I am on bird dogs #6 and #7. Never used any birds for training. Never used electronics or ropes or barrels either. And they have all been simply marvellous in the field and at home. This afternoon in horrible weather (too horrible for my thin haired little French Brittany) my five year-old Lab pointed four pheasants. Each time she held the birds for several minutes. The rooster almost hit me in the head when he finally busted ... and I missed him. I couldn't get turned around in the snow drift. Ellie caught the other three hens. And she caught one of them twice. I released it and it flew around the corner of the coulee followed of course by Ellie. She didn't come back on whistle so eventually I had to slog through the hip deep snow to see what the heck. My gawd there she was three hundred yards down that coulee bounding back with the same bird. I have seen this before. Her ability to mark downed birds is nothing short of surreal. Fortunately she is soft mouthed and all three hens flew away okay though sans some feathers which does concern me in this weather. What can you do? By the way, these are wild public land birds.
The command "sit" is basic. It is the start of getting their attention. It means "Something is coming. Pay attention" because in the beginning a treat was always coming. Eventually it translates to "He means business." Hope I cleared that up.
I know some guys that don’t. They just use down stay instead. I teach my dogs to sit, but in all reality I use the down stay much more.
So two syllables are better than one? I use stay back (or get back or just back) when I want them behind me. Down means stop jumping on me. Or get down off my bed so I can get in it first. When I want to have a discussion with the dog, she is called to me and sit. My dogs "stay" at the doorway to the kitchen while I pour dogfood. Or they "stay" at the edge of the field while I walk out and hide a bird. Then they are released with "okay." Dogs who live with you can and should develop an extensive vocabulary. Sometimes they even learn the same command can mean different things. Walking at heel "other side" means walk on the other side when I change hands with the gun. In pursuit of game, other side means it's on the other side of the creek or gully (usually, but not always, accompanied by hand signals).
