Luke at the quail pen.
Tur Bo pointing the quail in the pen.
Blaze at the quail pen.
I am working my dogs, (Luke, Tur Bo and Blaze) toward being steady to wing and shot. I don’t necessarily care if they are for the quail season but I think it makes a steadier dog. If we get there, steady to wing and shot, during the quail season I will probably not require them to remain steady. It’s a fun exercise and it gets me working with my dogs in the off season. Plus the dogs enjoy it.
I had Luke jump on his house and I put the Sport Dog e-collars around his neck and flanks. He stands real still for me to put the e-collar around his flanks but when I start putting the e-collar around his neck he places his head against the chain link fence to make it harder for me. His grandmother, Allie, did the same thing. It’s not a big thing but it does show that when you breed dogs you get the bad along with the good. That’s the reason if you don’t have a good dog, even if it has good papers, don’t breed it.
I used a piggin’ string to heel Luke to the retrieving bench, whoaing him, by holding the button on the transmitter down on the flank collar on a low setting, then saying whoa. This reminds them that electricity on their flanks means whoa. I stopped him 3 or 4 times then had him jump on the retrieving bench. The dogs really like the retrieving bench because I walk them back and forth petting them. I rub their ears and let them smell my breathe when I’m happy.
I held a retrieving dummy in front of him and said “fetch”. I had him hold it then said give. I placed the bumper on the other end of the bench and said, “fetch”. He ran down the bench, grabbed the dummy and came back. I said, “hold” and petted him for a while before saying, “give”. He dropped it in my hand. I picked him up and set him on the ground saying, “whoa”. I always set them on the ground because it’s hard on their joints to jump off and it keeps them from jumping off before you are ready to end a session.
I put the piggin’ string on him and held the bumper in front of him saying, “fetch”. When he grabbed the bumper I said, “hold” and heeled him away. I went east for a few yards then went west for about 40 yards. He held the bumper until I said, “give”. After he gave me the bumper I heeled him a few more yards and whoaed him again. This time I tapped him on the head and released him to hunt. He always acts like he’s going to the back of the property but cuts through and winds up by the quail pen.
He points the quail and I go to him and say, “whoa” one time. I walk around the pen scaring the quail so they run away from him then walk them back in front of him. As I’m walking around the quail pen I have a couple of pigeons, in release traps, that I put on the opposite side of the quail pen. When the quail were walking in front of him I flushed a pigeon. He didn’t move. I continued to run the quail back and forth then flushed another pigeon. Again, he was steady. I heeled him away then took him back to the kennel.
I put the e-collars on Tur Bo and heeled him to the retrieving bench whoaing him a few times on the way. When the dogs get ready to jump on the bench I always say, “up”. I also, use up in the field if I want them to jump a woven wire fence or jump onto the tail gate. I haven’t tried in a long time but I used to have my dogs get on the large bales of hay, just for fun. I had him fetch the bumper then set him on the ground.
I put him on the ground, put the piggin’ string on him, held the bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He grabbed it and I heeled him a few yards to the east then about 40 yards to the west. He held the bumper until I said, “give” and dropped it in my hand. Luke and Blaze usually act like they are going to run to the back of the property before they go to the quail pen but not Tur Bo. When I release him we are west of the quail pen and he wheels around and goes directly east, to the pen.
He went on point and I ran the quail back and forth in front of him. The quail all got the house between them and Tur Bo so I tapped his head to let him move to another location. This time a quail was just a few feet in front of him. While he was really concentrating on the quail I flushed a pigeon on the other side of the pen. Tur Bo took a step and stopped. I held the button on the transmitter down, on the flank collar, on a real light setting. I picked him up and set him back. When I put him on the ground I let off the button on the e-collar. I don’t want to hurt him with the e-collar, just make it uncomfortable. He went back to the quail in front of him and I flushed the other pigeon. He moved his front feet without moving the back. I held the button down again and set him back. As long as the quailk are just running around he doesn’t move but when they fly or a pigeon flies he wants to move a little.
He was really concentrating on the quail when it was time to go back to the kennel so I picked him up and carried him away. I don’t like to let a dog on point walk away. I took him back to the kennel.
Between dogs I walk down to the quail pen and put the pigeons in the release traps. When I got close to the quail pen one of the quail made a loud noise and flew from one end to the other. I looked up and a small hawk had flown real close to the quail pen. The quail had flown away from it. I don’t know one of the small hawks from another but it was about the size of a pigeon. It flew on to the west.
I brought Blaze down to the retrieving bench with the e-collars on her. She jumped onto the bench and I had her retrieve the bumper after our petting session. I set her on the ground and held the bumper in front of her and said, “fetch”. She took the bumper and we went east for a little way then went west about 39 yards. Just before we got to the spot I was going to take the bumper from her she dropped it. I pinched her lip against her teeth and put the bumper back in her mouth. We turned and went past the retrieving bench to the east about 45 yards then turned around and went west back to my original spot to take the bumper. I said, “whoa” then stood for about 30 seconds before saying, “give”. She dropped it in my hand. I walked her a few yards then whoaed her and released her. She ran to the west and cut through. When she got to the quail pen she pointed.
I chased the quail back and forth for her. Then they all got behind the house so I tapped her head letting her move. She moved up, went on point and I chased the quail around again. As the quail came in front of her I flushed a pigeon. The pigeon hit a limb on the way up and I looked at the pigeon. The little hawk was right behind the pigeon and as they swooped close to the ground Blaze was right with them. The hawk hit the pigeon knocking it to the ground and Blaze was right there. The hawk flew away but the pigeon was hurt. Blaze never did pick the pigeon up but she would hold it down and pull feathers off. I finally took the pigeon to the 4-wheeler. Blaze went back on point at the quail pen and I chased the quail around then flushed the second pigeon. Blaze didn’t move and we never saw the hawk. I heeled her back to the kennel.
This exercise has got my dogs pretty steady on running quail and this past season there were plenty of them. I will continue doing this for a while then I’m going to have to take some quail to the field but it’s a long time until next season.
Luke
Tur Bo
Blaze