I hid 5 pigeons in the tall grass on my training ground. I put them close together where Tur Bo could hit a scent cone and point, then I could flush all 5 birds and have him stay on point until I flushed all of them. I put an e-collar around his neck and a check cord around his flanks then heeled him to the training grounds. As most things in training works out I set him up where he would catch the scent on one of the birds on the end but when I tapped him on the head he went a different way. When he pointed he was in the middle of the birds.
Tur Bo
Tur Bo
Tur Bo
The wind was swirling around but he was close enough to get the scent really well. I had a stake that I pushed into the ground and ran the check cord around it so I could get in front of him and still have the check cord stop him if he moved. I picked up the check cord and let him stand on point for a little while then flushed one of the farther pigeons. When the bird came up he tried to chase the bird and when he hit the end of the check cord he flipped the stake out of the ground like it was nothing. It has been raining a lot here but there was no discernable slowing until he ran out of check cord. He stopped when he hit the end of the check cord and I picked him up and carried him back. He went back on point.
After he went back on point I grabbed the check cord but didn’t try to use the stake again. I let him stay on point for a little while then flushed another pigeon. When the bird came up he hit the end of the check cord and stopped. He had only moved about 3 yards so I put him back. He went back on point on the pigeon right in front of him. I let him stay on point for a little while then flushed another pigeon that was several yards away. When this bird flushed he only moved about a foot. The check cord still had slack in it.
I put him back and he went back on point. After a little while I flushed the fourth pigeon but this was the bird right in front of him. He only moved about a foot. There was still slack in the check cord. I had already tried to flush the last bird I had set out but it was a different brand release trap than the other 4 and I had broken the antenna off the hand held transmitter. Tur Bo went back on point and I walked to the last trap and took the bird from it. I held it behind my back where he couldn’t see it and walked back to him. I picked up the check cord and let him stand there for a little while then threw the pigeon in front of him. This didn’t work as well as I would have liked. The pigeon hit some tall grass and slowed down right in front of Tur Bo. That was more than he could stand. When he hit the end of the check cord I thought I was going with him. If the check cord had only been attached to his collar he would have had a lot of leverage but with the half hitch around his flanks I stopped him pretty quick. I set him back where he had originally been on point. I tapped him on the head to release him.
This is a good exercise for dogs to figure out that, they have to stay on point, after the birds fly. It still takes several repetitions before they get it figured out. Most of dog training is repeating an exercise until the dogs get it figured out.