I haven’t trained for a couple of days because of the rain so when I got Tur Bo out of his kennel he was a handful. I put an e-collar on him and a leash hooked to his collar with a half hitch around his flanks. He knows he has to whoa with the piggin’ string but this is different. We had barely left the kennel when he threw a fit. When he went ballistic I just raised him off the ground. He started to fight the leash but his feet were off the ground so there was nothing he could do. He wiggled for about 10 or 15 seconds, then settled down. When he quit twisting I set his feet on the ground.
We started around the yard again. The first few times I said whoa to him he did it perfectly, then he decided a step or two wouldn’t hurt. When he took a step I picked him up with the leash, which tightened around his flanks, and put him back. He was good for a couple of times then he decided he would move his front feet but leave the back feet in place. This time when I picked him up I shook him a little before putting him back. Again he was good for a few times, then he acted like he saw something and moved toward the side. I picked him up again, shook him and put him back. We went through the heel and whoa for about twenty times after that with no problem. He knows what to do with the piggin’ string and now maybe he knows about the leash, also.
Tur Bo
I had him jump on the retrieving bench. I petted him as he walked back and forth, then rolled the tennis ball down the bench. He pounced on it and whirled around and gave it to me. We played with the ball 5 or 6 times, then I put a retrieving buck in his mouth and made him hold it. I started this some time ago but forgot about it. I had him give, then petted him and had him hold again. I made him hold and give 5 or 6 times then put him on the ground to run. After he ran for about 5 minutes I put him back in his kennel.
Whitey
I took Whitey and Blaze to the county park along with 6 pigeons. When we got there I put an e-collar around Whitey’s flanks and one around her neck then heeled her to the field. I whoaed her, tapped her on the head to release her to hunt. I had a bag of birds and when Whitey came close to me I threw a pigeon in front of her. She stopped immediately. I kicked the cover in front of her, then tapped her on the head and she went back to hunting. I let her run for a while then threw another and she stopped again. Again I kicked in front of her and she didn’t move. On her third bird she was perfect. This exercise gets the dogs to be steady to flush, which is necessary if you are going to get them steady to wing and shot.
I put the e-collars on Blaze, heeled her to the field, whoaed her then turned her loose to hunt. When she came close I threw a pigeon in front of her and she started to chase. I held the button on the e-collar that was around her flanks down on level 2 and she stopped. I kicked the cover in front of her then tapped her on the head and she continued hunting. I let her run for a little while then when she came close I threw a pigeon in front of her and she stopped. I kicked in front of her then sent her on. I had the third bird in my hand and when she got close I threw it. Just as I threw the bird she turned where she couldn’t see the bird. That was the last bird I had with me so we loaded up and came home.
This is a real good exercise for young dogs to get them steady to flush. I usually do this only once a week or so. After the dogs do this 3 or 4 times perfectly it’s time to move to the blank pistol to get the shot down. These 2 young dogs are close to being steady to wing and shot. That don’t mean they are going to be perfect, I will have to shoot some birds over them. Like every thing else that we teach to the dogs, we will have to do it in a lot of different places and make them do it right before we can say they are trained.