Home Rebecca Foxton on 08 Apr 2008
Discover Basic Gun Dog Training Insights
The bond between a hunter and his dog is one of the strongest. A hunting dog will listen and respond to your commands quickly and exactly. This connection is really worth the time spent building it.
Types of Retrievers: Breeds such as Labrador retrievers and Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retrievers are excellent gun dogs having been bred over hundreds of years for just that purpose. However, despite centuries of breeding, dogs can still be willful.
Command Basics: Whoa, No, Kennel, Sit, and Come are very important basic commands. Before you take your dog out into the field, it should know and obey all of these basic commands. You can’t expect your dog to listen and obey when he is running free if he doesn’t listen to you when he’s on a leash. Teach your dog in the real situation of public fields and not just at home.
Field Training: Once your dog learns those commands and he has been taught not to be frightened by gun noise you can start field training. Start with dummy training. Your dog must learn that he is meant to retrieve something and starting with a dummy is the best way to teach him what he is suppose to do.
Dummy Training: Pick a dummy that suits your dog. Some resemble game birds, others are plastic and some are fabric. Once your dog learns to retrieve the dummy and bring it back without shaking or destroying it in any way, you can begin to train with real birds.
Occasionally the dog will not go for an actual bird and you may need to train him further by using a dummy with feathers and streamers added on. This will mimic the movements of an actual bird and he will become more confident handling it. Streamers imitate the actions of a bird when it is not quite dead so that the real bird likely will not frighten your dog.
Using Decoys: It is important that you transition to the real bird slowly if your dog seems to be afraid at first when retrieving it. You can use a stuffed duck or pheasant as a decoy dummy, by getting them from the taxidermist.