!

🙂

Wilson Number Three

There will soon be a third little guy living here in the Wilson home!  We’re getting a puppy!!!  I am so excited, and just going nuts having to wait to meet him and bring him home.  🙂

We have always talked about getting a dog someday soon.  And have been saying ‘someday soon’ for quite some time now.  Will has wanted a Pointer/Hunting dog and has looked forward to going bird hunting with the furry friend.  I am excited to go hunting with the two guys, and to have a walking/running partner on a daily basis.  Camping and hiking will be all the more fun with him along too.

So we’re getting a German Wirehair Pointer, male puppy.  I am about to start studying up a lot on this breed and puppy obedience/training.

Turns out Will had all of this up his sleeve for the past little while and he was thinking he’d try to surprise me.  A few days ago I stumbled upon something that gave it away… and so the cat dog was out of the bag.  Oh well, it’s still a surprise that he has found one and we are getting one soon!  And I’m actually really glad we can now pick out ‘the one’ together.

While at work, Will found out about some German Wirehair puppies for sale from this family, The Silver Buckle Kennels, and it turned out that Will’s Foreman/friend had got one of his Pointer dogs from this same family when he was young.  The family has been breeding these dogs since the 1960’s!  So unbeknownst to me, Will and his Foreman went to see the puppies one night after work, each eager to pick one out.  So I guess Kurt has the 2nd pick of the females, and we have the 1st pick of the males! How awesome is that, that we’ll have a brother and sister, so they can be together sometimes, and go hunting together.

They are now just barely three weeks, and have to be with mom for 7 weeks so we have a month to get ready, study up, and bring him home!

There are 11 puppies in this litter!!  We have the first pick of the six males, all of different colorings and markings.

I really, really, miss my little cuddly teddy bear/friend, Molly, who passed away this last October.  It really broke my heart to see her go, after she was born in our home and we had her as part of the family for almost 15 years.  But it’s better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.  So I am ready now for a new family member, and excited to meet him.

He will show up and be featured here soon.  And there will be many stories and pictures.  🙂