Training reads/videos

[BirdManMike]

I have always considered a dog's first hunting season as whatever will be will be. I do not care if I kill a bird all fall. What I want is to get the dog into birds, birds birds. They will point some of them. They will rip out some of them. Most of their encounters are points, held for a second or ten, followed by them ripping them out. I don't correct a dog around birds at all during their first season.

Every dog I've had thou, has pointed and held a bird well enough for me to flush the bird for it. When that happens I will kill the bird for it. Most dogs become staunch on point pretty quickly if you refrain from killing birds they handle poorly, and only kill birds for them when they do it right.

There is a very distinct improvement their second year, followed by another improvement in their third year. After that, you more or less have the dog you are going to have.

Since I do field trial, there are several other things that have to be trained. The obvious is their manners around birds. They can't chase birds, AT ALL. They can't take steps after a bird is flushed, AT ALL. They must honor another dog's point, every time. All off that takes some training. The less obvious thing is training their ground race. That is about the only thing you can expect continued improvement until the dog enters old age. That is where handling from a horse is so valuable. A person on a horse can just influence a dog in ways that aren't possible from handling while walking. The goal is a dog that hunts at good speed out out in front of you. Their ground pattern is also the only thing that you know with certainty can be worked on in a training session, if working on wild birds.

All great advice again.

I don’t correct at all first season either. Plenty of praise for good points, not a word for bumping, breaking, whatever.

I don’t have the need to ‘finish’ a dog with the hunting I’m doing. All I need and care about is a staunch point off the birds until I release. But this is where all the ‘training’ really begins if I were gun hunting, AFTER the first season when the dog is already steady on birds. THEN is the time to train to hold thru wing and shot, retrieve, etc.

The idea of ‘training’ a dog to hunt with launchers then taking it to a training field where a dozen other dogs have just chased around running pen birds is a mind boggling notion to me. Doing this work with a young dog before working them on wild birds is an even more mind boggling notion for me.

 

[406dn]

Just curious, how far do you let them range before it gets uncomfortable.

If I'm on a horse, it's pretty hard to make me uncomfortable, as long as the dog is holding the front. If they get off to the side, I'll call on them to get back to the front. I'd guess they spend most of their time somewhere between 150-800 yards.

When I hunt on foot, they self regulate their range most of the time. I'd say 400 yards is getting a little bigger than I'd prefer, it really depends. I remember one hunt for chukars and or huns when I stood on a knob and let my dog hunt for close to a half hour. She went thru a bunch of country, we came up empty thou. But I enjoyed watching her hunt thru it.

 

[Mountain Man]

I’m a new pup owner myself and almost posted this same question a few weeks ago but instead asked some buddies with some kick butt dogs. This is what they recommend, I’m a fan so far. No nonsense, geared toward hunting, not field trials and the author has a ton of experience. Used on Amazon for about $5.

I just ordered this book. Current price is $12 on Amazon. Thanks for bringing this to the thread.