It’s hard to have anything to write about when all of the dogs in the kennel are older, trained dogs. I have worked the dogs a few times so we both can get some exercise. All five of the dogs honor real well and also hold their birds once they go on point but I worked them on both.
Bodie honoring the backing dog.
The backing dog with Boss honoring.
Boss honoring the backing dog.
I read an article about dogs jumping and getting excited when you’re getting ready to let them out of their pen. The guy that wrote it said the dogs were screaming, “LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT”. So I thought it was time to stop this. I started by just standing in front of the dogs pen until they calmed down and stood still. As I reached to open their gate if they moved I stepped back and waited. In just a few days they were standing still to be let out although a couple of them would jump until I got right in front of their gate.
After a few days I moved it up a notch. I waited on them to stand still and I said, “whoa” one time and opened their gate. When they are on “whoa” they are not supposed to move anything. I hold the gate wide open and let them stand for a few seconds then say, “okay”. They dash out the gate. But anything to reinforce whoa is a good thing.
I put a chain gang out and attached all 5 dogs, with e-collars set to the no-bark setting. I like to work all of the dogs on retrieving first. So I walked to Sally, stood until she stopped moving and put the GPS collar around her neck. I switched the e-collar to training mode and heeled her out in front of the other dogs.
I have a Dokken quail dummy that I throw for her and Mann. I throw the dummy 3 times for her and make her, when she returns to me with it, hold until I reach for the dummy. I have a hot dog, cut into about 20 pieces in my pocket. When I take the dummy I give her a piece of the hotdog. After the third time I give the hotdog treat to her I say, “whoa”, one time. I get on the 4-wheeler, start it, put it in gear then say, “okay”. That’s their cue to run loose and happy time for a few minutes.
Dogs on the chain gang.
After a couple of laps around the yard I put her back on the chain gang and got Mann out. We went through the same routine but Mann is a lot faster running the yard. Or picking up the Dokken retrieving dummy. He’s just fast. After a couple of laps around the yard I put him back on the chain gang.
Abby was next. I threw the Dokken quail dummy for her but she smelled of it but refused to pick it up. I will work on that later. I tossed her a tennis ball and she grabbed it in a dead run. She wants to drop the ball and get her treat but I will not give her the treat until she lets me take the ball from her. Food is a real motivator for her. I let her run for a couple of laps then put her on the chain gang.
Boss was ready to go. I heeled him out and threw the tennis ball for him. For a long time Boss would not take a chunk of hotdog from my hand. In fact I had never seen him take a bite of food even in his kennel. He would wait until I left to eat. Usually, the next morning his food pan was empty. On trips he would go as long as the trip was, without eating. The first day in Arizona I knew we would be away from home for 6 or 7 days. He couldn’t hunt if he went that long without food.
Mann pointing a pigeon.
So the first day, as I was leaving a hunting area, I saw a good place to chain the dogs individually. I stopped and fixed each dogs food which consisted of dry dog food, can dog food and water. I fed the others first and noticed when I set his food in front of him, he wasn’t interested. I went to him and held the food dish in front of him and he started eating. I set the dish on the ground and he quit. I got a cooler out of the truck to sit on and held his food pan. He emptied it.
I did this each day of the trip. And he did the same. As long as I was holding the pan he would eat. If I set it on the ground he quit eating. Since we got home he can’t wait to get back in the kennel to eat. It’s like I finally gave him permission to eat. I sent him with Justin Crook to Nebraska/South Dakota summer camp last year and Justin asked to send him home because he wouldn’t eat. Now it’s like he can’t wait.
Abby honoring the backing dog.
After Boss retrieved the tennis ball 3 times and took a chunk of hotdog each time I let him run a couple of laps around the yard then put him back on the chain gang.
Bodie was last. He doesn’t retrieve so I heeled him to the retrieving bench and he jumped on. I gave him a few chunks of hotdog as he walked around the bench then got a dowel retrieving dummy. I opened his mouth, placed the dowel behind his canine teeth, made sure his lips weren’t in the way and said, “hold” while I cupped my hands around his mouth. After a few seconds I said, “give” and took the dowel from him and gave him a chunk of hotdog. I like to work them for a while on hold and give before I start the trained retrieve.
Bodie gets more of the hotdog than the others right now. I heeled him back to the chain gang area and whoaed him. I got on the 4-wheeler, started it, put it in gear and after a few seconds said, “okay”. He wasted no time in getting to the back. He ran a couple of laps around the yard and I put him back on the chain gang.
Sally honoring the backing dog.
I got my popup backing dog out and hid it behind a clump of thick brush. I put one release trap with a pigeon in it in front of the backing dog. Sometimes, Sally wants to move in with me when she is honoring. Not always but this is the place to stop that. I heeled her to the back and whoaed her a couple of times on the way. I turned her loose and she was in a dead run when she came around the end of the brush and saw the backing dog. She locked up. I stroked her sides then walked ahead of her. She didn’t move even when I flushed the pigeon. I let her run then put her in her kennel.
Mann backs but sometimes he wants to get closer. I’ve never seen him flush a bird but he should stand wherever he sees the dog that he is backing. I heeled him part way to the bird grounds before turning him loose. He went behind a brush pile where I couldn’t see him but when I got around the brush pile he was honoring. I stroked his sides then walked in front of him kicking the ground. I flushed the pigeon and he never moved. I tapped his head and walked back to the kennel and put him up.
Boss pointing a pigeon.
Abby likes to honor but she loves to point more. I heeled her most of the way whoaing her a few times. The first 3 dogs all saw the backing dog at a different spot but stopped immediately. I stroked her sides then walked in front, kicking the cover. i flushed the pigeon and she chased. I haven’t worked the 3 younger dogs on being steady after the flush. That may happen this summer. I let her run while I walked to the kennel.
Boss and Bodie both are excellent at honoring. I worked them both then took them back to the kennel.
The next day I worked them the same way only I didn’t use the backing dog. I hid a pigeon in a release trap and worked them on pointing. It was kind of funny to watch all 5 dogs just knew we were going to do the backing dog. When they close to the area where I had the dog the day before they each slowed down and their head was on a pivot looking for thin dog. But they all handled the bird in the release trap well.
Bodie honoring the backing dog.
On the day that I worked them on the pigeon in the release traps, on the very first bird another bird joined it in the air. My first thought was, “alright, another pigeon”. The next second or two I knew. It was a hawk after my bird and it evidently got it. I started with 10 pigeons but now I only have 9. Although these have some babies I will probably buy some more just to have enough.