Reward for honoring?

[mountaindogs]

For pointing dog people do you and if so how do you prefer to reward your dog for a correct honor? Fully through a retrieve, master level honoring...

[cjhills]

Some times I let the backing dog have the retrieve and sometimes I throw the bird and let the backing dog retrieve after the pointing dog, not real often though.......................Cj

[birddogger]

Some times I let the backing dog have the retrieve and sometimes I throw the bird and let the backing dog retrieve after the pointing dog, not real often though.......................Cj

+1

Charlie

[nevermind]

Just curious...as to why you reward for backing on a pointing dog with a retrieve... isn't honoring a big part of pointing dog training? All the pointing dogs I've had are more interested in going on to find more birds than retrieving them ( seems retrieving is secondary to them) of course the retriever I had loved to retrieve. I know I'm missing something cause I'm not a field trailer, so please educate me on this.

[Sharon]

That's how I see it. No reward necessary. This time you back. Next time you get to retrieve.

[cjhills]

Just curious...as to why you reward for backing on a pointing dog with a retrieve... isn't honoring a big part of pointing dog training? All the pointing dogs I've had are more interested in going on to find more birds than retrieving them ( seems retrieving is secondary to them) of course the retriever I had loved to retrieve. I know I'm missing something cause I'm not a field trailer, so please educate me on this.

All of or dogs are bred to honor and retrieve. A bird dogs goal in life should be to get the bird in it's mouth not merely to point it. My dogs all really like to retrieve and retrieving is the reward. Also never had to train one to honor.
Not trying to educate anyone just how I want my dogs to work. I guess if you just flush the bird and move on the dog would develop a different perspective...............Cj

[nevermind]

CJ.... Sounds like you have a great breeding program. My dogs' been in the field with quite a few dogs that didn't have honoring bred into them, also have hunted with quite a few pointing dogs that weren't to interested in retrieving (mine included) They needed FF. You're right I do have to flush birds and move on....my dog points hen pheasants, He's not one that only points roosters. LOL

[cmc274]

Some times I let the backing dog have the retrieve and sometimes I throw the bird and let the backing dog retrieve after the pointing dog, not real often though.......................Cj

+ 3

Fellow that helped me start my one dog shot a bird over the first honoring setup she'd ever seen and brought the dead bird back to her. She backed hard everytime after.

[mountaindogs]

As cj states, all my dogs want the bird in their mouth. The stopping to honor has come pretty natural but the holding through the retrieve for another dog is harder for them. I have one that was getting soft and looking back at me during this and weight shifting on his front legs. So I gave himself a retrieve on one that he stayed with and looked sharp on, and simultaneously the pointing dog broke but was on CC with her handler. We both felt that giving the honoring dog the retrieve would reward mine and punish his so we tried. But I know letting them go from honor gives them the expectation that they can and makes breaking from honor more likely. Just seems that style stays better when they believe they might be needed vs just standing through another dogs work for no reward. I have read some places that getting to see the bird is the reward for a good honor. I assure you seeing the bird excites my dog but it does not encourage a desire to let the other dog have it. Also I wonder if that were your training plan and the dog did not hold steady through the shot during the honor have you not already rewarded the dog? They already saw it... And what if they did break before the flush or were antsy in the feet? Would you pull them off so they couldn't see the bird? And wouldn't doing that be teaching them to move their feet?