Traveling Pointing Dogs

Today a friend came over and we trained his dogs. He owns 3 female pointers. We worked 2 older dogs on backing and a 1 year old on holding point. He hunts his dogs one at a time and they have not had the need or opportunity to honor another dog.

I have a backing dog from Lion Country Supply. I set it up behind some bushes with the dog up and a bird in a D.T. launcher in front. Then Don brought Kate out on a check cord. Kate was pulling him along pretty good. They rounded the bush and the instant that Kate saw the backing dog silhouette Don said whoa and stopped her with the check cord. I released the bird and laid the silhouette dog down. Don held her there for a few seconds then released her. Then he lead her away and I set a bird in the release and raised the dog up again.

Don brought her back and stopped her with a whoa in almost the same spot. Again I released the bird and laid the dog silhouette down. The third time she would have probably stopped on her on but he whoaed her any way. We put her on the chain gang and brought the other older dog out and went through the same scenario with her. She handled it as well as the first one did.

Three of my pigeons are nesting so I am down to only 8 pigeons to work dogs on until some come back. After working the older dogs I only had 2 pigeons left for the young dog. I put 2 pigeons out and Don worked the young dog (she is about a year old but hasn’t been hunted or worked on birds) toward the first planted pigeon. Don had her on a check cord but when she smelled the bird she went on point without him stopping her. She held point for about 45 seconds and when she started moving I flushed the bird.

That really fired her up and she was pulling Don with the check as she hunted. When she hit the scent cone on the next bird she locked up tight. She was low in front but her tail was 12 o’clock. She held point again for a good while and when she moved I flushed the bird. We put her back on the chain gang.

My pigeons get a lot of training in and they get smart. After I use them they land on top of my house and wait for me to get through training before they fly back to their home. We went in the house to trick them into going home. After about 30 minutes we checked and 4 had come back.

I put the backing dog out again and when we brought Kate around she honored the instant she saw the dog silhouette. This doesn’t mean she will back a dog. The next time Don comes over we will go through the same exercise. If she honors the next time we will use a real dog after that. But she is getting the idea she must stop.

We brought the other dog around and she honored the silhouette on her on. All dogs don’t pick this up this fast but these did. We put both of these on the chain gang and I put out the other 2 birds for the puppy.

As she drug Don through my training grounds she went close to the area she had pointed her first bird in earlier and wanted to point thinking there was a bird there. We kept walking and she wouldn’t let us get ahead of her. When we got close to the bird the wind had quit blowing. Don worked her almost all the way around the bird before she smelled it. There was no doubt when she smelled the bird. She slammed into a point. She crouches in front but her tail is straight up. Some times pigeons coming out of the launchers will cause the dogs to point with a high head. We will see if it does on her. When she moved I flushed the bird.

When she got close to the second bird there was still no wind. Again she had a little trouble getting the scent but when she hits it there is no doubt. Again she was low in front with a 12 o’clock tail. Then her head raised and she stood taller in front, still with a 12 o’clock tail. I counted a minute and fifteen seconds, then told Don I was going to flush the bird. She stayed on point without moving until I released the bird.

Watching dogs learn is one of my favorite things to do. It was a very satisfying day for me and I hope for Don. Now if I could train my pigeons to return quicker I could work more dogs.

I took Tur Bo out of the kennel with the non-working e-collar on his neck using the piggin’ string. He’s getting better on heel. I heeled him to the retrieving bench, when he started to jump I gave him the “up” command and helped him onto the bench. He is getting more comfortable on the bench. I let him run up and down the bench, then I rolled a tennis ball down the bench and he retrieved it. I only rolled it 3 or 4 times but he enjoyed retrieving. Then I put him on the ground with a check cord on and threw the tennis ball 5 or 6 times. Most times he brought it straight back. When he came to me I petted him without reaching for the ball. He never tried to hold on to the ball. When I reached for the ball he gave it to me. I put him on the chain gang before he got tired of retrieving.

I brought Whitey to the bench with a Sport Dog e-collar. I always make the dogs heel with the piggin’ string. She jumped to the bench and I petted her as she walked up and down. I held a retrieving buck for her and told her to fetch and she refused. She has been through the trained retrieve but sometimes the dog will say no. This makes a teachable moment. I held the buck in front of her mouth and hit the button on the e-collar. I didn’t say retrieve again. I only tell them 1 time. She still refused so I turned the collar to a higher setting. She refused again so I turned it up again. She took the retrieving buck. After I took the buck from her I had her fetch again and she did it with no problem. I put her on the ground and she did a good job retrieving the tennis ball so I put her on the chain gang.

I brought Blaze to the bench and walked her up and down, then held the buck in front of her and told her to fetch and she did. I put her on the ground and threw the tennis ball and she did a good job retrieving. Usually it’s Blaze that gives me a problem on the bench but she is a better retriever than Whitey on birds. I think dogs get bored with doing the same thing all the time and they try you to make sure you’re really in charge. They know what they are supposed to do, but they are not sure you know what they are supposed to do.

My training grounds is divided by a small ditch. My neighbors, Dave and Debbie, own the side south of the ditch and I own the north side. They let me work dogs on their side and we mow part of it but leave strips for me to hide birds in. On my side I mow most. This morning I drove around on my neighbors side then crossed the ditch and hid the birds on my side.

I heeled Tur Bo to my neighbors side like I usually do. When I turned him loose he started hunting and checking every place I had hid birds before. He wasn’t getting any scent but he just knew that there had to be a bird somewhere. So he went on point. I didn’t say anything, just kept walking. Pretty soon he was back in front of me but he was frantic to find a bird. When he went back to hunting the way I thought he should I crossed over to my side where the birds were. He pointed the first bird but didn’t hold it very long and I flushed the bird. The bird came out low and flew right over his head. He chased this bird further than he has ever chased before.

The second bird he pointed then started moving in so I flushed it. He didn’t chase very far then came back. He hunted back to the chain gang.

I heeled Whitey over to the edge of the neighbor’s side and turned her loose. She hunted it all but she also went on point in almost the same spot that Tur Bo had pointed. I walked on by without saying anything and pretty soon she was in front of me. On her first bird she pointed from about 15 yards away. After I kicked the cover close to the bird, I released it. This was a real young bird and it landed on the ground about 10 yards away. Whitey didn’t move. I threw a glove near the bird and it flew a few feet. Whitey still didn’t move. Then I started chasing the pigeon and Whitey came to help. I whoaed her and she stopped. I picked her up and carried her to the spot where she had originally pointed. Finally I got the bird to fly into a tree. I released Whitey.

On her second bird she pointed then decided to move closer and I released the bird and she stopped to flush. I picked her up and carried her back to the spot she had originally pointed. I made her stand there while I kicked around where the bird had been. I finally released her and put her on the chain gang.

I heeled Blaze over to the neighbor’s side and when I turned her loose she hunted it out real well without pointing. When we went over to my side she pointed her bird and when I released the bird she chased like a young puppy. I didn’t say anything I just hit the button on the e-collar. She stopped and looked at me like, “oh yeah, we don’t chase anymore, do we.” I picked her up and carried her back to her original spot. I made her stand there while I kicked around, then released her.

Blaze pointed her second bird with a lot of style. She let me walk in and kick the cover and when I released the bird she didn’t move. I tapped her on the head and she hunted back to the chain gang where I released all 3 dogs to run. After training I usually let them have a short run. It’s like a recess for young kids.

When you train young dogs they will try you in several ways to see what they can get by with. You must stay consistent. Staying consistent and repetition is what gets your dog where you want him to be.

I walked Tur Bo to the retrieving bench after putting an inoperable e-collar around his neck so he would get used to having a training collar on. I also used the piggin’ string and made him heel. He jumped onto the retrieving bench and was more comfortable walking up and down. After putting my fingers and a retrieving buck in his mouth and making him hold, I rolled a tennis ball down the bench and he pounced on it and brought it right back. I rolled it down the bench 3 or 4 times and he brought it back every time so I put him on the ground and threw the ball. He ran out picked it up and brought it back. I threw it 3 or 4 times and he brought it back each time. It’s really hard to stop, when they are doing something right but I put him on the chain gang.

I put an e-collar on Blaze and heeled her to the bench with the piggin’ string. Instead of putting her on the bench I threw a tennis ball, on the ground, for her several times then put her on the chain gang. I did the same for Whitey then put her on the chain gang with the other two. Yesterdays picture of the dogs on the chain gang made Tur Bo look huge so I took a picture from the other end today. He still looks huge.

I put out 2 pigeons for Blaze and by the time I got close she was already on point. I walked in front of her and kicked the cover, then flushed the bird. She didn’t move and watched the bird fly away. I lead her away and turned her loose to hunt. When she got close to the next bird and I could tell that she could smell the bird I released it before she could point. She stopped to flush. Then she started to move. I hit the e-collar and said whoa. She stopped and I picked her up and carried her back to where she had originally stopped. Then I walked out where the bird had flushed from and kicked the cover, then went back and stroked her up, then released her. She hunted back to the chain gang.

Whitey ran all out to the back of my training grounds and was on point by the time I caught up with her. I walked in front and kicked the cover, then flushed the bird. She didn’t move until after the bird was gone, then she started moving. I hit the e-collar and she stopped. I carried her back and set her up. Then I walked back in front again, then back to her and stroked her up and released her. She pointed her second bird and didn’t move. She did it right so I released her and she hunted back to the chain gang.

Tur Bo missed the first bird and was really running when he ran by the second bird and whirled into a point. He was about 75 yards ahead of me and by the time I got there he was standing tall on both ends. I walked all the way to the bird without him moving. I took some pictures, then stood there waiting for him to move. When I got to him he had his left foot raised and I was watching it. Twice he started to put it down and if it had hit the ground I was going to flush the bird but both times he pulled it back up. Then it came down and he was chasing so I released the bird.

Tur Bo

We worked back toward the front of the training grounds and Tur Bo pointed his second bird. He was on the wrong side of the bird, the wind was at his rear but he knew where the bird was. He stood but not as long on this bird.

He is only 9 months old today and I have killed wild quail over his points. He is getting better and better on pigeons and by the time the season opens this fall he should be a bird dog.