Dogs, like humans, naturally use information they gather from their environment to shape their behavior in a manner that allows them to gain what they want and avoid what they don't want. Through such efforts, the dog becomes very good at recognizing consistent and predictable patterns. For example, our house dog, Duke, aspires to be my shadow; he would like to go everywhere I go. When I am home, he often follows me from room to room and is always game to go out the door with me when I leave the house. To get from our front room to the front door, one must descend a small flight of stairs to a landing. The landing allows access to the front door, the garage door, or a flight of stairs to the basement. As a young dog, we helped Duke understand that he needed to stay at the top of the stairs when we went to the front door. The training kept him from getting in the way when we had visitors. It didn't take long until Duke realized that if he always stopped at the top of the stairs, he would have a great view of whether I went out the front door, into the garage, or continued on to the basement. This behavior prevented him from having to needlessly go up and down the stairs. If I headed down the stairs to the basement, he would follow. If I opened one of the doors, he would wait for me to invite him to go with me. If he wasn't invited, he would simply stay on the main level with the rest of the family. Duke has been acting consistently in this manner for over six years now. I never have to remind him. The reason I don't have to remind him is because he is not doing it for me. He is doing it because it helps him avoid extra steps and often results in him gaining an invite out the door with me.
Our dogs make these types of decisions all day, every day. Their behaviors stay consistent as long as their environment—and the people in the environment—stay consistent. When changes in the environment occur, they are often followed by changes in our dogs.
When we set out to intentionally create the changes, we call it training. Changes we do not intentionally make we refer to as the dog’s natural behaviors. The truth is that many of the undesirable dog behaviors I assist people with are present because of the people. The people did not intentionally create the undesirable behavior, however, their actions, or lack of actions, allowed the behavior to develop. Changing the people's actions is the answer to eliminating the behavior. When the human’s actions change, the dog's actions always follow.
Training needs to be consistent, both in the off-season and during. (Photo courtesy of Dean Pearson) Getting Better as a Dog Handler With this understanding, let's explore the world of hunting dogs and the hunting season. I have often heard people make comments about their dog needing a “post season tune up.”
I have also heard them remark about their dog starting to “come apart” during the hunting season. My response to these statements: “Sounds like the dog handler and their program need a tune up!”
Before you judge me as unfair or overly critical, let me mention that I look at myself the same way. Every time I see behaviors in my dogs that I would like to change, I first analyze my own behavior. I know that the change is always going to start with me. If I make adjustments to the environment and to my behavior, the dog will make adjustments to its behavior. The only way to have a consistent, disciplined dog is if the dog has a consistent, disciplined handler.
The most common issue I see people deal with in pointing dogs is the duration of time that the dog will hold point. There are many differing opinions on when the point should end. I've known very successful hunters with vastly differing opinions. I have been a part of many discussions regarding how the point should end while hunting. In general, there are three possible expectations: a dog may be steady to flush, steady to shot, or steady to fall. Steady to flush means that the dog remains on point until the birds take flight. Steady to shot indicates the dog stands until the shot is fired. Steady through the fall is when the dog stands through the fall of a shot bird and waits for his handler to release him. As you can see, the difference in these three scenarios is how the point ends.
I find that there are three keys to maintaining our dogs' performance throughout the hunting season:
Practice/train the way you intend to hunt. (Photo courtesy of Jerry Imprevento) Human Responsibilities during Hunting Season Responsibility #1:
Decide what degree of steadiness is desired.
There are pros and cons to each degree of steadiness. For instance, a dog steady to flush will be moving when the bird is shot. On a pheasant, the dog will most likely be right behind the bird when it falls, allowing for a speedy recovery. This can prevent a wounded bird from escaping. When it comes to hunting birds that live in coveys, a dog that moves at flush may be following a different bird than the one its handler is shooting at, preventing it from seeing the bird fall. In this case, a dog that is steady to shot may have a greater advantage. Standing still when the shot is fired increases the chance that the dog sees the bird the handler is shooting at. Additionally, a dog that is steady to fall can increase shot opportunities for its handler. Often if dogs remain still, large coveys will flush in staggered groups giving the hunter multiple opportunities. I've even had time to reload in between flushing groups of birds.
Responsibility #2:
Teach the dog what is expected and develop the ability to make corrections while hunting.
There are a lot of techniques for teaching a dog to hold the point to the desired end. Handlers generally spend a significant amount of time during the off season teaching their dog these expectations. I often see people demand a high level of performance in training, using tools and aids that will not be used while hunting. These aids can be effective in teaching a concept, but care needs to be taken to be sure that in the end we have the ability to communicate and effectively correct in the field the same way we do in training.
As discussed earlier, dogs take action in an effort to gain what they want. When a dog leaves a point, it is generally in an effort to chase the bird. Though chasing does create excitement and confidence in a young pup, once the pup is pointing and confident, chasing loses all usefulness. The verb “to correct” means to make right again. If the correct action for the dog was to stand still, correcting the dog would mean that it was returned to a standing still. If we can accomplish this at full chase, we should be able to accomplish it in most any situation. When chasing is eliminated, the dog will turn its full attention to its greatest love: pointing.
Responsibility #3:
Don't expect more from the dog than we expect from ourselves. Dog training and handling is a skill. Not all hunters are equal in this area. It's important to take this into consideration. Not only does the dog need to develop the skills and knowledge to perform at the desired level of steadiness, so does the handler. In the end we must learn to practice the way we intend to hunt and hunt the way we have practiced. Our dogs need consistency. Without our consistency, their behavior will be ever changing.