What do I need to know to take a dog that has just hunted birds in the field for fun and get her to the point where she can go to a trial and compete?
I know that she has to be steady to wing and shot. I'm not exactly sure how to transition from her running after the bird after the the flush, to being steady to wing and shot. I don't want to get her with the collar when she breaks out of point, because she did find the birds, and did point them.
Thanks for any and all help
Transistion Between Hunting & Trials
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Missourihunter85
- Rank: Just A Pup
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:36 am
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RayGubernat
- GDF Junkie
- Posts: 3311
- Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:47 am
- Location: Central DE
Re: Transistion Between Hunting & Trials
Missourihunter -
It is going to take pressure to get a dog to stop and stand for wing and shot, when it has been allowed to break at flush. That is a plain fact.
What you need to understand is that stopping and standing to wing and shot is much, much more about obedience than it is about birds. You can steady a dogwithout imacting its willingness to find and point birds. You can also screw a dog up, so be very methodical, thorough and patient in your approach.
I would suggest you do four things.
First I would get a wonder lead and do heel/whoa drills in the yard with the dog until you can stop, caution the dog with a hand signal and walk in front of it. Then I would transition to a pinch or prong collar and check cord and continue the heel/whoa drills until the dog is VERY reliable.
Second I would do bench or barrel work to steady the dog, after the dog has progessed to the pinch or prong collar on the ground and have an assistant toss pigeons from a hide while the dog is stacked up. If the dog dives off, it gets stopped by the checkcord and pinch or prong collar. Then you put it back up and stroke it up and make it stand.
Third, once the bench work is done and the dog is standing for birds that are flown in front of it, you could take the dog to the field and do some stop to flush work with pigeons and remote release traps whiole the dog is with you on a checkcord. OR
Fourth..take it to a GOOD pro to finish. Finishing a dog that is standing to birds flown in front of it should take about a month.
Getting a dog broke to wing and shot by a pro can be a real good investment. They have the facilities and the time to work with the dog on birds, every day, day after day, until the job is done. A pro does it so often that they can "feel" when the dog is ready , and just how much pressure to put on.
A side benefit is that if there are any negative sentiments left with the dog, they will be towards the trainer...not you. You will continue to be the dog's savior.
RayG
It is going to take pressure to get a dog to stop and stand for wing and shot, when it has been allowed to break at flush. That is a plain fact.
What you need to understand is that stopping and standing to wing and shot is much, much more about obedience than it is about birds. You can steady a dogwithout imacting its willingness to find and point birds. You can also screw a dog up, so be very methodical, thorough and patient in your approach.
I would suggest you do four things.
First I would get a wonder lead and do heel/whoa drills in the yard with the dog until you can stop, caution the dog with a hand signal and walk in front of it. Then I would transition to a pinch or prong collar and check cord and continue the heel/whoa drills until the dog is VERY reliable.
Second I would do bench or barrel work to steady the dog, after the dog has progessed to the pinch or prong collar on the ground and have an assistant toss pigeons from a hide while the dog is stacked up. If the dog dives off, it gets stopped by the checkcord and pinch or prong collar. Then you put it back up and stroke it up and make it stand.
Third, once the bench work is done and the dog is standing for birds that are flown in front of it, you could take the dog to the field and do some stop to flush work with pigeons and remote release traps whiole the dog is with you on a checkcord. OR
Fourth..take it to a GOOD pro to finish. Finishing a dog that is standing to birds flown in front of it should take about a month.
Getting a dog broke to wing and shot by a pro can be a real good investment. They have the facilities and the time to work with the dog on birds, every day, day after day, until the job is done. A pro does it so often that they can "feel" when the dog is ready , and just how much pressure to put on.
A side benefit is that if there are any negative sentiments left with the dog, they will be towards the trainer...not you. You will continue to be the dog's savior.
RayG
Re: Transistion Between Hunting & Trials
rays thoughts are good though i use different methods. if you decide to take it to a pro the LESS you do with the dog the better. I have spent a fair amount of time on some dogs unteaching them what their owners have done in order to achieve the clients desired results. Also, if the methods that you use are different then what the pro uses, your dog will go through a period of time of greater confusion changing from one method to another and then the results may not work for you if you do not change your methods to match what the pro does. you can give me a call if you would like some spoecific excersises that you can do with your dog to get it closer to being ready. 573-985-3149
justin
justin