Handler
Guidelines for Training a German Short-hair Pointer for
the Hunting Field
The
purpose of writing these notes is to familiarize owners
of new pups where, when and how to begin a Hunt, Point
and Retrieve training programme so that you may quickly
be in a position to begin hunting and field trialing your
dog.
For
these notes to be effective in helping you reach your
goal in acquiring a useful and efficient hunting companion,
it is very essential that you have purchased a puppy whose
parents have been objectively tested for working purposes
and that your puppy is the result of an approved breeding
programme (you know this because both your pups parents
have passed the Natural Ability test and preferably they
have Field Trial results in addition to their Natural
Ability result. Do not buy GSP pups whose parents have
not passed the Natural Ability Test). Once you have established
that your puppy is inherently inclined to Hunt, Point
and Retrieve, your next step is simply to follow the 5
phases as individually explained in these notes. It's
important to understand that training your GSP should
not be a rushed job and the training process must not
become a burden to you. Train your dog when you feel like
it and most of all it's important that you enjoy your
dog as a first requirement, training him is strictly a
second requirement.
Often,
I have begun writing a set of training notes for the novice
handler and I have found myself stopping halfway through
and giving up the project altogether. The reason for this
is because almost every situation that arises in a hunting
field or while on a Field Trial is different to other
situations. This means a situation that is put into writing
may only explain one or two practical sides to a story
that can literally be infinite in possibility, for example
if I refer to your dog "on point" in your minds
eye it may be pointing away from you but it can also mean
that it is pointing facing you. Your minds eye may tell
you that the notes are referring to your dog on point
20 meters from you in a bush veld situation, when it can
also mean your dog is on point 150 meters from you in
an Eastern Cape kind of setting!
For
these notes to be effective I recommend that you combine
the literature written here-in with practical training
as is offered by the HPR Field Trial club (011 462 4997
a/h) in order to see with your own eyes what is required.
Taking your new pup out training with Field Trialists
that have been through the mill with training their dogs
is also a very valuable way to get a good feel of exactly
what is required. I have specifically mentioned Field
Trialists (English Pointer Trialists included) because
these people train their dogs to a high standard for Field
Trials and in so doing they train excellent bird hunting
dogs.
These
notes are not going to be involved with training a handler
on how to train elementary sit, fetch or house breaking
(Pee outside) commands etc, it must be assumed that you
either already know how to do this or you will learn these
things practically through the HPR club or other sources.
These notes will not cover the extremely important Backing
(honoring a brace mates point) requirement that is expected
from all dogs in the field where more than one dog is
hunting at a time. I feel that this requirement must be
practically demonstrated to a GSP owner as writing the
requirement down on paper may go some way to distracting
a GSP owner from the most important requirements of his
dog, which are finding, pointing and retreiving his own
birds.
REQUIREMENTS
TO TRAIN A SHORTHAIR POINTER
1.
A person that is interested in using dogs for game bird
shooting and/or Field Trials, both bird hunting and field
trials are fundamentally identical. It is however understandable
that some hunters are not inclined to doing Field Trials
and that is acceptable, but in order to hunt your GSP
effectively you must still train your dog to the standard
as explained in these notes. Hunters that do not wish
to do Field Trial testing are strongly urged to partake
in the "Natural Ability Test" and it is strongly
recommended that you do not breed with your "German
Shorthair Pointer" until you have passed this test.
Should you breed your dog without passing at least the
"Natural Ability test" you will be doing the
German Shorthair pointers in South Africa a terrible disservice.
Follow these notes exactly as written and you should easily
pass the Natural Ability test and do well in Field Trials
(find out about the backing requirement).
2. 15 minutes a day
3. NB: If you do not have access to Wild birds (Francolins,
Partridges or Guinea Fowl) then you will require a few
homing pigeons and 2 or 3 "quick release" bird
traps. If you do have access to enough wild birds in your
vicinity then it is recommended that you never use Pigeons
or release traps and concentrate on making use of only
Wild birds for your training. If you have access to Wild
birds and still want to use Pigeons and release traps,
then you will only need the Pigeons and release traps
for "sit and stay to flush" conditioning (phase
4), after which you will use Wild birds to continue your
training.
4. A shotgun and a Cap pistol capable of firing .22 blank
cartridges (or a school race starter pistol)
5. A farm or large plot on which you can get access and
where the owners don't mind the odd shot going off. Get
permission first and be careful not to scare horses, children,
game or other dogs. Never kill any of that farm or plots
wild bird population, as these birds are your bread and
butter to train your dog on (If possible, after you've
done a bird population census you can cull a few birds
in the area immediately adjacent your training area).
Try to keep them tame and look after their natural habitat
as far as possible, in fact look after all Natural Habitat
wherever you find yourself or future generations will
have nothing to hunt.
6. A handler with an even temperament and such a person
must realize at all times that he/she is dealing with
an animal that does not understand and is not interested
in human language.
7. A handler that can properly make assessments as to
when his pup can move on from one section of the training
Phases to the next. The handler must be very sure that
each phase is properly completed (as explained in the
notes) before moving to the next one. There is no way
that I can advise you through the different ages your
pup reaches, for example I cant say that your pup is three
months old, now you must move to the next phase, you have
to feel your way through this because it is a gray area
(also some people train every day, some once a week or
even once a year. Some dogs mature faster than others
etc
). As a rule of thumb you need to have every
phase 100% correct before moving on to the next one. Do
not try to shortcut the phases (do 1-5 in sequence) or
leave any of them out, problems within your training program
are likely to develop as a result of doing this.
NOT REQUIRED TO TRAIN YOUR SHORTHAIR POINTER
1.
A bad temper or violent tendencies
2. An obsessive desire to have your dog trained as soon
as possible, you need to relax about training your dog
and don't let your training routine alter the way your
life was before you got your pup (don't become too obsessive
about having a Field Trial Champion and always remember
that your dog will remain your all time equalizer). Bare
in mind though, it's not something you can do 1 week before
the hunting season, so get to it sooner rather than later
and remember to enjoy it.
3. A whistle. Commands need to be timed to perfection,
so use your voice. A whistle needs to be found and brought
to your lips by which time the opportunity to give the
"sit and stay to flush" command (phase 4) while
working on birds is lost. A whistle is okay to get your
dogs attention when you change direction or you want to
call your dog in.
4. A whip. Look at numbers 1, 2, 6, 10 and 13 under what
is not required. Please also refer to notes on how and
when to punish under the section "Must Sit and Stay"
(phase 3)
5. Impatience
6. A lot of time
7. A dummy launcher (there are other, cheaper ways)
8. Another pointing dog (unless you have a lot of experience
with training GSP'S, dont buy another pointing dog until
your first one is perfect, also don't mix your pointer
with flushing breeds as this is a disastrous combination)
9. An obsessive desire to shoot birds over your dog as
soon as possible.
10. The shooting of Rock pigeons. Buy a Labrador for this
type of shooting.
11. Biltong or meaty tit bits when training. That method
of training is not practical for hunting dogs, when you
begin hunting with your dog you will find out why.
12. A shock collar. The thing about people that use shock
collars is the open display of their inability to train
their dog and the presence of a shock collar proves this
fact entirely. The shock collar lends itself directly
to animal abuse and is completely unacceptable to most
bird dog owners as well as animal rights organizations.
Never be tempted to try this so-called shortcut, it really
does not work and gives the sport of bird shooting over
dogs a bad name. Statistically, Field Trial prizes among
dogs that have been trained on shock collars are proving
to be very low indeed, and it is very obvious that dogs
trained on shock collars have less self-confidence and
a reduced hunting desire! The shock collar is a logical
invention from a Human perspective but a dog does not
understand this system at all (no matter what they say
in the United States of Gadgets and toys-rather follow
the five phases as explained in these notes), and please
remember that you are dealing with a dog!!!!
WHAT COMMANDS ARE REQUIRED TO TRAIN YOUR SHORTHAIR POINTER
Training
your dog to obey commands is all about consistently using
the same word that must be sharply obeyed by a consistent
action from your dog.
The
commands mentioned below are exactly what they practically
mean. Here I want to use an importance rating. 10's are
very important and 1 is not immediately important. Any
command that carries a weight of less than 10 is a routine
command and is slowly phased in, but you really don't
have to be overly anxious about them. Commands carrying
a weight of 10 are very important and need to be quickly
and immediately obeyed. The "Good dog" command
is to train you to praise your dog each and every time
he/she obeys the command correctly. It's important to
understand that commands 1, 2 and 6 are never given more
than one time and are immediately obeyed. If they are
obeyed then it's "good boy/girl" followed by
a simultaneous but gentle and genuine rub on the neck
(praise), if the command is not obeyed then its back to
the way you trained your sit, come and no commands in
the first place until they are properly obeyed first time
every time.
1.
Sit and stay, both commands are in fact one and the same
command (10)
2. Come (10)
3. Hunt or seek-up etc
(5)
4. Good Dog or Praise (10)
5. Fetch (6)
6. No (10)
7. Outside (3)
8. Bed (I command "up" and my dogs go to bed)
(3)
HINT:
POINT 4 ABOVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMAND AND MUST BE
USED FAR MORE THAN ANY OTHER COMMAND THROUGHOUT YOUR DOGS
LIFE.
WHAT COMMANDS DO YOU NOT NEED
1.
Sit before handing (mouthing) over a dummy or bird after
a retrieve
2. Heel, Labradors heel, GSP'S must hunt - not heel, put
him on a leash if you want him to remain at your side.
3. Lie Down
4. Any command not mentioned from 1-8 above. All commands
not mentioned from 1-8 above are a waste of time and non-conducive
to the practical usage of a bird hunting dog. Remember
also that a dog can only learn a limited number of commands
(it cannot have a conversation) so it's best therefore
to stick to the most essential and elementary commands
that lend themselves entirely and directly to training
your GSP for practical hunting purposes only.
PHASES
PHASE
1:THE PUPPY
BUZZWORDS:
SOCIALISATION, BONDING, PLAYING WITH YOU AND OTHER DOGS,
PLAY FETCHING OF OLD SOCKS, CHASE BUTTERFLIES AND KIEWITS,
INTRODUCTION AND FUN AT WATERS EDGE.
Pups
mind is really just like blotting paper for at least the
first 4 to 6 months of its life. As with Humans the first
few months for pups and the first two years for Human
babies are an intense learning period. Success with a
GSP gundog can depend on your own attitude during this
period. Mainly though you do not need to be overawed because
your dog is an HPR gundog and not some other type of dog.
The basics for any type of pup are the same, the only
difference is that you need to bare in mind your actions
can at times have a profound bearing on your dogs future
behavior in the hunting field and the Field Trial. I would
like to give you some do's and don'ts examples as I feel
this may be the best method to explain exactly what you
need to do during this phase so that the step that follows
on from this puppy step and so on comes easily and will
simply be a follow on, like building a house, the puppy
phase is your foundation. All the points mentioned below
are related to the future gun dog you are trying to create.
Doing the wrong thing now may always be wrong in the pups
mind and the right thing always right (there may be mishaps
with your pup and when they happen it's not something
to worry yourself to death over, pups are resilient and
the odd mistake on your part during this phase will not
necessarily cause permanent damage to your pups personality
or potential in the field when he's older). How can throwing
pup into the water at this age possibly give pup a good
attitude to water later on? . How does scaring pup with
a shotgun now equal a dog that is not gun shy later? You
need to judge your own actions and the future implications
your actions will have on your dog in the hunting field.
DO
1.
Bond with your pup. Everybody that loves dogs does this
naturally.
2. Play with your pup but don't chase him, let him rather
chase you. Let him play with other dogs or pups as much
as possible.
3. Take walks with your pup in the veld and let him run
without you trying to stop him, he's very young now so
he wont run far from your side but do change direction
now and again, every 30 meters or so. Give him water in
the veld and don't tire him out all the time-walk slowly.
4. Retrieving training with a small dummy. Place your
hand around pup's chest and roll the dummy away. After
a brief moment (a count of 2) let pup go and fetch (use
the routine "fetch" command as mentioned under
commands) the dummy, now put your head to the ground and
call him by name back to you, praise him when he comes
(with the dummy) and stroke his neck as explained saying
"good boy/girl". If he doesn't come with the
dummy now, its really no train smash and its not a reflection
on his future retrieving abilities. Just have fun and
play with the dummy!
5. Take pup on outings and introduce pup to other dogs
(socializing him at the HPR club), vehicles and people.
Let him sit in the car in the same place he will always
sit, even when he's very old-even better if he lies down
and goes to sleep in the car. Getting used to a collar
and being on a leash now is also okay.
6. You can take two frying pans about 20 meters from pup
and bang them together while pup eats. If he is startled
by the banging noise then you need to move further away,
if not startled then move closer but not closer than 5
meters for now. The point is that pup needs to associate
loud bangs with something nice. Eating and loud noises
are nice associations in pups mind and therefore you are
on the right track. When you shoot in future pup will
always associate the sound of the gun with something nice.
7. On the occasions that you are not banging the pans
together (don't bang pans all the time, you will go mad
or deaf and Divorce from your spouse will become a real
possibility) while pup eats, you can kneel down next to
pup and with a calm tone of voice stroke him for a minute
while he eats. This is a really good way to get pup to
trust you when he is in precarious situations, like when
you need to get close to him while he's pointing bird
for you.
DON'T
1.
Some say: Never let pup sleep anywhere else but in permanent
sleeping quarters. Never go to pup when he howls from
his bed, as this is a very quick way for pup to start
training you. NOTE: It is my opinion that dogs should
be able to get access to their pack leader throughout
their lives. I have always allowed my pups and dogs complete
access to me whenever I am home. In this way I have found
that none of my dogs whine when in the car, hunting field
or on a leash. So, if you want pup sleeping with you in
your bed, then I'm all for that. As soon as your pup can't
get access to you, that's when whining starts and it never
goes away. Also, to avoid serious whining, never put your
dog in a trailer.
2. Punish pup in any way at all, pup can only do right
now, even if he chews your expensive wallets, shoes, cell
phones, money, TV remotes etc
chewing will happen,
so rather remove chewy things before they get destroyed.
You absolutely cannot punish pup for putting anything
in his mouth ever, even when he's 10 years old. Don't
do pathetic things like rub your pups nose in his poop
and pee when he mishaps inside, also don't hit pup with
rolled up newspapers etc, when you see pup needs to pee
or poop then get up and put him outside (notice the tail
is up and pup is sniffing about frantically). Praise him
when he does his business outside. Keep repeating the
excersise and he'll learn to go outside.
3. Do not try to train commands 1, 2 and 6 (all elementary
commands can be gently used now but no insistence, everything
is fun and games now) do train your self-command number
4. It's "good boy/girl" all the time now so
get into the praising habit early.
4. Do not do more than 3 basic retrieves and come back
with dummy games per day. Do not fetch the dummy yourself,
always gently insist, within reason that he brings ("fetch"
command) dummy to you. Don't make the retrieves difficult
at first; I'm talking about a distance of about 2-3 meters.
Need I add that you use a light dummy like an old pair
of socks for this excersise? Please also remember that
retrieving is a game, it's not time to be overly concerned
about it yet!
5. Show pup any birds or try and make him do any point
work. Hunting and walking in the veld without commands
and without a shotgun is recommended now and you can encourage
pup to get out there and hunt. Let him learn what a Butterfly
is and if he wants to chase Plovers then that's fabulous.
6. Don't throw pup in the water, but do go to the waters
edge and play some games there. If he goes in on his own
accord, then don't discourage him. If he wont go in now
it's not a reflection on his future water ability. HINT:
Take water-loving dogs with you to the waters edge and
your pup may just follow them in (pup will normally go
into knee high water at first) when he sees what fun is
to be had in the water!
7. Allow your servant/s to hit or mistreat pup for chewing
a handbag while you are at work, he may be put off for
life when it comes to retrieving and picking things up
in his mouth later on. Children generally enjoy playing
catch-up games with puppies which teaches pup that Humans
will follow him, as explained before, you don't want your
pup to think Humans will follow him. Children must obviously
be able to bond with pup, but I suggest some sort of supervision
when they do so that problems don't enter your training
program later on (surprisingly though, I have seen young
people train excellent Field Trial dogs in the past and
it is not uncommon for youngsters to leave egg on the
faces of older trainers). Use common sense here.
PHASE
2: THE CHEEKY TEENAGER MUST HUNT
BUZZWORDS:
HUNT WHILE ADJUSTING TO COVER, CHASE KIEWITS AND LBJ'S,
INITIATE SIT AND STAY TRAINING IN YOUR YARD, VERY EASY
WATER AND LAND RETRIEVING-ONLY FETCH ON COMMAND
There
will come a time possibly 12 to 16 weeks after you have
taken delivery of your pup that you will begin to see
that your pup is in a position to take very light sit,
come, no and more advanced retrieve training. He is also
old enough to take light discipline without being unduly
affected. It is now that you need to begin gentle sit
and stay training.
When
out in the Veld on your daily or weekly walks and you
send him out to hunt. Do encourage him to hunt as far
out ahead of you or to the side of you as he wants, the
further and harder he runs and hunts while simultaneously
adjusting to cover, the better. During this time it's
advisable to get into the habit of watching your dog (not
follow him) while he's hunting. This teaches you to keep
an eye on him so you wont miss him pointing birds for
you when you start shooting later on.
SIDE
NOTE: The point to switching direction in the Veld while
hunting your dog is to get your dog to keep an eye on
you, in this way he will adjust to cover when practical
hunting later on. For a moment imagine that the Veld is
very thick where you are hunting, he will obviously need
to stay close to you to keep an eye on you. Where the
terrain is open he will be able to range further from
you while still keeping an eye on you. I like to keep
my direction switches completely random and I like to
create a certain amount of direction unpredictability
when walking in the Veld. At times I even go backwards
over my steps so that my dogs really need to watch me
when hunting. I would like to add that when hunting, I
choose the direction we are going to hunt and I stick
to my direction. The dog that refuses to hunt for me in
the direction that I choose becomes a very lonely dog
indeed because I do not stand waiting for him or allow
him to dictate to me the direction we take, most of all
I definitely do not follow him on the direction he takes
(NB: Remain quiet while hunting your pup, don't shout,
scream or sit on the whistle trying to keep him in range.
Just walk in random directions 100 meters each and ignore
your pup or talk encouragingly to him while he's properly
adjusting to cover around you. He'll soon start hunting
around you during the walk/hunt). Dogs are quick to realize
that hunting alone provides no action or excitement for
them (they also get no praise) so they very quickly begin
to hunt on my terms. I do not shout at my dogs to stay
in range while hunting and I never panic if one of my
dogs disappears in the Field, its up to him to find me,
not vice versa. With time and experience you will begin
to realize that when your dog disappears it may be that
he is pointing birds out of view and in this case it is
necessary for you to look for him so that you can shoot
the bird over his point. Please don't get confused here,
your first prize is to let him find you while hunting,
when you have experience with his hunting technique you
will begin to know when he's on birds or not. Usually
the last glimpse you will get of your dog before he disappears
is a semi-pointing stance as he's going after running
birds or he has scent, which has carried far in the wind.
Slight behavioral changes in your dog's attitude while
hunting are something you can only learn with experience.
DO
1.
Let pup hunt often in the veld and see to it that he is
starting to hunt hard, fast and wide at this stage (LET
HIM HUNT-DON'T TRY AND STOP HIM) see to it that your pup
adjusts to terrain by keeping an eye on you while you
behave unpredictably in the directions you follow.
2. During this time when pup is a bit stronger and bolder
you may come across Rabbits, Small Antelope, Game birds
even Plovers and LBJ'S (little brown jobs). Pup may give
chase when these flush. The thing to do if this happens
is to simply ignore pups chasing and change direction
immediately that he begins his chase (at this stage you
are trying to build your dogs hunting instinct-you are
not trying to make him steady to flush as you will do
later in phase 4), you need to walk in the opposite direction
to the direction he has taken on his chase and keep on
walking, don't stand around waiting for him, screaming
your lungs out at him or lean on your whistle. Keep as
quiet as possible and let him struggle to find you after
chasing, keep walking away from him, don't stop. When
he does find you then praise him and make a fuss of him
for finding you. A natural human reaction would be to
give the dog a hiding when he re-appears after chasing
birds or after going walkabout on his own, this is completely
the wrong thing to do, you must rather praise your dog
when he re-appears, no matter how irritated you may be.
3. Start gentle sit training in your yard (also now and
again in the veld if you feel your pup can take it) and
understand that sit means stay (it is one command) as
well. So even if pup sits he must remain sitting until
you let him stand up again usually after a slow count
to 6. Praise him when he successfully completes the "sit
and stay command" excersises.
4. When doing the more advanced retrieve (5 meters now)
training game you can sit him (meaning stay him also)
and throw the dummy. He must remain sitting (count 1-6
slowly) until you send him to "fetch" the dummy,
be gentle and don't be a tyrant. It is possible to do
this exercise from your couch while watching TV, especially
during the boring advert breaks. Sit, stay, throw dummy,
make pup wait to a count of 6 and "fetch" after
which he must return the dummy to you on the couch, it's
amusing but it does wonders for your dogs progress when
working on birds later on.
5. Exchange your pans for .22 blanks or starter cap gun,
(like those used at swimming Gala's at schools) while
pup is eating. Again go some distance away and watch for
any sensitivity (fire the pistol closer to him if he shows
no reaction to the shot. If there is a negative reaction
to the shot then move further away), on Alternative days
you can stroke him for a minute, using a soothing voice
while he eats.
6. Go and do the HPR Field Trial Puppy Stake, it's a gas
and you meet people in the same position as you are with
the same dog you have, phone 011 462 4997. Your pup must
be a year or less to enter this stake.
DON'T
1.
Expose your pup to birds yet except those that you come
across by mistake in the veld.
2. Try to see pup pointing yet, you are still a long way
off that point (you may get some random pointing on Butterflies,
Rats or even Game Birds now. Do encourage him by stroking
him along the back if you encounter this situation, but
when he chases after whatever he's been pointing then
don't panic, just change direction and walk away). If
your pups parents were properly tested in Field Trials
and/or the Natural Ability test and you bought your pup
under these pre-conditions, I will go as far as to guarantee
you that your pup points. Therefore don't worry about
the pointing ability of your pup for now. Don't do silly
things like put a bird wing on a Fishing Rod to see your
pup point, that is totally ridiculous and you can be sure
you are moving backwards with your training if you do
things like that.
3. Fire shots directly over pup yet, you are doing well
enough with firing .22 blanks from a distance while he
eats.
4. Should you go away on holiday or your training ceases
for a while then that is okay, but don't allow your neighbor
or whoever is looking after your pup to fire shots or
carry on with your training program in your absence. It
takes effort and dedication from your part to train your
dog, but it can take only one minute to destroy your dog
for life.
PHASE 3: MUST SIT AND STAY CONDITIONING
BUZZWORDS:
HUNT WHILE ADJUSTING TO COVER, PERFECT CONDITIONING OF
SIT AND STAY IN THE YARD AND RANDOMLY WHILE HUNTING, SIT
AND STAY AS RABBIT OR BUCK FLUSHES (DO YOUR BEST), EASY
WATER AND LAND RETRIEVING-MUST FETCH DUMMY ONLY ON COMMAND.
Pup
is at the point now where you have gently taught him to
sit and therefore stay commands, and more often than not
he is obeying you. The odd occasion that he hasn't listened
you have not been too severe on him. Pup is now strong,
boisterous and he eyeballs you whenever he sees you because
he is now used to you providing great entertainment for
him in the veld. Your come command is also more than adequate
now because since he was a small puppy you have not chased
pup around, rather you have let him chase you around while
calling his name. We are going over to Pigeons or wild
birds after this section so you really need to begin to
be insistent that pup sits and stays under any and all
circumstances. As an example of the level of sharpness
required of your sit and stay command before moving onto
birds, try to imagine your pup running directly towards
a busy tar road, you are too far away to physically stop
him so you rap out the sit command which is the only option
to stop him stepping onto the tar road. Now imagine how
urgent it will be for you that he sits and stays in that
(hopefully) hypothetical situation. That is about the
level of sit and stay conditioning required before attempting
bird work.
When
training (conditioning) the sit and stay command I like
to look for situations that are really random and as difficult
as possible for my dog to obey. I call it breaking the
"mad rush". A dog is quick to go into autopilot
mode and without thinking rushes at things moving away
from him. At these times you are in a very good position
to condition your sit and stay command. Ever noticed what
your dog does when suddenly confronted with a fleeing
rabbit or cat? Okay now get him to sit and stay. In my
opinion, it is training the Sit and stay command under
any situation that is the most difficult part to training
a GSP. It is this command that you will use to condition
your dog to sit and stay to the flushing bird later on.
Bare in mind that sitting and staying every time you hold
out a piece of biltong is not good enough and will never
be useful in conditioning your dog to sit and stay to
birds flushing ahead of him.
DO
1.
Practice sit and stay daily, praise him when you allow
him to stand again
2. Intermittently, have somebody hold pup various distances
from the food bowl during feeding times and out of sight.
Position yourself where you can randomly rap out the sit
command and obviously where pup will be close enough for
you to grab if he ignores you. Now call him to the food
bowl and give the sit command while he is sprinting to
the food bowl NOTE: I fire a shot with a cap pistol as
I give the sit command at this time. Do this randomly
and not everyday. Give your sit command in different places
around your house while pup is on his way to the food
bowl. Make the timing and the places you give the sit
command completely random so that pup never expects the
sit command. Sometimes go for a whole week before rapping
out the sit command during feeding, sometimes do it in
different places every day for three days and so on. Remember
praise him when he sits and leave him sitting (count 6)
until you are ready for him to carry on to the food bowl
and commence eating (you must get into the habit of counting
to six slowly whenever you sit and stay your dog).
3. Sit pup down and leave him sitting, now move away 20
meters, get your head down to the same level as his head
and call him to you, Praise him when he comes to you.
If pup creeps, while you move to your 20 meter mark you
need to run back to him and harshly replace him into the
same position that you originally sat him, now move to
your 20 meter mark again, if he creeps again then replace
him again etc
until he remains sitting while you
complete the 20 meters.
4. When out walking in the veld, and pup is hunting around
you, you can randomly give him the sit command. Try to
only give him the random sit command when you can reach
him to make him sit and stay. Beware of him learning that
when you are too far away he can simply ignore you. If
he disobeys you he must be close enough for you to be
able to grab him and make him sit and stay (try to reach
a point where you only need to give the sit and stay command
once only before he obeys). Praise him each time he is
successful in obeying your random sit command in the veld.
5. Set pup up in situations that you think are almost
impossible for him to obey the sit and stay command. If
he is romping on the lawn with your other dogs for instance
you can rap out the sit command at random and when he
least expects it, and make him obey, praise him when he
does obey. If he chases a cat or bird across the lawn
then rap out the sit and stay command, run and catch him
if he disobeys and make him obey by pushing his butt to
the ground at exactly the place that you issued the sit
command in the first place. Make him stay sitting there
until you are good and ready for him to stand up again.
Remember to praise and always make him feel like a king
when the exercise is successfully completed, no matter
how much effort or time it took to complete.
6. Maintain the veld walks, having pup hunt around you
and watch as he hunts further and further from you as
he gets strength and confidence. Never try and stop him
from running and hunting as he wishes, your only concern
is that he switches direction when you do (let him watch
your movements so be unpredictable in your direction switches-he
will very quickly begin to adjust correctly to cover while
hunting), just let him hunt and change direction every
100 meters. Call him as you turn and keep on moving (don't
stop and wait for him) now let him hunt for you in the
new direction.
7. Please don't get confused with this one. Do try it
though (At this stage of your pups development it's recommended
that you try to sit and stay him before he takes off on
a chase after a Rabbit or other animal eg: Duiker. If
you fail to sit him before the chase starts then don't
chase after him shouting at him, remember your running
after him shouting at him makes him think you are trying
to help him catch the fleeing animal. If you fail to sit
him as the animal flushes then you'll never catch him,
so remain quiet and walk away in the opposite direction
(and no-a shock collar is not your answer here). If you
keep at it (giving him the sit command as the animal flushes),
then it won't be long before you will be able to sit and
stay him before he chases. Praise him when he does sit
and stay as the animal flushes. When you send him to hunt
again after he has obeyed the sit and stay command to
the flushing Rabbit or Duiker then send him off in a different
direction to the direction the fleeing animal took, or
put him on a leash and let him off again some ways from
the Rabbit or buck incident-the point here is that you
don't want your dog following up on the animal after you
have successfully stopped him chasing it in the first
place. Soon he may point Rabbits as he would a game bird,
if he does so then treat the Rabbit as you would a bird
as explained in "Must sit and stay to flush"
conditioning for Game birds and Pigeons (phase 4). Depending
on the species of Rabbit and provided I have a hunting
license to shoot them, I have no problem shooting Rabbits
over my GSP'S, but all rules as explained in these notes
still apply as explained under "Must sit and stay
to flush conditioning (phase 4) and "Hunting"
(phase 5))
8. Carry on with making him sit and stay as you throw
the dummy and fire the .22 blank when you throw the dummy
and the dummy is airborne so that you are conditioning
your dog to remain steady to the gunshot at the same time
that the dummy is airborne. (Note: You can also condition
your dog to sit and stay to the gunshot by firing a .22
blank each time you give the sit command regardless of
whether you are throwing a dummy or not). Be very insistent
that he sits and stays now, giving him the "fetch"
command when you are ready for him to go and fetch it.
There has to be a time delay before being allowed to fetch
the dummy so leave him sitting and count to 6 slowly before
sending him, just like you were doing from the couch in
the previous section. If you struggle at all to get him
to come back to you with the dummy then you simply turn
around and walk away (never move towards your dog when
receiving a retrieve or when calling him to you-always
move away from him) from him calling him as you go, praise
him when he catches up to you with the dummy, take it
gently from him and praise.
9. Go to a dam (not swimming pool) and sit and stay pup
up to a count of 6 (same as above). From a distance of
5 meters throw your dummy into really shallow water on
the waters edge. Encourage him to fetch the dummy just
the same as you do for land retreiving. Remember it must
be shallow water, just enough to get his ankles wet. Start
off by only doing two or three very shallow water retrieves.
Followed by praise when he brings the dummy from the water!
(Again walk away from him calling him if he wont immediately
return the dummy to you). Remember water is great fun
so if he won't even get his feet wet to fetch the dummy
then you need to forget the whole retrieving exercise
and you must get into the water yourself and encourage
him to follow you in (HINT: if you have other dogs that
enjoy swimming you can use them to encourage your pup
into the water), praise him when he gets in with you and
make him think water is great fun from the first time
he sees it. Splash about but don't ever force him into
the water, just have plenty of fun and games in the water
and encourage him to join you. When he is happily and
confidently entering the water for fun and games with
you, then you can start the shallow water retrieving exercise
again
DON'T
1.
Cause your pup any mental anguish while doing these harsher
sit training exercises. Judge for yourself what he can
take but don't break his spirit. Remember he's still young
and possibly sensitive, so you still have to be rather
gentle with him.
2. Lose your temper and lash out at him, he is an animal
and training him takes time (always keep your own behavior
in mind while training your dog). If you feel you are
getting nowhere then leave the sit and stay training for
another day, just walk in the veld and stick to things
pup is doing correctly (like proper adjustment to cover
while keeping an eye on you) so that you praise him again
and keep his confidence up. Also it will give you time
to think about how to better your own approach to the
sit and stay training. Don't rush your sit and stay training,
if it takes a long time to condition it firmly into your
dogs head then so be it. Nobody says you are working to
a deadline here.
3. PROPER CANINE PUNISHMENT METHOD: Never hit your pup
or dog in a manner that one human would punish another
human. Dogs, wolves, Jackals and wild dogs only understand
punishment that would resemble another of their kind punishing
them which is a short sharp bite and push to the ground,
followed by aggressive growling displays. Humans, Chimpanzees,
Monkeys and Baboons understand multiple blows like slapping
or punching the way we humans slap or punch our own kind
when driven to such behavior (ever noticed how inappropriate
it would be to punch your dog, why then is slapping him
or whipping him not as inappropriate?). This means that
you've got to resemble another dog when you punish your
pup and you do this by grabbing him by the skin around
his neck and pushing his head to the ground while at the
same time you growl "no", let him yelp or howl
once only, and then release him while you immediately
step back. Don't immediately praise him after a punishment
because you feel bad about it, rather remain quiet and
turn your back to him while walking away slowly. Keep
walking away for a minute and then still with your back
to him call him to you. Now do something he does well
like "sit and stay" while you throw the dummy,
then praise him again. Don't leave a training session
angry at pup. Always leave a training session on a good
note that was full of praise. Another important point
about punishing your dog is that the punishment you dish
out as explained above must be at exactly the same time
that the indiscretion takes place. A dog needs to associate
a wrong action with immediate punishment, not afterward
as is the case with a human. This means the punishment
must be simultaneous with the indiscretion, so your timing
of any punishment must be perfect and you must be quick,
awake and coordinated if you are to punish your dog for
any reason. SOME EXAMPLES: 1) Your pup steals your supper
off your plate while you are in the Kitchen. You cannot
punish your pup when you get back, the punishment should
have happened while he was stealing the food, not afterwards.
3) Your dog runs off into the bush and catches and kills
a Duiker, when you find the dead Duiker two hours later,
you may be tempted to punish him. Wrong again, the punishment
would only have helped if you punished him while (or as)
he was attacking the Duiker, not afterwards. 4) While
training the "sit to flush" command on birds
as is explained in Phase 4 below, your dog manages (God
Forbid) to actually catch a Pigeon or wild bird as it
is flushing. Your dog is now on his way to you with a
freshly killed bird in his mouth. You are tempted to punish
him while he's on his way to you. Wrong, if you punish
him now you'll be punishing him for bringing a bird to
you (this destroys the dogs will to retrieve later on)
not for catching it. The punishment would only have helped
if you gave it to him while he was in the process of catching
the bird, not while he's bringing the dead bird to you.
NB: Proper sit and stay to flush conditioning (phase 4
below) is your remedy for this last example.
PHASE 4: MUST SIT AND STAY TO FLUSH CONDITIONING ALSO
KNOWN AS TRANSFERRING YOUR SIT AND STAY COMMAND (PHASE
3) SIMULTANEOUSLY TO THE FLUSHING BIRD
BUZZWORDS:
SIT AND STAY TO FIRST WINGBEAT OF FLUSHING BIRD THEREFORE
YOUR DOGS FIRST REAL POINT WORK, SIT AND STAY AS RABBIT
OR BUCK FLUSHES (GET IT RIGHT NOW), MORE DIFFICULT WATER
AND LAND RETRIEVING-FETCH ONLY ON COMMAND.
The
only reason for using Pigeons in quick release bird cages
or going directly onto wild birds in the veld is to make
your dog "sit and stay to flush" this means
that your dog must sit and stay as soon as he hears the
first wing beat of the flushing bird. He must then remain
sitting as he views the bird fly away and he must only
stand up again when you tell him that he can, usually
after a slow count to 6. "Sitting to flush"
is the objective of all bird work, whether its wild birds
or tame birds (Pigeons or Quails). It is the objective
of any future hunting you will do with your dog in the
Field. Pointing is never your objective when working on
birds. Sitting and staying to flush is what you want.
Pointing is just a by-product of sitting and staying to
flush. Pointing is the inherent behavioral response to
the expected flush of the bird, the fact that the dog
may not catch or kill the prey (must sit and stay to flush)
would serve to stretch the time that a dog points as well
as intensify the actual pointing stance.
While
being very insistent in making certain that your dog sits
and stays to the first wing beat of the flushing bird,
he will begin to point staunchly. Try to understand that
your dog needs to eventually associate the flushing wings
of the bird with sitting and staying (the sound of the
flushing birds wings will become his sit command). This
means that your ultimate goal is to stop instructing him
to sit and stay when the bird flushes and he simply sits
and stays without any commanding at all. Yes, this may
take a fair amount of conditioning work and depending
on the dog, it usually requires a fair amount of birds
to get it right, but a well trained GSP in the field is
an amazing asset and if you do your bird work training
properly, you will enjoy endless hunting with your dog
in the future.
Warning:
Your dog must be very well conditioned to the sit and
stay command before attempting bird work, the sit and
stay command (phase 3 above) must be at a stage where
it over-rides anything and everything your dog is doing
at any time of the day or night. I recommend that if your
Sit and Stay command is as well conditioned as is required,
then from now onwards you only need issue the Sit and
Stay command when dummy throwing and when the birds flush
(2 separate excersises). You can therefore stop practicing
or training the sit and stay command on other random occasions
as you have done in phase 3 above. This is so that your
dog begins to focus on sitting and staying only when birds
actually flush or the dummy is thrown. If you attempt
bird work and your dog ignores your sit and stay command
as is required when the birds flush or the dummy is thrown,
then give up bird and dummy work immediately and go back
to phase 3 above until you have properly conditioned the
Sit and Stay command. Okay, you've been warned not to
rush into this phase 4 until phase 3 is 100% correct.
DO
1.
NOTE: TIMING OF THE SIT COMMAND IS EXTREMELY IMPOTANT
HERE. ONLY ISSUE THE SIT COMMAND AT THE FIRST WING BEAT
OF THE GAME BIRD OR PIGEON-NOT BEFORE. Hunt up on wild
birds as often as possible, notice how you are being naturally
unpredictable in the direction you follow and how it's
essential that your dog watch you for proper adjustment
to cover. You also watch your dog so that you do not miss
his finding birds, but you don't follow your dog. At this
stage you yourself need to begin to show a lot of interest
in finding birds (no longer are you ignoring them as before)
and every time a game bird begins to move its wings to
take off then give your sit and stay command (The game
bird is still at ground level when you give the sit command
and its wings are just starting to flap). Don't wait for
the bird to be a meter in the air before giving the sit
command (Notice how your dog is beginning to point in
anticipation of the flush, now get down next to him and
gently stroke his back-food bowl style), your timing must
be perfect so issue the Sit command at the first wing
beat. Do not give him any commands except the 'GOOD BOY"
command while he is actually pointing or working birds
and until the bird flushes, follow the flush quickly with
the Sit command and leave him sitting up to a slow count
of 6. NOTE: you can slap him on the butt simultaneously
as the birds flush (NB: not before they flush); this helps
to condition him to sit to the flush. Praise him every
time his sit to flush is successful, regardless of whether
he pointed or not-leave him sitting to a slow count of
six.
2. This paragraph is in brackets because it is not a recommended
way of training your GSP, rather it is a way out for those
folks with no wild birds to work their dogs on. Meaning,
if you have Wild Birds to work on then you can ignore
this bracketed paragraph. (PIGEONS: You can use Pigeons
in quick release cages to do exercise number 1 above if
you feel more comfortable doing things that way, but move
to wild birds as soon as your dog sits and stays spontaneously
every time the Pigeon moves his wings for the first flap.
Once you have this correct then never go back to Pigeons
again. When using Pigeons in release cages you must place
the cages out of sight (hide the cages in the grass, don't
let your dog see you hiding the cages and plant the cages
so that the wind direction is going straight toward your
dog, giving him the maximum possibility of scenting the
birds before you flush them) because you want your dog
to utilize his nose to find the birds, not his eyes. Also,
if you see your dog is getting in too close to the release
trap before you flush the bird, then you need to flush
while he's still a ways off and flush the bird quicker
(make him sit and stay as you release the bird and never
let him catch the bird), be sure though that he has scented
the birds before you flush them (if he points the pigeons
then stroke his back-food bowl style. Issue the sit command
as you release the pigeon from the trap) as it's pointless
for him to be using any one of his senses other than his
nose to find the birds, give him his sit and stay command
to the first wing beat of the pigeon and praise him when
he successfully sits and stays to the first wing beat-leave
him sitting to a count of 6 as the birds fly off. NOTE:
Do be careful that your release trap does not slam into
your dogs nose or face when you flush the birds, you never
want your dog to associate birds with any sort of pain
or bad experience like this, as it may cause him to ignore
birds for the rest of his life).
3. Once your dog is spontaneously sitting to flush (regardless
of whether you used points 1 or 2 above to get to this
point), you can begin to fire your blank .22 as the bird
flies away and your dog remains sitting. Leave him sitting
and staying up to a count of six, then praise him and
set him off hunting again. Either to your next Pigeon
trap or preferably to the next covey of Game birds!
4. Often while your pup is still inexperienced he may
bump into birds without scenting them (the wind direction
and/or scenting conditions can also be off), this is perfect
as long as he consistently sits and stays every time a
bird takes off in front of him, keep him sitting and never
let him chase (fire.22 blank as birds fly off). Yes, this
does mean he's got to go into an immediate sitting position
as the birds flush in front of him, even if he is sprinting
flat-out. Notice now the importance of phase 3 above.
5. Go often to a dam and extend your retreiving work to
deeper water. Remember it is sit and stay. Throw the dummy
and fire your .22 blank while the dummy is in the air
(simulate water fowl shooting). Keep him staying to a
count of six and send him in to the water to retrieve.
Do exactly the same thing on land also (simulate land
bird shooting). Praise immediately after (once you have
the dummy delivered to you) the successful completion
of both individual excersises.
6. If at all possible, you can begin to fire a shotgun
while your dog eats now and as before you need to begin
from a distance, check for sensitivity and move closer
to him or further away depending on his reaction.
DON'T
1.
Give your dog commands other than the "GOOD BOY"
command while he is working and/or pointing birds. If
he is pointing then get down next to him and stroke him
along the back saying Good Boy. Issue your sit command
at the first wing beat of the bird and after it begins
to flush- not before.
EXAMPLE
OF 100 BIRDS FOUND WHILE TRAINING MY THREE GSP'S OVER
A PERIOD OF 6 SUMMER MONTHS. BIRDS WERE SWAINSSONS, ORANGE
RIVER AND GUINEA FOWL. NO BIRDS WERE SHOT.
Birds
found: 100
Steady to Flush: 96 (Includes running Guinea Fowl and
relocated Orange River).
Pointed: 65 (Due to bad Summer scenting conditions-I hope)
This means that of the 100 birds found there were 96 steady
to flush results. 65 were birds pointed followed by steady
dogs when the birds were flushed, for the rest (31) the
dogs did not point but sat and stayed when the birds flushed
(the birds were bumped), therefore 96 steady to flush
results. These results are very bad because of too little
pointing results before the birds were flushed, but in
mitigation, summer scenting conditions are notoriously
bad.
Chased: 4. All chasing was by the same dog (Bitch actually)
because I neglected proper "sit and stay to flush
conditioning" before shooting birds over her when
she was a youngster.
PHASE
5: HUNTING
BUZZWORDS:
HUNT WHILE ADJUSTING TO COVER, SIT AND STAY TO FIRST WINGBEAT
OF FLUSHING BIRD AND THROUGH THE SHOT, SIT AND STAY AS
RABBIT OR BUCK FLUSHES, FIRST RETRIEVE OF SHOT BIRDS ON
WATER AND LAND-ONLY ON COMMAND.
1)
Your dog is completely steady, or sitting and staying
when you throw the dummy, you can now fire the shotgun
as you throw the dummy and he is automatically waiting
up to a count of 6 before you send him to retrieve it.
2) He is also sitting and staying spontaneously when the
birds flush (regardless of whether he pointed or not-provided
your dog has a pointing instinct he'll start to point
staunchly now when he scents the birds and before they
flush) and you fire the shotgun into the air as they go.
He only stands up again when you let him.
As
soon as no's 1 and 2 above are individually perfect and
require very little enforcement effort from you, then
you can start hunting and shooting birds with your dog.
This means that points 1 and 2 as explained above will
effectively become one complete excersise on its own!
You
may want somebody else to do the actual shooting for you
at first while you control and watch the dog to see that
he remains sitting and staying when the birds flush, its
up to you, but under no circumstances must he be allowed
to move (must sit and stay) to the first wing beat of
the flushing game bird, through the shot and he must wait
for you to command him to fetch the bird after the routine
wait until a count of 6.
This
means that your dog hunts up the birds and is always steady
to flush when they take off, in other words he is now
pointing spontaneously, he also hunts to the gun because
the direction you follow when hunting birds is completely
random and obviously unpredictable (phase 2). Never ever
shoot a bird that he is chasing or not steady on (if this
happens, you need to give up hunting and go back to phase
3-remain objective when training your dog), come up to
him and you flush the birds. Shoot one only and see to
it that he sits and remains sitting as the bird takes
off. Make him wait to the count of 6 and send him to retrieve.
He may take a bit of time at first to put his first bird
into his mouth, just stay where you are and tell him to
bring it, don't help him and give him lots of encouragement
until he brings the bird to hand and when he does then
it is praise, praise and more praise. Judge for yourself
if he did well and if you think so, then go ahead and
shoot another bird, repeating the exercise. Don't push
it and keep watching him for indiscretions (like breaking
in before commanded to "fetch"). Give him water
when hunting. NOTE: It is almost impossible for a young
dog on his first few practical hunting outings to produce
a faultless performance. Just see to it on the first few
shoots that all the basics are properly adhered to. These
are sitting and staying when the birds flush, through
the shot and he must wait for your "fetch" command
before leaving his sit position to retrieve the bird.
With time and experience he will begin to nail (point)
countless birds for you to shoot and he'll be steady all
the time.
When
shooting wild fowl at the waters edge, it is the same
as your water retreiving exercises mentioned earlier in
these notes. Keep him close to you (on a leash if you
want) as the Ducks fly in. Shoot the Duck when it's in
range and count to 6 while he sits and stays. Now it's
fetch and send him into the water to retrieve the duck,
as with the land retrieve he may need a little encouragement
before putting the first Duck in his mouth. Once you have
the Duck, praise him and resume waiting for the next duck.
Repeat the exercise for the next duck etc
don't
try and fetch the Ducks for him once they've floated to
the bank, rather insist that he brings it from the water
all the way into your hands while you call him from the
bank, be patient and encourage him (Note: some people
say their dogs don't retrieve in water or on land, in
my opinion that is because hunters are too impatient with
their dogs on the first few bird retrieves that their
dogs do-your dogs first few water and land retrieves are
critical and you need to be patient and positively encourage
the dog-time has no meaning to a dog, it is the human
that is impatient). If you see he is going to put the
Duck down so that he can shake himself off then just move
backwards calling him until he delivers the Duck into
your hand!
Now
it's time for Field Trials. Field Trials are really the
only way to formally and objectively test your dog and
the only way you can honestly go around telling people
that you have a good GSP. All things being equal, these
notes, if followed to the letter should be enough to put
you on the road to doing well in a South African HPR Field
Trial (Please find out about the honoring or backing requirement)
and Natural Ability Test. From a point of view of fairness
to future generations of GSP owners, your dog must be
properly assessed so that his/her good qualities can be
recognized and passed on. Somebody did it for you (look
at your dogs pedigree) so it's expected you do it for
others. It is not expected (or required) of you to breed
your dog until he/she has been properly and objectively
assessed through formal tests such as Field Trials, or
as a minimum requirement the Natural Ability test.
SUMMARY
PHASE
1: BONDING AND GAME PLAYING PHASE
PHASE
2: PROVIDE HUNTING EXPERIENCE AND INITIATE "SIT AND
STAY TRAINING"
PHASE
3: PROPERLY CONDITION THE SIT AND STAY COMMAND INTO YOUR
DOGS HEAD SO THAT HE SITS AND STAYS UNDER ANY AND ALL
CIRCUMSTANCES, THE MORE DIFFICULT THE CIRCUMSTANCES THE
BETTER. CONTINUE PROVIDING HUNTING EXPERIENCE
PHASE
4: TRANFER YOUR SIT AND STAY CONDITIONING (PHASE 3) TO
FLUSHING BIRDS. HUNT WILD BIRDS WITH A .22 BLANK PISTOL
AND CONDITION YOUR DOG TO SIT AND STAY TO THE FLUSHING
BIRD AND GUNSHOT SIMULTANEOUSLY. HE MUST ALSO BE CONDITIONED
TO SIT AND STAY TO THE AIRBORNE DUMMY AND GUNSHOT AS A
SEPERATE EXCERSISE-FETCH ONLY ON COMMAND NB: FROM NOW
ON STOP PRACTICING SIT AND STAY TRAINING AS YOU DID IN
PHASE 3. TRY TO LIMIT YOUR SIT AND STAY COMMANDS TO THE
FLUSHING BIRDS AND DUMMY THROWING EXERSISES ONLY.
PHASE
5: PRACTICAL HUNTING AND BEWARE OF YOUR DOG DEVIATING
FROM THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS AS EXPLAINED IN THESE NOTES
NOTES
ON PRACTICAL HUNTING
1.
Always be very insistent throughout your dogs life that
he sit and stay to game birds getting up in front of him
or even 100 meters from him. Hunters that have allowed
this requirement to slip over their dogs lifespan have
unfortunately ended up with a dog that does not point
as staunchly as is required and I have noticed that such
hunters struggle to get into a decent shooting position
before the birds flush. This is simply because the dog
flushes the bird himself in his haste to chase (kill)
the bird and of course the hunter is nowhere near in range
to get a shot off.
2. Never be stressed out if your dog hunts a long way
from you. Just maintain your hunting direction (or change
course away from him) and let him discover that the shooting
and real sport happens around you, not him, understand
that the aim of using a pointer while hunting is that
he point and hold the birds until you get to him, so therefore
this principle must also be applied even if he's a long
way from you.
3. Always walk (do not run) up to your dog if he is pointing.
Your dog was bred to point and hold the point until you
get there.
4. If you are on a hunting field and your dog completely
disappears then don't spend your day looking for him,
looking for him plays nicely into doing what he wants
you to do, (Okay if you suspect he's in a snare or injured
then do something about it) Leave him to realize that
you will not have your day in the field influenced by
his behavior. Just keep on hunting (without a dog) and
when he comes back then give him water and praise him
then let him start hunting for you again. A pointless
and destructive thing to do would be to punish him when
he eventually re-appears, this will cause him to fear
you and next time he wont come back at all.
5. When hunting your dog, never come to a stop. Keep moving,
slowly if need be but don't stop. When he points, you
still don't stop because you move around him to flush
the birds (okay, you can stop to stroke him encouragingly
along the back while he's pointing). Obviously then you
will come to a complete stop to shoot the birds, and you
will remain motionless while he fetches the bird (he fetches
only on command and the bird/s are down). Generally, this
is the only time you will come to a dead stop while hunting
with your dog.
6. A dog still has all his pack behavior instincts and
it is still important for a dog to have a pack leader.
The behavior of a pack leader is all-important to a dog.
The pack leader that keeps on following his dog around,
runs to catch up with him when he's ranging far out or
punishes him after, not during an indiscretion, will cause
the structure of the pack to break down and he will quickly
find himself with a sad example of a hunting dog that
was full of potential as a puppy.
7. Praise your dog as often as possible and he'll perform
better in the hunting field, Field Trial or even around
your house.
8. The quieter and calmer you are while hunting or Field
Trialing the better will be your dog's performance.