Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Dog training tip?

I have a English pointer, he is 6 months old.He is going too far away and don't respond to my calling.Do you have any suggestions how to teach him to com back? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I'll presume you mean when your hunting or have him in the field he is not staying close enough to you? If this is the case, here's a few tips. Put him on about a 30 foot rope, when he gets near the end of the rope get ready and as soon as he puts a strain on the rope give him a quick whistle or a verbal "hup" then give him in a good yank or a tickle with the training collar. You'll have to do this repeatedly. The object is to associate the command from you (either whistle or "hup") to the negative response (the jerk or the training collar). Most bird dogs will naturally hunt back and forth and eventually with this whistle or hup command you can work your dog back and forth in front of you at the range you dictate. I like to work my Brit about 15-20 yards ahead of me, if the birds hold under point that's great and if they flush wild that's a good shooting range. If you hunt game preserves another good trick to is take a live bird and carry it in your vest when you head to the field, wait for your pup to go past some good cover without hunting it well, pups tend to think the grass is greener and hunt too fast, after he passes the good cover take the bird out of your vest and put him in the cover, then call your pup back and tell him to hunt the cover. Always use the same command to tell him "there's birds in there" and point to the cover with a casting motion. When he finds a bird in an area he just ran by Dad starts to look a little smarter and pretty soon your pup will be willing to hunt wherever you tell him to.

Neither of these behaviors will be learnt quickly, be consistent in your commands and remember to associate your command with the negative response if the command is not obeyed. If your using a training collar be gentle, use the lowest setting that gets the dogs attention. Once the dog is learning the command leave the long leash on him but don't hang on to it, letting him loose to drag it is the intermediate step between you holding it and letting him run free. After you let him run free if he has a relapse put the leash on back on him and make it drag it around, he'll remember the game.

It may take months of practice to master this behaviour. But the pay off is a dog that hunts where you want him to hunt at the pace you want to hunt which translates to more birds at shootable ranges.

I used to own an English Pointer but was NEVER able to get her in control, I finally got rid of her.

I've learned to carry hot dogs (the cheapest I can find) in the field and hold one straight up in the air. My dog will now run to me whenever I hold my arm straight up. It is much easier than caller her and also much quieter. Of course she must be looking at you to make this work. I have tried many techniques, including the long lead ropes, electronic collars, and found positive reinforcement works best with my dogs.

I've also learned you must keep after your dog the entire time you have her out. If you let her get out too far then you must make your comply to your request to return. Failure to make her comply will be interrupted as your willingness to allow her to run big. Again, a soft approach works better than being hard on the dog. Getting her to return for a treat is always easier than forcing the dog to return.

This is my 1st day back to work after the holidays and it's really a crappy day. Now I have this visual of a guy in a field of heavy cover, wearing lots of hunter orange, a shotgun in one hand while waving a weeny around over his head in the other. I think I'll be smiling for the rest of the day. I hope you don't mind if I have a chuckle at your expense. And I'll freely admit I'm a "whatever works best for you" guy so more power to you. My only question is how many hot dogs does it take to get thru a day's hunt?

I'll agree your vision is fairly accurate and I do feel a bit strange loading some Armour hot dog into my shooting vest. I use to carry a 12 oz package and found them on sale for 60 cents. I felt it necessary to tell the cashier I was buy them for my dog but am sure she figured the 10 packages were all for me.

After a couple of seasons of "dog" training I can now hold my arm straight up and she runs to me. I've used this training technique on two dogs and was surprised at how quickly they took to the training. I seldom carry treats in the field now.

I have never eaten one of the hot dogs but my hunting partner asked if I had an extra one. I told him they were the cheapest hot dogs made but he went ahead and ate one raw anyways. He said they were pretty good but I'll have to take his word on it, I'll bet they contain lips from multiple sources. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I got a good chuckle out of that one too.

I didn't have to use treats with my first dog. He is an amazing dog that has ruined me for all future dogs.

My second dog is the most hard headed dog in the world. It is a struggle to get her to "sit". I have resorted to using doggie biscuts to get her to sit, but it's still a struggle. I never thought that I'd consider getting rid of a dog, but this one is testing me... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Here's a visual for you...
We used to have a K-9 cop living across the street. He had the night shift, came home early in the morning, around 6. The dog was highly trained, as you know. It was usually worth getting up early, tea or coffee in hand to watch the show. He often had difficulty getting the dog from the car to the house. Several times the dog took off down the street, ignoring incessant calls from his "master."

More than once I got to watch the cop drive off down the road after the dog, back door of the car open, shaking a box of dog cookies out the window! The dog would jump in the back to get the cookies, and then the cop would jump out and slam the door.

We were treated to many an escapade from the K-9 unit across the street! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

E-collar. Tritronics sport or classic 70 will serve you well.

The first rule of dog training is, 'be the boss', i.e. be effective. You are always teaching the dog whether you intend to be or not, and what you are teaching might not be what you think you are teaching. If you are giving commands to the dog, and the dog is disobeying for whatever reason and you are not enforcing your commands, what you are teaching is that in certain situations, your commands don't mean diddly.

Apparently your pointer has learned somewhere along the line that beyond a certain distance from you, your words mean nothing. The electronic collar lets you touch the dog a mile away.

You don't want to use the collar to punish the dog, just to let him know that you can touch him out there, kind of the wireless version of hitting the end of the check cord.

My first dog was (is) a little tiny GSP with wheels to beat the band and an extremely hard head. She *loves* to run and *loves* her birds, and early on in my pre-collar days she learned that my arm was only as long as my 30' check cord, so at 31' she could do as she pleased even if she was dragging the cord. About the 2nd time I called her and she slowed down, then hit the afterburners (i.e. 'I heard you, but I ain't gonna do it'), I got the collar, and we've been friends ever since.

If you don't let the dog get collar-wise (learn that your arm is a mile long only when they have the collar on), you don't need to hunt with the thing. Hell, you might only need it a couple of times until you convince the dog that you can reach him out there. My dogs usually need a reminder or two at the beginning of the season, and then everything is fine.

Some folks get a little huffy when it comes to these things, but IMHO it beats getting rid of the dog because you can't control it.

The hot dog trick sounds great, and like Bruce Lee said, if it works, use it. Hopefully your dog will never decide that the coyote or deer or porcupine or pheasant dashing across the highway or whatever has their interest at the moment is more desireable than the prospect of a treat.

FWIW

tq