It was really warm this morning and I didn’t want to put the young dogs in the box in the back of the truck so I just worked Tur Bo.
I let the grass grow around the pigeon poles so I could hide the birds easier.
Tur Bo
Tur Bo after I flushed the last bird.
I let the grass grow around the pigeon poles on my training grounds so I could hide the birds easier. The patch of grass is about 8 yards wide by 25 yards long. The grass is about 2 feet tall and in this I spread 5 release traps with pigeon in each. I put one close to the south east corner of the patch. This one I wanted Tur Bo to point.
I put an e-collar on Tur Bo and heeled him out of the kennel with the piggin’ string. Before we got to the training ground I whoaed him and attached a check cord to his collar with a half hitch around his flanks. As we walked by the corner of the tall grass he went on point. I slipped the piggin’ string off. I didn’t say anything just took a few pictures then picked up the check cord. I let him point for a couple of minutes then flushed a pigeon about 20 yards away. Tur Bo flinched but he didn’t move his feet. He remained on point with his nostrils going in and out.
About 30 seconds later I flushed another bird that was close to the first pigeon. This time he didn’t even flinch, he just turned his head to watch it fly away. I let him stand for a little while then flushed another pigeon. He, again, watched it fly away without moving his feet. The fourth bird was closer, maybe 5 yards from him. When I flushed it he wanted to move but he didn’t. He flinched but didn’t move his feet.
The bird he was pointing was about 3 yards from him. When I flushed the pigeon he was pointing, it flew back over his head and he turned all the way around but never tightened the check cord. I turned him back around and he went back on point. One of the pictures was taken after I flushed the last bird.
I will do this same exercise several times. It gets the dog where it will stay on point after the birds flush because it never knows how many birds there are. If they stay on point it gives the hunter the opportunity to walk all the birds up instead of the dog running through all of the birds when one flushes.
I had to redo my numbers on the patch of grass because I was very generous. I stepped it off today and it is 8 yards by 25 yards. I changed most of the numbers in this but if you see one that doesn’t add up it’s because I missed it when I reread this post.