Blaze
Tur Bo
Luke
Usually I write more than I have these last 5 or 6 weeks. In January I was diagnosed with Basal Cell Carcinoma. When I was young and working at Allis Chalmers I had an accident that cut my head open. About 6 or 7 years ago an indention appeared by the scar from the accident. I asked a couple of doctors about the indention and they both said it was no big deal. In January a dermatologist did a biopsy on it and it came back as Basal Cell Carcinoma. If you have to have cancer that’s the kind to have. The cancer was all through the scar so when it was removed March 16 it was a large spot on the very top of my head.
Then on March 31 the doctors cut my scalp and pulled the skin over the top of the hole where the cancer had been removed. The doctors don’t want me to lift anything heavy, strain much or bend over for very long. I think they will probably release me when I go back May the first.
The reason I went into this, I showed the indention to 2 doctors that didn’t recognize it as a problem. The dermatologist said almost every time he saw an indention, such as I had, it was cancerous. If doctors can’t recognize skin cancer when they see it the average person sure can’t. If you have any suspicious spots go to a dermatologists. When I first felt the indention on my head, six years ago, a dermatologist might have recognized it as cancer and it would have been much smaller.
Now to the dog tales or dog tails. Blaze started pointing pigeons when she was only about 8 or 10 weeks old. When she went on point she had a twelve o’clock tail. I worked her on pigeons a lot and before she was a year old she was pointing wild quail. She always had a high tail and high head. In the off season after the first year I worked her on pigeons and she looked like a million dollars on point. Her second season there wasn’t a lot of quail but she still pointed some and looked good doing it.
Some time last year she decided to start wagging when she pointed. It started out with just a little then progressively got to be more. It was like she was saying, “here they are boss. I’ve got’em. Come on boss. Hurry”. It wasn’t a big deal for me as a bird hunter but if I have puppies out of her and someone wants to field trial them a wagging tail is a big fault.
This was a learned habit. If she had of started off wagging that might be something in the genetics but hers came on later. I got to thinking about it and decided I could get her to stop wagging.
When I started whoa breaking her I walked with her at heel and would stop. She would stop when I did then we would start again. At first I didn’t say heel or whoa. I would walk for a few steps then stop. When she got to where she anticipated me stopping I started saying heel and whoa. I walked her at heel all the way around my yard which is over 1/2 mile heeling and whoaing her every few feet. From the first I would put an e-collar on her neck and flanks. Usually at first I wouldn’t even turn them on. I wanted her to get used to having them on.
After she was responding real well to the heel and whoa I started walking circles around her. I would drop the piggin’ string and walk out front then to the rear. Sometimes I would pick up sticks and throw them. When she was doing real well at these exercises I turned both e-collars on. I would heel her and before I said whoa I would hold the transmitter button down, on a low setting, then say whoa. As soon as she stopped I let off the transmitter. After just a few times she had this figured out. I would hit the button on the transmitter and before I could say whoa she would stop.
At this point I could usually get her to whoa wherever she was just by saying whoa. If she didn’t stop I would hit the button on the flank collar and she would stop. Every time I worked her on pigeons I made her whoa. During the first few hunting season every time before releasing her to hunt I would heel and whoa her. Teaching whoa is, for me, one of the most important commands you can teach.
Now, with all of this whoa training I thought I could break this habit with the e-collar and birds. Most problems with bird dogs can be cured with birds. I put some pigeons in release traps and heeled her out then whoaed her. I released her and when she hit the scent cone on the first bird she pointed. Her tail was wagging saying, “hurry boss”. I got off the 4-wheeler and held the button on the transmitter down on level 2. Her normal number is level 3 for most training. About 5 seconds into me holding the button down her tail slowed so I let off. It went back to wagging. I held the button down and about 5 or 6 seconds her tail stopped. I let off and her tail started wagging. I held the button down and she stopped after just a couple of seconds. She didn’t start wagging right away and I flushed the pigeon. She didn’t move but she was wagging when I went to her. I released her.
She pointed the second pigeon with a happy tail. She was wagging to beat the band. I held the button down on level 2 but she didn’t quit wagging. The transmitters will shut off after about 8 seconds. I turned the e-collar to level 3 and held the button down. She quit wagging in about 5 seconds. I let off the button and turned the e-collar back down to level 2. When I let off the button she started wagging again. I held the button down on level 2 and she quit quickly. This time she didn’t start back real soon so I flushed the pigeon. She didn’t move so I released her although she did wag as I walked to her. I put her up for the day.
I waited a couple of days and tried it again. She pointed her first pigeon and was wagging. I held the button on the flank e-collar down on level 2. She quit wagging in just a couple of seconds. I let off the button and let her stand. She started wagging and I held the button down. She quit wagging. I waited a couple of seconds then flushed the pigeon. She didn’t move but she went to wagging. I released her after a lot of petting.
She pointed her second bird but was wagging but it was kind of off and on. I hit the button and she stopped. I waited for about 20 seconds and she started to flag a little. I held the button down and she stopped. I waited about 20 seconds and when she didn’t start wagging I flushed the pigeon. I released her after a lot of petting.
I put her up for the day.
I worked her about 5 or 6 times like this before she quit wagging on point but she did stop. I believe this worked for me because she had a good back ground in whoa and the use of the e-collar on her flanks. The tail not wagging is just a refinement of the whoa command. She can’t move her feet and she can’t move her tail. The e-collar on her flanks was never turned high enough to cause her to turn or show any sign of being shocked.
The reason I went into so much detail was to show the background Blaze had with e-collar and whoa training. This worked for my dog’s tail and I think it will work for anyone that will take the time to build in the background with the e-collar. If like me you are just a bird hunter a wagging tail is no big deal but the dog sure looks better if they are real rigid.
Blaze
Luke
Tur Bo