I put working e-collars on Tur Bo’s neck and flanks and with the pinch collar on his neck we started around the yard. I walked about 30 yards and held the button, on the e-collar on his flanks, down on level 3, then said whoa and let off the button the instant he stopped. He got better the more we did this but he still does not stop real quick but that should come with time. I heeled him onto the whoa board, held the button on the e-collar on his flanks down, then said whoa. I heeled him on and off 6 times then had him jump on the whoa barrel. I told him whoa and styled him up on the barrel, then put him on the ground and styled him up on the ground. I always do the same thing on the ground that I do on the barrel.
I then heeled him to the retrieving bench. I dropped the check cord and he jumped onto the bench without any help. After petting him on the bench I rolled the tennis ball down the bench and he pounced on it. He brought it back and I rolled it again and he dropped it on the ground on the way back. He wanted to go get it but I stopped him. I put the retrieving buck in his mouth, just behind the canine teeth, put my left hand under his chin and told him to hold. While I’m holding his mouth shut with my left hand I pet him with my right hand. After 20 to 30 seconds I say give and remove my left hand and hold the end of the retrieving buck with my right hand. He has to move his mouth off the retrieving buck. I repeat this 6 or 7 times then put him on the ground.
As soon as he is on the ground he starts looking for the tennis ball that he dropped off the bench. He usually remembers exactly where it is. As soon as he finds it he picks it up but never makes it to me with the ball on the first try. When he drops it I say “get that ball” and he goes back and brings it closer until finally he gets it to me. When he gets it to me I pet him a lot before taking the ball then I throw it 6 or 7 times and he retrieves it to me each time. He still rolls around on the ground when he comes back but he’s retrieving. Then I turn him loose to run for a while.
He was running without a check cord or anything except his e-collars and I decided to see if he would stop on a whoa command. When he got close, I held up my hand like a traffic cop, said whoa loudly and he stopped. I walked to him, tapped him on the head and said “alright”. He went back to running. I was really surprised that he stopped. I shouldn’t have been, we’ve been working on this but I was. I put him back in the kennel.
I put a pigeon on the strings on both pigeon poles then placed them in release traps. I put the e-collars back on Tur Bo and heeled him out to the whoa barrel. He jumped on the barrel and I steadied the barrel until I got him hooked to the chain. He knew there was birds somewhere and he was excited. When I walked away the barrel started shaking and he was having problems staying on before I flushed the birds. I flushed the first bird and he got real rigid. The barrel was still shaking but not as much as before. He flinched when I flushed the second bird and off he came. The chain was holding his head up and his back feet were touching the ground. He was still rigid as if he was on point.
Tur Bo after I flushed the first pigeon
Off the barrel but still on point.
I put him back on the barrel and walked around in front of him flushing the pigeons. He never came off the barrel again. I will have to do this several times but he’s learning not to move his feet when he’s on point. I unhooked the chain, picked him up and carried him about 15 yards toward the kennel, then put him on the ground and heeled him to the kennel.
I brought Lucky out and put him on the barrel. He will be 10 years old next month so he has been on the barrel several times. Always before I just flushed birds but now I’m flushing birds and shooting a blank pistol hoping that when I shoot and immediately say whoa the dogs will become steady to shot by anticipating me saying whoa after they hear the shot. All of the dogs were steady on the barrel through the flushing of the birds and shooting of the blank pistol. I shot 6 times each while Lucky, Luke, Blaze, Whitey and Dolly were on the barrel and they all stayed on.
I will do this for a few more days then move them to the whoa board for several days. Then move them to the ground next to the whoa board, then try a couple more places. I have only trained 1 dog, steady to wing and shot. Now I have decided to train all of my dogs to be steady to wing and shot. Writing about it might not be the smartest thing I’ve ever done.