I’m writing about dog training on 9/11/17 but this session was done on 9/7/11. I was gone over the weekend and couldn’t train. We are just a few days away from prairie chicken season, in Kansas, and I hope to have some posts about actually hunting the dogs.
A lot of people quit hunting quail when they got real scarce. (I’m not that smart.) One of these is my friend Mike Devero. He came over to watch me work the dogs so I showed him most of my tricks. After the training was over I put a pigeon to sleep in front of the kennel. The dogs are all running around and panting in their kennel. When I put the pigeon down in front of the kennel they all go on point and quit panting. As long as the pigeon lies there they will point. I woke the pigeon and it flew back to the coop. The dogs went back to running around in their kennel and panting.
I also told Mike about Tur Bo in a field trial and I wanted to take a picture of him. I called him back and when I held the camera up he posed. In the field trial he had a lot of style. The judge was on a horse right behind me and he laughed and said, “that’s the first time I’ve seen a dog pose for a picture.” I turned Tur Bo out and after just a few seconds called him to me and held up the camera. He stopped and I took his picture. Just to show Mike that wasn’t a fluke I held the camera up again and he stopped again.
When Mike got here I already had the backing dog out with two pigeons in front of it, two other pigeons hidden, one on my side and one on the neighbor’s side. I also had a pigeon in the bird bag. I put the e-collars around Sally’s neck and flanks and heeled her out of the kennel, with the piggin’ string. As we walked toward the training grounds I whoaed her and walked in front. I took the pigeon from the bird bag by the feet letting it flop for a few seconds. I placed the pigeon on the ground, on it’s back. The pigeon flipped over and flew real low right over Sally’s head. She turned to watch it fly by but didn’t move her feet. I shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move.
I heeled her about another 30 yards, whoaed her then released her to hunt. She went down a tree line on my side of the training grounds and when we next saw her she was on point along a strip of tall grass. I walked in front of her kicking the grass. I flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move. I put the piggin’ string around her neck and led her away. I released her to hunt.
The backing dog, with two pigeons in release traps in front of it, was in a little clearing. There were trees all the way around the clearing and when Sally saw the backing dog she honored. I walked in front of her kicking the cover. I flushed a pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover. I flushed the second pigeon, laid the backing dog down, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move. I slipped the piggin’ string around her neck and led her away. I released her to hunt.
Sally checked the available cover and found the last pigeon. She took a step as I walked up and I set her back. I walked in front of her kicking the cover, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move. I released her to run.
On the way back to the kennel, when she came close to us, I shot the blank pistol. Before I could say, “whoa”, she stopped. I went ahead and said, “whoa”. Dog training is about repetition and she is anticipating the whoa command to come after the shot by the blank pistol. It’s not necessary for me to say whoa now but I will as long as we are working in the yard. We went back to the kennel.
I reloaded the release traps, put the e-collars on Betsy and heeled her out. I whoaed her and took a pigeon from the bird bag by the feet letting it flap. I placed the bird on the ground on it’s back. When it flipped over and flew away she turned to watch it fly. When I shot the blank pistol I had forgotten to reload. I reloaded the blank pistol after setting her back as she had been before the pigeon flew. I shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” This time she didn’t move.
I heeled her away then released her to hunt. She pointed the bird on my side but was wagging. I knew she wasn’t getting any scent. What little wind we had was swirling and she had lost the scent. I tapped her head and she moved about two steps and went back on point. I walked in front kicking the cover, flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move. I led her away.
After I released her she checked the cover on my side then crossed to the neighbor’s side. When we got to the clearing, with the backing dog inside, she was honoring. I went in front of her kicking the cover. I flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move. I continued to kick the cover, flushed the other pigeon, laid the backing dog down, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move. I led her away.
I released her. As we got close to the last pigeon I saw her go on point. As we walked up she moved up to stand right over the top of the pigeon. I yelled, “whoa” and she stopped. I picked her up and set her back where she had originally pointed. I walked in front of her kicking the cover for a couple of minutes before I flushed the pigeon, shot the blank pistol and said, “whoa.” She didn’t move. I led her away.
I released her to run. I told Mike that she hadn’t been stopping on the blank pistol as Sally had but I would try anyway. I shot the blank pistol and before I could say, “whoa” she stopped. I stroked her sides and tapped her on the head. When we got back to the kennel she was pointing the pigeons on their coop. I put her in the kennel.
I’ve said it before but dog training is repeating the same thing over and over until the dogs do as you want. Friday prairie chicken season opens in Kansas and I can work them on wild birds, I hope. The dogs have gotten really good on the training grounds, now we will see how they do on the real thing.