Why do I bother to outline my methods? Because they are simple and natural:
No ropes, no tables, no devices and no gimmicks. Most people who wish to train their own Pointer to become a
useful and pleasant hunting partner will find them easy to understand and easy to apply.
Am I qualified to give you advice?
Perhaps! You be the judge.
I have been training dogs for decades. I started with a terrier mix when I was a kid and I taught him tricks.
We hunted raccoon at night and grey squirrels during the day. Later, I hunted birds with a French Brittany Spaniel but
switched to Pointers in 1980 and started breeding my own dogs. At the insistence of a friend, I competed occasionally
in a few Field Trials and placed in several of them. Producing a field trial dog was never my intent; obtaining a
superior hunting dog was my goal. As I was hunting grouse by a river one day, I shot a couple of ducks and asked
the dog to retrieve. He did not know what a duck was and had never retrieved in the water. I thought that this
should never happen again and taught him to do those things. Then, I heard of a wonderful organization: The North
American Versatile Hunting Dog Association. They do not have competitions as most other associations do. Theirs
are not contests; they are tests designed to gauge a dog's abilities and natural talents as a hunter. This suited
me much better and I entered several of my dogs in their tests. These tests were designed to determine the abilities
of dogs such as the German Shorthaired Pointer and others that differ considerably in their manner of hunting when
compared to the English Pointer. My dogs were at a certain disadvantage, especially when it came to tracking on water.
Nevertheless, they did this exceedingly well, but with a different style than what was expected. I taught my Pointers to
track on land and water, to sit in a blind, and to mark and retrieve ducks like Labradors. My dogs did well in NAVHDA and I managed to obtain a
Natural Ability prize I with a perfect score and several UT prizes II and III with high scores with 3 of my Pointers. At the time, this was unheard of.
It is noteworthy that my dogs were able to win Prizes in NAVHDA one day and win a Field Trial on another day.
Having proven a point, I then concentrated exclusively on hunting and breeding. During the past 20 years, I have hunted as much as I could, and outfitted
as a business for 5 years. I have also trained many Pointers of my own breeding to hunt grouse and woodcock, as well as ducks for clients
who were either unable to, or did not have the time to train their own dogs.
I am now retired and all I do is breed an occasional litter, write a little every day, and hunt and train every day that I can, mostly with a camera.
Should you use my training methods?
The training of a Field-Trial dog should be done differently from that of a hunting dog. Why? Because Field-Trial dogs (running under AFTCA rules) are expected to demonstrate certain characteristics: They are required to point staunchly, to remain absolutely immobile and to retain their style without softening, even after the bird has gone. They are expected to run with great abandon for the duration of the heat, without slowing, and to range widely (you may not see them again for several minutes and may have to shout and whistle for them constantly to direct them to return to the front). They are not expected to retrieve and doing so may cause them to be disqualified. They are expected to point with an 11 or 12 o'clock tail (straight up with no curvature). They are expected to produce a bird every time they point. If they must relocate, they must do so decisively and with celerity. There are appropriate techniques for teaching a dog to do those things, in order to meet the expectations of judges at Field-Trial events, and they can be found in those fine books. The dog, of course, must have the genetic background necessary to achieve these tasks.
In comparison, here are my expectations when I hunt with a good hunting dog: I expect my Pointer to be able to run for hours every day with desire and determination. I expect him to run at a moderate pace, one that he can maintain comfortably for hours. I expect him to point staunchly, and to maintain the point for as long as it takes (in heavy cover, this often takes as much as ½ hour, even though the dog may not be very far). I expect my dog to point with style and intensity when the bird is there; although I do not care if the dog points with tail straight out or straight up. I do not like curved tails either. I prefer the semi-crouching, neck outstretched style and find it more intense than the stand-up style favoured at Field-Trials. I expect my dog to point a running grouse and to let me know by his softness on point and head motion that he has found a bird, but that it is now moving. I expect my dog to relocate decisively, but carefully, as many times as it takes to bag that bird. I expect my dog to find and retrieve dead or wounded birds with speed and decisiveness. I expect my dog to range no farther then the sound of the bell and to do it with method and always to the front. I expect my dog to readjust his distance from me by himself, without a word. I expect my dog to slow-down by himself at an intersection and to regain the front by himself without a word from me. Once well trained, I expect to be able to hunt my dog in almost complete silence in the woods. Ideally, there should be No shouts, and perhaps only a few soft whistles to attract his attention occasionally. Mostly, there should only be the sound of the bell. A few discrete hand signals are all that should be necessary. I expect my dog to come to me quickly, without a call, at the end of a cast, if I have stopped on the trail for any reason. I also expect my dog to be steady to wing and shot and to stop any time a shot is fired. I like it when my dog chooses to bolt a few steps ahead or to the side at the shot, in order to see where the bird has dropped (as long as he stops within a couple of yards by himself). I think such a dog really understands what it is all about. He shows cooperation and uses his brain. With the right dog, it is relatively easy to teach and accomplish all of this. Many of my dogs learnt it quite easily.
Not all dogs are gifted enough to become good hunting dogs: a common fault in Pointers is too much independance and too much range. However, if your aim is to try to train a good HUNTING DOG, suited to our thick coverts, you have come to the right place, and the following pages are for you.
I will now outline the basic principles of my training methods:
THE MORE TIME YOU SPEND WITH YOUR PUP, THE BETTER HE BECOMES.
THE BETTER HE BECOMES, THE MORE YOU WILL ENJOY TRAINING AND HUNTING WITH HIM.
It cannot be stressed enough that rapport, the bond between you and your dog, is absolutely essential if you are
going to enjoy hunting together. Without it, the dog will not enjoy being with you. How can you then expect
him to hunt for you? He will want to hunt for himself instead, and not bother with you. A bond is formed with love,
trust, respect and a lot of time spent together. Spend as much time as possible with your pup. Teach him as many
things as possible when he is young. A pup's brain is like a sponge. He will enjoy learning and want to please.
You will soon notice how proud he is when he does well. Dogs become habituated to learning. Teach him as many things as
possible just for fun: how to walk on a leash, to hold a stick in his mouth, to stay still without moving until
you say O.K. Note that all these things are preparing him for later. It will be a cinch to encourage him not to move
on a point or to hold a grouse in his mouth. As a matter of fact, he may have assimilated your teachings
so well, that it will give you the impression, once he is hunting, that he knew these things naturally. Anything you
can teach a pup in the house, where the situation is controlled, will make it tremendously easier to transition to
hunting later. You will have resolved potential issues before they ever appeared. I am a strong believer in early
learning. Many of my own dogs were all trained by the time they were 9 months old. They could search, pattern, point,
hold steady and retrieve perfectly. Many required very little actual training in the field to do all this. What took
most of my time in the field was to teach them a pattern: i.e. criss-crossing in front of me perfectly and at the
correct range. At the minimum, you should spend at least an hour a week taking your pup out for a walk on a wood's road.
The reasons for doing so are primarily to expose him to many scents, including bird scent and awaken his hunting instincts.
As his hunting instincts develop, you can then start teaching him a pattern and direction signals.
Pointing comes naturally to pointing dogs. It is evident as early as 5 weeks of age in certain pups. By 7 or 8 weeks of age, most of them will freeze at the sight of anything small that flutters erratically in front of them. I use an old sock or a small piece of plastic from a strong garbage bag to entice them to point. Use a small broomstick to control it and tie it with about 6 ' of fishing line or nylon twine. Let the pup catch it at first and tug on it gently to give him the impression that it is alive and wants to get away. Pry it loose from the pup's jaws. Then, flip it around him. Soon, you will likely see him point. This is just a game. It does not mean anything, except that your dog will point. If your pup does not point it, do not become disheartened. I have had pups from certain lines that would never point a thing on a string; but they pointed very solidly and intensely the first woodcock they ever smelled on the first day of the hunting season. Now that you have had some fun with this, put it away and never use it again. You do not teach a dog to point; he has to do it naturally; you teach a dog to hold a point!
The pointing stance is just a momentary pause that predators use to avoid being noticed (crouching, staying motionless) and to concentrate their efforts in preparation for lunging towards a prey. This instinct has been cultivated to an exaggerated level in pointing breeds. Nevertheless, it is good to remember that the chase is the only reason for the point. A dog does not have any urge to point anything he does not want to run after. A dog does not have any urge to point something he knows cannot get away. Why would he? So how do you teach a dog to hold a point and why would you want to do this? You teach a dog to hold a point because once he has found a bird, you do not want him to flush and chase after it on his own, before you get there, and have a decent chance for a shot. You teach him to hold a point by creating opportunities to get to him and pat him and talk to him gently. Your goal is to create the notion in your dog's mind that you two are partners and that he will never get that bird unless you shoot it for him.
How do you start? You can start in the house. Teach the dog to stay! Have him stay motionless while you say Hey! in a sharp manner, with a low voice near him, and while holding him. He may be intimidated at first, especially when you insist that he cannot move. As soon as he gives in, pat him and tell him how good he is. Then, give him a gentle slap on the side and say ok. Then release him. You can also do this outside on a leash. Say Hey! sharply, in a low voice, as if something unexpected was about to take place, and tug on the leash to stop him. Pat him gently for a few seconds, slap his side while saying ok and continue walking. Once he knows what this is, take every opportunity to do so. You can do this in another manner in the kitchen: throw a wiener on the floor, 10' away or so. Say Hey! and then ok as usual after he has complied, and let him go.
Then, make it part of his retrieving lesson. Once the pup retrieves well, and loves doing it, you can add this little twist to your session. Instead of throwing the toy and letting the dog go immediately, say Hey! as usual and incorporate this into your retrieving routine. Every time the pup points a robin on the lawn, say hey! go to him, kneel down, pat him, and talk to him in a whispering voice. Get up, clap your cupped hands once to simulate a shot, and let the dog go. See how easy it is, and how it all connects together? Later, take a few steps in front of the dog, and trash around a bit to give the impression you are trying to flush a bird. Always look him in the eye to indicate that you will pounce toward him if he dares to move without your ok and slap on the side. Later again, when you are in the woods training your dog to pattern, do the same thing every time he flushes a grouse. Bring him back to the spot and go through the same Hey! routine. Trash in front of him, clap your hands, and finally release him. Always go to him, do not release him at a distance at this stage, or he will anticipate your order and will do so ever more often as time progresses. After a few lessons of the sort, he will soon point a grouse that is there and he will hold. He is now hunting! his training is mostly done! At some point in time, he may flush on purpose or by mistake. It does not matter, you have to assume he has erred. The dog will usually know he has done wrong. He will therefore deserve a reprimand and a mild correction. Never slap the dog from above or pull his ear for a flush. It is not an appropriate correction, and the dog will soon drop to the ground at your approach. . In the case of a flush, I unceremoniously drag the dog back to the spot where he should have pointed, shake him a bit by the collar and place him on a fake point. Then I say Hey! pat him, and release him.
P.s: 1)The conventional order for a dog on point is Whoa! Why do I use Hey! ? Because Whoa! resembles No!
and I do not want any confusion in the dog's mind between these two commands. One is a happy command;
the other is not. The dog does not care, you could use the command Mustard! if you wished, but it could attract some
unnecessary questions or remarks from unlookers. Hey! is cooler, quick to shout, natural, and decisive.
2)Will throwing a wiener for the dog, not encourage him to eat the partridge later or have a hard mouth?
Not at all. Your dog is not stupid! A grouse does not look at all like a wiener. As a matter of fact,
to again prove a point, I used to feed the carcasses of grouse to Bisquit after a hunt, yet you could
not have found many dogs with a gentler mouth and he never ate a grouse he was about to retrieve.
(I do not recommend that you do this, however.) A hard mouth is a totally different problem and it
is relatively easy to cure if you have a dog with the kind of temperament that leads to this.
You have noticed that I have never mentioned a rope and other contraptions, and that I have never
mentioned using a pigeon or quail to train your dog. When it comes to pointing, I strongly discourage
their use for amateur trainers. It leads to nothing but troubles. The situations you create will
never feel natural to the dog and after 2 or 3 times, he will know the routine and develop bad habits.
Unless you train for Field Trials, stay away from planted birds!
Eventually, you will have to ask your dog to retrieve a real grouse. There may be a difficulty with
this when the dog grabs the bird for the first time. Grouse feathers come out easily, and may fill
your dog's mouth. He will not like it and may refuse to pick it up, especially when he is hot, drewling, and
out of breath. Let him cool off first. Then, you will have to place it in
his mouth and insist that he hold it and come to you. Clean his mouth of feathers first. Avoid harshness,
but be firm! It is good to get a dog used to the feel of feathers in his mouth before he performs real retrieves.
I suggest that you retrieve the first few grouse yourself, and when they have cooled a bit,
but are still warm, throw one a distance for the dog when he is not out of breath. Then, send him for a retrieve.
You will have resolved potential problems, once again, before they ever appeared. In the woods, wait until the
dying grouse has finished beatings its wings and its feathers are down before sending the dog to retrieve.
It will be much simpler.
An important concept in training is that your dog must acquire the notion that a fault will always be
corrected. If you are not consistent, your dog will assume that he can sometime get away with doing something
of which you do not approve. This is a fatal mistake on your part. A trainer must always be vigilant. If you do
not do this, your dog will act exactly like a spoiled child who has been raised without consistency:
He will do as he pleases.
FORCE WILL OFTEN BE REQUIRED WHEN YOUR DOG DOES NOT WANT TO OBEY
Why do I tell you about these things? I do so because an increasing portion of our population now lives in large cities and is now completely out of touch with the natural world. A large proportion of these people think that animals are holier than humans and can do no wrong. They also think that physical punishment is unacceptable. They are gravely mistaken. I am not advocating the use of indiscriminate violence upon an animal that you love. I am simply suggesting that you should not reject the use of considered and mild to moderate force as a teaching aid and to discourage some serious behaviour problems. In most instances, it is perfectly possible to train a dog to behave without involving physical pain. You could use a noise-making device to discourage unwanted actions. This is plausible when a dog is in the house or on a leash, under your control at all times. It is useless for a hunting dog that is 100 yards away and decides to run after a rabbit. There are devices on the market, known as shock collars, that will administer a correction at a distance. These have been tested scientifically and are acknowledged to be safe for use and to have no negative physical or psychological consequences for the dog. They have their place and will be adequate in many instances. I use them on my hounds at the annoyance level as a form of recall on those days when they do not want to quit hunting. I would use the painful level if they were ever tempted to pursue off-game and this is the only reason they wear this collar at all times while hunting.
For pointing dogs, I have not been a fan of the shock collar. I had an old friend I sometimes helped with his training. As all field trialers, he had a shock collar that he used all the time to control his dog's range and steadiness on birds. At age 4 or 5, the dog still was not trained, and if you removed the collar, he knew immediately and just went wild. Even with the collar on and at the highest setting, this dog would yell in anger, or pain, but would not easily end the unwanted action. He had become habituated and knew that this would only last a few seconds. He felt it was worth it every time and would continue to act badly and suffer the consequences. All dogs are not that tough, and for most I am sure, it is an excellent teaching tool. Once you start using it though, you should have it on your dog in the woods at all times. Be very careful in the use of shock collars, the injudicious use of this device has ruined many dogs. I have little experience with their actual use on pointing dogs and will therefore only mention a few thoughts on the subject.
I prefer and I try to breed a more cooperative kind of dog: One that does not need a lot of force. I have always felt that the collar would produce a disconnect between my dog and I. I felt that the dog would learn to respect and fear the collar instead of respecting me and fearing my corrections and my disapproval. I also felt quite strongly that the advent of the collar opened the door for field-trial dog breeders to produce wilder and wilder dogs whose range could not be controlled by any other means. Enough said on this topic! If it suits you and your dog, use it!
If I do not use the collar, how do I administer punishment?
I correct my dogs by pulling on their ears. A few quick and sharp tugs gets their attention. This is sufficient in most instances. Will it not harm the dog? I have been using this method for 40 years. There has never been a problem and I have done some serious ear pulling over the years. It does not look good and is not as cool as pressing a button, but it works well without ill effects and it has never ruined a dog yet. I have had a few Pointers over the years, mostly from outside lines, for whom ear pulling was not even close to harsh enough. I resorted to harsher treatment. I never harmed them, but I endured extreme guilt and it never worked either. These dogs were much more determined and stubborn than I was. These dogs were going to win, no matter how harsh the punishment. I suffered years of aggravation, hoping that they would change. I eventually had to let them go and my only regret was having kept them so long before doing so. Hunting dogs are extremely tough, physically and mentally. They suffer a level of pain unbearable to other breeds because they have been bred to be this way. A hunter does not want a dog that quits after an hour because it is too hot or too cold or because his feet are sore. Most decent strains of hunting dog will endure incredible levels of pain and fatigue just because they love hunting. A little ear pulling is not going to fizz them a lot; but if you have a bond with your dog, the humiliation of it all will be reason enough to obey. I have had many dogs that never needed a correction. For those who were that sensitive, a few harsh words were just as effective.
THE CARDINAL COMMANDS- NO! and COME!
The command No! also implied when you shout your dog's name in a sharp voice, is meant to stop the dog from doing something undesirable like peeing on the floor or eating food from the cat's dish or running after a car. A reprimand and mild correction is usually required at the beginning, to make the pup understand that the behaviour is not acceptable and that there will be consequences if it is not obeyed immediately. Physical correction is unnecessary once the pup has understood the meaning of the command and is willing to comply. Recidivists, however, should be corrected a bit more forcefully if the unwanted action continues to occur over time. Those dogs are indicating, by their lack of compliance, that the punishment was too mild to be a deterrent. There is nothing complicated about teaching this command and it is well understood by the dog.
The command Come! also implied when you shout your dog's name sharply from a distance, is meant to make the dog come quickly to your side. If you have no way of coercing your pup to come to you, you cannot reprimand him or apply a mild correction. If your dog runs away and hides, you have no way of enforcing your commands and your authority and ability to teach him anything is compromised. This command is extremely important for a hunting dog. Pointers are often at a distance of 100 yards or more from you in the woods and are hidden from view most of the time. The dog must always be willing to come to you no matter what, even if he knows a correction is to follow. This is probably the most important command of all and it is often the most difficult to teach and enforce. You must start when the dog is young. There will come a time, soon after you acquire your pup, when he will ignore you or will simply refuse to come to you. What do you do? You call him again, or you change the tone in your voice to indicate that you are very happy and will likely play with him. In other words, you beg him to be nice and come. This is a grave error on your part. He may comply, if he wishes. He is in control! If all he is to become is a house pet, this will have little importance or consequence; but if your pup is to become a bird dog, he must obey this command quickly every time. There is no play involved and no reward. The pup will soon learn, for example, when you want to bring him back to the kennel while he would rather stay outside. He may run in the other direction. He may also balk at coming to you when you intend to put him back in his cage, in the kitchen, to spend the night. You may be able to catch or corner him now, in the house, but in a few weeks, there is no way you will be able to do so outside. You must teach him now, that he must come. When he refuses to come, go to him and restrain him forcefully. [This must be done with a certain amount of tact. When you grab them, or pull on their ears for the first few times, young pups have a tendency to bite back at you as if you were one of their siblings. This is nothing to worry about. They do not know any better until you teach them that you are an authority figure. Once the lesson has been learnt, they accept this without problem and submit easily.] Until then, place your left hand around your pup's jaw and muzzle or his neck to assert your authority and prevent biting. Grab him by the ear with your right hand, tug on it rhythmically (be very gentle at first) a few times while backing up and forcing him to follow you. Stop at 2 steps back, let go of him, quickly take one more step back, kneel down, and then pat him profusely for having come, although perhaps not on his own accord. He must get the impression that you are implacable and yet gentle. Ignore his cries. There is little pain involved. These are mostly cries of surprise and indignation. Remember that this is nothing compared to what his siblings put him through every day. Remember always that puppies are fragile emotionally: use the least force necessary to get the job done, but use force; you want to establish your authority. You will probably have to repeat this a few times, but once he has learnt the lesson, it will stick. You will quickly notice that he rushes to you whenever you call him. His demeanor may denote submission and apprehension at first, but this will soon disappear. Always receive him warmly when he comes to you. Kneel down, craddle him and pat him profusely every time. Later in his field training, the only reasons he would refuse to come to you immediately would be 1) that he is hot on the track of a furry critter, or 2) that you have been too harsh with him in teaching him to hunt. He has begun to fear you, or has simply decided to avoid you. This is not the outcome you want. Such a dog will never hunt for you very well or very happily: he is too preoccupied with fear or anxiety. There is no danger that even forceful ear pulling would ever produce such a reaction in a mature hunting dog of normal temperament. If you have resorted to harsher treatment to coerce the dog into compliance, perhaps it is time for you to reevaluate your approach. Time, patience, kindness, consistency and repetition will usually yield the results that you want. If this does not work, and your dog has an extremely strong temperament and seems completely impervious to pain, you may have a serious problem. Such dogs make up their minds rather quickly that no amount of pain will prevent them from doing what they want. They are always looking for a way out. This type of dog is too headstrong to become a gentleman's shooting dog (a dog that you can hunt comfortably all day and that is always eager to please you). You should find another home for him; for his sake and your own, as you will never be happy with him either. This dog is much more determined than you are and will never submit. Not all battles are worth winning! Unfortunately perhaps, dogs cannot be produced, like toys, from a same mold. They are living creatures with their own personalities and talents. There will always be large variations between pups, even from the same litter. You take a chance! Not all dogs are good! Not all dogs are suited for your purpose!
If you are determined to keep this dog, perhaps a shock collar, worn at all times during the hunt, will ensure a minimum of compliance; but I doubt that you will ever get much satisfaction from hunting with him. Once you have hunted with a good dog, one that can almost read your mind and hunts for you happily, you can never be satisfied with anything else. If you love hunting and love dogs, it is a goal worth pursuing, as it is pure bliss when you find it.
A note of caution : teaching the Come! command must never be done in conjunction with teaching your pup to retrieve. If you correct the pup for not coming while he is learning to retrieve, he will always drop the object and associate the correction with retrieving. You can associate the two commands only when you are sure that he has mastered the Come! command, responds happily, and perfectly understands it's meaning.
THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT-LOVE
THE ESSENTIAL REWARD-VERBAL APPROVAL AND A PAT ON THE HEAD
Affection for your dog is essential to a good partnership and a happy relationship. Choose a pup you are attracted to. If you are not absolutely enthralled with your new pup, you will soon favour other activities and you will find less and less time to spend with him. If this is the case, you will never develop a rapport, he will never be trained properly, and you will enjoy him even less. If you have the right prospect, the more time you spend with him, the more you will want to do so and the better he will become. A dog is quite a commitment. If your time is divided and you have many other priorities, perhaps you should reconsider.
TEACHING YOUR DOG TO PATTERN
Why should you teach your Pointer to pattern? Because you will always know, more or less, the approximate location of your dog if he has found a bird while you were daydreaming and walking on the road. Patterning also ensures that the grounds are searched well and that no area has been overlooked. Patterning ensures that he does not go farther than your ear is able to perceive the sound of his bell. There is nothing more frustrating than having to go searching for your dog all the time, not knowing if he is on point, or simply too far for you to hear. You should rarely have to call your dog in the woods. He should always know where YOU are. Patterning also ensures that the dog maintains his proper position ahead of you and does not lag behind. If he is lagging behind, he is out of control. You should never have to wait for him. It does not make sense for you to be ahead of the dog, unless you have decided that you should be the one finding the birds for him to point. A dog that patterns well is also less likely to waste time on foot scent, as once properly trained, he is usually anxious to complete his pattern.
Foot scent--- While Pointers scent the air with head held high; some other breeds of pointing dogs have strong tracking tendencies. Once they have found a track, they will follow the bird, nose on the ground, using foot scent. This can be a long, tedious pursuit and it often ends in a flush. Grouse will keep running in front of such dogs and even woodcock will not easily tolerate a dog that tracks and therefore comes dangerously close to them before perceiving their presence.
Unlike some other breeds, Pointers run while hunting for birds. This method of hunting requires that the dog be endowed with superior scenting capabilities. Running also produces a certain momentum that carries the dog naturally from one side of a wood's road to the other, as it is the path of least effort. They do not have to change direction. Many Pointers also seem to have a natural tendency to pattern, and I remember having produced a young Pointer once that could not walk in a straight line. He was always zigzagging everywhere. While my other Pointers had been taught to follow a track by running on it or parallel to it on either side, whichever happened to be the downwind side of the track, this young Pointer followed a track by crisscrossing it repeatedly from one side to the other. Such tendencies make it easier to train a Pointer to pattern.
How do you start to teach your pup to Pattern ? You start by taking the pup on a wood's road at least once a week during the spring and summer. At first, the pup will spend much time on the road, usually ahead of you. Do not call if he lags behind. Do not stop and wait for him, ever! Hurry ahead instead! He will hurry to catch up. Do not bother him unless he goes more than 25 yards ahead of you. If he does so, stop and whistle for him to come to you. Just before he reaches you, point to one side, enter the cover yourself, and let him follow. Make a small loop and come back to the road. This will teach him 2 things: 1) to observe a maximum distance ahead of you and 2) to head in the direction in which you are pointing (most pups will want to rush ahead of you). Soon you will only have to pretend to go in. After a while, all you will have to do is lift your finger. Do not encourage your pup to search in any way. Just keep walking. He will start searching the sides when he is ready. Once he does, the only thing you should do is whistle first and then call him to you every time he goes out of range. Soon, only whistle. When he comes, pull his ear, reprimand him verbally and then send him on ahead. Most times, when the dog finishes a cast to one side and reaches the road, he will normally continue on to the other side and will go back and forth from one side to the other. Encourage him to do so by pointing to the correct side if he looks at you or if he is too far ahead and you call him, point to the opposite side of the road to indicate where he should go. That is all there is to it, but it takes a lot of REPETITION to assimilate properly. It must become second nature for him to do so. Do not suffer tracking, pottering on foot scent or lagging behind after he has really started searching for birds. Treat it as if he had gone too far and administer the same correction. Your dog will soon learn to point scent, only if it is fresh enough (this technique may not be favoured in Field Trials, but it sure produces birds!). When you reach him, if the bird is not there, kneel down, ask him to relocate, and send him on. He will then circle ahead, searching for air scent, and may find the bird. Stay put until he does or until he returns to you. All my dogs shake themselves when they return from an unproductive relocation. This is, I assume, the canine way of saying" Let us move on! ". Make him Heel! at your side until you reach the road. [ To see how a Pointer that is used for hunting purposes in the Eastern woodlands should hunt, pattern and relocate, I encourage you to order my DVD. Even a short, fair quality video clip that would barely begin to do justice to these topics would consume more than all the space available on my web site ]
It is important to note that a young dog does not really know what he is doing at first. In my experience, the hunting instinct kicks-in at about 6 months of age. This coincides more or less with the development of his canine teeth. You will immediately notice a drastic change of attitude when it happens. He will exude a certain energy, an eagerness or anxiety that signifies he is now really hunting. At first, and for a long time, he will hunt for himself, but if you have a strong bond with your dog, you will one day see another drastic change in his intent: He will see you as his indispensable partner. You will know it the minute it happens! It will fill you with pride and satisfaction! Be patient! Do not expect too much of him at first.
TEACHING YOUR DOG TO RELOCATE
A relocation is necessary when your dog is on point and the bird cannot be found. The bird was surely there earlier but it has left or it may be running ahead of you. You must ask the dog to move on and try to find this bird again. If the scent is still fresh, the bird is likely less than 100 yards away, unless of course it has flown away. Even then, the flight may be within this distance, and the dog may find it again, sometimes only 10 yards away, perched in a tree. The dog may establish point several times before the grouse becomes anxious and concerned that your are still after it. It may then try to hide as a last resort, especially if you have already ventured a shot and missed. The dog will often finally pin it in a beautiful point, sometimes at very close range. It will then literally explode into the air at the last minute, practically from under your feet. I had a dog, named Taran, who was not that good in his first year. During his second season, he quickly started relocating on grouse quite naturally and effectively, as if he had been doing it for years. He would find again and point again almost 80% of the grouse that I missed. He was absolutely incredible. He would just make a big pattern, head high in the air, in the general direction of the flight. He had the best nose I have ever seen in any dog and by a wide margin. Only Bisquit came a close second. Grouse generally do not fly more than two hundred yards and are worth pursuing. The relocation is what differentiates an outstanding grouse dog from an ordinary dog. A grouse dog may check the ground for a few seconds, but then he will immediately and decisively head out, head high in the air or several inches above the ground, depending on the air currents. This is not tracking. The dog rarely moves on the line. He ordinarily casts carefully from one side to the other and often changes direction. He will move at a cautious pace, usually at a lope or trot and reestablish point on the running bird until it is finally cornered. Grouse are quite aware of when a dog is on their track, and they keep moving ahead. A tracking dog will inch his way slowly on the line, nose to the ground. Such a dog will invariably flush the grouse. If the dog is making short casts, however, grouse do not feel tracked and trapped and are quite willing to chance that the dog will go right by them. Another trait that is the mark of a grouse dog is the ability to differentiate between scents, new and old and decide by himself, if it is worth pointing. Some dogs will point the scent of bird droppings, no matter how old. The dog simply assumes that the bird is around. It is usually not very productive, but it is always worth checking: some of these droppings could be fresh; you have no way to know. A good dog will not point this scent. Instead, he will slow down a bit, investigate quickly here and there and if nothing is found, will resume his pattern without your notice. A dog that consistently points old scent and refuses to move ahead or does so too cautiously, can become annoying: you waste a lot of time going to the dog and trying in vain to find a bird. The dog should have continued his search on his own accord. It is something that is hard to teach. The only thing you can do is to make sure that the dog patterns well. Never encourage your young dog to be too cautious. It is better for the dog to be too bold and make an occasional mistake, than to become too careful and sticky on old scents. In the end, I do not think there is much you can do about it: it is a question of nose and confidence. Some dogs have it; others do not!
How do you teach your dog to relocate? You do this when he has started hunting and pointing birds. Soon after he starts hunting, there will be frequent instances when you will not be able to find a bird over his point. Here is what I do: I go to the dog, I pat him, I slap the dog lightly on the side to indicate that he should move ahead, but I do not say O.K. this is a partial release. Instead, I make a Sssssssss sound to indicate caution. The dog may rush ahead at a mad pace. I do not encourage that. He will surely flush the bird. If my dog tends to be too fast, at first I will hold on to the base of his tail as he moves ahead, repeating Sssss and encouraging him to continue more cautiously. Act very cautious yourself, and he may soon understand. Then let go of his tail without a word and stay put. Kneel down and wait until he returns to you or points the bird. He may flush the bird, and in this instance, he deserves a reprimand and mild correction. Eventually, he will learn what is expected of him. You may also teach the Ssss when he points robins on the lawn. Make sure though that he never moves on his own without the O.K or the Ssss. Let him move at the Ssss as far as he wants without flushing, but once he has stopped, he should not move again until you say so. If he does, say Hey! and enforce it. A dog is not well trained until he has learnt to relocate effectively. After he does this reliably, you can make the Ssss sound at a distance, so you are in a better position to shoot.
Note that when correcting a dog for a flush, you should never pull his ear or slap him from above or he will start dropping to the ground at your approach. It is sufficient to drag him to the spot and slap him on the chest from beneath if you must, but then say Hey! and pat him.
TEACHING YOUR DOG ABOUT GUNFIRE AND TO BE STEADY TO SHOT
Pointers are generally bold and confident and are rarely too sensitive to stimuli. I have never had a dog that was gunshy and most of my Pointers are quite tolerant of loud noises. I start their preparation by cupping and clapping my hands together near the pups when they are young, to greet them or to call them to me. The noise is loud and close to their ears, but most will enjoy it, as it means food or play. I do the same later, when they are pointing robins and I get close to them and shout Hey! I clap before I release them. You can do the same during your retrieving lessons. All this sets the stage for gunfire and steadiness to shot. After a while, you can start shooting a blank pistol 30 yards away from your dog, while he is running ahead of you on a wood's road. At first, he may come to you. Continue walking as if nothing had happened. Do this a few times and if he shows little reaction, he is ready for the next stage. The next stage is to shout Hey! and make him stop immediately after you fire the pistol. Run towards him, stop him, put him on a fake point and pat him as usual, then release him. You see where this is leading. It leads to steadiness to shot. The dog will learn that a shot means stop! not go! Soon, include the pistol in his retrieving lesson. Make him stay. Move ahead of him about 10', and throw the dummy. Fire the shot away from the dog and toward the dummy. Come back to his side and send him to retrieve. Steadiness to shot is absolutely necessary for a pointing dog, as you cannot shoot if the dog is running after the bird you just missed with your first shot. Steadiness to flush is as important, and for the same reason. I remember an instance, many years ago, when I went hunting ducks in Maine with some friends. I shot one of two teals that were flying overhead at top speed. I was amazed when it came down and fell in the shallow body of water a long distance away. I sent Bisquit for a retrieve. He soon was out quite far. Soon afterward another group of ducks came by and I ventured a single shot without success. I waited for a while for Bisquit, but I could not see or hear him. After some time, I started to worry a bit, but then I realized what had happened. He was coming back with the teal, when I fired at the ducks. He had stopped immediately in the shallow water and was waiting for my command to continue. I shouted for him to come. As he started moving, I saw that he had been standing there, chest deep in the cold water, without moving, for at least 5 minutes. He finished his retrieve. Steadiness to flush and shot is very useful when you flush a bird. There may be others nearby and they will flush immediately if the dog moves. You will not be able to shoot if the dog is running ahead, or you will not have time to reload. The dog should always stop when you fire the gun. Once you start hunting with your dog, be careful at first not to shoot too close to him. It is better to move ahead of the dog and shoot, than to shoot over him or beside him. Soon, even a sensitive dog will ignore the gun completely, as he will associate it with getting to retrieve that bird. The retrieve is his reward.
I usually do not introduce clapping with the Hey! routine or the retrieving until the pup has matured a bit and has been doing these things well for a while. I do not want to diminish his enthusiasm by introducing this restraint too early. It is a form of restraint, because the dog is intense and focused in both actions. The normal urge of the dog when you clap your hands is to lunge ahead. In this case, you are asking him to suppress his normal reaction and delay his action until you say OK or Fetch! It is a lot to ask of a young dog! Wait until he is about 5 months old and loves pointing and retrieving before you teach him to be steady. Wait a while longer before you introduce him to gunfire. Steadiness to wing is the same as steadiness to shot. The flush occurs before the shot. Your dog is not allowed to move without a command. If he does, he deserves a correction. He is to be dragged back to the spot where he should have remained and made to stay until released.
Avoiding cars
I used to stand near the road with my dog on a leash and have my daughter drive her car slowly towards us. I would utter this sound, and soon the dog would be on alert. My son in law would then lean out of the window and throw a handful of gravel towards the dog as the car was going by. I would then rush to the ditch with the dog to teach him to hide at the sight of cars. It worked well. The dog of course would hide behind me. My legs were soon blue from bruises after 2 -3 passes, but the dog, with his fur coat and thick skin was certainly not hurt. There were times when I questioned my son in law's marksmanship and was astonished at the devotion he developed for the job. Nevertheless, the dog soon learnt to be afraid of cars. It may have been unconventional, and the neighbours sure had some good stories to tell. Perhaps you can find a better way to get the job done. At any rate, it must be done. For a while, I taught all my Pointers to come to me and heel on their own as soon as we approached a road. I would never let them cross a road alone. This also worked well, but it was sometimes tedious and inconvenient.
Avoiding porcupines
Nothing can ruin an outing as quickly as an encounter with a porcupine. This can be a serious matter: porcupine quills do not generally cause infection; they remain intact in your dog's muscles. They travel with every movement and may end up in a vital organ after several weeks or even months have elapsed. I remember one instance when Bisquit and I went to a lake to hunt ducks when he was young. As I made my way to the water, in a jungle of cattails, I suddenly realized that the dog had not come by for several minutes. I waited a while. He was on point. Bisquit never left a point! I could not find him. Finally, out of desperation I shouted orders to come or else! It took a while, but he finally responded. He jumped on the porcupine he was pointing and all I heard was a yip! When I reached him, he had a paw in the air and could not move. He could not walk and had a mouthful of quills. I made him lie down, took the pair of tweezers I always carry with me and I easily removed the quills from his lips, tongue and palate. It is hard to believe, but it is true. In spite of the pain, he trusted me that much; all my Pointers did. He had a few quills that I could not see, embedded in his leg at the elbow. They would have to be removed by a vet. I had to carry him out of the swamp for ½ mile. He weighed 65lbs. all muscle. By the time I was coming out of the swamp, some quills had traveled up and were coming out of his fur at the neck!
If you are lucky enough to find a dead porcupine on the road, take it home with you and place it in the grass somewhere in plain view. Approach it with your dog on a tight leash and utter the warning. Then drag him towards the porcupine. He may approach the critter with confidence. Force his nose, if you can, on some of the quills or take a few quills and poke his nose. He will learn that this critter is unpleasant. Then, take him away. The lesson has been learnt; remove the quill. It is unpleasant and a lot of work, but it is a lot easier than dealing with the consequence of not having done so.
Avoiding Conibear traps
This is a mortal danger, and your dog needs to know how to avoid them. They are often placed in a pail with bait inside. As the dog reaches for the bait, the trap closes around his neck. You only have a few minutes to get your wits about you and get him out if you can. I always carry two 2' pieces of small nylon ropes with me with a securely fastened noose at one end. You use these ropes to tighten the arms of the trap together and release the pressure on the dog's neck.
Believe me; it is much better to be responsible and teach him not to ever go near one. You will need a large pail. Fasten a rat trap to the top and bottom, inside the pail, and rig something that will create noise and slap the dog when he reaches for the bait. It is best in that instance to remain completely silent, at a distance. Make sure it works, that it surprises him and that it hurts, otherwise, you will have taught your dog to look for food in traps in the woods. It is again very unpleasant to administer but you must be responsible; it must be done! For most of these things, you could also use a shock collar, but it is not as effective, as it is contrived, and the punishment does not seem to originate from the danger itself.
Avoiding Snares
Snares are impossible to see and therefore impossible to teach a dog to avoid. Snares, nowadays, are deadlier than they ever were. The laws, to accomodate Animal Rights proponents, have been amended to ensure the quick death of the trapped animals. They now require each snare (fox,coyote)to have a metal mechanism that prevents the noose from slipping. The pressure remains constant. The more the animal pulls, and the tighter the sustained force on his neck or on his limb. Short of cutting the steel cable, there is now no way to free your dog. It helps if the dog is used to a leash. I always use a leash with a slip knot that tightens around the dog's neck when he pulls and relaxes as soon as he stops. The dog will know that pulling is not productive and will hopefully stand still until you arrive. I always carry electrical tape and strong wide rubber bands with me when I am in the woods. You can imagine that the dog will be in some distress if he has been caught in a snare and may attempt to bite you as you try to free him. First, you must cut the cable from the tree to which it is usually anchored. Use a pair of shears with a pointed tip. This will stop the cable from tightening any further. The next step is to muzzle the dog and restrain him. The final step is to cut the wire from around his limb or neck. This may be difficult, as you will have to insert the tip of the pliers under the tight cable and possibly cut the skin. Be prepared: there is nothing worse than being totally helpless in an emergency.
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