Use hunting lulls as teachable moments with your gun dog

USE WATERFOWLING LULLS AS TEACHABLE MOMENTS

By Scott Haugen

Duck season is here, but it’s a slow day in the blind. It might be just the opportunity you need to get some dog work done.

If you have a new pup, a dog that needs help in an actual hunting situation, or a driven dog that gets bored sitting in one place for hours, then you have a golden opportunity to make that dog a better hunting companion.

EARLIER THIS FALL, a buddy had his

11-month-old black Lab on a duck hunt. It was incessantly whining and wouldn’t sit still. When birds approached, the dog would take off running into the water, breaking even before we shot.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” said my buddy. “He’s from a very elite bloodline …”

Genetics are only part of the puzzle when it comes to building a good hunting dog. If you don’t teach a dog

Duck season is here, and evaluating what needs to be done to help maximize your dog’s potential – fast – is important in breaking bad behaviors and eliminating unwanted habits. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

Should your dog need help in actual hunting situations, working on bumpers across the pond is a good way to turn a slow day in the duck blind into a teachable moment that will help correct bad behaviors. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

what to do, it’ll just keep doing the wrong things. As with raising a child or building a relationship with your spouse, communication is everything when it comes to training a dog.

I told my buddy to grab his dog, make it sit, make it stay quiet and hold on tight while I shot at the next flock of birds that approached, then release the dog once a bird hit the water – if I could hit one.

It worked. A flock came in perfectly, circled our spread two times, and I dropped a double. The dog did what it was supposed to do once my buddy focused on teaching the pup and not shooting birds himself.

If hunting alone and your dog breaks, remedy it by using an eye bolt on the blind or a stake driven into the ground with a check cord attached, and issue commands as the situation requires. Don’t let the dog whine, bark, fidget or break because every time you allow that, you’re reinforcing a poor behavior that will quickly turn into a bad habit.

During a hunt last month, another buddy had his five-month-old retriever along. The dog was quiet, but always moving and constantly digging.

“I just let him dig so he gets tired,” my buddy said.

Three hours later the dog had numerous deep holes dug around us in the muddy slough we hunted. It was covered in mud and not once did my buddy try to stop it. Again, it was a dog with a lot of names and prizes in the bloodline, but that doesn’t mean a thing if you’re not going to teach it the difference between right and wrong, and I pointed this out to him.

THE HUNT ISN’T an ideal place to train a dog, but realistically, few hunters devote proper time to train their dogs in actual hunting situations before the season starts. If not properly trained before hunting season, dogs won’t know where to sit, how to sit still, be quiet, mark approaching birds or react to a shot. All this should be dialed in before hunting season, but if not, turn those slow days into training sessions.

Take bumpers with you to train in and out of the water when birds aren’t flying. Work on multiple retrieves in the decoys, as well as blind retrieves on land. Work on hand signals and verbal commands. Teach your dog discipline and restraint, letting it know exactly what it’s supposed to do on a hunt. Blow your call, shoot your gun, emulate actions the dog will encounter all season long, and maximize those teachable moments by fixing what your dog needs remedied.

If your dog is high energy, take it on a walk and look for other birds in the area to possibly hunt. Oftentimes snipe, quail, crows, even rabbits can be hunted in surrounding duck habitat. These are great breaks to

A great hunting dog is built by proper training well before the dog embarks upon actual hunts. Author Scott Haugen worked hard with his dog, Echo, who’ll quietly sit all day long, mark birds and retrieve on command.

(SCOTT HAUGEN)

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offer and create even more teachable moments. Then return to the duck blind and issue clear commands of what you expect your dog to do: be quiet, sit still, etc.

DOGS NEED TO be trained in real hunting situations, and those slow days in the duck blind can be the ticket to building a great dog or allowing it to remain mediocre; the choice is yours. The goal is to keep future hunts from turning into training sessions, as hunts are a place dogs need to focus and obey every command all day long, but if they don’t know this prior to the hunt, at least you have a starting point and the potential to turn things in a positive direction. Take charge; that’s what dog owners are supposed to do. CS

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

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