Traveling Pointing Dogs

Between family commitments and the weather I haven’t been able to train for a few days so I decided to show some of the things I use either to hunt or train with. This will be some things that work for me.

Sign about my blog

No hunting trip could even get started without a good truck. I bought this truck in December of 2010 and just a few weeks later drove it to Arizona bird hunting. That was quite awhile before I started my blog. I have a magnetic sign on the front door on both sides saying “check out my blog” and the web site. I take the signs off when I get to the area I am going to hunt. It would not be fair to the birds to have people know exactly where I find birds, if I ever get into a lot.

My shed

My shed holds my training gear, dog food and my whelping boxes. The puppies stay in the shed until they get big enough to get out then they go to the kennels. All my kennels, dog houses and self feeders come from Pro Built Products. http://probuiltproducts.com/

Whoa board and whoa barrel

I have a whoa board next to my barrel. I walk the dog onto the whoa board, whoa them before they can step off, and walk out in front of them. Then I walk back to them, tap them on the head and heel them off. I walk just a few feet then turn around and walk them back onto the whoa board, saying whoa. They must learn that they can’t step off the board until I lead them off. Each time I work them on the board I put them on it 5 or 6 times, then I put them on the barrel. As soon as the dog is on the barrel I say, whoa, and this is the one place that I want the dog to stand with style. I rub under their chin, to get their head up and brush their tail up. When I put them on the ground I do the same thing on the ground that I did on the barrel

Pigeon pole.

In front of the whoa board and barrel I have a pigeon pole. After the dogs learn not to come off the whoa board and barrel I tie the pigeon on a string that is tied to the pole and place them in release traps. I place the dog on the barrel, say whoa then flush the pigeon. There is a chain hooked to the dogs collar and if he comes off the barrel his feet just barely touch the ground. A dogs neck is the strongest part of him. I put them back on the barrel but I don’t get in a hurry. If they are uncomfortable they learn not to come off the barrel. After they learn not to come off the barrel I move them to the whoa board.

I hook a check cord to a stake, then run it between the hind legs of the dog, then a half hitch around the flanks and hook the check cord to the collar. This way if the dog moves off the board the check cord tightens on the flanks. I set them back on the board and fly the pigeon again. Once they are staying on the board I put a pigeon on a string on a heavy fishing pole and fly it right in front of the dog. Each time the dog comes off the board I put them back. When they are staying on the board most of the time I put an e-collar around their flanks in addition to the check cord. Before the dogs have got to this point I have already worked them on whoa with the e-collar on their flanks. Now when he comes off, the check cord still stops him but I hold the e-collar button down on a low level until I pick him up and set him on the board. The instant his feet touch the board I let off the button. If he continues to come off the board (after 5 or 6 times) turn the collar up one level. If he continues to come off, turn it up again. Let him choose the level he needs.

I was getting tired of writing about the same thing almost every day and this has been fun to do. I have enough stuff for another day or two then I will get back to the training. Thanks for reading.

I wasn’t able to train yesterday but we did today. I put Tur Bo’s e-collar on then hooked the check cord to the pinch collar and we started our walk. Just to do something a little different we walked on my neighbors side of the training grounds. I walked a ways, whoaed him, and kept walking holding the check cord. I called him to me and when he started walking I held my hand up like a traffic cop and said whoa. He is doing this pretty well but I noticed that he would only take a step or two then stop before I said whoa, so every once in a while I pulled on the check cord and made him come all the way to me without stopping. This is hard on dogs, so I’m going slow and I will give him plenty of time to learn this.

Then we went to the retrieving bench and he jumped on it. Now he’s jumping on with no help. After walking him around and petting him at several spots on the bench, I roll the tennis ball. He pounces on it and brings it back. About the third time I rolled the ball he knocked it off the table. When he does that I don’t pick it up. I get my retrieving buck and I make him hold it, then give. I have to open his mouth, put the buck in and hold my left hand under his chin or he would spit it out. I then hold the end of the buck with my right hand, take my left hand from the chin and say give. I don’t pull the buck out I let him move his head off the buck. We do this 7 or 8 times. I pick him up, say whoa and put him on the ground.

Tur Bo

As soon as I release him from the whoa command, he immediately starts looking for the tennis ball that was dropped on the ground. Most of the time he remembers exactly where it is. This morning he picked it up and went away from me, then dropped it. I called him to me then said “get that ball” and he picked it up but dropped it before he got to me. Again I said “get that ball” and he got it closer, dropped it, then he brought it to me. After he brought it to me I threw it 7 or 8 times and he retrieved it to me each time. Each time when he got to me he rolled on the ground while I petted him. Some day I will have to make him stand up to be petted but for now we both like it this way.

I haven’t worked Tur Bo on birds in a couple of weeks but today I loaded him along with Blaze and Whitey into the truck, we went to the county park. I only have seven pigeons and one of those is setting, so 2 birds each is all they get, when I bring 3 dogs.

I heeled Blaze down the road for about 200 yards then released her to hunt. She is good about staying in front of me and going from one side to the other. The reason I walked them so far down the road, the wind was from the north and I wanted them to hunt into the wind. When she went on point, she was 30 yards from the bird and I wasn’t sure she had it but when I tapped her on the head, she wouldn’t move. I walked around and took some pictures, kicked the cover, then flushed the bird. She never moved. I released her and she pointed her second bird. I went through my regular routine and when I flushed the bird she never moved.

Blaze

Next, I heeled Whitey down the road for about 200 yards. I always whoa them a time or two as we walk down the road. They learn that whenever I say whoa they have to stop moving their feet. Until they will whoa, wherever and whenever, I tell them, we practice every where we go. She too, pointed her birds from quite a distance. Some days everything is just right and the dogs point from a long ways off and some days they have trouble. Whitey did a good job on her 2 birds and was steady to flush on them both.

Whitey

Tur Bo was next and I hadn’t brought the pinch collar with me. He was a handful heeling down the road. I don’t know how many times I turned around and heeled him in the opposite direction but it was quite a few. Finally we made it to where I was going to release him so I said whoa and he stopped. I took the leash off and he stayed on whoa until I tapped him on the head. It had been a while since he had been worked on birds and he was really flying.

Tur Bo

I didn’t step it off but his first point had to be 40 yards from the bird. I took a picture then moved closer and took 2 more. I have never brushed his tail up or touched him when he was on point but he really looked good today. Dolly and Shadow Oak Bo put the head and tail, where they are, on him. When he moved I flushed the bird and he chased but not far. He went back to hunting. He pointed the second bird and looked just as good as on the first. I may be a little bit prejudiced but not much. When he moved I flushed the bird.

Whitey and Blaze are at the point that I need to shoot some quail over them. They are doing everything right on the pigeons. Quail would be good for Tur Bo, also. I’m looking for a place to put a call back pen so I can have some good flying quail to work the dogs on. That would help all of the dogs not just the young dogs.

Tur Bo’s heeling this morning was more like a sled dog, so I found a pinch collar I hadn’t used in years. After 5 minutes with the pinch collar he heeled better than he ever had before. I started heeling him then telling him whoa and walking ahead of him, then back to his side, heeling him again. After a few of these I started going in front, then calling him to me and saying whoa when he started toward me. He’s not perfect but he’s getting better on this exercise. Two times I whoaed him, then called him and when he took 3 or 4 steps I whoaed him, then called him and whoaed him again before he got to me.

I also whoaed him on the whoa board then put him on the barrel. Then we went to the retrieving bench. He really likes the retrieving bench now. He doesn’t hesitate, he jumps on then wants to be petted. After I pet him for awhile, I roll the tennis ball down the bench and he pounces on it. I have to roll the ball real slow. If it goes more than 5 or 6 feet before he catches it, he lets it roll to the ground. But he remembers where it goes and when I put him on the ground he runs and gets it. After playing with the tennis ball I put a retrieving buck in his mouth, place my left hand under his chin to hold his mouth shut and pet his head with my right hand while I talk into his nose telling him what a good boy he is. Then I take the end of the retrieving buck with my right hand and say give letting him move his mouth off the buck. I had him hold and give on the buck 7 or 8 times this morning.

When I put him on the ground he ran to the tennis ball, picked it up and brought it close to me. I said get that ball and he picked it up and brought it closer. Again I said get that ball and he brought it to me. I just started petting him without taking the ball and he rolls on the ground. Sometimes the ball comes out and sometimes he holds it until I say give. It took 3 times to get the ball to me to start with but after that he retrieved it 5 or 6 times. Each time I petted him he rolled on the ground, I think. I let him run for a little while then returned him to his kennel.

Today I felt sorry for Luke so when I loaded Whitey and Blaze I put him in, too. The park workers have closed off some of the roads so there aren’t many places that I can work the dogs and not have to carry the release traps and pigeons for a long ways. I only had 7 pigeons this morning and one of these was setting so I could only take 6 to the park. I tied the dogs to the gate where I parked then took 2 release traps and hid them in the tall grass with a pigeon in each.

Whitey

I heeled Whitey about 50 yards down the trail, put her on whoa then took the leash off, hooked the ends together and tapped her on the head to release her. The grass in this field is real tall and I wasn’t able to see her when she went on point but she was standing about 25 yards from the bird. I took pictures then kicked the cover in front and both sides then flushed the pigeon. She never moved. I released her and before she got close enough to smell the other bird I flushed it. She was farther from the bird than I thought she was but she stopped. I petted her then kicked the cover all around then released her to hunt back to the truck.

Luke

Luke was next. He hadn’t been on birds since February and I didn’t know what to expect. As we went down the trail to the release point he checked to see if I really meant heel. After I made a couple of 180 degree turns he acted like “oh yeah I remember” and he heeled. I turned him loose and I didn’t see him point, either. He was within about 5 yards of the bird when he pointed. After I kicked the cover, I released the bird and it flew over his head real low. He never moved. I kicked the cover then released him. I flushed the second bird when he was about 20 yards from it and he stopped immediately. Not bad for not being worked for awhile.

Blaze usually barks on the stake out so she gets worked last. She’s quiet in the kennel but not when she thinks she should be working birds. I was 3 for 3, I didn’t see Blaze point either. After I kicked all around and took pictures I released her bird. She never moved. I kicked the cover then released her. When I flushed her second bird she put on the brakes. She was about 35 yards from me and she stayed until I walked to her, then kicked the cover, tapped her on the head to release her to hunt back to the truck.

I’m at a point with these young dogs that I need to find another place to train. This time of year it’s hard to find quail to work them on but they need to have some shot over their points. I hope to take them north to the Dakotas or someplace early this fall. They need birds and wild birds are best.