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Go Slow When Introducing a Dog to Gunfire
Sometimes hunters are so eager to develop their new pup into a hunting dog that they rush things. With some training exercises, if you make a mistake and try to teach something too fast, you can fix the resulting problems by going back and starting over. In others cases, such as with introduction to gunfire, you don't get a second chance.
Bending Drills Teach Dogs to Hunt Efficiently
A dog that searches for birds in a consistent pattern covers ground efficiently and hunts with confidence. Whether you're hunting quail, grouse or pheasants, the result is the same: more shooting opportunities.
Training Your Retriever for Double Duty
If you own a waterfowl dog, chances are that sooner or later you're going to ask it to perform upland duty. It might be a pheasant hunt as a sideline to your Dakota duck hunt, or maybe an afternoon of quail hunting after a morning goose hunt. Most retrievers handle their second job pretty well. You can help your dog perform that job even better.
Rainy Day Dove Shoot
I woke up this morning to pouring rain here in Gainesville, FL. My spirits were also a bit damp as I had plans to go to Watermelon Pond Plantation in Archer, FL to work my German Shorthaired Pointer, Hank, with bird dog trainer extraordinaire, Kate Boulos. A dove shoot was planned for the afternoon. When the rain stopped around 12:00 pm, I was happy. My fiancee and I loaded up Hank and headed out with a cooler full of cold drinks and a mullet dip for the cookout. I prepared it last night after a great day of red fishing out of Cedar Key. It turned out great and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We arrived in plenty of time to grab a quick snack of delicious bar b qued pork, chili cheese dip and baked beans and then headed out to the quail woods.
Once Bitten...
Re-transmitted/published with permission of Covey Rise magazine. Copyright 2008. This article appeared in Covey Rise Magazine in summer of 2007.
Training a new puppy
In the summer of 2002, I raised two 8-week of females GSPs, from weaned puppy to started bird dog. Beginning with their introduction to birds, gunfire and all the rest that goes with being a bird dog and culminating with a successful 4-day hunting trip to South Dakota in October just prior to their being shipped to Japan to be with their new owners. This project was alot of fun. I miss these pups alot, but I know that they are doing well due to the nice start I gave them. You can do the same thing with your young bird dog, it just takes time and patience. Of course you must remember the most important thing about making a bird dog...start with a bird dog!!
