Unboxing: DT Systems - H2O 1810 ecollar
What is Unboxing?: Unboxing originated with Unboxing.com, a site dedicated to helping people show off their new techie toys, favorite gadgets, consumer electronics, and more. As their tag line states "Vicarious thrills from opening new gear."
Back a few years ago when I was a pup, I had the great fortune to train a German Wirehaired Pointer otherwise known as a GWP or if have a Teutonic bent a Drahthaar. GWPs fall into the versatile hunting category and can be trained to hunt anything. And when I say anything, I really mean anything. My GWP, named Blue, was a natural-born hunter and anything I did help Blue’s training along he ignored. Back then there were no VHS tapes or DVDs to visually show you how to train a dog, just books. And since I had the time to train Blue, I thought I would do it myself. Blue obviously had read all the books and no matter how much I tried to teach him whoa and other gun dog commands he ignored me. He chewed a few of the books I read cover to cover in an effort to tell me he had everything under control. We finally reach an understand that if I would stop reading the gun dog training books he would oblige me and hunt birds. So that was how our hunting relationship ensued. I took no responsibility for his fieldwork prowess and he found birds where other dogs couldn’t. Now that Cooper is in the picture I pulled out my old dog training books for a refresher course. Blue never knew that I taped the pages back into the binding. If training Blue was an exercise in traditional dog training methods, then Cooper’s training would use 21st century methods. Electronic dog training collars, or ecollars, have been on the market since 1970s. These collars give the dog wearing it an electric shock stimulus. There are two sides of the fence with ecollars; those who think it is humane and those who think it is cruel. In a future post I will present both sides of the ecollar and let you know where I stand. The DT H2O 1810 series collar system is an example of an ecollar that can be applied in both basic and advanced training needs Some of the features are:- Range: 1 Mile
- Intensity Levels: 16 adjusted from the transmitter
- Antenna System: built into the collar
- Power Source: rechargeable Ni-MH battery
- Waterproof: yes
- Functionality: 2 buttons; 1 nick stimulation, 1 continuous stimulation
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One of the worst feelings I have ever experienced was when our pup, Cooper, went missing for 30 hours. He’s only a pup, despite the fact he’s a hunting dog. I had so many mixed emotions at the time, but the one that stood out the most was fear. Especially due to the frigid temperatures below zero and wind gusts to 35 mph. Cooper has always demonstrated joy with all human interactions; he’s really a social butterfly. But, the oil-delivery man frightened him off. The oil-delivery man has been known to scare us a bit, too, with the bills he leaves behind. We concluded that the loud noise from the truck in addition to the long awkward hose and approaching man spooked Cooper. Coop had been on the porch at the time taking it all in and then in an instant he bolted through the invisible fence and took off
So you have decided you want a hunting dog. You’ve researched the breeds and determined the type suitable for your lifestyle and hunting interests. Now the real search begins. Buying a dog is a lot buying a shotgun. They run from darn cheap to super expensive. They also can ride a wave that causes premium prices at peaks in interest. Have a budget in mind because once you start calling breeders you might have sticker shock not to mention you may loose interest over the wait time for a pup. The shock will come from the dog’s pedigree or bloodlines. And bloodlines is the one thing you want to invest in when buying a dog. Cooper’s family hails from Alabama and lest you think I am Southern agnostic this Yankee does visit the south regularly especially this time of year to flee the snow. Cooper’s mom and dad as well as grandparents have hunting in their blood. Looking at Cooper’s family tree there are field champions (FC) and national field champion (NFC) winners with names like NFC GK's Playing For Keeps and FC LB's Oh! Miss Goodbye. Here’s the part were I say you get what you pay for. You buy a cheap shotgun it performs as a cheap shotgun will. I know a hunter who has hunted with a Fox/Stevens side-by-side since Hector was a pup. He paid less for that gun than he would a Starbucks venti today. It works for him, but that may not be true for you. My recommendation is if you want a real hunter with a nose and desire to hunt look to the bloodlines and peel a few more dead presidents from that wad for the breeder. Bloodlines aren’t the end all and be all—it’s a lot like looking at the past performance of your mutual funds and is more of an indicator of what you might expect. Too bad there isn’t a Morning Star type rating for gun dogs. Enter stage right Quail Ridge Kennel in Stafford Springs, CT. Steve Hopko has been breeding GSPs for over 30 years, he knows a thing or two about these dogs. I spoke with Steve over the phone before making the journey to CT/MA border and once I saw the adult dogs interact with Steve, I had a good feeling. Steve’s dogs love and respect him. I knew he was no pipe man. Not a wince nor flinch from any of the dogs. And the pups—well Cooper is proof I was convinced Quail Ridge Kennels was the way to go. I could have paid more but with Cooper I was looking for a hunting partner. I’m not looking for field trial trophies. Of course you might be lucky and raise a real hunter from a mixed litter. I’ve had luck with mixed litters but the operative word is luck. If you are interested in Quail Ridge Kennel’s GSPs, send an email and I’ll get you in touch with Steve.
This year’s PF's 
His name is Cooper, Coop for short. A house is really a home when you have a dog, and anyone who has ever had the pleasure of rearing a hunting dog knows this best. With a hunting dog there is a more of a partnership between owner and dog, unlike with non-sporting breeds. When the talk in my house turned to dogs it took some persuading that a hunting dog would be a good idea. I have experience with gun dogs and in particular German Shorthair Pointers or GSPs. I knew their personalities and abilities. When you are at the stage of making a decision on what breed to choose it makes a pile of sense to do some research. The 
You must has seen the newest dog event where dogs take a running jump off a 40-foot dock into a huge pool of water to retrieve a floating object. The events are sponsored by 
When I was a boy and a member of the Boy Scouts of America we participated in annual Klondike Derby. It was the closest to the Iditarod any of us would get—minus the dogs. In fact, we were the dogs pulling a sledge to various outdoor skill stations like compass orienteering, knot tying, winter survival, etc. The reason I bring this up is that the official start of the Iditarod is today at 10:00 a.m. in Anchorage, Alaska. Go to the