It`s been a while since we`ve shared a post about Shaeffer.  We keep the focus to food and food-related posts.  While the little dude loves food, he does most of his food-related work (helping us hunt) in the fall.

But it`s his birthday so we`ve got to give the little guy a shout out:

Some random food facts about Shaeffer:

1. He doesn`t really care is something is local or not (he barely cares if it`s edible).  He does love banana and strawberries equally.
2. He does like organic berries over others.  Mostly because they come back from the market with a bit of dirt on them.  He really loves the dirtiest ones (he licks the dirt off and leaves the berries from time to time).
3. He`s a butter hound.  You can`t leave it out.  I am certain he would eat an entire block of it if you let him.
4. He remembers food.  It`s like he has a catalog of everything he`s ever eaten – if he knows what his food is, he vacuums it up, if not he takes his time.  Exception: anything on the street.
5. He has a process for unknown food:  he smells it, gently puts it in his mouth, moves it around, spits it out and repeats until chewing, swallowing or spitting it out.
6. Bacon – and bacon fat – makes anything better.
7. Carrots are also big favorites.  Carrot peels make a great `salad`when mixed with any other food.
8. Some food is dangerous and benign ingredients are now handled in our house like they`re radioactive.  When he ate a tiny piece of green onion (as a small puppy), it became an awfully messy situation…  He was ok after a few hours of being very ill (we knew at the time not to feed him it; a careless piece I dropped became a snack and a lesson was learned).
9. He likes eggs.  We were walking through the forest when he scared a partridge into flight.  After stopping and pointing he walked over to where she was sitting and taught me that they nest on the ground (I didn`t know after 30+ years of seeing these birds).  He grabbed a snack before I knew what was happening.
10. He has taught me that you can call anything a cookie.  Mostly meat.  I never knew…

Here`s some of his past posts:

• A new hunter joins the family – perhaps his cutest days  that also came with going outside every 2 hours (we have 26 stairs between our apartment and outside).
• Update on Shaeffer – including photos of him as a puppy when he went to Shaeffer`s Pond for his first time.
• Another update on Shaeffer – tough to believe he was so skinny.  He was healthy – but when Vizslas grow they go through a super skinny phase – they eat and eat and eat but grow taller.  We were warned about this and told that people would ask – we were stopped on the street at this time and asked if we fed our dog a lot.  Strangers who owned Vizslas would save the sanity letting us know their stories.
• Shaeffer turns 1 – we went on a ferry and spent a day or Toronto Island for his birthday.
• His first hunt – although there`s a few more photos and stories about him in the 10-day series around moose hunting, this one has the most of him where he`s the happiest – in the middle of the woods.

A happy birthday to him!

Our pup had his first birthday yesterday.  And, to my great surprise, I found myself in the middle of singing the Happy Birthday song (mercifully with only Dana and Shaeff in earshot) while presenting him with a birthday ‘cake’ (slices of watermelon).

Our last update on our young hunter was in May and we introduced him here last October.  He’s meant as a companion to us and our first hope was to add a good chum to our house -a good hunter was a distant second or third although I really wanted a dog that would come traipsing through he woods with me.

Shaeffer is definitely at home in the woods as he is more than comfortable in the city.  We’ve learned a lot from him and there’s a lot more to learn.  I had grown up with dogs (including hunting breeds) but this was the first puppy either of us has raised.  A few lessons learned:

• It’s way more work than you ever expect even though everyone you know and respect that had a puppy tells you so.
• It is way less work once you’ve done it once.
• The amount of research, reading, asking of questions, help and advice we got in advance was priceless.  It’s a lot tougher to adjust your plan at 2AM when he’s wailing if you don’t have a plan.
• It’s very nice to be walking towards people and seeing them smile at you as they react to a goofy fur ball carrying a stick twice his weight up the street.
• I can’t believe how many people we’ve met – including new friends.
• Some people are incredibly forward.  Advice from strangers has been abundant – how to discipline, when to pick him up, what to feed him, why he’s too skinny, etc – all without even saying ‘hi’ first.
• Running your Vizsla 3+ times a week makes for  happy Vizsla and a happy home.
• He’s never as bad as he seems – or good.
• It’s a tonne of fun.
• Some dogs are skinny breeds – fellow Vizsla owners tell us their dogs didn’t gain weight for 2+ years.  Despite feeding him twice the amount required, he was still skinny (and been checked for worms, etc).
• The best advice I received was to be ready for lots of advice; smile, say thanks and move on.
• Hunting is something that is built-in for him.  He knows more about the woods than probably ever will already.

This is Shaeffer standing at Shaeffer`s Pond (he was named after the pond, but don`t tell him that):

It`s been a while since we`ve had an update on Shaeffer and although he loves to eat a lot, he hasn`t had a lot of culinary moments that would tie to our topics of conscious eating, local food, preserving and the like.  He`s just turned 10 months old so there`s lots of time for him to have his moment in the sun.

He showed signs of those times to come this weekend – and taught me a powerful lesson:

Shaeffer is a Vizsla.  Vizsla`s are Hungarian bird hunting dogs (they will also chase larger game).  He is a fantastic companion and a student hunter (in that order).

As much as I would enjoy Shaeffer becoming a strong hunter, the truth is that I`ll be very happy if he is a happy dog and great companion who enjoys tramping in the woods.  He will come along on our hunting trips (for newer guests to WellPreserved, these are sustainable harvests that we consume all of our harvest from – a comprehensive intro explains a bit on my perspective here).

My Father was very vocal that I’d learn more from the dog about hunting and the woods than he would from me.  I thought that was a fairly easy leap of faith as my knowledge is thimble-deep.  I am learning that his wisdom isn’t simply better than mine because of my low ability – he simply has built-in tools that are teaching me lots.

Shaeffer is pointing in the second photo above.  This is a fairly casual point – in this case he was staring at his ball.  Although we don’t encourage him to point at his toys, it’s a reaction that happens often.  He’ll stare at the ball for minutes until you throw it and then he’s off like a shot before chasing it down and returning it back on the double.  An errant ball which is launched into thick woods is often found by its stentch – a moment marked by a triumphant jump out of the woods and back to the source where the projectile launched.

The point is a natural reaction that is a typical when he spots birds.  His points are a frequent site on the streets of Toronto where he insists of showing us where all the pigeons are.  It’s a lot of fun I frequently find myself sneaking up on the birds with him.  He does not lunge, attack, bark or startle them – his instinct is actually to show me where they are and not startle them which would give me, as a hunter, time to react and take action.

He also sneaks up on the occasional ONCOMING dog as well.  It’s a funny site to see him practically belly crawl up to a dog walking towards him – a slow-motion stalk where he is apparantly either invisible or hiding behind his shadow.  When he does this I often begin to tiptoe like the Pink Panther.  It can be a little embarassing if you’re not prepared so if you ever come walking with us you’ve now been warned.

We went for a walk in the forest near our cabin this weekend (hunting is an activity reserved for the fall – this was simply a fun walk).  Our pup was walking on my right, about 3 feet away when the woods exploded with activity.  I had stepped within 6 feet of a nesting Partridge.  Shaeffer went into full point – head down, tail straight and paw out.  He snapped a quick glance my way to make sure I saw it before he flicked his stare back at the path of the bird flying away.  I was able to easily find the bird by simply looking at where he was staring; something I would have struggled with by myself because of the natural camouflage of the forest floor and coat of our avian friend.

We watched the bird for a few minutes before I turned my back and moved on.  I reflected on my new knowledge – partridge nest on the ground and they will let you get remarkably close to you without moving… This was the point that a third piece of knowledge hit me square but I knew I was too late before I even turned back around.  A bird stays still for a reason…

Shaeffer was a much faster student than I.  He had remained in a full point until I told him it was time to move on – at that point he figured it was fair trade to eat the egg the bird had been guarding.

I’m sure it sounds odd to a non-hunter that there is a certain sadness around this act.  Some of it is self-serving (less eggs equal less birds) but it seemed simply careless on my behalf and didn’t reconcile easily with me.  I have no justification or understanding other than a few hunches to spend some more time exploring.  I am not disappointed in Shaeffer – he did what comes naturally and he taught me lots.

In the meantime, it’s time to take my notebook out and start listening to my teacher.

Today marks the last day of mouse hunting in our region of Southern Ontario.  Posts will return to normal shortly.  J

We brought our puppy home at the start of September – a 10 pound Hungarian Viszla.  His name is Shaffer and he’s been a lot of fun (and a lot of work!).  There are no regrets and we can’t imagine our lives without him these days.

Vizsla’s are Hungarian Bird Hunting Dogs.  There are reports of them hunting moose and deer as well – for now he’s simply happy being a puppy and we are thrilled with that.  I would rather have an awesome companion dog who is a poor hunter than a marginal companion and great hunter.  While hunting is important to us, it’s a relatively small part of our lives.

Shaffer came to visit the cabin for his first time on Thanksgiving weekend.  He’s fun to have in our every day lives and seems to really enjoy us – being at the cabin was a new level of fun for this little dude.  We could be much more carefree with him at the cabin and he followed us until he couldn’t and then sprinted for his bed at the food of the fireplace.

We thought we’d share a few pics of his growth and will share periodic updates as he learns to become a hunter.  If he doesn’t, we’ll save his progress for Facebook and be just as happy!  For now, he looks like an eager woodsman – already excited to smell a moose print or point at birds in the park.

The following pics are a series from his first visit to Shaeffers pond (he is named after the pond, not the other way around).

We found hail on the way back to the cabin – he wasn`t as excited:

And less we leave it on a sad note, he did later come back out and find a stick:

I introduced the topic of hunting to this forum in February (the article was called Confessions of a One-Time Vegetarian which attempts to give a balanced introduction on my own moral journey related to hunting).  The onset of fall means that we are in full-on preparation mode for the coming season.

Dana and I have added to our family this week – he is too young to hunt this year and will eventually join me in the bush.  Our main hope for Shaeffer is to be a good pal – I would far rather a great friend and poor hunter than the other way around.  He is a Vizsla (Hungarian bird-hunting dog).  He is named after the pond on our property near Huntsville (Shaeffers Pond).

We will update our journeys with Shaeffer as it relates to food.  For now he is stalking his toys and living a life between crazy energy and absolute sleep.