The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

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Higgins
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The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by Higgins » Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:00 am

Screen Shot 2018-03-05 at 6.25.47 PM.png
As many of you know, I train dogs for use in wingshooting and falconry. What makes the Higgins Method unique is that, instead of conventional obedience based methods, I train the dogs using the same method I use to successfully train hawks and falcons.

Along with the dog training, I've been a master falconer for more years than I care to share. That's where I learned about the predator mind. Hawks, falcons and dogs, when it comes to hunting, they all think the same. As with most experienced falconers, I can trap a wild hawk or falcon and have it cooperating and successfully hunting game with me in 2 to 3 weeks. With the dogs, because I train them like the falcons, they're even easier. I don't have to tame them first! Falcon style training for the dogs obviously works.

My method of training (falconry for dogs) is readily understood and accepted by the dogs. The reason is, my method and falconry are both based on the building of trust, not obedience. There can be no denying it. To help understand, I've included some truths about falconry and working with the birds. Here, you will see the similarities between my method and the training of hawks and falcons.

First and foremost, when training and hunting with a hawk or falcon, they must have free will. Free will is the opportunity to make natural choices with no negative associations tied to the handler (falconer). You can't use obedience or coerce them into doing anything. You cannot use any pressure or punishment. If you do, they will simply leave. You can't get frustrated, or lose your temper. There are no vocal commands or hand signals. Done correctly, there is no training through repetition.

To show the similarities between my method and the training and flying of hawks and falcons (falconry), let me show you the definitions of  some old school falconry terms. The similarities will become obvious.

Bagged Quarry:  "Captive prey which is released under a hawk during training or when game is scarce to insure a flight for the hawk." This is what I do during training and on early hunts with the dogs.

Creance: "A line or cord attached to the hawk during early training". This is my personal favorite. This is how I use a "checkcord". It's not about obedience. Once I show them how to be successful using the creance (checkcord), it is removed and they are "flown free". There is no pressure or obedience here. In early training, I'm simply managing success.

Entering: "To fly a hawk at quarry for the first time or to arrange a situation such that a hawk has an easy opportunity to be successful." Sounds like when I first begin dropping the creance.

Hack: "A process of allowing a newly fledged eyess (young, inexperienced bird) to fly at liberty with purpose of reaching it's full power of flight under a simulated natural wild situation." This is how I introduce the pups to the field and birds. "At liberty" is the key word here.

Lure: "An object which is made of feathers, leather plastic, etc., used as a means of recall." I always have a live quail on a string in my vest. It's a great tool to use with the dogs on occasion when teaching a recall. They come running to see if there might be a bird. The secret is in using it sparingly. Dogs, and predators in general, are gamblers. Success in this case is not guaranteed. They come in to the handler happy every time, just in case.

Make Hawk:  "An older, more experienced hawk which is flown with an eyess (young, inexperienced hawk or falcon) to serve as an example or for encouragement." In early training, I often run the pups with an older, experienced dog.

Man (manning): " To accustom a hawk to men, to handling, and to strange sights and sounds."  Similar to socializing a young pup when he first comes home.

Serve: "To flush or put up quarry under a hawk". I encourage the dogs to flush/stop on my cue. I guess it could be seen as "self serve".

Wait on: "To circle overhead of the falconer waiting for quarry to be flushed." The way I see it with the dogs, this is similar to their "point".

Predators have the talent and the tools to be successful hunters. It's their dance. For the best results, we have to play by their rules. The bottom line is, you are asking them to include you in their hunt. They will accept you as a viable partner in the hunt when they trust that you are there to help them be successful.

Higgins
http://HigginsGundogs.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/HigginsGunDogs/videos
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Last edited by Higgins on Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Fozzie's Mom
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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Falconry for Dogs

Post by Fozzie's Mom » Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:43 pm

That's fascinating! Thank you for sharing!

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by jtg » Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:27 pm

have descried your method to handlers at field trials - most are suspicious - all insist the need to "break" the dog - don't like the term nor the way most of them do it - plan to spend a couple days down at your spread, working your method on my hard-to-break 3 year old with loads of promise and a stubborn streak to match - we'll be in touch

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by Higgins » Sat Jun 09, 2018 10:12 am

Hello JTG,

Yup, they break em and I fix em. :)

Keep in touch. When you have that couple of days available, let me know. We'll get your dog handling, steady on his birds, and include a nice natural retrieve. We'll get you tuned up as a handler too.

All the best,

Higgins
www.HigginsGundogs.com

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by ezzy333 » Sat Jun 09, 2018 11:49 am

Higgins wrote:Hello JTG,

Yup, they break em and I fix em. :)

Keep in touch. When you have that couple of days available, let me know. We'll get your dog handling, steady on his birds, and include a nice natural retrieve. We'll get you tuned up as a handler too.

All the best,

Higgins
http://www.HigginsGundogs.com
Have no idea how many hundreds of dogs I have seen or worked with and not a one of them knew a thing about a Higgins Method but they were well trained dogs that performed really well. I have seen quite a few that were trained using the methods like you have tried to claim were yours and they did well too. I still just don't understand why it is necessary to tell people everything you do is the Higgins method when in reality most of what you do has been taken from the methods that others have used successfully also.

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http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by polmaise » Sat Jun 09, 2018 12:25 pm

Is jtg ...Higgins ? Or ,Is Higgins jtg ?.either way I reckon they are lucky to have found each other on here .
I'm sure they will soon hook up and learn from each other .

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by mask » Sat Jun 09, 2018 1:33 pm

Brad has a method that works for him and may have things incorporated he learned from others. So has every other method I have heard of or seen. What is the big deal and why try and be insulting? My uncle was using a check cord and planted birds in the late thirties but I bet he didn't invent it.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by ezzy333 » Sat Jun 09, 2018 8:48 pm

mask wrote:Brad has a method that works for him and may have things incorporated he learned from others. So has every other method I have heard of or seen. What is the big deal and why try and be insulting? My uncle was using a check cord and planted birds in the late thirties but I bet he didn't invent it.

I'll bet he did tell everyone it was his invention either. I have no trouble with any training method anyone uses if it works for them. I just get tired of having someone claim it is his method and even to the extent that the dogs he trains are Higgins dogs. But you are right, I shouldn't and don't think I did insult him.
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=144
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

Has anyone noticed common sense isn't very common anymore.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by Trekmoor » Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:54 am

"Unique " is a word I never use to describe what I do with dogs ! Until about 20 - 25 years back I thought I was the inventor of what you call "Wagon wheel training." I called it "clock face" training and I devised it about 50 years ago …… I was most annoyed when I saw it described in an American gundog magazine with a "new" name ! :lol: I thought someone had pinched my original idea and promoted it as their own ! :lol: I then discovered this method of training retrieving has been on the go in the States for at least as long as I have been using it.

It is possible for different people on different continents to devise much the same training methods. I think Mr.Higgin's is doing this . Maybe he does genuinely believe that he alone devised the methods he uses ? I will give him the benefit of the doubt due to my own experiences ! :roll:

Bill T.
The older I get, the better I was !

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by slistoe » Sun Jun 10, 2018 6:12 am

Trekmoor wrote:"Unique " is a word I never use to describe what I do with dogs ! Until about 20 - 25 years back I thought I was the inventor of what you call "Wagon wheel training." I called it "clock face" training and I devised it about 50 years ago …… I was most annoyed when I saw it described in an American gundog magazine with a "new" name ! :lol: I thought someone had pinched my original idea and promoted it as their own ! :lol: I then discovered this method of training retrieving has been on the go in the States for at least as long as I have been using it.

It is possible for different people on different continents to devise much the same training methods. I think Mr.Higgin's is doing this . Maybe he does genuinely believe that he alone devised the methods he uses ? I will give him the benefit of the doubt due to my own experiences ! :roll:

Bill T.
Same thing here - I had this great innovation and even had my son videoing me - going to sell DVD's and all - then I found out a very similar idea was already published as the "Burnt Creek Method".

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by birddogger2 » Sun Jun 10, 2018 7:57 am

Folks -

The truth of the matter is...that we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. every day and in every avenue of human endeavor.

Knowledge is incremental. Advances in knowledge occur because someone takes existing knowledge and applies it in a different way or in a different context. Einstein's theory of relativity did not occur in a vacuum. It was a new understanding of physics that sprang from the work and observations of preceding scientists. Many of the pieces were already there and he put them together in a new and different way...leading to new understanding and new knowledge.

As noted above, the same Brilliant idea can and has occurred to different folks at very similar points in time. That is because the opportunity for an advancement in knowledge cam into being and more than one individual recognized the opportunity...pretty much at the same time.

Of course, someone who comes up with a new wrinkle, or a new application may want to "claim it as their own invention" That is salesmanship and that is the American way.

RayG

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by Urban_Redneck » Sun Jun 10, 2018 10:43 am

Let me tell you about my latest invention... the Under and Over shotgun :lol:

Naming something doesn't make it yours. Let results be your brand.

From what I've seen, Brad practices essentially what I know as the Gibbons-West method. Bill West was always forthcoming, he learned the method from someone known as "The Chinaman" in California, after losing a bunch of trials to him.

I'm not a hater, I have a Higgins releaser, it works well.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by averageguy » Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:20 pm

Planting birds in launchers set in natural cover and walking a shot bird back to a dog are hardly new methods in dog training. New Marketing is not a new Method. The cave man who first threw a scrap bone to a wolf deserves some credit I suppose.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by mask » Sun Jun 10, 2018 2:05 pm

I don't see why this is a big deal. Everyone learns from others and usually incorporates what he learns into a method that works for them. West's method is his, Walker's is his and Mo's is his even though they are close to the same learned from the same person. Have no doubt each of those trainers have their own way of doing things and the method they have perfected is theirs.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by averageguy » Sun Jun 10, 2018 3:00 pm

It is not remotely a big deal for me, just it is 93 degrees, no wind and blazing sun outside presently so commenting on dog training vs actually dog training is the only realistic option at the moment.

I was a fledgling Falconer at one time and hang with some Master Falconers from time to time. The whole "Falconry Method of Dog Training" Speel strikes me as pure Marketing gimmick which seems to appeal to the masses who know little about Falconry. And posting "Yea They Break em and I Fix em" seems a bit much and likely to bring on some comments, (and did).

I have learned from numerous pro and amateur trainers along the way. Not so much anyone's groupie but there are some DVD products I recommend because they are the best I have found thus far and DVD series can actually prepare someone to train their dog whereas a paragraph post on a Forum cannot (try as we might). They have all had something to offer and are more similar than dissimilar.

I think DVDs series such as the Perfection Kennel Series, Hickox's, Hillman's, Evan Graham, Leerburg ... are much more helpful than snippets of video and teaser Marketing materials.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by ezzy333 » Sun Jun 10, 2018 8:00 pm

Urban_Redneck wrote:Let me tell you about my latest invention... the Under and Over shotgun :lol:

Naming something doesn't make it yours. Let results be your brand.

From what I've seen, Brad practices essentially what I know as the Gibbons-West method. Bill West was always forthcoming, he learned the method from someone known as "The Chinaman" in California, after losing a bunch of trials to him.

I'm not a hater, I have a Higgins releaser, it works well.
Amen
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=144
http://www.perfectpedigrees.com/4genview.php?id=207

It's not how many breaths you have taken but how many times it has been taken away!

Has anyone noticed common sense isn't very common anymore.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by BuckeyeSteve » Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:53 am

Urban_Redneck wrote:Let me tell you about my latest invention... the Under and Over shotgun :lol:

Naming something doesn't make it yours. Let results be your brand.

From what I've seen, Brad practices essentially what I know as the Gibbons-West method. Bill West was always forthcoming, he learned the method from someone known as "The Chinaman" in California, after losing a bunch of trials to him.

I'm not a hater, I have a Higgins releaser, it works well.
I thought you called that cool new thing an Above & Below shotgun?
I was thinking of starting my own BuckeyeSteve Method of dog training, aka the "what the heck am I doing" method or the "figure this out as I go" method.... I don't know that I'll make much money on it though.....

I've always been interested in Falconry. I think that would be an incredible thing to get into at some point in life.....but I'm going to continue slowly figuring out this dog thing first. Maybe in a decade of so I'll get Mr. Higgins to help me out with a Hawk -- fulfill one of those childhood dreams that had faded away.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by averageguy » Mon Jun 11, 2018 3:25 pm

BuckeyeSteve wrote: I've always been interested in Falconry. I think that would be an incredible thing to get into at some point in life.....but I'm going to continue slowly figuring out this dog thing first. Maybe in a decade of so I'll get Mr. Higgins to help me out with a Hawk -- fulfill one of those childhood dreams that had faded away.
I was licensed in the Sport at a young age and flew a couple of Redtails and a Kestrel. I learned it is an extremely time consuming Sport which did not leave time sufficient for much else in the way of other passions. I went with the dogs, bowhunting, farming, fishing instead. But I have been fortunate to hang with some Master Falconer friends who remained active and have seen Redtails, Harris Hawks, Goshawks, Sharp Shinned, Peregrines, Aplamodo, Hybrids and Gryfalcons take game. It has moments that are thrilling to watch.

Image

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by Sharon » Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:41 pm

What a beautiful bird. What kind is that?
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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by averageguy » Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:40 pm

That is a female Gyrfalcon.

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by Trekmoor » Tue Jun 12, 2018 7:18 am

I don't know about in America but Gyr falcons are very expensive in Britain . One guy I know has one and he never lets it hunt in case he loses it !

There were a couple of birds of prey you mentioned that I have never even heard of never mind seen in action ! I worked my Brittany a few times for a man with a Red Tail hawk. She was terrific and she and my dog struck up an alliance right from the start . That bird caught rabbits, a grey squirrel , pheasants and one mallard drake during our first outing. She was better than the two goshawks that were also there.

I once went out with a falconry party who had a golden eagle. It caught a couple of blue hares (our mountain hares.) It was a sight to see ….but I did feel sorry for the hares !

Bill T.
The older I get, the better I was !

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Re: The Unique Higgins Method, Classic Falcon Training for Dogs

Post by averageguy » Tue Jun 12, 2018 10:30 am

Yes the Falconer holding the Gyr has a great deal of money invested in his facilities and Falcons. He captive bred, hatched and raised that Gyr. It was her maiden flight at wild game. We located some Gadwalls on a large pond on a sod farm. He pitched the Gyr off and she circled high above and waited while we went over the dam and flushed the Gadwalls. The Gyr stooped and barely missed, the Gadwalls immediately beat retreat back to the pond and refused to fly again. They were wild ducks of course but were much more willing to take their chances with us Humans waving and yelling trying to get them up again vs taking to the air and letting that Falcon get another crack at one of them.

The Falconer hollered and swung his lure to get the Gyr's attention then released a bagged hen pheasant he was carrying. The Gyr closed her wings and dropped straight down, wind whistling through her wings. She hit the pheasant so hard it bounced off the ground a couple feet when it hit. The Gyr swung and around, landed on it and began plucking. It was great fun to be part of it.

Image

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