I must have been excited just thinking about the cool weather this morning. I woke up an hour before my alarm went off. I had to wait on the sun to come up before going out. It was almost cold riding the 4-wheeler but this is what I’ve been waiting for. I could have trained yesterday morning since it was fairly cool then but I had already decided to get rabies shots for Mann, Abby, Josie and Boss. Luke and Sally have one more year on their shots.
Some of the new pigeons in the coop.
Boss on whoa with me standing in front of him.
Mann looks good just standing in his kennel.
I have been working Boss on heel and whoa. I have him jump onto his house and I put the e-collars around his flanks and neck. The e-collars aren’t even turned on but I want him to think that when he gets the e-collars on it’s time to have fun. We have walked around my yard several times and just the last few times have I been saying, “heel and whoa”. Today after heeling him to near the highway in front and across the yard I started trying to get in front of him without him moving.
At first when I took a step in front of him he wanted to come with me. That’s the way we started. At first I didn’t say anything. I just stopped, then when I took a step he was supposed to follow. Now I’m saying, “heel and whoa” and expecting him to stay put after I say, “whoa”.
I started holding my hand up like a traffic cop and saying, “whoa” then stepping in front of him. After a few times he was getting it most of the time. He still has to try different things to see what works. In a few days I will be walking around him while he stands and watches, I hope.
When we got to the back I turned him loose for some happy times. I rode the 4-wheeler while he ran to the front then to the back a couple of times. When he came to me I petted him for a while then put him back in his kennel.
I heeled Josie out with the e-collars on her neck and flanks and she was dragging a long check cord. For her and Abby the e-collars are turned on. As we went toward the highway Boss started barking. I told him to hush but as long as we were in sight he barked. Josie and I walked to near the highway and across the front. When we got within sight of the kennels Boss started barking, again.
I yelled, “hush” a couple of times to no avail. When we got to one of my place boards, across the yard from the kennels, I whoaed her on the board. I marched toward Boss with my fists clenched, swinging my arms across my body. He knew I was mad. As I got close to the kennel he started backing up. I shook the kennel, kicked the chain link and screamed at him to hush.
I walked back to Josie who was still on whoa at the place board. She had not moved. I petted her and told her what a good dog she is. I heeled her away.
Boss.
I train my dogs to come with the tone on my Garmin e-collars. When I put Josie on whoa then call her to me, she comes real slow. Part of the reason is because I sometimes whoa her in the middle but she just does things slower than some of my dogs. So this morning I whoaed her and walked about 30 feet in front of her and called her. As soon as I said, “here” I hit the tone on the e-collar. She came in a hurry.
I don’t always call her to me off whoa. Some of the time I walk a circle, kicking the cover or walk way out front then back to her. I don’t want her anticipating or self releasing off whoa. When we got to the back I let her free run back to the kennel. I let most of the dogs run in front of the 4-wheeler but Josie doesn’t like the 4-wheeler. I put her in the kennel.
As I started toward the highway with Abby I could hear Boss whining but he didn’t bark. I heeled and whoaed Abby several times in our walk to the front, across the yard then to the back. Some of the time I walked circles around her kicking the cover and several times I called her to me. Abby comes to me in a hurry but I also used the tone a couple of times to get her used to it, also.
Abby on whoa waiting for the next command.
Boss was still whining but he didn’t bark as we worked on the place board across from the kennels. A few days ago I worked Abby on “whoa” and “here”. When we got close to the back and called her to me off of a whoa command she bypassed me and went to the back. She came back to me in just a few seconds and I took her straight to her kennel. She didn’t get much work that day and no happy time. Today she came to me each time. A smart dog will learn from their mistakes. There are consequences.
When we got to the back I turned her loose and let her happy time. When we got back to the kennel area I got on the 4-wheeler and run her to the back and around the house several times. She likes running in front of the 4-wheeler. I put her in the kennel.
I waited until just before I cleaned kennels and fed dogs of the evening to work Sally and Mann on retrieving. They both have been force broke to retrieve but neither one really likes it. Both do better on fresh shot birds than they do on the bumpers.
Josie on the place board.
I have decided to try treats to see if they will learn to like to retrieve. Usually, dogs will learn to like anything that they are trained to do. I cut one hot dog into 18 or 20 pieces. When they do everything right they get a chunk (well maybe a sliver) of hotdog.
I put an e-collar around Mann’s neck and heeled him out with the piggin’ string. I had one of Dokken’s quail looking bumpers. I tossed it and Mann ran out, tried to pick it up but came back without it. I hit the transmitter on 2 medium and he went back, grabbed the bumper and brought it to me. I took it and tossed it again.
This time he ran right out, grabbed it and brought it back. I made him hold it for a few seconds then said, “give”. He dropped it in my hand. I gave him a sliver of hotdog. I tossed it again. He ran out grabbed it and came back. This time he dropped it when he got to me and was expecting some hotdog. I made him pick up the bumper. He didn’t get any hotdog.
After that he did 5 or 6 retrieves in a row, correctly so I let him run to the back then around the house and to the back again with me on the 4-wheeler. I put him in the kennel.
Boss on the place board.
Sally is just coming into heat so I will work her after Mann has done his retrieves. I put the e-collar on her and heeled her out. I tossed the bumper and when she got near it she couldn’t find it. I hit the transmitter on medium 2 and walked out near the bumper with her. She was able to find it. When she picked it up I walked slowly back to where I had been when I tossed the bumper. She held the bumper until I said, “give”. She didn’t get any hotdog.
I tossed the bumper again. She ran out, picked it up and came back. I made her hold it for several seconds then said, “give”. She dropped it in my hand. I tossed it several times and she retrieved it correctly each time. Both of these dogs know what to do but they aren’t sure I know what they should do. When she did it correctly she got hotdog slivers.
After 6 or 7 good retrieves I let her run to the back and around the house a couple of times then put her in the kennel.
My new pigeons have been in the coop for about a week. They were, mostly, young rollers. In about another week I’m going to set a couple out on the ledge, in front of where they can come back into the coop, to see if they will come back. If I lose the first one’s I’ll wait a while but I hope they come back. When they start coming back I can go back to working dogs on birds.