One pigeon I put to sleep only flew to the trailer in front of Tur Bo
Luke on the whoa board.
Blaze at the quail pen.
I put the Sport Dog e-collars on Tur Bo’s neck and flanks and heeled him to the retrieving bench with the piggin’ string. A few feet from the kennel I stopped him with a whoa, held a retrieving dummy in front of him and said, “fetch”. The last time I worked him he kept spitting the bumper out but today he carried it all the way to the bench and even jumped onto the bench without dropping it. I had him give me the bumper then walked him back and forth petting him every few feet.
I held a bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He grabbed it and held it until I said, “give”. I put 3 bumpers on the other end of the bench and he retrieved all 3 and held them until ordered to give. I set him on the ground and held a bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He grabbed the bumper and I petted him for a while then said, “give”. He dropped it in my hand. I put 3 bumpers right beside the bench, a few feet away, and pointed and said, “fetch”. He ran to get the first one, grabbed it, ran back and held it until I said, “give”. I sent him after the second one and he ran to it, scooped it up, ran back and held until I asked for it. I had both of the bumpers in my left hand when I pointed and said, “fetch” and he grabbed one of the bumpers that was in my hand. At least when I say, “fetch” he will take something. I put the 2 that were in my hand on the retrieving bench then sent him for the third one. He ran to it, scooped it up, ran back and held it until I asked for it. I threw the bumper 4 or 5 times and he retrieved it each time.
I put the piggin’ string on him and held a bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He took the bumper and I heeled him to the whoa board. Today, he carried the bumper all of the way. I set him on the whoa board. I let him stand for a little while then went to the 4-wheeler and got a pigeon. I put it to sleep and placed it on the ground in front of the whoa board. I sat on the trailer for a
while then threw my gloves near the pigeon. I went to Tur Bo, petted him then walked back to the trailer. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the pigeon woke up. It flew away but Tur Bo didn’t move. I got another pigeon from the 4-wheeler, put it to sleep and placed it in front of the whoa board. The first pigeon had lit right above Blaze’s pen and she was barking at it. I went to the kennel with a stick and beat on her pen yelling for her to be quiet.
When I got back to Tur Bo the second pigeon was awake walking around in front of him. When the bird saw me he started away from the area so I got in front of him and moved him back close to Tur Bo. When it got right in front of him I decided to make it fly. I threw my glove close to it and it flew about 10 feet and landed on the trailer. This had been the perfect pigeon. It had ran around in front of him and we were going to get at least 2 flushes from it. I waited for a few seconds then walked toward the pigeon. When I got close it walked toward the other end of the trailer. I tossed a glove close to the pigeon and it flew away. Tur Bo didn’t move. The last time he had fallen off the board but today he didn’t move.
I placed him on the ground, put the piggin’ string on him, held a bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He took the bumper. I heeled him about 20 yards then whoaed him and had him give me the bumper. I heeled him a few feet then whoaed him, took the piggin’ string off, tapped him on the head to release him. He ran to the quail pen and went on point.
I walked the quail back and forth in front of him then went to the 4-wheeler and got a pigeon. As the quail ran in front of him I dropped the pigeon and it flew away. He didn’t move. I continued to move the quail around the pen and got another pigeon. Tur Bo wasn’t moving and I dropped the second pigeon. He still didn’t move. I walked the quail back and forth in front of him a few more times then picked him up carrying him away. I took him back to the kennel.
I put the e-collars on Luke’s neck and flanks and heeled him away from the kennel. I stopped him and held the bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He took the bumper and I heeled him toward the retrieving bench. Within 15 yards he dropped the bumper but only took one step and stopped like he knew he had messed up. I held the button down on the e-collar around his neck and held the bumper in front of him. He took it with out me saying anything. We heeled on to the bench and he jumped onto it without dropping the bumper. I took the bumper and petted him. I walked him back and forth, on the bench, petting him every few feet.
I held a bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He took the bumper and held it until I said , “give”. I placed a bumper a few feet away and said, “fetch”. He grabbed the bumper but dropped it when he got close to me. I held the button down on the neck e-collar and slowly picked the bumper up from the ground. When the bumper got close to him he grabbed it. The instant he grabbed it I let off the button. He held the bumper until I asked for it.
I put three bumpers on the other end and sent him to retrieve. He retrieved them all, holding until I told him to give. I had him retrieve the 3 bumpers another time then placed him on the ground. I put the 3 bumpers right beside the bench and sent him to retrieve. He retrieved each one holding until told to give. I threw the bumper 4 or 5 times and he retrieved it each time. I put the piggin’ string on him, held a bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He took the bumper and held it all the way to the whoa board. I took the bumper and placed him on the whoa board.
I petted him on the whoa board then went to the 4-wheeler and got a pigeon. I put the bird to sleep and placed it in front of Luke on the whoa board. I sat on the trailer and after a few minutes I threw my gloves and the bumper close to the pigeon. He didn’t move. I flushed the pigeon by touching it with my toe. As soon as it woke up it flew away. He still didn’t move. I got another pigeon, put it to sleep and placed it in front of the board. I threw my gloves and the bumper then picked one of my gloves up and threw it away from the bird. I flushed the pigeon and he never moved.
I set him on the ground, put the piggin’ string on him, held the bumper in front of him and said, “fetch”. He took the bumper and I heeled him away. After about 25 yards, I stopped him and said, “give”. He dropped the bumper in my hand. I heeled him a few feet, stopped and released him. He ran to the quail pen and went on point.
I chased the quail back and forth in front of him, then got a pigeon from the 4-wheeler and as the quail ran in front of him I dropped the pigeon. He didn’t move when it flew away. I got another pigeon and dropped it as the quail ran in front of him. He didn’t move when this one flew away either. I moved the quail around some more then picked him up and carried him away. I took him back to the kennel.
I heeled Blaze toward the retrieving bench with the e-collars on. I stopped her and held the retrieving dummy in front of her saying, “fetch”. She took the bumper and we started toward the retrieving bench. Within a few feet she had the bumper by the end and it was sticking straight out. Then she dropped it. I held the button, on the neck e-collar, down and held the bumper in front of her and she took it. She still had it when we got to the bench but when she jumped onto the bench she threw the bumper to the other side. I held the button down, picked the bumper up and she took it. I held my hand under it and said, “give”. She dropped it in my hand.
After petting her on the bench I had her retrieve 7 or 8 times which she did perfectly. I set her on the ground and placed the 3 bumpers right beside the bench. She retrieved all 3 holding them until I said, “give”. I threw the bumper 5 or 6 times and she retrieved it just fine. In fact she seems to really enjoy retrieving. I put the piggin’ string on her and had her fetch the bumper.
We started toward the whoa board. I looked down and she had the bumper by the end and it was sticking straight out. In a few feet she dropped it. I held the button down on her neck e-collar, slowly picked up the bumper, held it in front of her and said “fetch”. She took the bumper and we started toward the whoa board. We almost made it. We were within 15 feet of it when she had the bumper by the end then dropped it. I held the button down on the neck e-collar, picked up the bumper, held it in front of her and said, “fetch”. She took the bumper and we made a u-turn. We walked almost back to the retrieving bench then turned and went back to the whoa board. She still had a good grip on the bumper when we got to the whoa board. I said, “give”, placed her on the whoa board and petted her.
I sat on the trailer for a while before getting a pigeon from the 4-wheeler. I put the pigeon to sleep and placed it in front of her on the whoa board. I threw my gloves and the bumper. I even took a stick and beat the ground in front of her then flushed the pigeon. She didn’t move. I got another pigeon and put it to sleep in front of her. I threw the gloves and bumper then flushed the pigeon. She never moved. I set her on the ground, put the piggin’ string around her neck, held a bumper in front of her and said, “fetch”.
We started away from the whoa board and within 15 yards she dropped the bumper. I held the button down on the e-collar around her neck, slowly picked up the bumper, held it in front of her and said, “fetch”. She took the bumper and we made a u-turn. We went back to the whoa board turned around and went back toward the quail pen. This time she held it until I asked for it. I heeled her another few feet then released her. She ran to the quail pen and went on point.
I chased the quail back and forth in front of her then dropped a pigeon. Even when it flew away she didn’t move. I continued to chase the quail back and forth then dropped another pigeon. She never moved as it flew away. I moved the quail in front of her several times then picked her up and carried her away. I pick my dogs up and carry them when I want to move them and they are on point. I don’t like to have them walk. It’s easy to do on Luke and Blaze. Luke weighs about 35 pounds an Blaze is smaller than that. Tur Bo is over 50 pounds. I sometimes have him walk. I took her back to the kennel.
The last time Tur Bo gave me trouble and the other two did pretty well. This time Luke gave me a little trouble but Blaze was a real pain. I don’t get mad I get even by making them walk farther with the bumper in their mouth. All 3 of them have “give” down. They don’t want the bumper in their mouth anyway and the instant I say “give” they drop it.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that Tur Bo moves less when I drop a pigeon than he does if they come out of the release trap. I’ve quit using the release traps on what I’m doing now. If I run across some wild quail they probably won’t be in release traps anyway.
Tur Bo on the whoa board.
Pigeon on the trailer.
Blaze on the whoa board.