E-Collar Control for Your Hunting Spaniel

By Jason Givens

Article originally appeared in Quail Forever magazine.

The e-collar is a useful and powerful tool that can greatly extend your reach as a trainer. When used correctly, an e-collar can be a great aid in the training and control of your hunting spaniel. Incorrect use, though, can do more harm to your dog than you can imagine. For this reason, it is important to train yourself on proper e-collar usage before you introduce one to your dog.

Getting Started
If you're going to use an e-collar on your dog, you should plan on using it all of the time. Have your dog wear the e-collar during all training sessions and whenever you're hunting. This helps avoid getting your dog “collar-wise”. A collar-wise dog will recognize that certain types of correction only occur when the collar is on and will learn to behave differently when he’s wearing the collar than when he isn’t.

Next, I recommend you follow two very important rules with regard to e-collar usage. Rule number one is, don’t "wing it". You should have a plan for collar use and you should follow that plan carefully to maximize training effectiveness. Rule number two is that you should never, ever push the transmitter button in anger. The e-collar is intended as a control rather than a punishment.

On dogs with advanced collar conditioning, you can use the e-collar to reinforce virtually any known command. For the typical hunter, though, I recommend limiting use of the e-collar to fewer specific situations. Probably the most important situation is to control to spaniel’s range while hunting. When your dog ranges out too far, you should train him to return on your call or whistle. The e-collar should be used to reinforce this command only if the dog refuses to return. Even then, you should start with the lowest level stimulation to which the dog responds and increase the level as necessary until the dog obeys. After he obeys, you should also give him some praise to mix in some positive reinforcement.

Choosing a Collar
We generally recommend an e-collar that is simple and reliable. A collar with more bells and whistles than you need can just increase the risk of confusing your dog. Tone and vibration settings can encourage you to nag your dog into believing you're not serious every time. The nick setting can be useful for collar-conditioned dogs but may have limited value to the typical hunter. One feature I consider absolutely necessary for all users, though, is variable intensity. When your spaniel misbehaves in one of your pre-determined ways, you should start stimulating him at the lowest level he recognizes and increase only if he continues the misbehavior. For this reason, you need a collar that allows you to change stimulation levels quickly and easily from the transmitter.

One final thing we recommend is to never use the e-collar when your dog is out of sight. If you don't know what he’s doing he might be working a bird. You certainly don't want to punish your dog for doing what you want and stimulating him might make him bird shy. I'll also say one last time, because it is so important, that you should not use an e-collar in anger. If you can’t control your temper you probably should not use an e-collar on your dog.

To learn more about Jason’s training methods, visit www.lighthousekennels.com.

Pre-Season Conditioning

By Steve Ries 

Article originally appeared in “On the Wing”, a monthly email newsletter by Pheasants Forever.

Health & More Birds
With the hunting season just around the corner, now is a good time to start thinking about conditioning your canine athlete for early season performance. We wouldn't think about going out and running ten miles one day without some prior physical training and it doesn't make any more sense to expect it from our dogs. By getting our dogs in shape before the season, we go a long way toward ensuring a healthier and more effective hunting companion.

A high level of physical fitness contributes to a dog's mental fitness because a tired dog will focus less on commands and finding birds. Risk of injury is also reduced during both training and hunting when muscles and tendons are strong and joints well lubricated. Training the body to recover from a work out will prepare your dog for longer hunts and more days hunting.

Before You Start
Before you get to work, it is important to consider three factors that can have a tremendous impact on your dog's ability to function at a high level. We recommend you think of the following before starting any conditioning program.

1)    See Your Vet – A good overall examination will ensure that your dog is fit for training and free from clinical problems and parasites that could adversely affect health and performance.

2)    Choose A Quality Food – Rather than focus on a specific brand let's just agree that nutrition is very important. Your dog must consume high quality protein to build and repair muscle tissue while supporting his immune system and overall health with high quality vitamins and trace minerals.

3)    Replenish Fluids – Making sure that your dog stays hydrated may be the single greatest factor in health during hunting. If he won't drink water, find a good hydration supplement to encourage him to drink.

3 Steps To Fitness
Now we'll get into the meat of the conditioning program. We base our conditioning program around three basic areas that compliment one another for a complete workout of the entire body and organs. You don't need to do everything every day but you should try to do something each day.

1) Roadwork – We road our dogs on gravel early in the morning when traffic is sparse. We hook four dogs to a harness to pull a four-wheeler three miles with the engine off. This helps build endurance and strength while conditioning the paws for the rigors of hunting. This should be done at least three days per week.

2) Fieldwork – During the heat of the afternoon, we "free lance" our dogs by letting them run and hunt in large pastured areas at a slow but steady pace. This allows the dog to improve lung capacity and scenting abilities at the same time. It is important to condition a dog in the same heat of the day that they will be exposed to during hunting. We "free lance" our dogs only on days that we don't do roadwork and for no more than 45 minutes.

3) Swimming – We swim our dogs several nights a week to work different muscle groups while creating less stress on joints and tendons. We have noticed a big improvement in performance since introducing this to our program. We limit this to no more than an hour and often swim with them.

Developing a solid conditioning program is very important to the health and longevity of our canine friends. Make sure that you work into condition over a 30-45 day period before the start of the season. In the end, a fit dog is a better hunter and you'll see better overall health and more birds in your freezer.

To learn more about Steve Ries and his training methods, visit www.topgungsps.com

Choosing The Right Dog For You

By Chad Hines 

Article originally appeared in Pheasants Forever magazine.

Match Your Style
Certain things just go together well, and that applies to hunters and dogs. Dogs and their owners begin to resemble one another over time and take on characteristics of each other's personalities. There's some truth to that, but there are also mismatches that take place. Some dogs and hunters should not be together because there is too much difference between performance and expectation.

A Question of Range
A common problem is hunters who expect dogs to hunt close but buy a puppy that's bred to range and find birds. In most cases, a hunter buys a breed he has heard good things about, and then spends his time reining the dogs in too tightly. This is known as over-controlling and can damage the dog's bird-finding ability. You need to be honest with yourself about your expectations, and buy a breed of dog that matches your hunting style. If you already have a dog that doesn't match your style, you should come to terms with that and let your dog's natural abilities develop.

Do You And Your Dog Match?
It's important to recognize your preferred hunting style. If you have a pointing dog that likes to cover ground, and you're constantly on the whistle or pushing the buttons on your e-collar, the two of you are possibly not meant for each other. Most pointing breeds are meant to range so you don't have to stay with him and cover all the same ground. If you trust your dog to hold birds, you can let him range a little. You can always hustle over to him when the chase gets hot or you know they're on point. Letting go of control can mean more birds and happier days in the field.

Why Over-Controlling can be detrimental
Over-controlling your dog can have negative affects you may not realize. An over-controlled dog may focus on where you want him instead of on finding birds. He becomes more worried about making a mistake than following his hunting instincts. In this light, you can see why it's so important to trust your dog and let him hunt. Don't confuse letting him hunt, though, with being lax on discipline. Your dog needs to follow through with commands. He can't read signs and doesn't know where you have permission to hunt. Lack of discipline can also be dangerous as he trails a bird out toward a road with traffic.

Good Hunter, Good Citizen
Many people want a great hunting dog that is also a good pet. If you want your hunting dog to be a good family dog, you need to make sure that's what your breeder is breeding. The best way to do this is to research the breeder and ask many questions. You should also look at the parents to make sure they have the kind of personality you want in your dog. Consider all of this before bringing your kids to see the puppies or it may be too late. Kids and cute puppies have a way of going home together.

Freedom To Hunt Under Control
Like good employers that understand employees and turn them loose to do what they do best, you have to allow your dog to hunt. The years you spend together with your dog can be fun or frustrating. Consider this carefully as you choose a dog or come to terms with the one you already own.

To learn more about Chad's training methods, visit www.willowcreekkennels.net.

Tips for New Field Trialers

By Jason Givens

Article originally appeared in “On the Wing”, a monthly e-mail newsletter by Pheasants Forever

Maybe you've done Field Trials & Hunt Tests before, maybe not. As a beginner you'll make mistakes and not remember everything that you're supposed to do. The more prepared you and your dog are before you get to the event, the better off you'll be. To help you along the way, I've put together a short list of key factors in performing well in dog competitions.

Make A Good Impression
What makes the best dog? Different judges look for different things. No matter how good your dog is, not all judges will like it. Here is a short list of things that will make a positive impression on most judges in flushing events.

1. Strong Finds – Fast, positive finds will get a judge to overlook minor faults in other areas. The instant your dog smells a bird, preferably from far away, he should try to get to it as fast as possible. A positive find is much more important then a positive flush.
2. Effective Pattern – Using the wind to cover the course is much more effective than simply running from gun to gun. As often as possible, your dog should be running perpendicular to the wind and always smelling fresh ground.
3. Showing Control – Your dog should be able to run with only an occasional whistle. Lots of loud whistles annoy many judges. One or two reminder whistles is okay, but the quieter the run the better.  

These three points are really one main point: Working properly, under control to get fast, hard finds from a good distance is the recipe for success.

Avoid Trouble
You want your dog to have a clean run with few issues for a judge to ponder.  Never make a judge think! The following tips are the obvious things to avoid in order to stay out of trouble.

1. Hard Mouth – Very few judges will tolerate dead birds. Injury is always a possibility with a powerful flushing dog and sometimes a wing or a rib is broken. If it happens often, though, judges will take note of it.
2. Excessive Noise – Your dog should be quiet and not whimper or whine while waiting. He should also be patient and not bark at missed birds or yip when sent on a retrieve.
3. Sloppy Delivery – You shouldn't be wrestling with your dog to get the bird and he shouldn't be trying to grab it from the judge's hand. The dog should come in, give you the bird, and wait for the next command.

Most people are amazed, when they start competing with their dogs, at how many things can go wrong. You need to remember that Field Trials & Hunt Tests are just games we play with our dogs. There are rules to each game that must be followed to achieve success,  but the primary objective always is to be enjoying yourself and your dog. When you have a bad day, just take it in stride and come back the next weekend and show them how good your dog really is.

To learn more about Jason’s training methods, visit www.lighthousekennels.com.

How About A Pager For Your Dog?

By Chad Hines

Article originally appeared in “On the Wing”, a monthly e-mail newsletter by Pheasants Forever

It Works For People
For years, business people have used pagers to maintain effective communication while out of the office. Through sound or vibration, a pager has proven an effective way of letting them know when someone needs to communicate with them. In the dog world, many brands of electronic collars have recently begun to feature a "page", or vibration, function that can be selectively used by the trainer. At the press of a button, the box on the collar will vibrate, rather than producing the more traditional stimulation. Why not make use of this new technology to improve communication with your dog?

Send A Subtle Message
Most collar manufacturers suggest using this vibration as a warning signal that your dog is about to be stimulated unless it responds to your command. We've found that the more warnings a dog gets, the less consistently they comply with our commands. Rather than using the pager feature as a warning tone, we recommend using the pager function as a silent and easy way to bring your dog in closer. The pager function is a great way to send your dog a reminder that he needs to check in with you.

As a team, it is important that you have a way to communicate with your dog that he is getting out of gun range. Sending a silent message through vibration is much quieter than a voice or whistle command, so you will be less likely to spook wary birds. This is particularly useful if you have a hard running dog that may have a tendency to get outside gun range.

Pager Training
Teaching your dog to understand the message you are sending is fairly simple. Start out by just taking your dog for a walk and let him hunt, or just walk, out in front of you. When your dog starts to get out of your comfortable gun range, turn and change direction, and push the pager button. The dog will turn around and see that you are going a different way, and should start to follow you.

If necessary, we encourage the use of voice commands or a soft whistle early on to let your dog know that you want him to stay with you. After a while, you shouldn't need the voice or whistle, and you can use the traditional stimulation to back up the pager if necessary. Ultimately, we have found that most dogs will begin to understand pager conditioning pretty quickly and provide you with one more effective tool in communicating with your dog in the field.

To learn more about Chad and Jodi’s training methods, visit www.willowcreekkennels.net.

It's The Training, Not The Tool!

By Susan Barnes

Article originally appeared in “On the Wing”, a monthly e-mail newsletter by Pheasants Forever
 
While on a radio show, I was told of young pointing dog that was taken out to hunt his first birds, the owner relying on an e-collar (electronic collar) to help keep the dog close.  The dog hit the open field and was gone.  The owner called the dog and pressed the transmitter button to no avail. Their day of "hunting" came to a close with only one find…the dog 4 hours later. Many unsuccessful e-collar stories take on a similar theme and often the collar or dog is blamed for the failure.  As owners and trainers we must understand that our equipment is only as effective as the operator and the training. 

Understanding The Tool
It is important to understand that an e-collar itself is not the answer. Knowing how to use it properly is what creates success.  Simply pressing a button does not install "Microsoft dog".  That would be like suggesting that buying the best shotgun on the market would make a person a skilled hunter and crack shot.  The tool can be VERY effective, but the METHOD, KNOWLEDGE and SKILL of the user are what create success or failure.

Making Your Dog Collar Literate
We start all of our dogs' e-collar training away from the field.  With dogs as young as 6 months, we build a foundation; teaching the dog to understand the language of the "stimulation".  Stimulation is used to get the dog's attention and also to teach the command with which it is applied.  The dog must learn that performance of the command stops the stim, which "marks" the correct behavior or response.

Introduction to the e-collar begins with finding the right level of intensity to get the dog's attention. With the dog on a long line, we allow them to move away from us and tap, tap, tap on the nick button until the dog turns and begins to move toward us.  We may say nothing initially to allow the dog to focus without the interference of verbal associations, but we eventually add the command "here" or "come" to give the behavioral response a name.  As the dog learns, the number of taps should decrease while confidence and consistency increase.

Understanding The Dog's Response
It is important that you understand that the stim is an unknown when introduced and dogs can respond many different ways to the new sensation. Some turn and come immediately, some lie down and others may even freeze. This occurs due to confusion and to get through this you must assist the dog in performing the expected behavior while still applying the stim until the dog is correct. Remember, this can also happen with a dog that knows a command but is not e-collar "literate". Many people make the mistake of assuming their dog should know the way to respond to the stim and instead of assisting and teaching the dog the correct response they either stop the stim (marking the incorrect behavior) or adjust the stim thinking this will motivate the dog to respond. It is important that you recognize that the e-collar is a communication tool and using it incorrectly or inconsistently is no different than speaking on a cell phone with bad reception….its confusing, annoying and the message is usually not conveyed effectively.  

Taking It To The Next Level
Understanding and applying this method to all commands with consistency will produce a top performing dog in the field and in the home. These are just a few of the basics and by no means all that goes into introducing the e-collar to your dog. The next time you pull an e-collar from your training bag, consider whether you are using it to train your dog or just control and correct him.  Making the most of that e-collar will help make your dog successful provided you use it to its potential and employ sound training methods. It is the knowledge, skill and ability in using an e-collar skillfully that creates great hunters, champions and even the best companions.

To learn more about Native Pro Staffer Sue Barnes, visit www.mytdog.org.

Tips for Beginning Retriever Training

By Todd Sterrett

Article originally appeared in “On the Wing”, a monthly e-mail newsletter by Pheasants Forever

Train To Your Expectations
There are many schools of thought regarding the best methods for training a finished retriever. The extent and style of training will often depend on the activities you plan to perform with your dog. For example, your standards of acceptable training may be very different if you plan to do a lot of Hunt Tests or Field Trials versus an effective dog for recreational hunting. We tailor our training to the individual needs of the dog owner.

Most retrievers from good hunting lines will show natural tendencies to hold, carry and retrieve objects in their mouths. Some pups will retrieve directly to your hand with very little or no training. Others will drop things on the ground or just run around playing keep-away. Our goal is to develop a finished bird dog that consistently delivers birds to heel and hand. In order to achieve consistent delivery, force/hold and force-fetching a puppy is ideal around 6 months of age or whenever his adult teeth have come in.

Basics Don't Change
Whether for hunting or competition, there are some basic "Do's & Don'ts" for retrieve training that are fairly constant. These are essential to build the foundation for a well conditioned bird dog that consistently retrieves to your expectations.

Basic Do's & Don'ts

1. When the pup gets to the point it is no longer returning to you with an object, put a check cord on the pup so they are forced to return to you.
2. Praise your pup when he returns to you and while he is still holding the object in his mouth. Do not remove the object immediately, let him hold it and praise him.
3. Watch the corrections you give when retrieving. Higher drive pups can be corrected more while with a lower desire retrieving pup you may need to do less correcting.
4. Start by throwing retrieves in confined areas. This helps limit distractions and encourages direct returns. A hallway works great for doing this.
5. Avoid training sessions being too long. Keep them fun and make them successful.
6. Introduce your pup to birds and feathers as young as possible. Getting a puppy into water at a young age is always a great idea as well.

Right From The Start
If possible, it is much better to avoid undesirable behavior from the start since it is much easier to learn proper behavior when you don't have to unlearn improper behavior first. From a very early age, it is essential to consistently reinforce the behavior you want. If the pup is picking things up and carrying them, use encouragement to get him to bring it to you. When he brings it to you, praise him and let him enjoy the prize with you. The most important thing is to start your pup off right by making it fun to retrieve the right way every time.

To learn more about Todd’s training methods, visit www.arrowheadkennels.net.