Cool weather is finally here and I can not only work the puppies but do a little with Abby and Boss. I’ve let Abby and Boss chase but now I will try to steady them. I really don’t care whether they are steady to wing and shot, on wild birds, when I hunt but it seems to me that they are steadier on wild birds if I really steady them on pigeons.
Buck pointing a pigeon.
Gabe pointing a pigeon.
One of the puppies, I’m not sure which.
I put the puppies on stake outs while I clean all of the pens then take them to the chain gang close to the training grounds. If I turn them loose from the stakes near the kennels they beat me to the training grounds, when I have birds out. They are getting faster and I don’t want to run.
I put three pigeons, in release traps, on the training grounds. One on my side and two on my neighbor’s side. I try to place one at the fence row at the very back on both sides. I hope the puppies will think that if they always run the very end of the field they will find a bird. I’ve had dogs that I had to walk to the end. They would quit before running the last several yards of a draw if I didn’t walk with them.
I turned Gabe out first. Until they find their first bird they slink around checking each place I have hidden a bird before. We went to the back and when he hit the scent cone he pointed for just a second or two. When he moved I flushed the pigeon. The pigeon didn’t even try to fly. It went up and landed right beside the trap. Gabe was going toward the trap and he was after the pigeon. It ran for a few feet but Gabe caught him.
He held the pigeon trying to get a grip on it. After a few seconds he picked the bird up and started away from me. I called him and ran away, slowly. He followed still holding the pigeon. I stopped and he evaded me. I ran away from him again calling him. This time I waited until he was closer, before trying to catch him. I petted him until he dropped the pigeon. I grabbed the pigeon and set it on a limb on a tree as we went toward the neighbor’s side. It wasn’t hurt.
Now that he caught that pigeon he will not point for a while, probably. We went to the back on the neighbor’s side and when he hit the scent cone he went straight to the pigeon. When I saw his head come up and he turned toward the bird I flushed it. He didn’t chase but went to the trap. I called him away. We went on up the field.
When we got to the next bird he flash pointed but went straight toward the trap. I flushed the pigeon. He didn’t chase. I took him back to the chain gang.
I reloaded the release traps and turned Buck loose. He, too, was slinking around until we got to the back. He hit the scent cone and pointed. I was still 35 yards from him. I just stopped and took pictures. He stayed on point but he looked back over his shoulder to see what I was doing. When he saw I wasn’t moving he took a step and I flushed the pigeon. He went to the trap then went back to hunting.
We checked out the end of my side then went to the neighbor’s side. At the very back he hit the scent cone but didn’t point. He just went toward the trap and I flushed the pigeon. He’s too young to chase much. We went toward the front.
When he got close to the next pigeon he pointed. He was about 10 yards in front of me when he pointed. I stopped and watched him without saying anything. I didn’t even move. He held his point and his only movement was turning his head to look at me. After about 30 seconds he took a step and I flushed the pigeon. He watched the bird fly away. We went to the chain gang and I turned Gabe loose to play with Buck, for a while.
What I try to do with these puppies is what we used to do with wild birds. Wild birds will not allow a dog to get too close so they learn to point when they first hit the scent cone. If they point at the first hint of a scent the bird will flush if they move even a foot. That is what I try to do with the release traps. That keeps them from getting too close and what I hope they understand is any movement on their part, the bird flushes. They are too young to chase very far so all the fun they get from this is the pointing.
Boss with a pigeon asleep in front of him.
I have worked Abby and Boss a lot on whoa. I started them on “heel” and “whoa”. After a lot of this I worked them on the whoa post. Now Abby hasn’t done much other than be the mother to the puppies. Boss spent 2 months in South Dakota but I don’t think there were many birds. So now I’m going to put them through some drills that will make them more steady.
I put 3 pigeons in a bird bag, put an e-collar around Abby’s neck, hooked a check cord to her collar and heeled her out of the kennel. I started toward the front of my yard. We heeled for several yards then I hit the e-collar transmitter on low 2 and said, “whoa”. Neither of these dogs have been whoaed with the e-collar around their neck but they have learned how to turn the e-collar off on other commands so after a couple of times she stopped before I could say, “whoa”.
We went through the front yard and turned back toward the back. I whoaed her, took a pigeon from the bird bag, put it to sleep and placed it about 4 feet in front of her. This is really hard for Abby. If a pigeon comes out of a release trap and doesn’t fly away quickly she will catch it. I held the piggin’ string but with slack in it. She was intense but didn’t try to move. I stroked her sides and told her what a good girl she is. I held on tightly to the piggin’ string and stepped in front and rolled the pigeon over. When it flew away she wanted to chase but I stopped her with the piggin’ string. I styled her a little then heeled her away.
Boss’s pigeon that just watched us instead of flying away.
I whoaed her several times with no birds then whoaed her, placed a sleeping pigeon about 3 or 4 feet in front of her. I stroked her sides then walked around the pigeon kicking the cover. I went around the pigeon and around Abby. I stroked her sides and woke the pigeon. She tried to chase again but not as hard. I styled her up and stroked her sides. I heeled her away.
I whoaed her and placed the third pigeon in front of her. I stroked her sides. I walked around the pigeon and around Abby too. I held the piggin’ string and woke the pigeon. When I rolled it over with my foot it just stood. It watched Abby and me for a few seconds then started walking away. This was really hard on Abby but occasionally a wild bird may run away in an area where she can see them. I threw my hat but it didn’t scare the bird. Finally it flew away. Abby wanted to chase but I held her with the piggin’ string. I heeled her a little way then whoaed her. I took the piggin’ string and check cord off and let her run for a while.
I put three more pigeons in the bird bag and put the e-collar and check cord on Boss. I heeled him toward the front yard. As I heeled him along I hit the button on the transmitter on low 2 and then said, “whoa”. He was whoaing but not a quickly as I thought he should. But I gave him several tries before I went to a higher level. Then it dawned on me. The transmitter was still on the black collar that I used on Abby. I had left it on her as a bark collar. He had the red collar on. When I got the transmitter on the right collar he got a lot faster on his whoas.
Abby pointing a pigeon.
After we went to the front yard and across then started toward the back I put a pigeon to sleep in front of him. Boss was closer to being steady than Abby. I held the piggin’ string and rolled his pigeon over. The pigeon rolled but didn’t even try to stand. It just lay on it’s side looking at us. Boss and I stood for a minute or longer waiting for the bird to do something. But it just stared at us with the one eye we could see. I rolled it over again and it flew away. Boss tried to follow but I held him.
We went on with a few whoas before I whoaed him and placed another pigeon in front of him. I thought the pigeon was asleep that I placed in front of Boss but as I stepped back to him the pigeon flew away. Boss turned to watch but he really didn’t try to chase. I stroked his sides then heeled him away.
The last bird was placed in front of him and I walked a circle around Boss and the pigeon, kicking the cover. I held the piggin’ string and woke the pigeon. It flew away. Boss watched but didn’t try to follow. I heeled him a little way then released him to run.
As he went to the back he pointed the bird that Gabe had caught. I had set it on a limb. It wasn’t far off the ground and he smelled it. I went to him and just took a step in front of him and the pigeon had had enough. The pigeon coop was to the east but that pigeon flew to the west. I thought maybe he wouldn’t come back but he did, later.
Boss pointing a pigeon in a tree.
I really enjoy working with young dogs. All of the time I put in teaching them the whoa command is paying off on this new exercise. Later I will shoot the blank pistol when I flush the pigeon and say, “whoa”. After a while they will automatically whoa when they hear the blank pistol. Someone said that each thing they learn is like a link in a chain. This is just another link in the chain.