Traveling Pointing Dogs

I put the e-collar and roading harness on Tur Bo and walked him around the yard pulling the weights. I stopped probably 50 times saying whoa. I would hold my hand up like a traffic cop and walk out in front of him. Before we quit I was getting 20 yards in front and he would stay on whoa. Sometime I would walk straight back to him and sometime I walked around him then back to his side.

I heeled him to the retrieving bench and he jumped onto it. He is a lot more comfortable on the bench now but he only retrieved the tennis ball 2 times. If I have to I will do the trained retrieve with him. The only opportunity he had to retrieve a quail last year he played keep away with it but he wanted to show it to me. He finally dropped it close to me.

I loaded the dogs and all of the training stuff in the truck and drove to the park that is just a couple of miles from my home. The park is large enough that I could go to a new place.

I threw the ball for Blaze and Whitey and Blaze retrieved it every time. The third time I threw it for Whitey she refused to retrieve. I held the button on the e-collar down, on level 2, and she retrieved the ball. She picked it up and ran to me like she hadn’t even refused. I threw it 8 or 9 times and she did it perfectly.

Tur Bo was a different story, he knew I had birds with me and he retrieved one time then kept trying to go hunting. I put him back on his tie out leash.

After all this time training dogs you would think I would know better than to put the birds out too far from the truck. I took the traps and birds out found a place to my liking for the first one then put the other one out about 50 yards from the first. Then go back, get a dog, walk it out, work the birds, take the dog back, go back and replace the birds. I stepped it off on the last dog and to the farther bird it was 175 yards. It would have been the same for the dogs had I put the farther bird 50 yards away.

Whitey

After putting the birds out I turned Whitey loose to hunt. She pointed the first bird and I walked around in front of her, then I made a large circle in front of her. I spent more time kicking the cover, then flushed the pigeon. She never moved. I went back in front and kicked the cover some more. Then released her. She found her second bird and I went through the same routine and she was steady on this bird, also.

Blaze

When I turned Blaze loose, she was pumped. She was bouncing from one birdy looking place to another. The grass was waist high and a lot of the time all I could see was the grass moving. She pointed the first bird and I walked all around kicking the cover, then released the bird. She flinched but didn’t move. On her second bird when I flushed it she took a step then stopped. I held the button on her e-collar down on level 2, then picked her up and put her back where she had pointed. As soon as her feet touched the ground I let off the button. I walked in front, made a circle kicking the cover, then released her.

Tur Bo had been whining and barking wanting his turn. I always heel the dogs around some before I turn them loose but he had to have a lot. Finally, he figured out he was not going to get to hunt unless he heeled. After he settled down I turned him loose. I had moved one of the birds because the Whitey acted like she couldn’t get the scent very good. When Tur Bo hit that hot spot he slammed into a point. I let him stand there for awhile, then when he let down some, I encouraged him to move. He checked the spot then went back to hunting. He pointed his first bird but didn’t hold very long. At his first movement I flushed his bird. He pointed his second bird and I walked in close to the bird. When I got close, he moved and I flushed the bird. This was a young bird that flew real low and he almost caught it.

Tur Bo

Blaze and Whitey are getting better retrieving and are steadier on their birds. Blaze is still moving sometime at the flush but I will continue to set her back until she stops. Tur Bo is learning more each day. After he learns whoa real well I will steady him on his birds. It is 7 months until quail season opens so we have time to work on everything.

I got back to dog training today. I started with a jacket on and finished in a short sleeve shirt. I put the e-collar and roading harness on Tur Bo, then hooked the weights to the harness. He’s getting used to pulling the weights but on heel he sometime tries to lead. When he gets ahead I turn 180 degrees. Now he’s pretty fast about getting back in position. We walked the 1/2 mile around the yard going from heel to whoa. This morning I could go both ways around him. I also started going in front with him standing on whoa, raising my hand like a traffic cop, then walking around him before heeling again. Just before I turned him loose to run with the weights, I was able to turn loose of the piggin’ string and walk away from him and he would stay on whoa.

I let him run back to the shed where I took the weights and harness off. The we just hung out for awhile. I put the piggin’ string back on and heeled him to the retrieving bench. About the time he is ready to jump on the bench I command “up”. He walks up and down the bench for awhile and I pet him. I rub his ears and let him smell my breathe. Dogs like to smell your breathe when you are happy. They hate to smell your breathe when you are angry. I rolled the tennis ball down the bench and he retrieved it 3 times then quit. One of the times when I rolled the ball it fell off the bench and I had picked up another. When I put him on the ground, I turned him loose and he found the ball on the ground and brought it to me.

I loaded dogs, pigeons, release traps, check cords, leashes and remotes and we went the county park about 2 miles from my house. After tying all 3 dogs out, I lead Blaze to a different spot than the place I had made them retrieve the ball the last time. I threw the ball and she touched it with her nose and came back. I held the button on the e-collar down on level 2 and walked her back to the ball. She picked it up and returned to where I threw it from. I threw it 7 more times and she retrieved it each time.

I lead Whitey to the same area and tossed the ball. She went out touched it with her nose and returned. I walked her back out holding the button on the e-collar down on level 2. She touched it with her nose but didn’t pick it up. I turned the collar to level 3 and she picked it up. I took it from her when we got back to the area I had thrown it from. About the third time I threw the ball she touched it with her nose but didn’t pick it up. I held the button down on level 2 and walked her to the ball. She picked it up and carried it to the area I had thrown it from. I threw the ball for her again and she did fine for 2 or 3 times then touched it with her nose but refused to pick it up. Again I held the button down on level 2 until she picked it up. Finally I threw the ball 7 times and she retrieved it just fine. Usually Whitey retrieves just fine and I have trouble with Blaze although Blaze retrieves quail better than Whitey.

I put a check cord on Tur Bo so he couldn’t play keep away with the ball. When I threw the ball he dashed out, picked up the ball and retrieved it to me. The third time I threw it he ran out but didn’t pick it up. If I had not had the check cord on him, he would have gone hunting. I took him back to his tie out leash.

I put 2 pigeons in release traps about 75 yards apart. I put an e-collar around Whitey’s flanks, then, because the wind was from behind us, I heeled her down the road to get her on the other side of the birds. With birds out the dogs want to pull but I make them heel as they are supposed to. If they start pulling ahead I turn around. They learn that they have to do it right if they want to hunt.

I heeled Whitey down the road about 150 yards then turned her loose. I had hid the birds in the blue stem pasture but Whitey saw a line of trees and that’s where she wanted to hunt. I called her out of the trees and got her to hunting in the pasture. The wind was swirling around but she hit her first bird and pointed. I walked in front and kicked the cover. I flushed the bird and she never moved. I kicked some more then released her. She pointed her second bird and when I released it she never moved. Whitey is getting this figured out.

I heeled Blaze down the road to get the wind right for her. When I turned her loose, she was wired from seeing Whitey work her birds plus she saw me put more birds out. She was hunting the pasture but she was quite a way south of the birds but I let her hunt. She finally came around and pointed the first bird. I kicked the cover and when I released the bird she didn’t move. I kicked the cover again then released her. She pointed her second bird and when I released it she took a step then stopped. I picked her up and put her back. I walked in front and kicked the cover, then stroked her, then kicked the cover again. Then I released her.

After seeing 2 dogs work birds while he was tied up, and only 9 months old to say Tur Bo was wired was an understatement. I don’t remember how many times I turned 180 degrees as I heeled him to the south side of the birds but it was several. When I turned him loose he was really going. He pointed his first bird but the wind was not exactly right and he moved to get the scent better and I flushed the bird. His chase was short and he went back to hunting. He slammed to a point on his second bird. This time the wind was right and his had and tail were both high. I walked close to the bird and as I watched him his mouth opened and closed like he was chewing the scent. This was the first time that I have kicked the cover in front of him when he was on point. While I kicked he never moved. I stood in one place and kicked but he never moved. After about a minute of me kicking the cover I flushed the bird. He had not moved. He chased for a short way then went back to hunting.

Maybe if I would turn my e-collar way up I could train these young dogs faster but the way I do it works for me and I don’t think I take anything out of the dogs. The dogs hunt for me and always seem to be enjoying themselves.

Yesterday’s picture of Tur Bo pulling his weights, taken by me as I looked down, made him look really unhappy with the whole thing. So this morning I asked my wife, June, to take some pictures for me. I also had her take a picture of Tur Bo on whoa and him letting me walk in front of him. As I walked him around the yard I started walking around him going in front then to his rear then back to his side. We went through this several times and he did real well after a while then I decided to walk around him by going to his rear first. He followed me, then laid down. By doing something different we had to start over. Before we quit he let me walk either way around him.

Tur Bo pulling his weights

He pulled the weights back to the shed where I sat in the doorway and took the roading harness and weights off. We had to sit there for a while and pet each other. Then I heeled him to the retrieving bench where he jumped up with just a little help from the piggin’ string. I threw my glove 3 or 4 times then the tennis ball 3 or 4 times and he retrieved it each time. I lifted him off the bench then let him run back to the kennel.

I loaded 6 pigeons into a bird bag, then put leashes, check cord, and release traps in the truck. I put e-collars on all 3 young dogs and turned them loose. They ran to the truck to be loaded. There is a county park about 2 miles from my house that is mostly undeveloped. The dogs were getting bored with the same training grounds so I decided to go to the park.

Where I train at the park there is a gate, across the road, made out of pipe that I tie my dogs to. They can watch each one being trained. When I bring out the birds it really fires them up.

After leashing all 3 to the gate, I took Whitey off the leash and lead her out in front of the other 2. I threw the tennis ball and she refused to pick it up. She touched it with her nose but didn’t open her mouth. I walked to the ball, pointed and said fetch. She refused, so I held the button on the e-collar down on level 2. She still refused, so I went to level 3 and she picked it up and carried it to where I had thrown it from. I threw it 10 times and she retrieved it each time.

I brought Blaze out and threw the ball for her and she refused to retrieve. I walked out, pointed to the ball and said fetch. She still refused so I held the button on the e-collar down on level 2. She picked the ball up and carried it back where we started from. I threw the ball 10 times and she retrieved it 10 times without a bobble.

I put a 30 foot check cord on Tur Bo to keep him from playing keep away. I threw the ball 5 or 6 times and he retrieved it to me each time. I always let the dog hold the ball for a while as I pet them when they bring it back. Tur Bo gets so excited he rolls on me and the ground both. But he’s starting to like it.

I put 2 pigeons in release traps about 10 yards apart. The wind was pretty strong from the south east and Whitey was hunting to the south. The field was blue stem that had been real thick but the snow had knocked a lot of it down. Whitey ran back and forth across the wind. She hit the scent of the first bird and slid to a point. I took a picture, then went in front and kicked the cover and released the farther bird. She turned her head but didn’t move her feet. She turned her head right back to the bird she was smelling. I kicked some more then flushed the bird she was pointing. She didn’t move. I stroked her up then released her to run.

Whitey

I replaced the pigeons in the release traps and turned Blaze loose. She crossed the field and was real close to her bird when she smelled it. I took a picture, walked in front, kicked a few times then released the farther bird. She knew the bird she was pointing hadn’t moved. She didn’t even move her head. I kicked around some more then released her bird and she took 3 or 4 steps. I whoaed her and she stopped. I picked her up and put her back where she had originally pointed. I made her stand while I kicked in front of her again then released her to run.

Blaze

I separated the release traps for Tur Bo. After watching the other 2 he was fired up. He would make a good sled dog. I turned him loose and he went to hunting. He pointed his first bird from 10 to 12 yards away. I took a picture then stood where I was not saying anything. Then I moved in closer and took another picture. After about a minute he couldn’t stand any longer. At his first move I flushed the bird. He chased a little then went back to hunting. I was about 20 yards behind him when he pointed his second bird. I took a couple of pictures but a male dog from directly behind does not a pretty picture make. I didn’t move or say anything. When he moved I flushed his bird.

Tur Bo

I took most of my pigeons to the park and went out about 2 hours later and not a one had returned. I thought my training was about over until I bought more pigeons and got them where they would come back. I went out about 6:00 pm to clean dog pens, feed and water pigeons. I opened the pigeon house and they were all back except for one. Maybe he will come back tomorrow. I still have enough to train dogs.