Traveling Pointing Dogs

For me, this mornings force fetch was too good not to share. I don’t sleep well and some time last night I thought that Sally wasn’t really returning to me with the bumpers, on the retrieving bench, but was bringing them back to the milk carton I store them in. I thought I should reverse the retrieving process.

Sally The milk carton I store the bumpers in is behind her.

Sally

A really big bumper.

This morning when I put her on the bench after petting her from both sides, I whoaed her on the end of the bench, away from the milk carton. When I started to the other end to get bumpers she wanted to follow me. I had to whoa her again. I took 4 bumpers from the milk carton and placed them on the bench. I went back to Sally, petted her, waved my hand down the bench and said, “fetch”. She had no idea what to do. She started down the bench but came back. I walked down the bench with her, put my hand beside a bumper and said, “fetch” again. She scooped up the bumper and followed me back down the bench.

I petted her for a few seconds after she dropped the bumper in my hand then waved my hand down the bench and said, “fetch”. I walked with her but she grabbed a bumper and returned with me. I took the bumper then sent her for another. When she picked it up I clapped my hands loudly and got really animated. He tail was wagging when she gave me the bumper.

She retrieved all 4 bumpers twice each then I put her on the ground. I had put the 4 bumpers we were working with in a circle about 10 yards from the retrieving bench. I led her toward the first bumper and when we were close I said, “fetch”. She dropped her head but just nuzzled the bumper without picking it up. She circled me tangling the leash around my legs. I got her straightened out then led her to the bumper again. This time as we got close I held the button on the e-collar down on medium 1 and said, “fetch”. She grabbed the bumper. I knelt beside her, petted her and said, “give”. She dropped it in my hand.

I led her to the next and when we were close I held the button on the e-collar down again, still on medium 1. She grabbed the bumper and I had her carry it a few feet before I took it from her. She figured this out and started to enjoy herself. She retrieved the 4 bumpers twice then I had her do it one more time and instead of dropping the bumpers behind me I held on to them to return them to the milk carton. I carried 3 and had Sally carry the fourth back. I put my three in the carton and she held the one she had until I took it from her. I released her to run before going back to the kennel.

Most of the time I learn more from the dogs than they do from me. Maybe this whole time Sally was thinking that if I would just leave the bumpers in the carton she wouldn’t have to go get them and bring them back. But once we did it the other way where she brought them to me and we did the walking retrieve on the ground she started to understand the whole concept better. Maybe. I don’t know. But I do know she was a lot better this morning and it seems like she understands better.

Luke pointing a single.

Sally when she was a puppy.

Tur bo

The weather has been too warm to work dogs even early of the morning but I have been working Sally most mornings on force fetch. The dogs would still rather point the pigeons than do the force fetch but I need some dogs that will retrieve and I will have some cool mornings through out the summer to work dogs on birds, I hope.

Sally honoring.

Luke at Black Kettle National Grasslands.

20 gauge AYA No 2 and 4 quail.

I went back to pictures from the hunting season for this post because I haven’t been taking pictures of Sally when we are doing our force fetch.

I usually take her out of the kennel early of the morning. I heel her all the way to the retrieving bench so she won’t be panting. Most of the time this works or is at least better than letting her run and getting hot.

When she jumps on the bench I walk her back and forth, petting her. I use the retrieving bench for a loving bench, too. When the dogs are young I put them on the bench and just pet them. All of my dogs except Dolly will jump onto the bench to be petted. Dolly would jump onto the bench too except she’s too old. She can’t jump much of anywhere now but when I put her on it she is happy.

Now when I work Sally on the bench, after petting her I put her on whoa and place some bumpers on the other end of the bench. I pet her then as I say, “fetch” i wave my arm down the bench. She runs down the bench and scoops one up and runs back. I pet her for a few seconds before taking the bumper from her. Right now I have her working on 5 different bumpers. I will add some more as we go along.

After she retrieves them a couple of times I put her on the ground. Her favorite bumpers are the dowel rod bumpers. They are lighter and are off the ground. I set two of these bumpers beside the bench and try to get her to retrieve. It’s almost, like she has no idea about retrieving, the first few times.

A few weeks ago I changed her from the string around the toes to the e-collar around the neck. To change her, I wrapped the string around the transmitter on the e-collar and when I said, “fetch” I would pull the string and push the button on the transmitter. As soon as she took the bumper I let off the button and stopped pulling on the string. Because of her being collar conditioned on other commands she understood this, quickly.

It rained a little this morning so I was later in taking Sally to the retrieving bench than normal. I heeled her all the way to keep her from panting. I petted her from both sides of the bench then put her on whoa. I put 6 different bumpers on the other end of the bench. When I came back to her I petted her for a few seconds then said, “fetch” and waved my arm down the bench. She ran down the bench, grabbed one and ran back with it. She grabs them and whirls around so fast that occasionally she throws one off the bench. This morning I hit the button on the e-collar transmitter when she threw one off the bench and she turned and grabbed another bumper. That’s what I wanted. She has figured out that she needs to retrieve something when I say fetch, on the bench.

It’s a whole different game on the ground. After she retrieved all 6 bumpers twice I placed her on the ground. I had a 6 foot leash leash on her. I threw 3 bumpers on the ground right beside the retrieving bench. I held the leash, waved my arm toward the bumper and said, “fetch”. The first time she ran to the bumper, picked it up and returned to me holding the bumper. When I said, “give” she dropped it in my hand. I was elated thinking, “she has got this figured out”.

Dolly on point.

I petted her for a few seconds and sent her after another. She acted like she had never retrieved before. I held the button on the transmitter down on 1 medium. She walked around me tangling the leash around my legs. I bent over and held one end of the bumper off the ground and she grabbed it. I had her carry it for a little way then had her drop it in my hand.

I sent her to retrieve the third bumper and she scooped it up and came to me with it. She dropped it in my hand on the give command. I petted her for a few seconds.

I took the 2 bumpers that she had retrieved with no problem and threw them out again. But this time I moved away from the bench a few yards. She went to the first one when I said, “fetch”, picked it up and ran back. I petted her for a few seconds them said, “give”. She dropped it in my hand. I sent her for the second and she retrieved it just fine. I worked her on these two bumpers again then had her jump on the bench.

After petting her I put all 6 bumpers on the other end of the bench and had her retrieve them. She runs down the bench, grabs a bumper and runs back. She retrieved all 6 with no problems. I petted her and put her on the ground. I let her run for a while before taking her back to the kennel.

I’m hoping that by putting her back on the bench she will remember having done everything right instead of remembering the work on the ground. I like to put them up after they have done something right. Her work on the bench is progressing nicely and soon her work on the ground will be good too, I hope. It’s all about repetition.

Sally backing Tur Bo at Black Kettle Grasslands.

Sally near and Luke. Divided find.

Sally on point.

Now, it’s pretty warm even early morning. I got out about 7:00 am for a little dog training this morning. It was about 60 degrees which is better than later in the day. I worked Sally Jo for a little while on her force fetching. I put 5 bumpers on the end of the retrieving bench and sent her to retrieve. She was a little sloppy with one on the first 5 but she did the last 10 really well. She’s getting to enjoy retrieving on the bench. I set her on the ground and it’s all new to her. I did get her to pick the bumper up from the ground and bring it to me. A few more sessions and I think she will understand it better.

Sally with a pigeon asleep in front of her.

Tur Bo with a pigeon asleep in front of him.

Tur Bo watching a pigeon that is asleep in front of him.

I hope, I’m just a few days from having Sally do a walking retrieve. I can put 6 or more bumpers in a large circle and heel the other dogs around. When I get close to a bumper, say, “fetch” and have the dogs pick up the bumper. When I get to that point with Sally, I’m going to start having her and Tur Bo, after they point a pigeon and I flush it and shoot the blank pistol, retrieve a bumper. Later I will toss a frozen quail into cover and have them hunt dead. Hopefully, this will get them used to retrieving shot birds this fall.

After I worked Sally on the bench I put her back in the kennel and got some pigeons. I hid 3 in release traps on the training grounds and kept 2 in the bird bag. I heeled Sally out with piggin’ string dragging a check cord with a half hitch around her flanks. She had an e-collar around her neck, also.

I heeled her through the front yard then down the north side of my house. When we came by a tree I whoaed her, took the piggin’ string off and tied her check cord to the tree. I went in front of her, put a pigeon to sleep and placed it about 7 or 8 feet in front of her. She knows I’m going to do this but doesn’t get intense until I place the pigeon. I walk around the bird kicking the grass for a minute or so. I placed the bird so that it would fly away from her but it woke up on it’s on and the first thing it saw was me. I was really close so it flew right over the top of Sally. I shot the blank pistol. She turned her head to watch it fly away but didn’t move her feet.

I took another pigeon from the bird bag, put it to sleep and placed it even closer to Sally. She was intense. I kicked the grass for about a minute then rolled the pigeon over. It awoke and flew away. I shot the blank pistol and she never moved. I untied the check cord, petted her and heeled her away. When we got close to the training grounds I released her to hunt.

She hit the south edge of my place and ran it to the back, crossed over and brought the north edge back then crossed to the neighbor’s side. We went toward the back on his side and when I came around a clump of brush she was on point. (It helps to be the one to put the birds out. I know where she is going to find the birds.) I took some pictures then tied her check cord to a tree. I went in front of her kicking the brush. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She didn’t move. I petted her then untied the check cord. I heeled her away and released her to hunt.

She crossed back to my side and ran to the west for a little way then came back and started to the north. She hit the scent cone and slammed on the brakes. I petted her then tied the check cord to a tree. I kicked the bushes in front of her, flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She turned her head to watch the pigeon fly away but didn’t move her feet. I petted her, untied the check cord and heeled her away. I released her to hunt.

She checked my side out then crossed back to the neighbor’s side. It’s hard to hide a pigeon somewhere where I have never hid one before but I think I did this morning. It didn’t matter to her when she hit the scent cone she just locked up. I tied the check cord to a tree, petted her and walked in front of her kicking the bushes. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She turned her head but didn’t move her feet. I heeled her away. I let her run before taking her back to the kennel.

Sally in Oklahoma on quail.

I reloaded the release traps and put a couple of pigeons in the bird bag. I heeled Tur Bo out with the piggin’ string dragging a check cord with a half hitch around his flanks. We went to my front yard then turned to the west on the north side of the house. When I passed a tree I whoaed him. I had worked him in the same place last time and he went on whoa before I said anything. I petted him then tied his check cord to a tree.

As I started to put the pigeon to sleep he went from whoa to being on point. I placed the pigeon on the ground about 8 or 10 feet in front of him. I walked around the pigeon kicking the grass. I woke the pigeon and shot the blank pistol as it flew away. He did the dance with his front feet but didn’t try to chase.

I put another pigeon to sleep and placed it about 6 feet in front of him. This was close enough to make him think he could get this one. He moved up a step. I set him back and walked around the pigeon kicking the grass. I woke the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t move. I petted him, untied the check cord and heeled him away.

When we got close to the training grounds I released him to hunt. He ran the edge on my side then crossed to the neighbor’s side. When I found him on point he was in the same spot that Sally had been. I tied the check cord to a tree and went around the clump of brush. This put the pigeon between Tur Bo and me. I spent about a minute kicking the cover. He didn’t move until I flushed the pigeon. The bird came fluttering out of the release trap and he thought he could catch it. He was almost right. The pigeon flew toward him then turned to the north. Tur Bo was right behind it. When the bird flew toward him it gave Tur Bo more slack in the check cord. Just about the time he caught the pigeon the check cord stopped him. The pigeon flew away. I set him back. I kicked the cover for a while then untied his check cord and heeled him away. I released him to hunt.

Tur Bo pointing a single.

He crossed back to my side, ran the edge to the west then came back and as he turned north hit the scent cone and went on point. I tied the check cord after petting him. I went in front of him kicking the bushes. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He turned to watch the bird fly away but didn’t chase. I untied his check cord and heeled him away. I released him to hunt.

He checked all of the spots that he had found birds before and was on the way back to the kennel when he hit the scent cone on the last pigeon and went on point. I tied his check cord to a tree, petted him then went in front kicking the bushes. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He moved to the end of the check cord. Without the check cord he would have chased. I set him back. After I kicked the bushes I untied the check cord and heeled him away. I released him to run before taking him back to the kennel.

Sally is doing pretty good on this exercise but Tur Bo is doing his on thing. I may go back to a e-collar on his flanks to keep him from moving. If them being steady to wing, shot and fall was really important to me I would really come down on him. He is bold enough to take some stress on being steady but it’s not that important, to me. I want them to let me walk in front and flush the birds. That is the most important thing for me. They are both at that point.

Tur Bo pointing a pigeon.

Sally pointing a pigeon.

Sally on a sleeping pigeon.

I have been working Sally on the retrieving bench each day, with exception of Sunday, but on 5/2/18 I did some dog training with her and Tur Bo. Sally is doing pretty well on the retrieving bench. She is going down the bench, picking up the bumper and returning to me without me walking down the bench, most of the time. Occasionally, I have to either walk down the bench or hit the button on the e-collar. I’m still using a 1 medium on the e-collar. A little more repetition and she will be going to the ground on her retrieving.

Tur Bo with a pigeon asleep in front of him.

Sally with a pigeon asleep in front of her.

Sally is really intense.

I hid 3 pigeons, in release traps, on the training and put 2 pigeons in the bird bag. I heeled Tur Bo out of the kennel with an e-collar around his neck, pulling a check cord with a half hitch around his flanks. I heeled him through my front yard and as I passed a tree I said, “whoa”. I tied the check cord to a tree. I went back in front of him and took a pigeon from the bird bag. I put the pigeons head under a wing, straightened it’s legs out and placed it down, in front of Tur Bo, on the wing that it’s head was under.

I walked around the pigeon kicking the grass. Tur Bo was really watching that pigeon. The first few times I did this with him he hit the end of the check cord. The first time he hit the end of the check cord 4 times, really hard. Today, he knew better. He didn’t move until I woke the pigeon by rolling it over with my foot. The pigeon flew right over the top of his head and he jumped trying to catch it but he didn’t hit the end of the check cord. I shot the blank pistol and then set him back.

I put another pigeon to sleep and placed it a couple of feet closer to him than the other one. I walked around this pigeon kicking the grass. I kicked the fence that was close and some bushes that grew in the fence line but he only had eyes for the pigeon. I rolled the pigeon over with my foot and it flew right over the top of Tur Bo. I shot the blank pistol. He turned sideways to watch the pigeon but didn’t try to chase. I set him back. I untied the check cord and heeled him away.

I heeled him toward where I had hidden the pigeons on the training grounds. I whoaed him and tapped his head to release him to hunt. He knows where the bird field is and doesn’t take long to get there.

He went down the side and crossed over to the neighbor’s side. When I got close he was on point at the back. I tied his check cord to a tree, petted him and walked in front kicking the cover. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He did a little dance with his front feet but didn’t try to chase. I set him back, untied the check cord and heeled him away. I released him to hunt.

He raced back toward the front and when I got close I could see him through the brush. I took some pictures and watched him for a while to make sure he wasn’t moving, after going on point. I tied his check cord, petted him and walked in front kicking the bushes. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He did his dance but didn’t try to chase. I heeled him away. I released him to hunt.

He checked all of the neighbor’s side then crossed back to my side. When I saw him he was standing almost on top of the release trap. I could see by the way the check cord was that he had gone in with the wind as was on top of the release trap when he got the scent. I carried him back and whoaed him. Actually, I led him back and whoaed him. He’s too big to carry unless there is no brush or heavy cover. I tied his check cord to a tree. I kicked the cover making him stay on point longer than normal, then flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. He didn’t try to chase. I petted him then heeled him away after untying the check cord. I let him run before taking him back to the kennel.

Sally on point.

I reloaded the release traps and put a couple of pigeons in the bird bag. I led Sally out, with the e-collar around her neck, pulling a check cord with a half hitch around her flanks, with the piggin’ string. We went from behind my house through the front yard and when we passed a tree on the side yard I whoaed her. I tied the check cord to a tree and came back in front of her. I took a pigeon from the bird bag, put it to sleep and placed it about 6 or 8 feet in front of her. I walked around the pigeon kicking the grass. I rolled the pigeon over and when it woke up it flew right over the top of Sally. She didn’t jump for the pigeon as Tur Bo had she just turned and watched the pigeon fly away. I shot the blank pistol.

I set her back. I took the other pigeon from the bag and placed it in front of her after putting it to sleep. I walked around the pigeon kicking the grass. It dawned on me that I had been placing the pigeons where they would be facing the dog when they woke up. I turned this bird around and woke it up. It flew away from Sally instead of over the top of her. Dog training is sometimes trainer training. I shot the blank pistol. She didn’t move. I untied her check cord, petted her and heeled her away. I released her to hunt.

She ran down the side, across the back and came back up the other side then crossed to the neighbor’s side. When I got near the back she was on point. I tied the check cord to a tree, petted her then walked in front kicking the cover. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She didn’t move. I untied the check cord, petted her and heeled her away. I released her to hunt.

Tur Bo on point.

She checked most of the places that I had ever hidden pigeons, for her before, as we went back toward the front. I saw her through some brush on point. It made for a good picture. I tied her check cord, petted her and walked in front kicking the bushes. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She didn’t move. I untied the check cord, petted her and heeled her away. I released her to hunt.

She checked the neighbor’s side then crossed back to my side. When I got close to the last pigeon she was on point. I tied the check cord to a tree, petted her then walked in front kicking the cover. I flushed the pigeon and shot the blank pistol. She didn’t move. I untied the check cord, petted her and heeled her away. I released her to run before going back to the kennel.

Dog training is repetition. Each of these last few posts have almost been the same because we are doing almost the very same thing, time after time. I’m not sure if I will ever get Tur Bo where he won’t do his dance with his front feet and it doesn’t really matter. On wild birds, I don’t care if they move after the birds flush but I think if they are trained steady to wing and shot on pigeons they will be more steady on wild birds. I hope.

Tur Bo on point.

Sally on point.

Tur Bo on point.