Once again, Pete grappled for the rebound. Jerking the ball away from the opposing player, he sprinted down the floor. Being larger and more mature physically than the other 13-year-olds, he willed his way to the basket for a layup. Immediately, a substitution was made, bringing Pete to the sideline. Exasperated, he asked, “Coach, why did you pull me out?”

“Pete, you are not doing what I asked,” came my reply. Pete was a very gifted young man. Routinely leading the team in scoring and rebounding. He played with more passion and drive than most kids his age, however, in the heat of the game he seemed to go blind to the fact that he also had four teammates on the floor with him.

Still breathing heavily, Pete replied, “But I’m scoring!” I turned my attention back to the game. He was right, he was scoring, but his team was not winning. “As we discussed at practice, if you want to play, you will need to run the offense that I have asked you to run,” I replied over my shoulder.

Coaching is not an easy job. As hard as it is to pull a star player out of the game, I was learning that my team was a reflection of my coaching. If I wanted disciplined players, I had to be a disciplined coach. It was obvious that Pete was competitive and wanted to win, but winning would not come until he changed his mindset. He needed to realize that in order to be successful, he needed the help of the entire team.

Just as a team’s performance reflects their coaching, our hunting dogs’ performances reflect our handling. As mentioned in my previous article, consistency between training and hunting is vital to our dog’s performance in the field. I have found that a breakdown in our dog’s performance during the season can most often be linked to three general causes: a lack of preparation, a lack of discipline, or the reinforcing of incorrect behaviors.

Unprepared Bird Dogs

In the above story, I had gone over the offense in practice, I had helped each boy learn their responsibility, and I had also rehearsed with the boys what would be done if they decided not to stick to the game plan. This was done in preparation for the game.

When it comes to our hunting dogs, proper preparation is an important part of the off season. Like in basketball, game time is not the time to make changes. When we are hunting, there is barely any opportunity to make corrections. If we were to try to teach new things in the heat of the moment, it would certainly result in confusion.

I often refer to the concepts I teach during the off season as tools in my toolbox. The only things I can use while hunting are the tools that I have in my toolbox. An example of this is the word “whoa.” If my dog has a good understanding that “whoa” means stop and stand still, that would be a tool that I could use while hunting. If my dog had never been taught the meaning of the word “whoa,” the use of that word while hunting would have no meaning to the dog and could create confusion or concern. I have witnessed people running through the field yelling “whoa” to a dog that appeared to have no idea what the command meant. If the dog did know the meaning of the word, then the handler must not have prepared the ability to correct the dog should it not acknowledge the word. In either case, the breakdown was in the preparation.

Lack of Discipline During the Hunt

Discipline is a word with many definitions. The definitions I am referring to are as follows:

• Training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character.
• To train or develop by instruction and exercise, especially in self-control.

In my basketball story, I found myself pulling a star player from the game to help him learn to play the way we practiced. This required me to be disciplined, and to coach the game in a way that was consistent with the way I had coached in practice.

Often, in the heat of the moment, hunters will let their dogs’ incorrect behaviors go uncorrected. This could be because they didn’t want to miss the opportunity to shoot a bird. It’s also possible that the dog’s behavior was unnoticed by the hunter until it was too late to make a correction. In either case, the handler lacked the discipline to make the correction. Added self-discipline may be needed for the handler before they can effectively help their dog. Handling a dog to a high level takes more than just training for the dog. A dog cannot be expected to perform at a higher level than their handler.

Also important to note is that hunting is faster and more challenging than training. There are more distractions, and wild birds are faster and smarter than their domesticated counterparts. As a result, there could be an adjustment period for the dog and handler. Disciplined efforts by the handler, consistent with the training they had done already, will eventually bring them and their dog up to speed. Remember, disciplined handlers create disciplined dogs.

Rewarding a Bird Dog’s Incorrect Behaviors

Had I left Pete in the game, I would have sent the message that my expectations in a game were different than they were in practice. My actions as a coach were shaping the boys’ actions, if I changed, they too would change.

The most common example I see of this in regard to bird dogs is when people shoot birds that were not properly handled by the dog. When this is done, the dog is likely to assume that, when hunting, this is an acceptable behavior. If you are shooting poorly handled birds, then this is a correct assumption. By shooting the bird, the hunter has accepted the dog’s actions. Our actions in training shape our dogs’ behaviors, whether good or bad. This is equally true in hunting. Because our dogs are a reflection of us, like looking in a mirror, if we don’t like what we see, we must look to ourselves for change.

In the end, a dog that behaves differently while hunting than it does in training most likely has a handler who behaves differently while hunting than while training. As handlers, we can avoid this with proper preparation, good discipline, and conscious recognition of the ways that our behaviors reinforce our dogs’ behaviors. The solution lies in you.