I had a whole bunch of stuff to do this morning but when I woke up I decided to do a little dog training. It never got very cool but the dogs are always ready to get out. I put pigeons in release traps. Two of them were hidden on the training grounds and one was hidden in the north fence line.
Sally pointing a pigeon.
Betsy watching a pigeon that landed in a tree right beside her.
Tur Bo after the pigeon has flown.
I put the e-collars on Sally’s neck and flanks, snapped a long check cord to her regular collar and heeled her out of the kennel with a piggin’ string. Today, I was going to use the blank pistol. Sally and the rest of my dogs have had birds killed over them so the sound of the gun isn’t an issue. I’m going to shoot the pistol and say, “whoa” until the dogs start stopping when they hear the blank pistol go off.
I whoaed Sally a few times, walked out in front of her then heeled her away. Before we got to the first hidden pigeon I whoaed her and walked out front. I held the blank pistol behind me, shot the pistol and said, “whoa”. She didn’t move but there was more excitement.
I heeled her near to the bird hidden in the north fence line. I said, “whoa”, pushed a stake into the ground behind her and tied the check cord to it. I walked in front of her, dropped a pigeon from the bird bag, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. She didn’t move. I continued to walk back and forth in front of her, kicking the cover. I flushed the pigeon in the release trap, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. She still didn’t move. I pulled the stake, untied the check cord and heeled her away after stroking her sides and telling her what a good girl she is.
I heeled her near the retrieving bench, stopped and tapped her head to release her. There was almost no wind and she had trouble finding the first pigeon. She pointed within a few feet of the release trap but it was across the fence. I pushed the stake in the ground behind her and tied her check cord to it. I couldn’t get in front of her but I walked down the fence row kicking the cover. I dropped a pigeon from my hand, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. She didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover in the fence row, flushed the pigeon in the release trap, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. She didn’t move. I pulled the stake, untied the check cord, told her what a good girl she is and released her to run.
She was way ahead of me when she pointed the next bird. I came around a point and saw her on point. I got my stake out to put in the ground behind her and she moved up a step. I whoaed her and started to her and she moved again. By the time I got around the cover, the pigeon was in, she was standing right over the top of the release trap. Instead of picking her up and setting her back I grabbed the check cord and drug her out of the cover. I set her where she was on point at first. I pushed the stake in the ground behind her and tied the check cord to it. I walked in front of her and shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. She didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. She hit the end of the check cord moving forward. I set her back. I kicked the cover and shot the blank pistol. This time she didn’t move. I let her run back to the kennel.
I reloaded the release traps, put a couple of pigeons in the bird bag, and heeled Betsy out of the kennels. I whoaed her a couple of times before we got close to the pigeon in the fence row. One of the times I put her on whoa I shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. For her, that put a lot more excitement into the training. She wanted to move her front feet. I stroked her sides after setting her back then heeled her away.
When we got close to the bird hidden in the fence row I whoaed her. I pushed the stake in behind her and tied the check cord to it. I walked in front of her, dropped a pigeon from my hand, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. The blank pistol puts more excitement for her and her front feet did a little dance. I continue to walk around kicking the cover. I shot the blank pistol and she didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. Her front feet did their dance. I untied the check cord after pulling the stake and heeled her away.
Sally watching the pigeon in my hand.
When we got near the retrieving bench I released her to hunt. Sally had had trouble with the next pigeon hidden in the fence row so I had moved this one to another clump of cover on my place. Betsy ran by and whirled into a point. I went behind her and tied her check cord to the stake after pushing it into the ground. I walked in front, kicking the cover, dropped a pigeon from my hand, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. The pigeon flew to a tree about 3 yards behind Betsy. She turned and went on point. The pigeon was real low in the tree and I tried to make it fly. It just went higher in the tree. I turned her back around. She went back to pointing the bird in the release trap. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. She didn’t move. When the pigeon from the release trap flushed the bird in the tree flew away, too. I untied her and released her to hunt.
The next pigeon was on the other side of the training grounds and near the back. Betsy was checking every clump and went on point well off the next pigeon. I pushed the stake into the ground and tied the check cord to it. I walked in front of her and shot the blank pistol. I said, “whoa” and she didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon in the release trap, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. She didn’t move. I untied her check cord and let her run back to the kennel.
I put the e-collars on Tur Bo, snapped the check cord to his collar with a half hitch around his flanks and heeled him out of the kennel with the piggin’ string. Tur Bo is 4 years old and has quite a few birds shot over his points. I used him some as a guide dog, also. He’s used to moving when the bird flushes. Now I’m asking him to not move. Sally is just a year old and Betsy is two. Neither of them have had that many birds killed over them. It’s easier for them to give to this dog training. I know this going in but I’m still going to try to train him.
I whoaed him a couple of times then whoaed him and shot the blank pistol. He moved a couple of steps. I heeled him near the pigeon in the fence row, whoaed him, pushed the stake into the ground and tied him to it. I walked out front of him, dropped a pigeon from the bird bag in front of him, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. He hit the end of the rope and it tightened the half hitch around his flanks and he stopped. I went to him and set him back. I walked in front of him, dropped another pigeon from my hand, shot the blank gun and said, “whoa”. He hit the end of the rope, again, tightening the check cord around his flanks. I set him back again.
I walked around in front of him, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. He moved his front feet. I set him back. I walked around in front of him, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. Finally, he didn’t move. I walked down the fence row kicking the cover. He was farther from the pigeon in the release trap than either of the other two had been. I think this helped. I flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. He didn’t move. When I went back to the stake it was almost out of the ground. Had he hit it one more time he would have been free. I petted him then heeled him away.
The stake was almost out.
I heeled him near the retrieving bench, whoaed him then tapped his head for the release. He slid to a stop when he hit the scent of the first pigeon. I pushed the stake into the ground behind him and tied the check cord to it. I walked in front of him, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. He didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. He took the slack out of the check cord but didn’t make it tighten around his flanks. I set him back and shot the blank pistol a couple more times telling him to whoa after each shot. I pulled the stake, untied the check cord and released him to hunt.
He was way in front of me and was already on point when I came around a point and saw him. I pushed the stake into the ground and tied his check cord to it. I walked in front of him, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. He didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa”. He moved up with his front feet but didn’t take all of the slack out of the check cord. I set him back. I shot the blank pistol a couple more times telling him to whoa after each shot. I released him to hunt back to the kennel.
Dog training is a lot of repetition. I try to be as accurate as possible when I write the blog but I can’t keep track of all the times I shot the blank pistol for any of these dogs. I think, I shot the blank pistol at least 23 times for Tur Bo. It could have been more. I didn’t shoot that many times for the other two.
When I taught these dogs to “whoa” I hit the e-collar around their flanks with a real light stimulation until they were stopping as soon as they felt the stimulation. This should become the same thing. They will learn that when they hear the blank pistol I’m going to say, “whoa” so they will stop automatically. I don’t know how many repetitions it will take but I know it will take more for Tur Bo.
Sally on a pigeon.
Betsy pointing a pigeon.
Tur Bo pointing a pigeon.