I put the e-collar and roading harness with the weights on Tur Bo and we started our march around the yard. I started with whoa then I walked 15 or 20 yards in front then made a circle first on one side then the other. I had been stopping each time to make sure he would stop on whoa. After several whoas with me stopping, I started saying whoa and would continue walking for 15 or 20 yards. The first few times he took a step or two before he stopped but then he figured it out. When we got to the back of my yard I released him to run back to the kennel still pulling the weights.
At the shed, I sat in the doorway to take the roading harness off and go through our petting routine. I had been wanting to give him a hair cut and had some clipper blades sharpened at Huff’s Wholesale in Knox City, Missouri. I grabbed my clippers and started. That was the sharpest blades I have ever used. They weren’t that sharp when they were new. Most of the time when I give my dogs hair cuts I call them penitentiary hair cuts, but he looked good when I was finished.
I heeled him to the whoa board, whoaed him 5 or 6 times then heeled him to the retrieving bench. He jumped onto the bench and I petted him then threw the tennis ball. He retrieved it one time then refused to pick it up again. It looks like I will have to do the trained retrieve.
I loaded everything and went to the county park. This gives me new areas to hide the birds for the dogs. Here at the house it’s hard to put the birds somewhere that I haven’t done it before.
I tied the dogs on leashes, to the fence. I then took Blaze off the leash, heeled her into the field then threw the tennis ball for her. She ran out picked it up and ran back with it. I put her back on the leash and got Whitey. The third time I threw it for her she refused to retrieve. I held the button on the e-collar down, on level 2, and she retrieved it. I made her retrieve 6 times after that and she did it in a run. She even acted like she enjoyed retrieving. I threw the ball for Tur Bo but he refused to retrieve. We will work on that later.
When I put the pigeons in the release traps, I noticed I hadn’t turned them off the last time and the batteries were almost down. When Blaze pointed her first one, after I walked in front and kicked the cover, I pushed the button to release the bird and nothing happened. I reached down and turned the release trap on again. Again I pushed the button and nothing happened so I released the bird by hand. Blaze followed the bird for about 20 yards then stopped. After all of the confusion releasing the bird I don’t blame her but I carried her back to where she should have stayed. After kicking in front of her again I released her. She pointed her second bird and when I pushed the button the trap released the bird. She didn’t move. She knows she is not supposed to move.
Blaze
Rather than fight with the release traps, I loaded everything back in the truck, went back home and got batteries. For Whitey I put 2 pigeons about 10 yards apart. When she pointed, I walked in front kicking the cover and flushed the bird farther from her. She didn’t move but she let down a little. I stood still until she realized that she could still smell the bird she had pointed. When she got real tense again, I started kicking the cover then flushed the second bird. She didn’t move.
Whitey
When I took Tur Bo off the leash tie out, it took awhile to get him to settle down. He had already seen the other two dogs work their birds and he was ready to find birds. I heeled him around until he settled down, then whoaed him. I didn’t make him stand very long before I released him. He was really running when he hit the scent cone on the first bird. He was pointing with a little curve to his tail but today it was straight. He was about 50 yards from me and I wanted to get a picture so I walked closer. I took some pictures with one finger on the button to the release trap but he stood long enough for the pictures. When he moved I flushed the bird. His other pigeon had escaped so he only got to point one.
Tur Bo
All three young dogs are learning and getting better. Through repetition you can train any dog to do whatever you want. That’s what keeps me going out each day.