fall deer hunting Offseason gundog tune-up tips

Offseason Tune Ups, Part I: The Push Back

By Scott Haugen A bout the only bird hunts going now are for grouse and ptarmigan in Alaska, and at shooting preserves throughout other parts of the country. For most of us, it’s the start of the offseason, but for you and your dog it should really be the start of fixing things, what I call offseason tune-up time.

It’s likely that at some point this past season you encountered unwanted behaviors or responses in your dog. Even if these were minor glitches, they need to be remedied while your dog is in good shape and both of your mindsets are on hunting. This month we’re going to look at fixing what could be the most common problem faced by hunters, the push back. Next Author Scott Haugen’s dog Echo made a blind retrieve on this wing-tipped goose that sailed over 300 yards. Hand signals allowed him to push his dog back, and trust is what led to a successful retrieve. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

month, in part II of this series, we’ll look at other fixes you can make to get your gun dog dialed back in.

THE MOST COMMON question I get throughout the season is how to get a dog to move backwards for a retrieve when it failed to see a bird go down.

“It’s hard to push a dog out but very easy to call them back, or direct them to the side, once they are out there,” shares Jesse Spradley, an award-winning trainer and breeder with Cabin Creek Gun Dogs (541- 219-2526, cabincreekgundogs.com) in Lakeview, Oregon.

“Blind retrieves require a lot of training and are one of the more challenging things to fix,” he begins. “This is because the dog is being asked to run or swim out in a given direction, looking for game it hasn’t seen you shoot, then continue searching until it finds the bird or you start giving directional casts. To accomplish this, the dog must have confidence in you as the handler, and trust that you know what you are doing.”

Now is a good time to teach your dog how to push back for a blind retrieve, which Spradley explains step by step.

“This command is taught by repetitions that always end with success. Success is the result of the dog always finding the bumper, antler, bird, etc. The key to success is you must start short then increase the distance as the dog becomes more confident in your commands; commands that always lead to success, as this is how the dog learns to trust you,” he says.

Jesse Spradley, a noted trainer and breeder of elite pudelpointers, devotes a lot of time in the offseason to tuning up gun dogs for clients. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

“When I’m teaching blind retrieves I’ll place the birds or bumpers in the same location on a pond, always on the far side of the bank,” Spradley continues. “As the dog learns to swim across – knowing there will always be something there to retrieve – I’ll begin switching to other locations that “I want my dog to come up to any body of water, no matter how big it is, knowing we are going to the far side. A lot of dogs stop at 40 to 60 yards out because that’s how far most folks can throw training dummies out into the water. By going to the training pond and physically placing bumpers or birds, you can increase the distance, building the dog’s confidence as you go,” he says.

require a little further distance. The purpose of this is to build the dog’s confidence.”

For many hunters, breaking a bad training habit that likely started when the dog was a pup is the goal of getting them to push back, as Spradley explains.

I MADE THIS mistake with a female pudelpointer one time, but broke the habit and got her to push back using voice commands and hand signals to direct her to bird wings I’d placed in a big field.

I made a point to do this training when there was a slight crosswind. I left the dog kenneled then went out and positioned three different bird wings, one at 30 yards, another at 50 yards and the last at about 75 yards.

After finding the first wing the dog retrieved it to me, then I sent her back for the second wing. She followed the same line to where she’d picked up the first wing, then stopped and looked at me for direction. With a verbal “back” command and a hand signal (an open hand raised over my head), she moved back, cut the wind of the second wing, then brought it back.

Immediately trust was gained and success is what kept driving that dog during follow-up training sessions. It took a little time, but now that dog trusts me and has no trouble pushing back 200 yards, even more, on both land and water, guided by a blow on the whistle or one beep on her e-collar, combined with a hand signal. Start simple and ensure success when teaching your dog to push back. Be patient and always positive. If the dog loses interest, call it a day and come back another time, fresh and ready to work. CS

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