Training Young English Setters, 6/19/19

The last two mornings, I worked the young English setters, Mann and Babe, on the whoa barrel and on the backing dog. Usually, Babe doesn’t move her tail when she is backing or on the barrel. She is still wagging like she is really happy when she points. I’m trying to get her to quit wagging because the other dogs don’t recognize that she is on point, so they don’t want to honor her.

I put 4 release traps, with pigeons in them, in front of the whoa barrel and farther down on the training grounds, I set the backing dog up with two release traps, with pigeons, in front of the backing dog.

I put an e-collar around Babe’s neck and another around her flanks, hooked a long check cord to her collar and heeled her out with the piggin’ string. I whoaed her a couple of times before we got to the whoa barrel. She jumped onto the whoa barrel. Babe doesn’t act like she hates the barrel. She jumps on when we get close without me saying anything.

I stroked her tail up and adjusted her where she was comfortable on the barrel. I walked in front of her, kicking the grass. I flushed a pigeon and she watched it fly away. She stood, without moving or wagging as I flushed all 4 pigeons. After flushing each pigeon I walked to her, stroked her sides and told her what a good girl she is. I set her on the ground and styled her up before heeling her away.

She jumped onto the retrieving bench. I walked her down one side then back on the other, petting her in several different spots on the bench. I took the dowel rod and placed it behind her canines, telling her to hold. I pulled on her collar to make her walk a few steps with the dowel in her mouth. I did this in six different spots. I set her on the ground and heeled her away.

When we got to the training grounds I held the end of the long check cord and tapped her head to release her. As we came around a thicket she saw the backing dog and honored. I dropped the check cord and walked in front of her kicking the cover. I flushed the first pigeon and she watched it fly away without moving. As I started kicking the cover her tail started moving. Not as fast as she does sometimes but it was moving. I bumped the e-collar that was around her flanks on low 2. Her tail stopped moving.

I watched her as I continued to kick the cover. Her tail didn’t move nor did she. I kicked for a longer period of time than usual since she needs to learn to stand without a movement of anything. I flushed the pigeon and she didn’t move. I stroked her sides telling her what a good girl she is. I took her back to the kennel.

Mann stays on the training grounds so I don’t run him with the long check cord on the training grounds but I make him drag it back to the whoa barrel. I whoa the dogs and have them come to me before the barrel most days. If they are dragging the check cord and try to run past me I can step on the check cord. I haven’t had to do this but a couple of times with each but I want to be ready.

Mann hasn’t been on the whoa barrel as many times as Babe has and I have to help him on. I styled him up and walked in front kicking the grass. I flushed the pigeons without him moving. I stroked his sides after flushing each pigeon. When we were through with the pigeons I set him beside the barrel and told him to whoa. I styled him up before heeling him away.

He jumped onto the retrieving bench. Mann takes the dowel better than Babe does but he doesn’t hold as well. We are working on that. I opened his mouth and placed the dowel behind his canines. He held until I said, “give”. I thought he was going to hold it each time. I, usually, have them hold the dowel in 6 different spots on the retrieving bench. Mann did great until the sixth time and he spit the dowel out before I said, “give”. I pinched his lip against his teeth until I had the dowel ready for him to take again. I placed it in his mouth then we did 3 more places on the bench. I set him on the ground.

I heeled him to the edge of the training grounds and whoaed him. I tapped his head to release him. He ran down my side and started to cross over to the neighbor’s side and caught the scent cone of the two pigeons I had in front of the backing dog. He slammed into a point. He saw the backing dog but only after hitting the scent cone. He was closer to the pigeons, hidden in the grass, than to the backing dog.

I kicked the cover in front of him and flushed the first pigeon. It was, evidently, a young bird. It didn’t even try to fly, it just lit right beside the trap. Mann didn’t move. He was a lot more attentive. I continued to kick the cover and flushed the second pigeon and lay the backing dog down. This pigeon flew away and he still didn’t move but he knew exactly where the first pigeon was. I put the piggin’ string on him and heeled him away.

I heeled him for a good hundred yards thinking he would forget about the pigeon that was on the ground. Wrong. He went about 20 yards ahead of me and made a circle to my left and started back. I was close to my 4-wheeler so I got it. By the time I got back he had the young pigeon. He took it in the brush growing along the little creek.

After last season, I hunted Mann on some chukars and he retrieved 4 of them. He acted like he really enjoyed bringing them to me. I got off the 4-wheeler and when I got close to him I called. He went deeper into the brush. He would drop the pigeon and it would try to run away and he would grab it again. He wasn’t even trying to come to me.

I tried to get closer and he would move away. Finally, I got close and went to him but he dropped the pigeon. It started to run away and I grabbed it. The pigeon was wet, partly from the water along the creek, and partly because of Mann having it in his mouth. I put the pigeon in the box on the 4-wheeler. He played with the bird for at least ten minutes but never clamped down on it. This morning it’s alive and even dry. I took him back to the kennel.

Now, about my litter of puppies. I have 4 females and 2 males that are doing great. I’m weighing them every morning to make sure they are gaining and they are. Sally is a good mother. Each day they are being handled by me, to be weighed, but also by others. Each day, since they have been born, someone besides me has petted them. Several of the people have been kids.

If anyone stops by my house they have to pet puppies. Two different days I have had six different people here to pet puppies. In my opinion, this makes well socialized puppies. They will like people.