Scout pointing a covey of huns Monday afternoon at the end of a beautiful day.

Monday was one of those glorious days out training. The dogs were doing really well, progressing and showing improvement. I was working a setter, Brittany, pointer and a lab. We were able to get into both a wild rooster pheasant and a covey of huns. When the setting sun dropped below the cloud layer we were bathed in this beautiful warm light that took my breath away. Luck was with me and I happened to have my Nikon with me and got some great shots of the dogs on point. Not to get too touchy-feely, but it was one of those awesome days.

Cody pointing a wild rooster pheasant on President's Day.

I am glad December 21st is finally here, the day are now getting longer

It is finally here, the winter solstice! These short days are killer for trying to work and train dogs. The days are now getting longer though. I do a combination of things in order to train on these short winter days; going in to work early so I can train after, going in late so I can train early, and doing some yard training in the dark. The days are getting longer though! I did live about 30 miles below the artic circle for six month many years ago. I saw the longest and shortest days of the year there. All I can say is that I’m glad I don’t live there now.

photo

I had a great opportunity this afternoon, I was introducing a young Brittany to birds using pigeons when I heard some huns just over the top of the hill, so I took the dog just around the knoll where he would crest the hill close to them and directly down wind. It worked well. We topped the hill and the dog got birdy, followed the scent and found the birds. What surprised me was how many huns there were. We got about 25 huns up in three waves. It really got him keyed up. To tell the truth, it got me keyed up. There is nothing like training on wild birds.

Photo: Working on retrieving with a Braque du Bourbonnais nicknamed Pinto Bean.

You can strengthen both your dog’s desire for birds and willingness to retrieve by playing with them for just a few minutes a night. With the dog on a check cord, show a fresh or frozen bird to the dog, let them smell it, get excited with them over the bird, tease them with it a bit then toss it out for them to get . Keep a hold of the check cord so they don’t run off with it, but keep it loose. If they do try to run off with the bird, praise them while stopping them with the check cord, then provide slack. Call them back to you. When they come back, don’t reach for the bird; let them have it for a moment while you praise them by stroking them down the back. After a moment, take the bird confidently and do it again. If they drop the bird before you reach to take it, immediately stop stroking them (i.e. they are rewarded when they hold the bird and come back to you, the reward stops when they drop the bird). If they don’t want to release the bird, gently lift the under the tender flap of skin between the back leg and hip and take the bird as they look to see what the pressure is; praise them all the while.

All of this should be fun, enthusiastic and positive. You are trying to build a positive, even electric connection between birds, retrieving and you. After about three times, just as the dog is getting really keyed up about the game, act like you are tossing the bird again and hide it behind your back and the bird disappears. Put the dog up and let them grind on just how awesome birds are.

A few brief minutes can really build a pup’s desire for birds and willingness to retrieve.

If you got a puppy this spring, it’s probably about time to start building her interest in birds. I like to start with numerous positive experiences on birds. Pigeons or quail are about the right size for a puppy. Quail are often hard for most folks to come by, so pigeons are the best solution. I start with a small frozen pigeon and toss it out for the dog to retrieve. Build lots of excitement around the bird. Toss it out and have them retrieve it to you. If they want to run away with it, do it in a more confined space or have a check cord on the pup.

Another incentive for them to bring it back is to start turning and moving back, often they think you are leaving and will want to come with you and will bring the bird along. When they bring it back, stroke them down the back while they have the bird in their mouth; stop petting (stroking not patting) the instant they drop it. After just a moment of them holding the bird take it from them with praise. Don’t let them chew up the bird, and don’t over do this. Keep it to 3 or 4 times so it is a super-treat for them.

This will both get the pup excited over birds and help develop their retrieve. This method will help any gun dog puppy, spaniel, retriever, or pointer. This is the first step to preventing gun shyness (gun sensitivity).

 

Next, starting with wild birds…

 

 

If you are interested in really learning about training pointing dogs, Dave Walker, author of “The Bird Dog Training Manual,” is presenting a pointing dog seminar this Saturday and Sunday in Salt Lake City, UT. I am really excited about this event. I use a lot of Dave’s techniques in my training. Dave has been very helpful with my training and some specific issues with certain dogs I have been working with, so I am looking forward to meeting him in person and seeing him apply some of his techniques.

I believe they still have some room for additional participants, so if you are interested, look up Dave’s website at www.davewalkerdogs.com on the Seminars link on the Training dropdown menu for the contact information. The seminar is being sponsored by the Wasatch Front Brittany Club. The seminar is at the Lee Kay Center and starts at 9:00 each day.

 

     This weekend Julie and I attended Evan Graham’s Transition seminar hosted by the Northern Utah Retriever Club at the Lee Kay Center, just west of SLC, UT. Evan is the author of the Smartwork series of retriever training materials (Rush Creek Press). The training was excellent. I am a die-hard upland game hunter, not a field-trialer, which this seminar was geared toward, nevertheless, it was excellent, because I learned about how retrievers tick, what kinds of drills you can use to help them learn to mark falls and handle into blind retrieves, and just what you can expect at the highest levels from a dog. I have a lot of respect for field trialers. In order to win, they have to demand the utmost from their dogs. Therefore, they train and drill accordingly.
     A couple of the key principles I took away from the seminar were the following: You cannot expect a dog to be more exact than you are (Rex Carr), therefore you should set high exacting demands on yourself for training and expect them from your dog; accept nothing less.
     A solid basic foundation is critical for higher success.
     Your dog must find lots of yes’s (positives/successes) in the field and few no’s (corrections/failures). Set the dog up for regular success and build his confidence. Make him believe that he will succeed every time he charges off the line and he will; you build his expectations for success.

     I really enjoyed Evan. He was very personable and a great teacher. I liked his methods, because they were well reasoned and stepwise, moving from one phase to the next to build a winning dog step by step.

     I felt like I got a whole year’s worth of training experience in one weekend. I was really impressed with the level of dogs of all of the participants there. We have some great trainers here in Utah. It got me jazzed up to take my training to a higher level.

 

I have consistently been impressed with Dogtra electronic training collars. I just had an opportunity to test Dogtra’s newest upland collar, the 2500 T&B and really liked it. It is a training collar and beeper/locator collar all in one. The awesome thing about this collar is that the training collar and the beeper are built into one single small unit, rather than two separate units like most upland training collars.

Dogtra e-collars have consistently been of excellent quality, have great features, and best of all, come in small packages (both the transmitter and the receiver), so it is comfortable on the dog’s neck and in your hand. It has three beeper modes: running/pointing, where the collar emits a sound at regular intervals then emits a faster signal when the dog is on point; point only, where it only sounds when the dog is on point, and the Locate button, which emits a sound when the button on the transmitter is activated. I also liked the rheostat dial with the digital readout.

What I was most impressed with the collar was the small size of the unit. It will make a comfortable, durable training tool. It will be really nice to run the dog with this locator collar in the thick CRP grass looking for ringnecks this next fall. Check it out at the Dogtra website.

(Photo from Dogtra.com)

Our roading rig wasn’t up to snuff when it came to the dogs we currently have; a couple of BIG labs that love to pull. The chain link fence top rail pipe wasn’t strong enough. Last night we loaded up to go, I started slowly and they shot off like we were in a race. The pipe just folded. Today I’ll be looking for a heavier duty pipe. Otherwise the outfit is working great. The kids love to hook up their sled behind and go for a 4 mile sled run in the dark with all the snow we have.