Tur Bo pointing a pigeon.
Tur Bo on a pigeon.
Tur Bo on a pigeon.
Tur Bo is 3 years old today. I took him, along with 6 pigeons, to the county park a couple of miles from my house. When I let him out of the box, he stands on the tail gate, waiting for me to put the e-collars on him. I heeled him to the edge of the field and whoaed him. I tapped his head to release him.
This field is mostly tall fescue with a sprinkling of taller weeds. Tur Bo knows this game pretty well and he doesn’t get very far away from me. But he has a lot of energy so he runs from one side to the other. After we got into the field about a hundred yards I whoaed him. I took a pigeon from the bird bag and tried to put it to sleep. As soon as I put it down it woke up. The third time it finally stayed asleep.
I put the pigeon pretty close to Tur Bo. I walked back and forth in front of him then took another pigeon from the bag. I held it behind me so he couldn’t see it in my hand. I dropped it. He watched it fly away without moving. I continued walking back and forth in front of him. I took another pigeon from the bag and dropped it. Again, he watched it fly away without moving. I kicked the grass then woke the pigeon in front of him. He watched it fly away without moving.
We went on through the field and at the very end I hid a pigeon in the grass. When he got close to me I said, “look close”. He started casting back and forth. When he hit the scent cone he was within 5 feet of the bird. He slammed into a point. I kicked the tall weeds and slipped a pigeon from the bag. I dropped it and he watched it fly away without moving. I continued to kick the tall grass and woke the pigeon up. It fluttered as it came up and Tur Bo went with it. He didn’t catch it but he got close. I held the button on the flank collar down until he stopped. I picked him up and carried him back. When I set him down I said, “whoa”. I still had a pigeon so I took it out and dropped it. He didn’t move as it flew away. He hunted back to the truck.
Dog training takes a lot of patience of which I have some. It helps that I’m doing this for myself. If someone was paying me I would have to make it happen quicker so there would be stress on me and the dog both. As it is, I have a long time. However long Tur Bo and I live.
Tur Bo
Tur Bo
TurBo pointing a pigeon