It rained last night and was still trying to rain this morning but I hadn’t trained since Friday so I decided to do something a little different with Tur Bo. I put 1 pigeon in a release cage then 4 more in release traps a little ways from the first.
I put the e-collars on Tur Bo, hooked a check cord into his collar and slipped the piggin’ string around his neck. I heeled him part of the way to the training grounds then picked up the check cord. I worked him back and forth as we went down the training ground toward the hidden pigeons. When he got to the end of the check cord I said hup and walked toward the other side of the field. I hupped him back and forth until we got close to the bird hidden in the cage.
Tur Bo
He pointed when he hit the scent cone, about 8 or 10 yards from the pigeon. I walked up beside him holding the check cord. I told him whoa one time then stroked his side. I took a picture then stroked his side again and flushed one of the birds hidden about 25 yards away. He tried to chase and I gently stopped him. I carried him back to where he originally pointed. He could smell the bird in the cage so he pointed again.
I stroked his side and told him whoa again. I let him point for 45 seconds or so then flushed another pigeon about 25 yards away. He tried to chase and I gently stopped him. I carried him back and he went on point again. I stroked his side and let him stand for about 45 seconds then flushed another pigeon about 25 yards away. He tried to chase again and I stopped him. I carried him back and he went on point again. I flushed the last pigeon hidden in release traps and he tried to chase again. I gently stopped him.
This is the first time I have tried to keep him from chasing so I just want to stop him from chasing. Tur Bo is only 11 months old and I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on him. I held the check cord and when he hit the end I let my arms move to soften the jerk of the check cord. I didn’t say whoa or anything when he was chasing I just stopped him. Yelling scares the dog and I’m trying to build confidence in these dogs.
I carried him back and he went on point again. I said whoa and this time I had to drop the check cord. I walked in front of him and stepped on the cage handle to release the caged pigeon. He was still on point as the pigeon started walking out of the cage. The pigeon started to fly and Tur Bo was right after him. The pigeon was only about 3 feet off the ground when Tur Bo came by me. Evidently the bird saw him coming because it started going up pretty fast and just barely got away. When he came by I stepped on the check cord and stopped him. I let him run until we got back to the kennel.
I have used this exercise before to teach the dogs to be steady to wing. It takes a little while but as long as I stop them without jerking them or yelling at them it doesn’t put any pressure on the dogs.