Developing a dog’s ability to stand still is the single most important foundational skill for steadying a dog on birds. There are many ways to teach a dog to stand still, but our family of dog trainers has relied on the Whoa Post for decades. The book Best Way to Train Your Gun Dog: The Delmar Smith Method, published in 1977, outlined the early stages of the Whoa Post and the steadying process. In the almost 50 years since that time, we have modified and improved the steadying process, incorporating new techniques and principles as we continue to add to our collective knowledge studying and training dogs on a daily basis.
We are able to talk in-depth about dogs’ mindsets and behaviors at seminars. However, here we only have space for a brief overview of the process and are not able to get into the nuances that we love to watch and discuss, and which dictate lots of small changes in each session for each dog. Everything we do with a dog is modified slightly to work with how that dog is feeling in that particular moment and what their perception is of any given situation during training. Training dogs is a highly individualized process, but this will provide you with a quick synopsis of the basic curriculum used.
How to Use a Whoa Post Using a whoa post can be an effective way of teaching the whoa command. (Photo courtesy of Susanna Love Smith) Our hunting dogs are adventure dogs, often traversing unfamiliar grounds at a high rate of speed in search of game. We cannot predict what we will encounter every time we turn them loose on a hunting adventure. However, by teaching a mechanical cue to stop via the Whoa Post in the early steps of a dog’s training, we know we can later transition to a remote cue to stop our dog in any situation, no matter the level of distraction or excitement, regardless of whether he can hear us. As an example, we know with certainty we can stop a dog before he runs into oncoming traffic. We can stop him from chasing off game or before he attempts to lunge forward and try to take a big prickly bite out of a porcupine. We are better able to keep the dog safe when he makes poor decisions in the real world, which is a responsibility we take very seriously. It also provides us with a method of handling dogs on game and achieving steadiness on birds.
The Whoa Post is a simple tool used to teach a dog to stop and stand still when he feels a physical cue. Through repetition, it develops a conditioned response to that cue on a point of contact (a specific place on a dog’s body). Using the Whoa Post to teach the cue imprints a clear understanding and helps the dog begin developing the behavior of calmly standing still.
The training process begins by teaching a dog to stand still in a controlled environment (when he feels a cue on the flank). It employs the use of a soft, fat rope, one end of which is affixed to something solid, such as a post or a stake driven into the ground, and the other end is placed around the dog's flank, essentially in a half-hitch, and snapped into the collar on the dog’s neck. The rope itself is about 20 feet long and should be both large in diameter and soft to the touch. We want the rope to be comfortable on the dog’s body, much like a harness. The dog is eased forward gently, which engages the Whoa Post rope. Once the dog feels the slight cue on the flank, we wait for an acknowledgement from the dog before going back to them and taking them off the post. An acknowledgment is typically signified by a lick, swallow, yawn, or a combination of all three. This is indicative of a release and relaxation after the dog has worked through a mental challenge and reached a positive conclusion.
Flank Collar Stimulation Once the Whoa Post program has been completed (typically 10-15 sessions), and the dog has a clear understanding that the cue on the flank simply means stand still, we are able to transition from the mechanical cue of the rope to the remote cue of the e-collar. We put a collar on the dog’s flank and practice stopping the dog, first in quiet, controlled environments and then in areas of increasing level of distractions. We work on “practice reps” until our dog has a conditioned response and will stop in any environment, under any circumstance, without needing to think about what is being asked of him. Standing still is one of the hardest things for an athlete to do, so we practice, practice, practice to make certain that each dog is comfortable stopping on a cue, and capable of standing still, even when distractions are present.
While we are practicing the perfected behavior of standing still on cue, we also introduce the verbal label for that learned behavior, which is “whoa.” We also introduce audible cues for a release, letting the dogs know when they can move forward again. We introduce verbal commands only once the learned behavior is established.
Steadying a Pointing Dog A steady dog will offer more shooting opportunities for hunters. (Photo courtesy of Susanna Love Smith) A bird dog is a predator, albeit a domesticated one. This is why dogs chase balls, stalk squirrels in the backyard, and hunt birds in the field. Our training is designed to mold those natural instincts.
So, how does one steady a predator? We often compare the process to what we see in the old familiar wing drill. The puppy chases the wing on the string, and when he realizes he can’t catch it, he begins stalking and pointing it. The dog begins to slow down and pause because every time he gets too close to the wing, it flies away. Every predator stalks game (even man). In the dog’s case, they learn to do so when an all-out chase fails to work.
Our Smith Training Method is different than most traditional training concepts, especially when it comes to the concept of steadying pointing dogs. At the early stage of the steadying process with birds, we do not stop dogs on the down-wind side of the bird. Instead, we keep pigeons in launchers, and if a dog moves in to flush the bird, we launch the bird before the dog gets in on it. As the dog pursues the bird in flight, we then cue the dog to stop, using that familiar point of contact on the flank. The goal at this stage is to slowly shift the dog’s focus from chasing to pointing. This is similar to working with that puppy on the wing drill: over time, with successive “bump – chase – cue to stop” progressions, the focus on the chase gets less and less. Soon, the dogs decide to stay on point longer and with greater intensity.
There will be a time in the dog’s training when they encounter a bird, and they will point and stand calmly and intensely watching the bird fly off without attempting to chase. At this stage, we can begin to fine-tune any behavior on the down-wind side of the bird (stopping any creeping or moves to flush the bird).
There are myriad benefits derived from steadying your dog this way. In letting the dog work the scent, and decide when it is time to establish point, you teach the dog how to hunt by scent, and how to work a bird’s scent in a more realistic way. Also, having the ability to stop the chase with a more visually oriented dog incrementally over time tends to shift that dog’s visual/chasing mindset into a scent-based stalking mindset. Doing so in turn helps alleviate some of the common visually oriented undesirable behaviors such as ticking, flagging, circling, etc.
Once our dog is consistently standing steady on birds and corrections are minimal or none at all, we are at the cusp of learned behavior. We then transition that remote cue to stop from the flank to the neck; adding that cue to the quiver of other established cues on the neck for turning, recalling, and heeling which have been taught in separate workouts. After this process is complete, our dogs are staunch on their birds. They can be handled and stopped via cues on the neck, and are reliably steady on birds. This process and its completion allow us the ability to manage our dogs effectively in the field and ensure they are safer in the field on hunts.