Blaze
Tur Bo
Luke
After hunting for a few days in Oklahoma the dogs were really tired and sore. I got back from Oklahoma late Wednesday and Friday about noon, Dennis Garrison and I bought some quail to work our young dogs on. Dennis has a litter mate to Luke, a female named Kate and a litter mate to Blaze, a male named Nick. I worked Blaze and Tur Bo on the quail.
We tied our dogs to the fence and worked them one at a time on quail that we hid in the tall grass. We hid 3 quail for each dog. When the dog pointed we would flush the quail and shoot it. This way we could work on them holding birds and retrieving. After the dog had pointed his 3 birds he was retied to the fence. After all of the dogs had done their 3 birds we put out 2 more and went through it again.
Dennis’s dogs were steady on their birds but Blaze and Tur Bo had regressed a little in Oklahoma. Although Blaze and Tur Bo both pointed wild quail last year there were not very many chances for them to find birds. This year I have encouraged them to chase just to give them a little more desire to hunt. Now I want to steady them again. I had them drag a check cord and when they pointed I made them hold point for a while before Dennis flushed the birds. After the shot Blaze would run to the quail and nose them around without picking it up but Tur Bo ran to them, picked them up and was back to me in a flash. Early this year he didn’t want to give them to me and I would let him hold them while I petted him. When I got ready to take the quail from him I would grab hold of the bird and blow in his ear. Now I still pet him for a while when he gets to me but then when I say give he gives.
After we worked all 4 dogs we turned them all loose to find the 2 or 3 birds that weren’t shot. A couple of quail got up ahead of the dogs but Kate pointed one that held. Blaze backed and Tur Bo did for a little while but he wanted to flush. He finally, held until I flushed the quail. At Dennis’s shot he retrieved.
Saturday, I guided for a group of young kids from the Paradise Outfitters Ministries of Oak Grove, Missouri. They had adults that made sure their introduction to bird hunting was safe and fun. They put out about 20 pheasants for 6 or 7 kids of the morning and about the same in the afternoon. Brian Fidler used his German Short hair, Scout. I used Lucky of the morning and Dolly of the afternoon. It was warm but the conditions were good. The dogs pointed most of the pheasants from a long distance.
I usually don’t train on Sunday but the weather forecast was rain, for the next few days, so after church I hid five pigeons in a circle on the training ground. I put the e-collars on Blaze’s neck and flanks then heeled her out near the 4-wheeler. I whoaed her, started the 4-wheeler and released her with an okay. When I got to the circle of pigeons she was on point.
I took some pictures then walked in front of her kicking the cover and flushed a pigeon that was behind her. Blaze turned her head when the bird flushed but didn’t move her feet. I continued to kick the tall grass and flushed another pigeon. I flushed the other pigeons even the one she was pointing without her moving. I stroked her sides then tapped her head for the release. I let her run before going back to the kennel.
Tur Bo was next. When I released him, he wanted to point at the first part of the training grounds without getting the scent. I rode on to the back of the training area to pull him on through. He came into the circle of birds and went on point. I took pictures then walked in front of him kicking the cover. When I flushed a pigeon behind him he danced but didn’t move toward the bird. His body turned a little toward the pigeon that flushed. Each time I flushed a pigeon he danced but didn’t chase until the fourth bird hit a limb as it came out of the release trap and almost lit on the ground. The bird fluttered then flew to a limb above the trap. Tur Bo moved toward the bird and I stopped him with the e-collar. I picked him up and set him back facing the pigeon that he had originally pointed. He turned his head to watch the pigeon in the tree. As I kicked in front of him the pigeon flew out of the tree and I flushed the one in front of him. He didn’t move. I let him run before returning to the kennel.
Luke runs faster and was more beat up than the other dogs, by hunting in Oklahoma, but he wanted to point the pigeons so I put the e-collars on him. I couldn’t tell that he was sore at all by the way he ran. He was on point by the time I got to the circle of birds. Luke knows this is a game; he points but he curls his tail on pigeons. Sometimes he has a straight tail but before I can get a picture he curls it. On quail or pheasants it’s straight. I took pictures then walked in front of him kicking the cover. I flushed a pigeon behind him and he turned his head but then he turned back to the bird he was pointing. I flushed all of his birds and he never moved. I stroked his sides then released him to run before going back to the kennel.
A week or so ago I was guiding with Luke and Dolly. I checked the Garmin GPS and they both were on point in different places. Dolly was close and Luke was about 130 yards away so we went to Dolly’s bird. The hunter flushed a quail in front of Dolly and dropped it. Dolly retrieved and we started to Luke. I checked the GPS and Luke was still on point but Dolly had pointed again. She was close so the hunter went in front of her, flushed a quail and knocked it down. She retrieved again. I checked the GPS and Luke was still on point. We went to him and he was pointing a rooster pheasant. The hunters kicked it up and dropped it.
All three of these young dogs know they aren’t supposed to move on pigeons but it hasn’t transferred over to quail. I’m going to start running them with an e-collar around their flanks and reinforce being steady on quail. I may have to back off shooting and work dogs for a while to get this across to them. I will let you know how this works out.