Tur Bo
Blaze
Luke
All of the bird seasons are over so I went back to training young dogs this morning. The frost is coming out of the ground so it is really wet, on the training grounds. I hid one pigeon on my neighbors side of the training grounds and one on my side. I brought Tur Bo out with the Sport Dog e-collars on. One on his neck and another around his flanks.
I heeled him toward the training grounds. I had a bird bag, with 3 pigeons in it, with me. As I heeled him toward the training grounds I took a pigeon from the bag, threw it in front of him and said whoa. He wanted to chase but stopped when I said whoa. I stroked his sides then heeled him on toward the training grounds. I threw another pigeon in front of him and said whoa. Again, he wanted to chase but stopped on my whoa. I whoaed him on the edge of the training grounds then tapped his head to release him.
He was on point when I got to the first pigeon hidden on my neighbors side. I took some pictures then walked in front of him, kicking the cover. I dropped the last pigeon that was in the bag. He didn’t move as it flew off. He knew the pigeon he was pointing was still there. I continued to kick the cover then I flushed the pigeon in the release trap. The bird came out of the trap and flew right over his head. He turned to watch it fly away. I went to him, turned him around, stroked his sides then led him away. I whoaed him then tapped his head for the release.
As I walked to my side of the training grounds he covered all of my neighbors side. When I crossed over he got in front of me and started down the fence row. He was about 15 yards from the second pigeon when he went on point. I walked in front of him and flushed the pigeon. He moved but only about a foot. I set him back, let him stand for about 30 seconds, tapped his head and led him away. I whoaed him then tapped his head to release him. He hunted back to the kennel.
My pigeons are getting smarter. To run Blaze I had to wait about 45 minutes for some birds to come back. At the end of 45 minutes only two had returned so I got them out again. Blaze had the e-collars on her neck and flanks. I heeled her toward the training grounds. She was at my side on heel. I threw a pigeon in front of her and said whoa. She wanted to chase but stopped on my whoa. I stroked her sides then tapped her head and said heel. I threw my last pigeon and said whoa. She stopped on the whoa. I stroked her sides then heeled her to the training grounds.
When I got to the first pigeon she was on point. I didn’t have a pigeon to drop in front of her so I kicked the cover after taking pictures. I flushed the pigeon and she didn’t move. I stroked her sides then led her away. I whoaed her then tapped her head and she went back to hunting.
This is the first time in a long time that I have hid the pigeons on both sides of the training grounds. I usually use the neighbors side because he has better cover. (I mow mine too often.) It didn’t bother these young dogs at all. They stayed in front of me as I crossed from the neighbors side to mine. Before I got close Blaze pointed the next pigeon. I took pictures then walked in front of her kicking the cover. I flushed the pigeon and she didn’t move. I stroked her sides and released her. She hunted back to the kennel.
I still had 2 pigeons in the bird cage on my 4-wheeler so I didn’t wait for any to return. I put the e-collars on Luke and heeled him toward the training grounds. I did whoa him a few times on the way. I released him to hunt and he was on point when I got close to the first pigeon. I took pictures then walked in front of him kicking the cover. I flushed the pigeon and he didn’t move. I stroked his sides and led him away. I released him to hunt.
He checked all of the neighbors property out before I crossed into my yard. Luke likes to point the pigeons when they sit on their house so instead of hunting he headed to the pigeon house. The Sport Dog collar has a tone that he has been trained to come in with. I hit the tone and he returned. He started down the fence row ahead of me and went on point. I went in front of him kicking the cover after taking pictures. I flushed the pigeon and he never moved. I stroked his sides and released him. He was pointing the pigeons that were on the roof of the coop when I got back near the kennel.
When I have withdrawals from the bird seasons being closed I can go in the back yard and get a few points from my dogs. That kind of eases me into the off season. If you see any ads on these posts that you are interested in please click on them. I make a few cents on each click.