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By Don Perkins Thursday, May 10, 2007

Dale Southard of Raymond is content doing what he loves these days -- working with bird dogs.

"Last night I had a German shorthaired puppy in here," said Southard, smiling. "He's four months old, and this was his first introduction to birds, which was fun."

Southard operates Tailfeathers Upland Store on Route 302 in Raymond. Before this venture, he owned and operated OP Peterson Propeller and Rich-Way Inc., formerly of Windham. Southard said he decided to make a career change to sport hunting and bird dogs in 2001.

"My Gordon setter was four or five years old, and I was always buying (bird hunting gear) from a catalog," said Southard. His friends did the same largely because no local outlet catered to their needs.

Southard began carrying some bird hunting items at the propeller business and soon had an epiphany: After 28 years of repairing boat propellers, the then 42-year-old decided it was time to move on.

He sold the propeller company and started a storefront in a small shack next to Sunset Variety in 2005. A year later, he's moved into larger space near Panther Run at routes 302 and 85.

The bigger space allows Southard to develop the dog training side of the pursuit of sport hunting. After working bird dogs for a decade, Southard felt this part of the business was something he could do himself.

"I helped three or four of my friends with their dogs, and they urged me to hang out my shingle," he said.

There's a dog day camp at Tailfeathers, where Southard will board your dog for the day. He takes any dog, not just bird dogs. Last week he had a springer spaniel and two English pointers for a day. Among others, these dogs come two or three times a week for exercise and training.

There's also grooming.

"What I like to do best is train dogs," said Southard, who's partial to the pointing breeds, such as setters and German shorthaired pointers. Labs are also popular bird dogs that he works with.

Southard often begins the training with basic obedience instruction.

He says most of the training is actually educating the owner, not the dog.

"The dog will generally do what you ask of it," he said. "The mistake most people make is thinking the dog will think like a child."

A dog thinks in black and white, Southard says. They don't reason. It's just a matter of showing them what you want and repetition.

Southard generally begins working a dog at 12 to 14 weeks old. The "imprinting stage" is between 12 and 20 weeks.

"If you can get that dog to do what you want in that window, then you've got a dog for life," said Southard. But he adds that all is not lost if you try to train an older dog. It's just "having to break a lot of bad habits."

Southard often uses electronic training collars and will assist customers with free instruction with the device if they're unfamiliar.

Southard said he does not believe in harming any dog. He's seen some examples of misuse of collars on dogs.

"The collar is like an invisible leash. It's made for corrections. It's not made to punish the dog," he said.

An avid bird hunter, Southard is chairman of the Gorham Rod and Gun Club's pheasant committee, a group that raises birds for the practice of sport hunting. Toward that end, Southard is in the process of becoming a firearms dealer. He hopes to sell shotguns at the store.

Other potential additions include fly-fishing equipment.

The store has dog training equipment and decoys and can make ID tags. Ammunition, knives and wildlife art are part of the inventory.

A member of Ducks Unlimited, Southard is currently auctioning off a limited edition wildlife print. Other work includes art by Windham artist Tom Merriam.

He may be done with mending propellers, but Southard still puts his metalwork ability to use. He fashions custom diamond plate dog boxes to transport hunting animals. You can see examples at www.tail feathersuplandstore.com.

"After 60,000 propellers, it's great to do what you want to do instead of what you have to do," said Southard.

Don Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Raymond next to Sebago Lake with his wife, Sonya. He can be reached at: