8 minute read

ROAD HUNTER: SUMMER GUN DOG TRAINING

SUMMER GUN DOG TRAINING The time is now to get your new four-legged hunting partner ready for fall bird seasons.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN

At the time of this writing, the mandated confinement much of the world has faced is challenging for us, our children, even our dogs. Hunting dogs are active animals that desire to be outdoors as much as possible.

A dog’s drive to run, explore and engage innate senses makes it tough for us to deal with at times. But being indoors is a great opportunity to instill some valuable training, and with fall hunting seasons approaching faster than you might think, now’s the time to teach your dog what you want it to do.

INSIDE TRAINING TIPS One of the best things you can do right now is simply spend time with your dog. When spending an entire day indoors with your canine companion, you’ll likely be surprised with how much your dog pays attention to your every move. They’ll move when you move, look at your eyes to see what your next action will be, and twist and turn their head when you talk to them, in order to decipher what it is you’re saying. All this exaggerated action is a result of their desire to please you, and they do this by trying to read your mind, or at least anticipate what move you’ll make before you make it.

Eye contact is one of the best

ROAD HUNTER

Directional casting – teaching your dog to move in a specific direction through hand signals – can be taught indoors, as well as small spaces outside.

If you want to optimize your gun dog’s behavior and performance in the field, at-home training is the ticket.

training tools there is, and it’s important to be consistent in your looks. Your dog will sense when you’re happy, tired, upset or stressed. Take note of the looks you give your dog, or family members when the dog is in sight, and you’ll see how committed your dog is to pleasing you. This is important because eye contact is a great way to engage your dog, and efficiently communicate with them. If you’ve not paid close attention to it, you’ll be shocked with how much you can communicate with your dog, without saying a word.

The same goes for reading your dog’s actions. Dogs can’t talk, though many owners swear they try. Spend day after day with your dog and you’ll soon read its disposition through its eyes, ear position and movement, tail action, even spine alignment and head angle. These are just some ways your dog communicates with you, and it’s in your best interest to learn to understand what they’re saying.

In terms of training a dog, you don’t need much room to teach sit, stay and come. It can all be done in a living room. Using food or treats to get a dog to sit, stay and move in specific directions can be very effective, and above all else, teaches them restraint, which is key to optimizing any dog’s behavior.

Teaching a dog directional movement is next. Have your dog sit in the middle of the room. Next, place a couple kibbles of food to the right of it, at what we’ll call first base, if we were on a baseball field. Give an open hand signal to the right, along with a voice command, and the dog will get the food. Command it to sit when it’s done, then place food to the left of it, then release it to get the food. Once it’s done, have the dog return to the middle, or the pitcher’s mound, and sit. Then put food behind it, on second base. With an outstretched hand overhead, give a firm “back” command. Getting dogs to push back can be challenging, and teaching them this move indoors, with small portions of food in a small area, can be very effective.

Once the dog is on to this game, you’ll be impressed with how quickly they respond to your directions. Soon you’ll have the dog sitting on the pitcher’s mound, with food on all three bases, waiting for your commands.

If you have a hallway, this can be a great training area. Shut all the doors and pick up anything from the floor.

Create an area free of distractions, then get to training. Here you can teach dogs to fetch, sit, come, lay down, push back, retrieve shed antlers, and much more.

STEPPING IT UP A lot of hunters got pups this summer, and now is the time to teach them basic obedience. These things can also be taught to a mature dog, even if it’s just a refresher for them.

“Teaching a dog to sit on command is a basic step in obedience,” shares noted gun dog trainer Jess Spradley of Cabin Creek Gun Dogs (541-219- 2526, cabincreekgundogs.com) in Lakeview, Oregon. “With the pup standing, push its bottom to the ground, and when it sits, say ‘sit.’ You want to give the verbal cue once the dog has achieved the goal, not before, so it learns what it is you want it to do. Eventually the dog will learn what ‘sit’ means, and will do so on command.”

Another important command for your dog to understand is “whoa,” Spradley shares. “The goal of whoa training is to stop the dog on command. You don’t want the dog to stop then sit, or continue to creep forward. You don’t need a bird to teach a dog how to whoa. A good way to teach a dog to whoa is with a leash; you can teach the dog to heel at the same time, by saying ‘heel’ while sharply tugging on the leash to keep the dog close to you when walking.”

When whoa training on a leash, you want the dog to stop when you stop. Walk, stop, pull the leash tight and give the verbal command “whoa” once the dog stops. “Deliver the command once the dog stops, not before, as the dog needs to learn what it is you want it to do,” Spradley emphasizes. “Eventually

Play time builds bonds with your dog, which opens the door to many training opportunities. Here, playing with a pup’s paws and mouth ensures these sensitive areas will be easily handled as the dog matures.

Bring a puppy home at seven weeks and by eight weeks, with proper and consistent training, it will be sitting on command.

you’ll say ‘whoa’ and the dog will stop. Then, when walking the dog, it will stop when you stop, without a verbal demand being given.”

Spradley suggests working up to a dog holding in a whoa position, where you lay the leash on the ground and walk in a complete circle around the dog. The dog should not move, and should stay standing the whole time.

“Another way to teach a dog to whoa is at the food bowl,” offers Spradley. “During regular feeding times, distance the dog from the bowl of food. When you release the dog to eat, stop it at the bowl and say whoa before it starts to eat. The goal is to stop the dog from moving forward, and oftentimes this is best done when the dog has an urge, or reason to keep moving forward. Teaching whoa on the stairs is also good, as the dog has to make a conscious effort to quickly stop moving.”

“Teaching a dog to move backwards can be challenging, so the younger a dog can learn this, the better,” points out Spradley. “A lot of people move a pile of three or more bumpers back farther and farther, but keeping a bumper pile

Teaching a puppy to heel and whoa are important commands, and the sooner they can learn what’s expected of them, the better for the both of you.

in the same spot while you and the dog move back, instead, yields fast results. This is because the dog is more likely to quickly move to the bumpers because it knows where they are, versus having to search for them.”

Make a pile of bumpers 10 yards behind the dog, and once the dog has retrieved a couple, you and the dog move back another 10 yards. Spradley encourages trainers to continue doing this as far back as you have room for, or as far as the dog will perform. You can start this drill in a hallway of the house, or in the backyard, progressing to bigger areas once the dog achieves consistent success.

“Another way to teach a dog to move back – or obediently retrieve – is with what’s called the ladder drill,” Spradley suggests. “Instead of making a pile of bumpers, place them staggered behind the dog, one at a time. Place one bumper 5 feet behind the dog, another at 10, 15, and 20 feet behind the dog. Have the dog sit, then give the command to fetch the first bumper. Once retrieved to hand, have the dog sit beside you or in front of you, and release it to get the next bumper. This is a fun drill to teach older dogs, too.”

Don’t overlook simple, short-distance retrieves, as they are great ways to teach a dog discipline and obedience, and can be done inside the house or a small yard. This is also a great way to build communication with your dog.

As we get through these trying times together, don’t neglect your hunting dog. Take advantage of this time to build bonds that will last a lifetime, and result in the best trained dog you could hope for, because before we know it, we’ll be hitting the road for another hunting season. 

Editor’s note: To watch Scott Haugen’s series of puppy training videos, visit scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram and Facebook.

This article is from: