Traveling Pointing Dogs

It may have been, and probably was, more than a week from the last post I did with Annie. But I do work with her most days at least one time. Most of the days, I walk her morning and evening. Miss Annie is extremely hard headed. If she wants to do something she is very easy but when she doesn’t she is extremely defiant. I think some of this will make her a good bird dog but it’s a real pain to train her.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

Abby honoring Sally.

I have to recycle some pictures for a while until I get my pictures figured out. For some reason my computer decided to store the pictures in a place I can’t find. Hopefully, I will get this figured out soon. But I’m really low tech in a high tech world.

Now back to Annie. When I first got her she wouldn’t come to me at all. I had to chase her down to do most anything with her. I tried a lot of different things but the only thing that worked was cutting a hotdog in about 20 pieces and goiving her a chunk. I got her coming pretty good until this week. When I’m going to let her run of the evening I put a short check cord on her. I, also, put one on her of the morning. For the last few days she doesn’t want the check cord.

My routine of the evening is to let her play in the shade near a chair that I sit in. I throw some adult dog food in the grass and she has to use her nose to find the food. After she finds most of the dog food we walk to the back and return to the chair. She plays with sticks or anything she can find while I sit and occasionally call her to me. I save a few pieces of the adult food and let her eat it from my hand.

Most of the time she goes back to the kennel when I walk that way. A couple of days ago she wasn’t ready to go back and instead of coming with me she went toward my house. Or the garden. Or across the fence. She has figured out how long the check cord is and how to keep it just out of my reach.

Monday, after I turned all of the dogs into the big pen and fed and cleaned their runs, Annie wouldn’t let me put the check cord on her. After trying to catch her for a minute or so, I opened her kennel and she went right in. I went to my chair in the shade and sat for a while. She could see me from her kennel. She barked, wanting me to come release her. After a while I walked to the back and then came back to my chair. She barked some more. After a while I went to the house.

Yesterday evening I had the same thing. So I put her in her kennel and sat in my chair. This time she didn’t even bark, although she watched me. I ignored her. After a few minutes I walked to the back and then back to my chair. A child may have figured out what I was doing to it but she hasn’t. This evening I will try something different. I’m just not sure what.

Annie pointing a pigeon.

Both dogs, Annie and Bodie, are hooked to the chain gang when I work them both, each morning. I work Bodie first on 2 pigeons, one tied to a release trap and one on a short pole, and she can see what we are doing on the whoa barrel. Then I have 3 pigeons hidden for Bodie to point. We work them then I reload for Annie.

I have been letting the birds that we use on the barrel fly away before I take Bodie off the whoa barrel. Annie didn’t pay a lot of attention to the pigeons once they quit flying, before this morning. Today, I noticed that she was watching the pigeons that I was using with Bodie so I put one in a release trap and tied one to a pole. Annie stills shows a little reluctance to be aggressive with a bird in a release trap. Not every time but occasionally.

So this morning I put her on the whoa barrel with the two pigeons right in front of her. I picked up the short stick and let that pigeon fly around her then land right in front of the barrel. She was really watching. I flushed the bird from the release trap. No adverse reaction from Annie. I flew the bird on the short pole. I put the pigeon back in the release trap and flushed it 5 or more times. I flew the one on the short pole several times. Then I released the birds from the strings and let them fly from my hands right in front of her. She was excited.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

I took her off the barrel and we went hunting for the 3 birds I had hidden on the training grounds. She was running down an edge when she hit the scent cone. She pointed then moved away from the bird. Then she circled around and hit the scent cone again and pointed. This time when she moved I flushed the bird. After the bird flew away she went to the release trap. We went on to the neighbor’s side of the training grounds.

We had a pretty strong wind and she pointed from a long distance but then lost the scent and moved closer. She pointed again and when she took a step I flushed the pigeon. It flew into a tree just above the trap. She watched it for a while then we went back to hunting.

The next bird was hidden in a big clump of brush. The wind was from the south west and her first point was a long way away on the west side of the clump. The way the wind was blowing she couldn’t have been getting much smell. After a few seconds she went around the clump and the next time she was in the scent cone. She pointed hard but then took a step. I flushed the bird and it fluttered out of the release trap. It landed right beside the trap. Annie was after it. When she got close the bird flew but slowly and real close to the ground.

Bodie pointing a pigeon.

This must have been a young pigeon. It tried to land on a bush about 2 feet tall but it wouldn’t support the birds weight. All the time Annie is trying to catch it but it’s staying just a short jump ahead. The bird flew to the north with Annie right behind. Pretty soon the pigeon came flying back where I could see it and Annie was right behind. Finally, the pigeon got some altitude and lit high up in a tree. That was really good for Annie.

I have been putting Annie on the retrieving bench and styling her up and saying, “whoa” to her. She knows that she will get a chunk of hotdog several times on the bench so she is usually ready to be placed on the bench. In fact this morning she reared up on the bench.

When I placed her on the bench I styled her up and she did it pretty well. I gave her a hotdog chunk and went down the bench and did it again. I styled her up in 5 different spots on the bench, telling her, “whoa, whoa” over and over. Then when I take her off the bench I make her whoa on the ground. I tap her head and say, “Okay”. Now, she expects to whoa when she goes to the ground from the whoa barrel or the retrieving bench. We went back to my chair.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

After a while I wanted her to go back to the kennel. I started walking that way. She started toward my garden which is not the way I was going. I knelt down with a chunk of hotdog in my hand and called her to me. She came close but not to me. I cut the distance in half and held the hotdog out toward her. She reluctantly took the hotdog and I picked up the check cord. Had I not grabbed the check cord she would have left. I took her to her kennel and gave her another chunk of hotdog before she kenneled.

I worked Bodie on the whoa barrel then heeled him close to his first bird. I had been turning him loose at the whoa barrel and he would be on point by the time I got to his first bird. I wasn’t sure whether he was moving before I got there or not. This morning I heeled him close before turning him loose. He was running down the edge when he hit the scent cone and whirled and slid to a point. He looked good. I waited behind him, without moving, for several seconds before going to him. He never tried to move.

Annie finding dog food in the grass.

I went to him and stroked his sides. Then I kicked the cover in front of him. He never moved. I stroked his sides then held the check cord and flushed the pigeon. He never moved. I thought, “Boy, you are getting this. Almost steady to wing and flush.” I stroked him up and led him away.

When he got to the next bird it was almost a repeat of the first. He slammed into a point and looked good. I started toward him and he jumped in and I flushed the pigeon. But I was too slow. He caught the bird. I grabbed the check cord and the pigeon got away. I stood him where he should have stayed on point and told him to whoa. I walked around him kicking the cover. Then I stood in the shade for a while. Two more times I walked all around him kicking the cover and telling him to whoa. I made him stay on whoa for about 5 minutes before leading him way.

I was watching when he hit the scent cone on the next bird. He hit the scent cone and just locked up. I look at how the check cord is laying when I get to most of the points. Sometimes, I can tell whether the dog moved or not. This check cord was straight. He slammed on the brakes without turning either way.

Annie with a pigeon.

I stroked him up then kicked in front of him. He was steady. I held the check cord as I released the bird. And it’s a good thing I did. The bird hit a limb and fluttered a little and Bodie tried to pull my arm off. I set him back and whoaed him. After a few seconds I tapped his head and lead him away.

I don’t know why he decided to catch that pigeon in the release trap when he had been doing real well all week but he did. Maybe he was just mad at the pigeons. When he was on the whoa barrel I had flown several birds close to him and he couldn’t catch those. Maybe he knew he could beat me and catch one. I don’t know but we will keep working on it.

I have been working Annie most days, when it’s not raining, on pigeons hidden, in release traps, in the cover on both sides of the training grounds. Annie shows a little fear of the release traps. Some of the time she starts backing up as soon as she smells the bird. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to bother her. The more birds I flush the better she acts about the trap.

Annie pouncing on a pigeon.

Annie finding dog food in the grass.

Annie pointing a pigeon asleep in the tall grass.

I have started carrying some pigeons in the bird bag with me. When Annie points I toss a pigeon in front of her and then flush the bird from the release trap. She is hard focused on the pigeon from my hand and the release trap doesn’t bother her. But the last time I hid 3 birds in the release traps I left the bird bag, with 3 pigeons in it, on the side by side.

We were already to the training grounds when I remembered I didn’t have the bird bag, so we went on to the first bird. Just as soon as Annie showed that she smelled the pigeon I flushed it then encouraged her to chase it. She didn’t back up or try to get away from the release trap, at all. But she didn’t chase either. Just watched it fly away.

We continued down the training grounds then onto the neighbor’s side. The wind was wrong for us on this pigeon. She could go on three sides of the hidden bird but the wind didn’t let her smell the bird the first pass. Then the wind shifted just a little and she pointed. As soon as she pointed, I flushed the pigeon. It fluttered a little then flew real low in front of her. She thought she could catch this bird and I thought she would too. But the pigeon stayed just out of reach.

We had one more pigeon in a release trap hidden on our grounds. We started toward it. When she hit the scent on this bird she started trying to get behind me and I started backing up to keep her from it. I backed up for about ten yards then some brush stopped me. I started back toward the pigeon and Annie went in front and pointed. I flushed the bird and it just flew a few feet and landed on a low limb. She followed and jumped several times trying to get the bird. But it was a little too high.

We went back to the side by side and got the bird bag with 3 pigeons inside. Back to the training grounds but Annie is smart enough to know that I have birds and I will put one to sleep and hide it in the grass. She stayed right by my side for quite a while. Finally she got a little way ahead and I hid the pigeon. When she came back she smelled the bird and went straight to it. When she got close it flushed and flew away. She chased a short distance.

Bodie with a pigeon asleep in front of him.

We went on toward the back on the neighbor’s side. She got far enough away from me that I hid another bird in the tall grass. She pointed and stood for maybe 20 seconds before pouncing on the pigeon. She had a good grip on the pigeon but without breaking the skin. She partly kept it from getting away by lying on the bird with her chest. Then she moved a little and the bird got away. She chased this one quite aways.

I hid the next pigeon in the edge of some brush. Annie smelled it from quite a distance but just as she got close the pigeon awoke and flushed. It flew to a low limb and Annie was right behind it all the way. When the bird landed it fluttered a little and she tried to jump high enough to get the bird. I walked back toward the kennel and she followed after a few seconds.

On Saturday, June 1, I went to a puppy seminar in Toronto Kansas put on by Bud Moore and Justin Crook. I took Annie with me. This was about 2 hours and 45 minute’s drive, for me, each way. Annie has only been for short drives since I have brought her home. She needs to get used to riding in the dog box.

Sally

I got to the seminar a few minutes before it started and met a few of the people that were attending as well as Mr. Bud Moore. I had brought a tie out stake with me and tied Annie close to where 4 pointer pups were tied. Two of the pointers were a little older than her and two about the same age.

Bud talked about the Early Neurological Stimulation program for puppies from 3 days to 16 days which I have used on my last several litters. According to the literature the benefits of stimulation is (1)Improved cardiovascular performance (heart rate). (2) Stronger heart beats. (3) Stronger adrenal glands (4) More tolerance to stress, and (5) Greater resistance to disease. If you are interested in learning more about this it can be found on the internet under the Super Dog program. But if you are going to raise pups you need to know this.

Another shot of Boss honoring the backing dog.

Something new, for me at least, Bud talked about using different smells at the same ages as the Super Dog Program. The first sense puppies use are their noses. They can’t see until their eyes open at 10 days or so and they can’t hear until about 3 weeks. They find their mother and their litter mates by smell.

From 3 to 16 days put different things in the whelping box with the puppies. He saved a dry cow patty to put in the whelping box, 2 or 3 times he put a quail right in the whelping box with the puppies, a chunk of saddle blanket and anything he could think of to stimulate their nose. I’ve never done this with the puppies, but my next litter will have a lot of different things in the whelping box with the puppies.

Abby pointing Bodie honoring.

After discussing several other things, they, Bud and Justin, put a couple of pointer pups on a barrel and flushed pigeons in front of them. They had one pigeon tied to a pigeon pole and another on a short PVC handheld pole. They worked the older two pointer pups first then they put Annie on the barrel. Her attention span, although she really liked the pigeons, wasn’t as long as the older pups. In a couple more weeks, of her seeing pigeons several times a week, she will be as birdy as they are.

After working her on the barrel they had another bird on a pigeon pole out in some higher cover. I took Annie around where she was able to smell the pigeon although there was almost no wind. She pointed and I stroked her up. As I stroked her she wanted to move in and I restrained her with the check cord. Justin, when she moved flushed the pigeon. I lead her 180 degrees away from the bird then back to the barrel.

Bodie pointing a covey.

As we passed the barrel, she made a nice point on one of the pigeons that were resting on the ground. I didn’t know but Justin took our picture and sent it to me. I will try to get it into the post.

After lunch we watched as they put some more dogs on the barrel and worked with them. I have used a barrel some in the past, but this was the first time I had seen how someone else used the barrel. It’s been several years since I have used the barrel but I’m going to get mine going again.

When we got home, about 4:30, I put Annie in her kennel. About 5:30 I went in her kennel and she wouldn’t come to me. Usually, she comes to me and I pet her for a minute or so then put a short check cord on her and turn her loose. I left her in the kennel, turned the other dogs into the big pen and cleaned kennels and fed them. I went into Annie’s kennel and she came to me but wasn’t happy about it. I turned her loose, cleaned her pen and replenished her food pan.

Abby on point.

She usually eats some adult dog food that I toss in the grass in front of my chair. On this day she ate one piece then stayed away from me. She would play with a stick but keep her back to me. After a few minutes I started to the back of my yard. The very back is where I hide the pigeons for her. She stayed off to the side until we got all the way to the back then she finally came to me. I think she was mad because I had made her ride in the dog box for 2 hours and forty-five minutes each way.

There were people from several states, Texas, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, and maybe from other states, for sure and I think they all were ready to get going as soon as they got home. Bud and Justin did a really good job with the seminar, and I feel like I learned a lot. If you ever get the chance to go, do it. Thanks again Bud and Justin.

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.