It was cooler this morning, perfect for training dogs so I put the e-collar on Tur Bo but after him not knowing whoa without the piggin’ string on I decided to walk him with a leash attached to his collar and around his flanks. The first couple of times when I said whoa he stopped after a step. I raised him off the ground by pulling up on the leash. The first time I raised him off the ground he started flopping around so I held him off the ground until he settled down. As soon as he quit flopping around I set his feet on the ground.
He only needed picking up 2 or 3 times. Both of us are getting bored with this heel and whoa routine but it’s necessary for him to learn whoa. So we continued around the yard. At the back I turned him loose to run back to the shed. I always sit in the door of the shed and pet him so he runs straight back to the shed and waits for me. After the petting we go to the whoa board. I heel him onto and off the board 4 or 5 times then put him on the barrel. I snap a chain to his collar then walk away to give him a chance to jump off. So far he hasn’t jumped off the barrel but later I will flush birds with him on the barrel and he will come off. Whatever I do on the barrel I make him do on the ground.
Tur Bo
I heeled him on to the retrieving bench. I rolled the ball down the bench and he ran after it and brought it back 4 or 5 times. I petted a lot before taking it from him. The last time I rolled it he didn’t get it in his mouth very well and dropped it off the bench. I figured he was through so I didn’t even pick the ball up. I just put him on the ground to run and started back to the shed. When he came by me, heading to the shed, he had the tennis ball in his mouth. He headed for the door of the shed. I called him and he came right to me but he didn’t have the ball. I said, “go get that ball.” He acted like he knew what I was saying. He ran to the shed, picked up the ball and brought it to me. He dropped it 5 or 6 feet away but I figured that was close enough. I picked it up and tossed it just a few feet and he brought it back, then rolled on his back while I petted him. That was a good place to quit so I put him in his kennel.
Blaze
I left Tur Bo at home but took Whitey and Blaze to the county park near my home. I only have 7 pigeons so when I put the birds out I used 3 release traps, putting them out close together. Blaze was first, I heeled her a short way then turned her loose. When she pointed she was close to one of the birds and I walked in front, kicking the cover. I flushed a pigeon that was farther away than the one she was pointing. She turned her head but she didn’t let down or move. I kept kicking the cover then released another bird. She never moved. Finally I released the bird she was pointing. It flew right over her head. She turned and watched it fly away without chasing.
Whitey
Whitey was up next. I heeled her a short distance then released her. She pointed about 15 yards from her bird. The wind was not blowing very hard but she definitely had the scent. I had the extra bird in a bag so after I kicked the cover for a while I dropped a pigeon. She never moved. I continued kicking the cover then flushed one of the farther birds. She turned her head but didn’t move. She stayed on point through the next bird as well as the bird she was pointing. They both have this exercise down pretty well. I have to come up with something different for them now.
Not having wild birds to work bird dogs on is one of the problems we face. Coming up with new or different ways to train dogs is hard but is necessary. Dogs remember places real well and if you train in the same area all the time they will check every place you have ever put a bird. Sometimes they will just go from one place to the next and point at each place.
Missouri Conservation will allow you to work dogs on some of their areas and Kansas has some state owned lands that they allow dog training on but this time of the year it’s hard to find enough birds to work dogs on. It was hard to find birds during the season to work dogs on. If it wasn’t for the pigeons my dogs wouldn’t get any training.