Traveling Pointing Dogs

Luke at the quail pen.

Tur Bo pointing the quail in the pen.

Blaze at the quail pen.

I am working my dogs, (Luke, Tur Bo and Blaze) toward being steady to wing and shot. I don’t necessarily care if they are for the quail season but I think it makes a steadier dog. If we get there, steady to wing and shot, during the quail season I will probably not require them to remain steady. It’s a fun exercise and it gets me working with my dogs in the off season. Plus the dogs enjoy it.

I had Luke jump on his house and I put the Sport Dog e-collars around his neck and flanks. He stands real still for me to put the e-collar around his flanks but when I start putting the e-collar around his neck he places his head against the chain link fence to make it harder for me. His grandmother, Allie, did the same thing. It’s not a big thing but it does show that when you breed dogs you get the bad along with the good. That’s the reason if you don’t have a good dog, even if it has good papers, don’t breed it.

I used a piggin’ string to heel Luke to the retrieving bench, whoaing him, by holding the button on the transmitter down on the flank collar on a low setting, then saying whoa. This reminds them that electricity on their flanks means whoa. I stopped him 3 or 4 times then had him jump on the retrieving bench. The dogs really like the retrieving bench because I walk them back and forth petting them. I rub their ears and let them smell my breathe when I’m happy.

I held a retrieving dummy in front of him and said “fetch”. I had him hold it then said give. I placed the bumper on the other end of the bench and said, “fetch”. He ran down the bench, grabbed the dummy and came back. I said, “hold” and petted him for a while before saying, “give”. He dropped it in my hand. I picked him up and set him on the ground saying, “whoa”. I always set them on the ground because it’s hard on their joints to jump off and it keeps them from jumping off before you are ready to end a session.

I put the piggin’ string on him and held the bumper in front of him saying, “fetch”. When he grabbed the bumper I said, “hold” and heeled him away. I went east for a few yards then went west for about 40 yards. He held the bumper until I said, “give”. After he gave me the bumper I heeled him a few more yards and whoaed him again. This time I tapped him on the head and released him to hunt. He always acts like he’s going to the back of the property but cuts through and winds up by the quail pen.

He points the quail and I go to him and say, “whoa” one time. I walk around the pen scaring the quail so they run away from him then walk them back in front of him. As I’m walking around the quail pen I have a couple of pigeons, in release traps, that I put on the opposite side of the quail pen. When the quail were walking in front of him I flushed a pigeon. He didn’t move. I continued to run the quail back and forth then flushed another pigeon. Again, he was steady. I heeled him away then took him back to the kennel.

I put the e-collars on Tur Bo and heeled him to the retrieving bench whoaing him a few times on the way. When the dogs get ready to jump on the bench I always say, “up”. I also, use up in the field if I want them to jump a woven wire fence or jump onto the tail gate. I haven’t tried in a long time but I used to have my dogs get on the large bales of hay, just for fun. I had him fetch the bumper then set him on the ground.

I put him on the ground, put the piggin’ string on him, held the bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He grabbed it and I heeled him a few yards to the east then about 40 yards to the west. He held the bumper until I said, “give” and dropped it in my hand. Luke and Blaze usually act like they are going to run to the back of the property before they go to the quail pen but not Tur Bo. When I release him we are west of the quail pen and he wheels around and goes directly east, to the pen.

He went on point and I ran the quail back and forth in front of him. The quail all got the house between them and Tur Bo so I tapped his head to let him move to another location. This time a quail was just a few feet in front of him. While he was really concentrating on the quail I flushed a pigeon on the other side of the pen. Tur Bo took a step and stopped. I held the button on the transmitter down, on the flank collar, on a real light setting. I picked him up and set him back. When I put him on the ground I let off the button on the e-collar. I don’t want to hurt him with the e-collar, just make it uncomfortable. He went back to the quail in front of him and I flushed the other pigeon. He moved his front feet without moving the back. I held the button down again and set him back. As long as the quailk are just running around he doesn’t move but when they fly or a pigeon flies he wants to move a little.

He was really concentrating on the quail when it was time to go back to the kennel so I picked him up and carried him away. I don’t like to let a dog on point walk away. I took him back to the kennel.

Between dogs I walk down to the quail pen and put the pigeons in the release traps. When I got close to the quail pen one of the quail made a loud noise and flew from one end to the other. I looked up and a small hawk had flown real close to the quail pen. The quail had flown away from it. I don’t know one of the small hawks from another but it was about the size of a pigeon. It flew on to the west.

I brought Blaze down to the retrieving bench with the e-collars on her. She jumped onto the bench and I had her retrieve the bumper after our petting session. I set her on the ground and held the bumper in front of her and said, “fetch”. She took the bumper and we went east for a little way then went west about 39 yards. Just before we got to the spot I was going to take the bumper from her she dropped it. I pinched her lip against her teeth and put the bumper back in her mouth. We turned and went past the retrieving bench to the east about 45 yards then turned around and went west back to my original spot to take the bumper. I said, “whoa” then stood for about 30 seconds before saying, “give”. She dropped it in my hand. I walked her a few yards then whoaed her and released her. She ran to the west and cut through. When she got to the quail pen she pointed.

I chased the quail back and forth for her. Then they all got behind the house so I tapped her head letting her move. She moved up, went on point and I chased the quail around again. As the quail came in front of her I flushed a pigeon. The pigeon hit a limb on the way up and I looked at the pigeon. The little hawk was right behind the pigeon and as they swooped close to the ground Blaze was right with them. The hawk hit the pigeon knocking it to the ground and Blaze was right there. The hawk flew away but the pigeon was hurt. Blaze never did pick the pigeon up but she would hold it down and pull feathers off. I finally took the pigeon to the 4-wheeler. Blaze went back on point at the quail pen and I chased the quail around then flushed the second pigeon. Blaze didn’t move and we never saw the hawk. I heeled her back to the kennel.

This exercise has got my dogs pretty steady on running quail and this past season there were plenty of them. I will continue doing this for a while then I’m going to have to take some quail to the field but it’s a long time until next season.

Luke

Tur Bo

Blaze

Sadie on the retrieving bench.

Sadie on the whoa board.

Sadie pointing the quail in the flight pen.

A friend’s dog, Sadie, was lying down on point and I wanted to see if I could get her to stand up. I’m not a pro trainer. I am a serious quail hunter and dog owner. I raise pigeons and have some quail that I work my dogs on. Most dog faults can be worked out with enough birds.

Sadie is an English setter that is about 3 years old. Her owner said she finds lots of wild quail but lies down on point. As long as I don’t put a lot of pressure on her the end result is still a dog that finds a lot of quail. The owner is happy with her as she is but would like for her to stand on her points.

I started her by putting e-collars on her neck and flanks. For the first week I didn’t even turn the e-collars on. I used a piggin’ string to heel her and stopped every few feet. For the first 3 or 4 days I didn’t put a command with the heel or the whoa. After she was heeling and whoaing I started saying the command. After a week of heeling and whoaing, for about a half mile each morning, I turned the e-collars on and started pushing the button, on the transmitter, for the e-collar on her flank, then saying whoa. The e-collar was on the lowest setting that she would react to.

The week of working her on heeling and whoa had prepared her to whoa at my command. Now with the e-collar, I hit the button on the transmitter and waited a half second before saying whoa. Because I had spent the week of lots of whoas as we walked the half mile around my yard she soon started stopping, as soon as I hit the button, before I could say whoa. Each day after she stopped before I could say whoa I would start her off heeling and I would just stop. After a few of these I would whoa her and walk around her. Then I would hit the button on the flank collar and then say whoa if she didn’t stop on her on. Most of the time she would stop before I could say whoa. I was also dropping the piggin’ string and walking on both sides and out front and to the rear.

At no time did I allow her to sit down or lie down. That included when I walked into her kennel. I would have her jump on her kennel. She usually wanted to lie down but I would stand her up. When I first got her I put her on my retrieving bench and she wanted to lie down. I have a chain on a cable running the length of the bench and I hooked a chain to her neck collar then another to her flank collar. I only used the chain on the flank collar a few mornings because she quit trying to lie down on the bench. I continued to use the neck collar because the one time I left it off she jumped off the bench and ran to the quail flight pen to point the birds.

When I took her off the bench I would heel her to my whoa that consists of a 2×6 about 3 feet off the ground. I have a cable running above it with a drop chain that I hooked to her neck collar. The first morning she came off 3 or 4 times. The second morning she only came off one time. Her feet would touch the ground but she still tried to get back on. I helped her each time. I would tell her whoa then walk close to both sides of her and to the font and rear. I let her stand on the whoa board for about 5 to 10 minutes. The owner and I had worked her before he left her and we noticed that when we walked close to her sides she wanted to lie down. If we came into the front of her she didn’t lie down. So I spent a lot of time walking beside her when she was on whoa.

After we did all of these exercises I heeled her close to the quail flight pen, whoaed her then tapped her head and said “okay”. The first few mornings she ran around the pen chasing the quail from end to end. After that she decided she couldn’t catch them and she started pointing until the birds ran then she would go to the other end and point again. Sometimes there would be 5 quail in a bunch and all except one would walk away and she would stay on point until the last one walked away. I really think that her being able to do what ever she wanted around these quail gave her the confidence to stand and be proud. The only thing that I ever said to her was a few times I went to her and stroked her sides and whispered to her that she was a good girl. Of the almost 2 weeks I had her here I only approached her around the flight pen 3 times.

The owner came over and I showed him all of the exercises I was doing with Sadie and had him take my place on each one. After we had gone through all of these things I put some pigeons out in release traps. We turned Sadie loose with e-collars on her neck and flanks. She pointed 6 pigeons and didn’t even try to lie down. The owner took her home so he could take her to the game farm for a test.

The owner texted me late Friday night to tell me that he and a friend had hunted her and she didn’t lie down on point. I think part of the reason she would lie down was lack of confidence. The birds in the flight pen gave her the confidence she needed. But she also got used to me being by her side as she stood on whoa. I walked all around her but I also, did a lot of petting. I don’t know why she started lying down on point but most things can be cured with lots of birds.

Sadie at my quail pen. Her tail is down.

Now her tail is up a little higher.

Now she is really feeling good about herself.

Luke pointing the quail pen

Blaze pointing the quail pen.

Tur Bo pointing the quail pen.

I’ve been working a friends dog, Sadie, to see if I can get her to quit lying down on point. I’ve, also, been working my dogs on being steady to wing and shot. I work Sadie 6 days a week but normally work mine every other day.

I bought some old kennels and put them together to make a pen 25 feet by 5 feet. I covered the inside and top with chicken wire and put some 2×4 welded wire on the bottom then put 11 Tennessee red quail in it. I had guided a church group that had used Tennessee reds and they seemed tougher and flew better than some of the bob white birds I had seen. When I bought the quail I didn’t know that Tennessee red quail don’t recall very well.

Luke, Blaze and Tur Bo are steady to wing and shot on pigeons on my training grounds but aren’t steady on quail. I’ve always let them chase after the flush and now I’m wanting to break them steady to wing and shot. All 3 of the dogs are whoa broke. If they are running and I say, “whoa” they will stop. When I guide, I tell my dogs to whoa then give my safety talk and they will not move until I say, “okay”. If they are chasing a flushing quail and I say, “whoa” they won’t even slow down.

I like to train without putting a lot of pressure on the dogs. The first day of training after getting the quail (I left the quail in the pen for about 2 weeks) I heeled Luke to a pulley system I have in a tree. There is a long check cord that I can hook to his collar and around his flanks. I hooked him up and heeled him around then when he was directly under the pulley I said, “whoa”. I had hidden 2 pigeons and a quail in release traps about 6 to 10 yards in front of him.

I walked in front of him holding the end of the check cord. If he moves I can lift him off his feet. As I walked back and forth I flushed a pigeon that was in a release trap. He didn’t move and I continued to walk back and forth. I flushed another pigeon and he didn’t move. As I continued to walk I flushed the quail. He still didn’t move.

I wasn’t happy with this exercise but I went ahead and worked Blaze next. She didn’t move either although her quail didn’t fly well. Then I brought Tur Bo down and whoaed him under the pulley. I had a hold of the check cord and released a pigeon. He took a couple of steps and I raised him off the ground. He started twisting around while he was in the air and I kept him off the ground until he quit fighting. I eased him to the ground then started walking again. I flushed the other pigeon and he didn’t move. I continued to walk in front of him and flushed the quail. This quail flew from in front of him to the fence row about 35 yards behind him. He took a step as he turned to watch it fly away. I lifted him off the ground. He didn’t fight and I eased him back to the ground.

The next time I worked them I decided to do a little more with them. I heeled Blaze to the retrieving bench with the Sport Dog e-collars on her neck and flanks. On the way to the bench I held the button on the transmitter down, on a real low level, then said “whoa”. I did this 3 or 4 times to remind her that any electricity she felt, on her flanks, was about whoa. I had her jump on the bench. After walking her up and down petting her I had her do 5 or 6 retrieves. I then set her on the ground and had her hold a bumper. I had her hold it while I heeled her around for about 40 yards. I whoaed her, took the bumper then released her.

She ran toward the back of the training grounds but I knew she was going to circle around and go to the quail pen. As soon as I released her I started to the quail pen so I could see what she was going to do. She went on point about 25 yards from the pen but when I got to her she wasn’t real rigid. I tapped her head and she moved up within about 5 yards of the pen where she could smell the birds real well. I said “whoa and went inside the quail pen. The quail ran from one end of the pen to the other and she didn’t move. I ran them from one end to the other 4 or 5 times. She didn’t move until a couple flew instead of running. When they hit the ground she was as close as she could get to them. It’s a good thing she couldn’t get inside the pen. I held the button on the transmitter down on a light level and picked her up and set her back. I went back in the pen and chased the birds back and forth. She was good as long as the birds just ran but when one flew she moved again. Finally, one flew and she didn’t move. I petted her telling her how great she is then put her up.

I heeled Luke to the retrieving bench with the e-collars on his neck and flanks. I whoaed him 4 or 5 times on the way to the bench by holding the button on the transmitter down, on the flank collar, on a low setting. He jumped on the bench and I walked him back and forth petting him. I had him retrieve a bumper 4 or 5 times then set him on the ground. I had him fetch the bumper and hold it. I walked him just a few feet and he dropped the bumper. I pinched his lip against his teeth and held the bumper in front of him saying fetch. He took the bumper and I heeled him about 40 yards then said “give”. He dropped it in my hand. I released him to hunt.

He started toward the back but went through a crossing in the fence row and went to the quail pen. He went on point 25 or 30 yards from the pen. When I got to him I tapped him on the head and said “okay”. He moved up close enough to smell the quail and went on point. I went inside the pen and ran the quail back and forth. He was solid as long as they just ran. When one flew he was as close as he could get when the quail hit the ground. I held the button on the transmitter down, on the flank collar, on a low setting and carried him back. I went back in the pen and ran the quail back and forth again. I had to catch a quail and toss it to get one to fly but he didn’t move. I petted him telling him what a good boy he is then put him up.

I heeled Tur Bo to the bench with the e-collars on. I whoaed him several times by holding the button on the transmitter down, on the flank collar, on a low setting. He jumped on the bench and I walked him back and forth petting him. I had him retrieve a bumper 4 or 5 times then set him on the ground. I held the bumper in front of him and said “fetch”. He grabbed the bumper and we started walking. He dropped the bumper. I pinched his lip against his teeth and put the bumper back in his mouth. We started of again and he dropped the bumper. I pinched his lip against his teeth and replaced the bumper in his mouth. I heeled him about 50 yards and he held the bumper. I whoaed him and said “give”. He dropped it in my hand. When I released him he ran toward the back but cut through and headed for the quail pen.

He pointed when he was about 30 yards from the pen. I tapped his head and said “okay” and he moved up closer and went back on point. He, too, was okay as long as they only ran but as soon as one flew he moved. I held the button on the transmitter down, on the flank collar, on a low setting and carried him back. I had to carry him back 3 or 4 times before he stayed steady. As soon as he didn’t move I put him up.

The quail have put a new dimension to my training. I’m going to continue working the dogs several times a week on the quail. The dogs should quit moving on quail, here, and I will have to enforce it other places, also. I will continue to write about working the dogs and if you will continue reading we will see how it comes out.

Luke

Blaze

Tur Bo