More Of Annie’s Training

Posted on May 21, 2024 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Annie, ever since she has been with me, has been very hard headed. At least she hasn’t wanted to come to me when I called her because she thinks she will be put back in her kennel. I think being hard headed is a good attribute for a bird dog but they are a little harder to train, sometimes.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

Annie waking a pigeon to fly away.

Annie as she catches the scent.

Annie, when we go for a walk, will stay with me but just out of my reach. Sometimes she gets out quite a way but never would come to me. This worked okay until time to put her up. I started running her with a short, about 10 or 12 feet long, check cord. Most of the time when I needed to catch her she would come close enough for me to grab the check cord.

I have had good luck using hot dogs to teach retrieving. I cut each hot dog into about 20 pieces. I have been going into Annie’s kennel and pulling her into my lap and petting her when I attach the check cord. The first morning with the hot dog pieces, I picked her up as I sat on her dog house, petted her for a few seconds. She would sit real still while in my lap as I petted her. I held a piece of hot dog in front of her nose. She smelled it, then licked it. It took a few seconds for her to eat the chunk of hot dog. She was a little quicker with the second piece and the third one disappeared in a hurry.

I let her out of the kennel, and we went for a walk with her bouncing off my heels or jumping on me from the front. After a little while she went to checking other stuff. I threw some adult dog food in the grass in front of a metal chair. I sat in the chair as she hunted for the dog food. I held a piece of the hot dog in my hand and said, “here”. She came to me in a hurry.

We went for a walk to the very back of my place. A couple of times I called her to me and gave her a piece of hot dog. I only gave her a couple of pieces while we were on our walk. I want her to get away from me and hunt. When we came back by the retrieving bench I called her to me and fed her a chunk of hot dog. I placed her on the bench, hooked the chain to her collar and walked to the other end of the bench. She came running. I gave her 4 or 5 pieces while she was on the bench, calling her to me each time.

After the second day with the hot dog, she had “here” figured out. No matter how far away she was, I could kneel down, hold my hand out with a chunk of hot dog in it, and she would come as fast as possible. I will continue with the hot dogs for a while.

Annie finding dog food.

I have started working Bodie on being steady to wing and shot, so I put both dogs on the chain gang. I work Bodie first. The first morning I put two pigeons in release traps close to my place boards. I worked him to the place boards, whoaing him a couple of times before getting to the place boards. I whoaed him on the place board, put a pigeon to sleep in front of him and walked around. I hadn’t brought the controller for the release traps with me. I whoaed him again and walked back to the side by side for the controller, about 45 yards away. Bodie stayed on the board.

When I got back to him, I released the bird in the closer release trap. He watched it fly away and went back on point on the pigeon asleep in front of him. I rolled the pigeon over with my foot and Bodie came off the board and almost caught the pigeon. I picked him up and put him back on the place board. I walked around him, kicking the grass. I had a collar around his neck and around his flanks. Both were set to stimulate, on a low setting, with one push of the button. When I went close to his side he would come off the board. He was expecting me to heel him away. I stimulated him and set him back on the board. He came off the board 3 times.

Bodie with a pigeon asleep in front of him.

When he let me walk close to him without moving, I heeled him to the next place board. I whoaed him before we got to the next board then whoaed him on the board. I put a pigeon to sleep in front of him. I walked around in front of him for a few seconds then flushed a pigeon from the release trap. He watched it fly away without moving. I walked around in front of him and woke up the pigeon I had put to sleep. I held the Wonder Lead without putting any pressure on him. When the pigeon flew, he moved on the board but didn’t come off.

This morning I worked him a little different. I still used the place boards. I whoaed him on the place board, put a pigeon to sleep, and placed it in front of him. I walked around in front of him, took a pigeon from the bird bag and tossed it in front of him. He watched it fly away without moving. When I rolled the pigeon over with my foot to wake it, he moved on the board but didn’t come off. I stroked his sides then heeled him to the next place board.

I whoaed him once before we got to the board then again after he was on the board. I placed another pigeon to sleep in front of him. After walking around him for a few seconds I tossed a pigeon from the bird bag in front of him. He watched the bird fly away without coming off the board. I woke the pigeon and he didn’t come off the board as it flew away. He’s learning what I want him to do. I will continue to work him this way for a while before working him on hidden birds.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

I let him run for a while then put him up. Annie had been on the chain gang waiting, mostly patiently. I hid two pigeons in the tall grass strips. I had 3 more pigeons in the bird bag when I turned Annie loose. I had given her a chunk of hot dog before turning her loose and she wanted to stay right under my feet as we walked away from the chain gang.

As we got close to the training grounds she went to hunting. She wasn’t sure where the first bird was but she knew she was close. She pointed and moved and pointed again. I took a bird from the bird bag and tossed it in front of her. I released the bird from the trap. She got really excited with two birds coming up together. She started to chase one of the birds and the other one flew close. That confused her. Can’t chase both, so she stood and watched them fly away.

The next release trap was about 75 yards away. She hunted hard as we continued down the field. With a strong south wind she smelled the next trap from about 20 yards. She pointed then moved up and pointed again. I tossed a pigeon from the bird bag in front of her and flushed the bird in the release trap. She chased one a short distance and when she turned back I tossed another pigeon in front of her. She really got excited with 3 birds in the air.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

On the way back I put her on the retrieving bench. I fed her about 5 or 6 chunks of the hot dog while she was running up and down the bench. So far, she has only jumped off one time. With the hot dog chunks she is happy to be on the bench. We went back to the kennel. I have a stump outside the kennels that I sat on, held her in my lap and fed her a couple of hot dog chunks. After petting her for a while I put her in her kennel.

I will continue to work both of these young dogs, Annie is 13 weeks old and Bodie will be 3 years old the 30th of June, because that’s what I do. I enjoy working the dogs and I may start the other dogs on being steady to wing and shot, too.

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The Training Of Annie

Posted on May 8, 2024 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

With all of the rain we have been getting, it’s hard to find time to work with Annie, other than just taking her for walks and throwing dog food in the grass. But these work well to get her used to going with me and the dog food in the grass makes her use her nose a lot. Some of the time I put a short check cord on her and when I call her name I draw her to me. I don’t expect her to come each time but with the check cord I can enforce the recall.

Annie waking a pigeon to fly away.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

Annie searching for the pigeon.

A few days ago, as we walked by the retrieving bench I placed Annie on it. I have a chain and pulley system hooked to a cable that runs the length of the bench. I start getting them used to the bench early in their life. I hooked the chain to her collar and walked down the bench. She followed along for a little while then decided to jump off. The chain stopped her, but she was struggling to get back on the bench. I helped her. We walked up and down the bench and she never tried to get off again. A lot of times the dogs try a second time, but I don’t think I’ve ever had one try three times.

When the dogs are on the bench they can smell my breath. They enjoy smelling your breath when you are happy but they don’t enjoy smelling it when you are mad. I put her on the ground to run.

Several times I have put pigeons to sleep in the tall grass so she can find them. Now I’ve done it enough that she really watches me to see where I’m hiding one. In fact, on the way to my tall grass strips Annie was trying to attack the bird bag that I had the pigeons in. She is about ready for the pigeons to be placed in release traps.

To put a pigeon to sleep, I place his head under a wing and straighten the legs out. I don’t pull hard on the legs just straighten them until the pigeon relaxes then lay it on the side that has the head under the wing. The pigeon will stay for several minutes unless something wakes it. Sometimes on really windy days, with everything shaking, they won’t stay asleep very long.

When Annie got a little way ahead of me, this morning, I hid a pigeon in the tall grass. We had a pretty strong breeze, and she smelled the bird right away and pounced on it. While she was mouthing that pigeon, I put another to sleep a little farther down the strip. The pigeon she was mouthing got away and flew close to the ground for a long way with her right behind. She doesn’t always chase but she ran this one about 50 yards.

Annie finding dog food.

She came back just in time to find another bird real close to where she had found the other. She pounced on it. She tried to pick it up but she isn’t big enough yet. This bird got away and flew into a tree just above where it was hidden. Annie stood in her tracks and watched this one sitting in the tree.

Annie has already figured out that if she is going to find a bird it’s going to be in the tall grass strips. But she also knows who controls the birds. She doesn’t get very far from me. I snuck another bird into the tall grass. It’s hard to tell if she has a good nose or not. Just about the time I place the bird she pounces on it. When this bird got away it flew low and slow. Annie chased for 40 or 50 yards.

I had one more pigeon, but Annie was sticking to me. Finally, I got an opportunity to hide the bird. She pounced on it, immediately. It got away and flew to a low limb on a nearby tree. Annie stood and watched it. We went back to the kennel area.

When I put the bird bag in the shed, I got some adult dog food and tossed it in the grass near where I had a chair. In my opinion a lot of dog training is sitting close to the pups letting them get used to me. Along with her smelling the birds and the dog food, Annie was rewarded for using her nose over 20 times.

Annie finding dog food in the grass.

Annie is 78 days old and has been exposed to a lot of pigeons. I started her at about 8 weeks old with lock wing birds. After she got too aggressive with them, I started putting them to sleep so they could escape her, but she could still think she was going to catch them. She’s now bird crazy. That’s what I wanted.

Now a little on Bodie. I had to have a toe removed from his right front paw. I think sometime when he jumped onto his house he had got the toe hung in the chain link fence. The toe stuck straight up. All during the season last year it would be bloody at the end of the day. I thought during the off season it should be removed.

The vet removed it and I kept him in the basement, in a small cage, for several days then moved him to a raised pen. After the stitches were out, I returned him to his kennel. In a couple of days, he was limping on his good front leg. I think when he jumped off his house he was not using the sore foot. All of his weight on the good leg made it sore. I put him back in the raised pen. In a couple of days he was fine. I turned him out to run a couple of times a day. No limping.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

After about 10 days I put him back in his kennel. In 2 days, he was limping again. So last night I did what I should have done in the first place. I fixed his house where he can’t jump onto it. I like having the houses where the dogs can jump onto them. I don’t have to bend to put collars on or when I medicate them but it’s going to be a long time before Bodie will be ready for this.

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Some Off Season Dog And Kennel Maintenance

Posted on April 28, 2024 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

Last season I loaned Bodie to a friend that was dogless for the season. Bodie is young and needed to be into birds. Vince got him into a lot. And Bodie learned a lot and became a good bird dog. But he had, at some time or other, broken a toe. The toe stuck straight up. All season, after the first few days, the toe would be sore and bleed. Bodie never acted like it hurt him but sooner or later he would get an infection or because of the pain quit hitting the tough cover. I talked to my vet about removing the toe.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

Bodie honoring the backing dog.

Bodie pointing a covey.

After the toe was removed I kept Bodie in the basement in a wire cage. I had to take him out several times a day and make sure the wrap didn’t get wet or contaminated in any way. The bandage, the vet put on, only stayed over night and I had to re-wrap it every day and sometimes more often. I have a raised kennel that I keep puppies in sometime. After 5 days I put Bodie in the raised pen where he could have some room to move around without getting the wound dirty. When I took him back to get the stitches out the vet, to my complaint about Bodie not leaving the bandage on, said, “Dogs shouldn’t have operations. No matter what they will take the stitches out”.

But when the stitches came out the vet was mildly surprised at how good he looked. I asked about how long before he was able to run and he said anytime. I put Bodie back in his regular kennel. I watched his wound, checking it each day. Bodie probably broke the toe jumping onto his house, which is inside his kennel, and getting the toe hung in the chain link. After a few days Bodie was limping on his good leg. I think he was jumping on and off of his house and favoring the leg that had been operated on. In a day or so he was limping on both front legs.

I knew I had to do something. I put him back in the raised pen to keep him from jumping off his house. I let him run today for the first time after two days in the raised pen. He ran fine, with no limps, for a little while then started limping again. He is a lot better than before and I will keep him in the raised pen for another week or so. I will let him run every day for a few minutes and even when he doesn’t limp I will not put him back in his regular kennel until I’m sure he’s well.

Some of maintenance of the kennel is replacing dogs. Or at least starting some more puppies. My cousin, Jim Smith, bought a female pup off me several years ago. She became a first rate bird dog and some people are calling her a blue hen. Blue hen refers to most of her pups, no matter the sire, make good bird dogs. She is Mann’s mother and he is one of the best bird dogs I’ve ever owned. Jim had another litter this spring and I bought a female from him out of Mann’s mother but a different sire.

Annie playing with a pigeon.

Neither Jim nor I field trial much. Both of us have a few times but not enough to understand all of the nuances. Jim had a couple of 10 months old pups entered in a walking field trial in north east Oklahoma. Since my pup, Annie, was almost 8 weeks old and the field trial was about half way between my house and his I met him at the field trial. I got there in time to watch him run the first pup and I rode in the dog wagon. He finished with his second pup about 12:30.

I played with Annie and almost everyone that walked by needed to pet her. Jim and I talked for a while and were close to where the judges and participants were eating lunch. We started back toward the trucks and I was getting ready to leave. One of the guys said they are going to give the placements in the amateur derby. Jim, at 83 years old, with two 10 month old pups had won first and second in the amateur walking derby. These two were half brother and sister to my puppy. Same mother different sire.

So now I have this almost 10 week old puppy to play with. My plan is to write a post each week telling what we have been doing toward getting her trained as a bird dog.

Annie with a pigeon.

So far, since she has been here, I’ve been socializing her. She had never worn a collar and I put one on her. She scratched at it for a while then accepted it. I’ve not worked her on any commands except “here”. She comes fairly well. I have locked the wings on a pigeon and let her play with it. The first time she did a lot of barking and would run at the pigeon without touching it. Then she finally pulled it around a little by the feathers. I took it from her and let it fly. She liked that.

The second time I locked the wings on the pigeon Annie didn’t even slow down. She ran full tilt and pounced on the pigeon. She was so aggressive that I turned the pigeon loose. A little later I put a pigeon to sleep close to the kennels. Annie was running around and smelled the pigeon. She went right to it, it woke up and flew away. Annie chased a short distance.

Annie finding dog food in the grass.

Most days I walk Annie to the back of my property. She sometimes is ahead of me and sometimes behind. I have left 3 strips of grass to grow without mowing it. They are only 3 to 5 feet wide but real long. Two different times I have taken a bag of birds with us and hid one in the grass. The first time or two I had to let her stumble over the birds but after that I can see her use her nose. She will smell the pigeon and start trying to find it. Young puppies have to learn to use the nose just like anything else.

A lot of times I sit and watch Annie play. Usually, close to where my chair is I spread dog food in the grass. Not her regular food but the food I feed the grown dogs. Another thing to help her learn to use her nose.

I have put out 6 pigeons for her and after the first two she usually will flash point, then move a little closer to find the bird. The bird flies away. I will do this for a while before putting the pigeons in the release traps. I really enjoy watching the young dogs learn.

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New Way Of Training My Dogs

Posted on April 2, 2024 by windypointsj1s@aol.com

As I get older it gets harder to cover the ground that I need to in order for the dogs to get enough exercise in a day. When I first started hunting it was nothing to cover 12 or more miles in a day. Now as I approach 80 years old it’s way harder. I can still get 5 to 7 miles in on a good day, sometimes more. Around home, when I’m training, I often use my 4-wheeler. But with the 4-wheeler, only one person can comfortably ride.

The new ride.

Abby honoring Sally.

Boss on point.

Well, hopefully, I solved some of my problems by buying a Can Am Commander Max XTP. It will haul 4 people and will follow the dogs on most of the places I hunt. I can only use it on private land but I will at least be able to get the dogs into better shape.

Vince Dye and I took the “buggy” and all 5 dogs, Abby, Sally, Boss, Bodie and Mann, to some private land in Northern Missouri. The temperature was about 23 degrees with a strong north wind. We put the e-collars and GPS collars on all 5 dogs and turned them loose. Other than the 4-wheeler these dogs had never been run in this manner.

It made no difference to Mann. Before I got the collars on all 5 dogs he had gone hunting. Sally and Abby went in front of the buggy but kept looking for me. Bodie was hunting in the opposite direction from Mann and Boss was following about 15 yards behind the buggy. Vince was watching the dogs on the GPS handheld and in just a few minutes it showed Mann on point, ahead of us about 200 yards.

I started to him through the thick, tall CRP. I was watching closely to keep from running over a dog. Boss was still following the buggy. I must have got too close to Mann. Vince said, “three quail just flew over the top of us.” I hadn’t seen them but I did see the dogs moving in front of us.

I stopped and waited to see if the dogs would come up with anything. Sally went on point across the draw from us and I drove across the dam of a small pond to get to her. Boss was still following. I saw Sally and I as I started to get out and go to her she started moving. Finally, Boss saw her and decided that he needed to be hunting. He got in front of the buggy and really started covering the ground. In approximately 5 minutes all of the dogs had figured out to stay in front of the buggy, except Bodie. He was about 600 yards in the other direction. I toned his e-collar.

Sally, Abby and Bodie honoring Boss.

Because we were in the buggy we were moving faster than the dogs were used to. Bodie started looking for me but wasn’t used to coming to the sound of the buggy. We went back down the other side of the draw and across to the fence row on the edge of the property. In the past we have found a covey in this area but not today. The dogs covered it well.

Bodie was still off a good way so we started toward him through some older CRP. The first CRP had a lot of wheat growing but this older CRP was mostly blue stem. The dogs got birdy and we had couple of flash points but we never saw any game birds. There may have been a pheasant or two running ahead of the dogs. As we came around the end Bodie got with us.

We went back into the newer CRP. This CRP is really thick in most places with huge heads of wheat growing. Back during the season there were at least 5 coveys using this 240 acres. The dogs use a lot of energy going through this. As we rode along in the buggy I told Vince that the dogs were getting tired. He said, “they aren’t in as good of shape as we are”.

Bodie honoring.

As we got close to the area where Mann had pointed on the first covey Boss went on point. When we got close I left the buggy and started to him. Before I got there I turned to look back and Abby, Sally and Bodie were behind me, honoring Boss. I took their picture and a couple of Boss. I kicked in front of Boss and nothing flushed. I released him and all of the dogs started trailing. Something had run out on us.

As we went on the other side of the draw Sally pointed with Abby honoring. Before I could get out she was moving. She and the other dogs trailed along the edge and one quail flushed well out in front of the dogs. With the strong wind and some wise quail they weren’t holding very well.

We went down the edge and when we got to a deep creek I wasn’t sure about crossing it in the buggy. Vince has one and has ridden in several states. He knows them really well. When I eased into the creek with the bank almost straight up in front of us, the buggy’s wheels were spinning. Vince told me to lock it in 4 wheel drive. Once I did it just walked up the bank without spinning a wheel. That’s my kind of vehicle. Later I took it to Arkansas and rode the trails for a weekend and learned it will go about anywhere you point it.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

The dogs were getting tired so we worked our way back to the truck. Vince and I took the e-collars and GPS collars off the dogs and put them in their boxes. Then loaded the buggy on the trailer. We were about frozen by this time. In the buggy with the heater going we had no idea that is was this cold. We had run the dogs for 2 1/2 hours and weren’t even tired. What a way to run dogs.

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