I use the last several weeks of summer and early fall to do an honest assessment of my dogs’ performances last year, what they’ve improved upon over the summer, and what we still need to clean up before the new season’s opener. For younger dogs, this pre-season period is an opportunity to continue teaching new skills as they advance beyond foundational obedience.
Regardless of your dog’s age and experience level, the pre-season training emphasis should be on ensuring that you are the one in control. Anytime. Anyplace. No exceptions.
While these concepts are especially important to nail down before gametime, you’ll see that much of what I’m going to talk about here is an extension of good old-fashioned obedience and should be stressed year-round.
The Different Types of Steadiness for Retrievers When hunters say they want a dog that’s “steady,” they’re typically referring to a waterfowl dog that remains sitting or lying down in the duck blind until released to retrieve. Yes, that’s important, but steadiness is really an extension of the broader need for control.
One obvious example is when you’re using your retriever as a flushing dog. You’re frequently going to have birds running ahead out of gun range or trying to slip off to one side or another. If your dog is doing what its instincts tell it to do, it’s going to naturally want to stay on the trail. It takes only a few encounters with wild birds for a dog to figure out that the key to putting a grouse or pheasant in the air is to get to it as fast as possible.
When a dog takes off trailing a running bird, you’re usually not going to be able to catch up, and the result is a missed opportunity for a shot. So, training your retriever to hunt in range and being able to stop a chase is just as important in upland hunting as steadiness is in a duck blind.
Instilling full-time control in your dog doesn’t require large swaths of training ground. It can begin and then be reinforced at home during everyday routines. Simply put, a well-mannered dog should be taking cues from you rather than acting impulsively whenever the mood strikes.
Something my wife, Tina, and I do on a regular basis at our house is to make our dogs stop and wait before they can go out the door. Conversely, when it’s time to come back into the house, we make them sit and wait a moment until we give the okay to return.
Another nice drill that lends itself to a happy household and extends to control in the field is to get your dog used to sitting and waiting to eat after you set down its food dish. I suggest leashing your dog and commanding it to sit while you place its food dish on the floor. Wait a moment, reinforce “sit” if necessary, and then release your dog to eat with “okay” or whatever command you choose. You can eventually move the dish out to 10 or 15 feet away and walk your dog up to the dish before releasing it.
This concept is no different than when you’re in the field and you need your dog to stop and wait until you say it’s okay to start trailing again. Control is control. If you can’t do this in a low-key environment like your house, you certainly can’t do it in the field.
Having Control of Your Upland Bird Dog A check cord is a great way to reinforce commands while training your retriever. (Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Karls) Another pre-season skill to work on that will pay huge dividends in the uplands this season is getting your dog to work in a pattern (and just as important, stay in range without needing constant reminders).
I think any of us who have used our retrievers as flushing dogs realize that letting them ramble around in the cover is going to occasionally produce birds simply by creating chaos and spooking birds into flight. Maybe that’s even how you’ve been doing it, and you’re okay with that. But if you have the will to work on improving your hunting efficiency and getting more flushes, you’ll find it well worth your time.
This simple series of drills requires a couple of helpers and good planning. Find a training field with light to medium cover that allows you room to work. Position each helper 15 to 20 yards on each side of you. Your helpers should have a couple of fresh-killed or frozen pigeons tucked away in their bird vests. Start with your dog at heel, and then head into the cover just like you’re going on a real pheasant hunt.
If you have a dog that isn’t tuned into what upland hunting is all about yet, you might want to keep it on a check cord to help it understand that staying in front of you is paramount. As your group moves down the field, and as the dog heads toward one side or the other, have the nearest helper flip a bird out in front. After a few outings, your dog will start anticipating that the prize is going to be close in front of the “hunters.” As a dog gains confidence in its bird-finding ability, it will typically start working farther from you. That’s good, because it’s easier to reel your dog back in than force it to hunt farther out.
The same drill with live, wing-clipped pigeons that the dog can chase and catch will amp up its drive. There’s no such thing as overdoing this drill. It provides the opportunity to set up hunting scenarios complete with live, planted pigeons or pheasants that you or your helpers can shoot after the flush.
You should also let some birds fly off while you call your dog back, so it learns it’s not OK to run away and over the horizon. And be sure to reinforce the whistle-sit when your dog ranges too far. The more practice runs you can get in should pay off this fall when you encounter wild birds that don’t play fairly.
Pre-season Practice Pays Off I say this often but only because it’s so important: If you’re having behavior problems during hunting season—whether it’s breaking in a duck blind, ranging too far when pheasant hunting, not coming when called, or anything else—you don’t have a hunting problem. You have a control problem, and that problem ties back to obedience training every time. Use these final weeks before your first hunt to nail down and fix issues with control so that you can focus on an enjoyable and productive bird season.
Transitioning from a Leash to a Check Cord to an E-collar Once your retriever fully under- stands commands and is regularly complying on a check cord, you can move on to an e-collar. (Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Karls) Within the conversation about control, don’t forget a primary rule of dog training, which is that you shouldn’t give a command you can’t enforce. If you yell “sit” at your retriever when it’s hot on the trail of a running rooster but don’t have any way to make the dog sit if it ignores you, you’re not accomplishing anything. In fact, you’re really teaching your dog what it can get away with.
When teaching obedience commands, always start with a traditional 6-foot leash, which allows you to make instant corrections when working on heel, sit, and come. You might opt for a chain collar when starting out and then transition to your dog’s regular flat collar as it progresses.
As your dog advances and you introduce variations of those commands (i.e. teaching it to sit at a distance when you blow a whistle), graduate to a 20- to 30-foot check cord. The check cord can also be a useful tool in teaching a dog to quarter while upland hunting if you’re having trouble getting it to stay in front and work back and forth.
Once your retriever fully understands all your commands and is regularly complying, you can trade in the check cord for an e-collar, such as those from SportDog. Be smart about how you use this efficient, powerful tool. To reinforce a command your dog knows, use the lowest correction level necessary to get a response. Generally speaking, the higher levels on today’s collars are meant to stop a dog that’s running out of control or is heading toward a dangerous situation such as a busy road.
