Wild Bird Training In March

March is a very exciting month for the pointing dog owner.  It’s the month we’ve waited for all winter…the month we celebrate the return of the American woodcock.

Nothing is as important with pointing dog training as wild birds.  And the return of the woodcock gives us a solid dose of wild birds for a good two to three weeks. Every pointing dog owner should take advantage of this opportunity. 

Your author lives in Southern New Hampshire.  Depending upon snow depth, we typically see our first birds toward the end of the first week in March.  If there is total snow cover, it might mean another week.  If there are seeps, with a little grass showing around the seep, you’ll have birds.  Since the birds need some soft ground to find food, you won’t find birds without seeps.

The returning woodcock are on a mission…to get to their homeland, which, for your author’s area, would be New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick or Nova Scotia.  Once arriving in their homeland, they begin to mate.  The continuous flow of migrating birds gives the dog’s fresh scent almost every day.  How much better can it get?

Nature has purposely staggered the migration to ensure survival of the species.  Frequently we’ll have a good flight of birds go through and then suddenly get hit with a March snow storm.  These spring storms produce high mortality for the early arrivals.  Fortunately, Mother Nature ensures survival with more flights coming through.

Let’s get back to locating the birds.  We mentioned above that seeps, or small pools of open water, are necessary.  These areas may not be your typical woodcock cover.  Even in fairly open cover, if there is water, you’ll find birds.  If the woods still has heavy snow cover, you’ll often find birds in a ditch right along a road, between two houses in a heavily developed area, in an industrial park next to a city, in a town park; be creative and always on the lookout for potential rest areas for Mr. Timberdoodle.

There are some simple rules to follow with spring woodcock training.  First, don’t follow-up a flush.  These birds have a great deal of stress in their lives at this particular time and continuous follow-ups are not good for the bird.  Next, pull your dogs out of the woods in early to mid-April.  Let the birds enjoy mating season without dog interference. And, be sure to check with your state fish and game department regarding running game during off-season.  You may need a special license.

Make March your number one training month.  That young dog you have can make great strides in a short amount of time.  Have fun!

Paul Fuller is host of the Bird Dogs Afield TV program.  Paul’s website is www.birddogsafield.com.

What Age to Begin Training

Your author receives training questions via email on a continuous basis.  That’s exciting to me because it demonstrates that dog owners are interested in a better performance from their dog.  The entire hunting dog experience is so much more enjoyable with a well-trained dog.

By far, the most frequent question always relates to “what age” to begin training.  It’s a difficult question to answer without knowing the dog.  The issue is “pressure” and how a pup reacts when under pressure.  Put too much pressure on a young “soft” dog and you could create long-term damage.  Other pups might be hard as nails and able to absorb substantial pressure.  Although the trend is toward younger and younger training, my approach seems to be going in the opposite direction.  I’m becoming more and more old school.

Old school training says that training on birds doesn’t begin seriously until your pup is one year old.  This gives your dog an opportunity to mature and be able to handle the pressure involved with learned behavior.  Learned behavior is the opposite of natural behavior.  For example, it’s natural for a predator to chase their prey.  However, we don’t want our dogs to chase prey.  We want our dog to point and stay on point until they’re released…this is learned behavior.

For the beginner or amateur trainer/dog owner, here are my suggestions for training a young pup.

Enroll in a puppy obedience class.  A good obedience class instructor will not put undue pressure on your pup.  The pup will learn basic obedience and have fun doing it…and you’ll have fun bonding with your pup.  Keep the training going.  If all goes well, enroll in the next obedience class.  As with all training, obedience training is a step- by- step process.  If the pup doesn’t respond well to a step, then start over again until everything clicks.  It’s like building a high-rise tower; without a foundation, you can’t go any further.

There are two commands that are not routinely taught in obedience school that are important to a hunting dog.  They are the “whoa” command and the “kennel” command.  I’m unsure why because both are important to any dog…house pet or advanced hunting dog.  Ask your instructor to work with you on each of these commands.  Both can be taught at six months.

Okay, you’re anxious to see the pup’s reaction to birds.  That’s fine, but don’t force it.  Allow your pup to develop the natural prey drive by chasing song birds, butterflies, etc.  There is no need to introduce your pup to game birds…that comes later.  Put pressure on a pup around game birds and you could be heading for serious trouble.  Don’t be tempted…it’s not worth the negative results.

Besides basic obedience and permitting the prey drive to develop, there are plenty of other training measures that can be taken to make for a better companion.

Early in the pup’s life, introduce the little guy (or gal) to the automobile.  If you’ll travel to your hunting grounds, this is very important.  Another important training step is to allow your pup to tow around a check cord.  Start with just a normal lead and then a longer cord.  When serious training time arrives, your dog will already be accustomed to the check cord.  Introduction to water is important at an early age.  Let them have fun in the water and they’ll learn quickly to swim.

Another under-one-year-of-age exercise is training to the gun.  This is very critical and must be done correctly.  If you have never worked with gun training, you may want to work with a professional trainer.  If you chose to do it yourself, it’s a step-by-step process…the same with all training.  When your pup is chasing a song bird in the yard, begin by banging some pans together.  Make sure your pup is occupied before making any noise.  If all is well, go to a 22 pistol.  Then, at 100 yards, shoot a .410 gauge…then a 20 gauge.  Take this slowly and always make sure your pup is occupied before making noise.

Folks, that’s a guideline for training a puppy.  Always remember that all training is step by step.  There are no short-cuts.  Good luck!

Paul Fuller is host of the Bird Dogs Afield TV program.  Paul’s website is www.birddogsafield.com.

Understanding Natural Ability & Trained Ability

The distinction between natural ability and trained ability is a question I often hear when presenting a seminar.  It’s a good question because each ability is distinctively different and requires different training methods.

Let’s begin with natural ability.  Natural ability is inherited.  That’s why it’s so important to check bloodlines before you buy a puppy.  You need to buy a puppy from a respected breeder who is known to breed dogs for the qualities you require in a hunting dog.  Field champions are born…not made.  Through outdoor exposure to scent, birds, etc., you can help your dog develop his natural abilities…but you can’t teach them. The number one natural ability inherited from a blood line is a nose.  You can spend thousands of dollars on professional training; however, no one can improve a dog’s nose.  I learned this very early in life.  My father and I had both English setters and beagles.  Setters for birds and beagles for rabbits.  An outstanding beagle had a nose often twice as powerful as the average beagle.  The same is true of bird dogs.  

In addition to a dog’s nose, prey drive, handling the scent (stay steady or relocate) and learning to hunt into the wind are all examples of natural ability.  None of these abilities are taught; they are allowed to develop throughout the first year.  And, they can only develop if the pup is exposed to multiple wild bird species, changing scent conditions and changing seasons.

Natural ability is the foundation for a good bird dog…so buy wisely.

So, what then do we call trained ability?  Trained ability is often a behavior that violates natural ability.  Trained ability includes remaining steady to the flush.  Natural prey drive makes a dog want to chase the bird when it flushes.  We don’t want that for a few reasons.  One is for safety of the dog.  Shooting at birds that are flying over a chasing dog results each hunting season in hundreds of dogs taking lead.   It’s sloppy and unsafe hunting.  Another reason is that a chasing dog will frequently flush another bird which will be out of sight or range for the hunter.  There are too many things that can go wrong when a dog chases on the flush.  We correct that by teaching the dog to stay steady during the flush.  That steadiness is a trained ability.

Other trained abilities are some of the obedience commands such as recall, whoa and heal.  No dog has a natural instinct to perform any of these commands.  Compliance with these commands is taught.

There are two abilities which are border line between natural and trained.  The first is the honor , which is backing another dog’s point.  This is a much debated subject.  Some breeders claim that their bloodline is known for natural backing.  I believe that today’s modern bloodlines do have some tendency to honor another dog’s point.  The centuries old training of the versatile breeds to be a one dog show make me feel that they’re the least likely to develop honoring as a natural ability.  I’m sure it might exist in some of the versatile blood lines but it’s not an easy natural ability to develop. 

The second ability which is border line between natural and trained is the retrieve.  I’m referring to pointing dogs and not the retriever breeds.  This is an ability which I feel the versatile breeds, due to centuries of training, might have more “natural” than “trained” in their blood.  I’ve watched amazing retrieving skills, on both land and water, by many of the versatile breeds.  I personally feel that retrieving develops a little harder for the traditional setter and pointer.

That’s an introduction to the difference between natural ability and trained ability.  Buy from good blood lines for your natural ability and work hard with the trained abilities and you’ll have a true “brag dog.”

Paul Fuller is host of the Bird Dogs Afield TV program.  Paul’s website is www.birddogsafield.com.

Guidelines For Training A Pointing Dog

Now that you have a new puppy, what comes next?

The first thing you do is take the puppy to your veterinarian for a puppy check-up. The next step I would recommend is enrolling in a local puppy obedience class.  A puppy obedience class will introduce you as leader of the pack, provide an excellent socialization experience for your pup and provide introductory commands such as stay and come.  It won’t be a complete obedience training experience but will provide a nice head start.

Here is a general list of rules and guidelines for training your pointing dog.  Clip and save these rules and guidelines and review them frequently throughout the entire life of your bird dog.

General Rules & Guidelines for Training A Pointing Dog 

1. All dogs are different.  What might work for one dog, might not work for another.  Get to know and understand your dog.  Is it a little on the timid side?  Is it strong willed…afraid of nothing?  You need to know the personality of your dog.
2. Dogs are not machines.  They may complete a training exercise perfectly and you say:  “Wow, he’s got it now.”  The next time out it’s like starting all over again.  This leads to…
3. Patience, Persistent and Consistency.  Yes, those are three golden words when it comes to pointing dog training.  Don’t lose your cool; don’t become angry.  Your dog will recognize and appreciate your patience.  Training is a series of building blocks.  You start with one very small success and build from there. But don’t be a wimp either...be persistent.  And, be consistent.  Don’t keep changing your training technique or your expectations.  Practicing these three golden words will lead to mutual trust between you and your dog.
4. All obedience training begins in your yard, (or at obedience school) not in the field.  If mistakes are made early in the training schedule either by you or your dog, they should be made in the yard, not in the field.  Early experiences in the field should be positive and not contain a lot of correction.  Early correction is done in the yard.
5. As a pup, praise for a job well done will go much farther than punishing failure.
6. The most important command, without any reservation, for a pointing dog is “whoa”.  This command, if learned properly, will save your dog’s life, will be used for teaching a steady point, will be used for teaching steady to wing and shot and will be used when teaching honoring point.  Teach it at six months and do it well.
7. For the first year, don’t be overly concerned if your dog chases birds.  What you don’t want is the dog catching birds.  This is typically not a problem with wild birds so let the dog chase.
8. Professional trainers always say they would rather get a dog at one year old that has had no training than a dog that has been pressured to learn too early.  A good timeline is  three years to completely finish a dog.  So, there is no rush.
9. E-collar training is used to correct non-compliance for a command already learned and understood; it is never used for teaching a command.  If you don’t understand how to use an e-collar, seek professional advice.  Used incorrectly, it can set back the training process and even ruin a good dog.
10. In the December 2007 edition of Shooting Sportsman, columnist Tom Davis interviewed the famous pointing dog trainer Gary Christensen.  Gary trained one of the greatest bird dogs of all time…Elhew Snakefoot.  Tom quoted Gary as follows:  “The most important thing in dog training is what you don’t do.”  In other words, don’t pressure your dog to develop too early.  If you’ve done your homework and bought a pup from parents with a good performance and hunting background, the natural abilities will develop without a great deal of help from you. It’s the learned abilities such as steady to wing and shot that take a little more work.

 Those are my ten general rules and guidelines for training a pointing dog.

Paul Fuller is host of the Bird Dogs Afield TV program.  Paul’s website is www.birddogsafield.com.

Preventing & Curing Hard Mouth

A dog that retrieves birds must deliver the bird suitable for the dinner table. Crushing or chewing on the bird is unacceptable behavior. This is referred to as “hard mouth”.

Dog breeds that are historically known for retrieving may never have a problem with hard mouth. They may be genetically inclined, over hundreds of years of training and breeding, to deliver the evening meal in edible form. That was their original purpose. Retrievers are an example.

For pointing dogs, the versatile breeds may naturally retrieve more often than the pure pointing breeds such as the English pointer or English setter. The versatile breeds, such as the German Shorthair, Brittany, Viszla, Griffon, etc., were developed by the working class of old Europe to handle all facets of the hunt.  These breeds were truly responsible for delivering the evening meal. Hard mouth was unacceptable then as it is today.

As with all training, it’s important to start your dog correctly, as a puppy, rather than attempting to correct the problem at a later date.

Here are some methods to prevent hard mouth. When your puppy is three to four months, and before any contact with birds, begin putting your fist in the puppy’s mouth. If his teeth are too sharp, then wear a thin leather glove. Do this once a day initially. If the pup tries to bite down on your fist, then force your fist deeper into his mouth.  He’ll let up on the pressure.  Do this drill until there is no biting.

Simultaneous to the “fist in the mouth” drill, you should have your pup in a puppy obedience class. If you’re a beginner at training bird dogs, the structure of a class will help you develop your skills and be better for the pup. Any and all further training will be easier with an obedient dog.

The next step is to do yard drills for retrieving. I use a small dummy for pups. Keep them on their lead and start with short throws…five to ten feet to begin. After they pick up the dummy, pull them back to you immediately.  Don’t allow them to chew on the dummy. After the dummy, use frozen game birds such as quail. Dogs are hesitant to bite down on a frozen bird.

As your puppy grows and you’ve built a good base for preventing hard mouth, be careful not to ruin your training.  One example would be playing tug-of-war. This is a no-no. You’re encouraging hard mouth with this old game. Another mistake made by an inexperienced handler/owner is to jerk a bird from the dog’s mouth. This, to the dog, is a sign of competition and he’ll resist dropping the bird.  

With proper obedience training, after locating a downed bird, your dog will not have time to chew or crush. He’ll come to you immediately with the “here” or “come” command. When he arrives, give him the command to “drop”. You should have a bird ready for the table.

One situation in the field which you’ll need to be cautious about is running two dogs. If you are running two dogs, they should be taught to honor point and then only one dog released for the retrieve. Two dogs fighting over the same bird is a problem. Hard mouth will come fast. Avoid competition among dogs at all times.

If you haven’t done the groundwork to prevent hard mouth from the beginning, how is it cured once developed? There are two cures for serious hard mouth and, if you’re a novice trainer, both require assistance from a professional. The most commonly used method and most successful is to force fetch your dog. Proper force-fetch training will insure a prompt and rapid retrieve with no post-shot damage to the bird. The e-collar can also be used. If done improperly, however, both the force-fetch and e-collar can ruin a dog. Again, seek the assistance of a professional trainer when attempting to cure hard mouth.

Paul Fuller is host of the Bird Dogs Afield TV program.  Paul’s website is www.birddogsafield.com.

Don’t Expect Too Much From Pup

During the past few months, several folks have told me that they’ve purchased a puppy and are preparing their new pup for the upcoming bird season.  What could be more exciting than having a new best friend and hunting companion this fall?  Especially, if you’ve spent hours, days and weeks training the pup.

No matter how much time you’ve spent with your pup, no matter how much training the pup has received either by the owner or a professional trainer, don’t expect too much.  Delmar Smith, the pointing dog training guru of the 1970s, commented in his book, Best Way to Train Your Gun Dog, about new owners of young dogs calling him and crowing that they have a “natural”.  They have a puppy sure to amaze all observers during the upcoming bird season.  

Delmar always chuckled at these proclamations since he knew what often happens with these phenoms…they fall apart under real hunting conditions.  These conditions include wild birds, multiple scent cones, wild flushes, running birds, blowing wind and all the other factors which affect a pointing dog’s performance.  Factors that your pup may not have encountered during training.

There are simply too many variables for your pup to perform consistently at an early age; therefore, don’t expect too much since they are not machines.  Even in the upper echelons of pointing dogs, a champion- level dog will sometimes simply forget about staying steady to the flush; he’ll break and chase as though he’s never received two minutes of training.  Mike Gaddis, in his fine book, Zip Zap, discusses the frustration during witness of dogs breaking during either flush or shot during preparation for the National.  These dogs have seen the finest trainers and training methods known to date.

I’m not aware of any of my dog friends training for the National; however, secretly, we would all like to have a “brag” dog.  A dog that is the envy of our hunting friends.  So your new pup falls apart on opening day; don’t in the least be discouraged.  A puppy being confused and losing focus is a true “natural”.  If you remain patient and consistent with your training methods, the pup will eventually be your “brag” dog.

Here are a few tips to help you and your pup.  First, if your dog is under one year, don’t be upset with your dog breaking point, chasing birds or even bumping birds.  All of these mistakes are normal for a pup and there should be no punishment or scolding.  

Secondly, under no circumstances should you use an e-collar for correcting a puppy for mistakes in the field. Put the e-collar away.  After careful study and yard introduction, you may begin using the e-collar after the pup’s first year in the field.  An e-collar is never a substitute for well thought-out yard training.

Thirdly, don’t carry a gun the first few days of hunting this fall.  Handle your pup rather than hunt over him.  Invite your son, daughter, wife, friend, or whomever, to be the shooter.  You can’t properly handle a pup in the field and carry a gun.  Your pup needs 100% of your attention.

And last, if you have the time, take your dog west to Saskatchewan or Manitoba where you can get 100 flushes per day.  He’ll figure it out in a hurry.

The above are suggestions for right now.  For the long term, simply plan on a continuous training program right through next summer.  You’ll be amazed at the maturity your young dog will demonstrate during his sophomore year of hunting.  Your “brag” dog might be only one year away.

Locating A Good Grouse Covert

How fortunate we are to have the “king of game birds” available in thirty-eight states...and all Canadian Provinces.  Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) provide the ultimate challenge for the pointing dog and upland hunter.  It’s a hunter’s desire to locate good grouse cover, be given a solid point and then rewarded with a straightaway shot after the flush.  

The chances this fall of experiencing the above scenario can be greatly increased with pre-season scouting.  You may have some reliable coverts you visit every year; however, grouse coverts mature and at some point in time are no longer productive.  Pre-season scouting should be performed to add two or three new coverts each year to your inventory.

Grouse are territorial.  They pick a territory according to available habitat.  The habitat must have a year around food supply, good cover and water.  All three ingredients must be present.

I still search for new grouse cover the old fashioned way.  During non-hunting season, I drive the back roads looking for likely grouse habitat.  There are two things I look for initially; (1) a ridge of hardwoods with (2) stands of conifers just below the hardwoods.  If you’re really lucky, you might find hardwood growth in different stages with conifers interspersed.  Working from the top of the ridge down, we start with a hardwood stand such as birch, aspen, or oaks, then stands of conifers, then aspen or birch in the 7-15 year stage and then alders.  Somewhere in this mix we want water.  We could have a nice seep higher up with a trickle down to a small stream.

Let’s examine each habitat ingredient.  Conifers provide much needed cover.  Avian predators have a difficult time penetrating conifer trees plus the conifer provides much needed protection during storms. You won’t find grouse unless there are conifers present.  The hardwoods both above and below the conifers provide winter food; they feed on the catkins and buds of these trees.  As we work down the ridge past the conifer stands and the aspens and birch , but before we come to the alders, we should look for a myriad of food sources.  A couple of trees we don’t often look for but offer outstanding grouse food are the black cherry and the hophornbeam.  Black cherry buds provide more protein and carbs than any of the more recognized budding trees such as the aspen or birch.  The hophornbeam catkin is second only to the black cherry in carbs.  

We mentioned that good grouse cover contains a year round food supply.  Buds and catkins are late season and winter food.  How about summer and early hunting season?  Well, as we navigate down are grouse ridge and approach the bottom, we’re looking for thick and thorny cover.  For grouse, the thicker and thornier, the better.  Near or even mixed- in, we look for low berry producing shrubs.  These will typically be found in damp soil such as a seep or near a small brook.  Due to the wide distribution of grouse, listing wetland indigenous shrubs for your specific area would be difficult.  You may have blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, bunch berries, strawberries, winterberry and on and on.  Study which berries are available in your area and learn to identify them.  Grouse feed heavily on berries until the berries are gone in late fall.

Here’s an important tip.  Grouse are territorial and typically stay within their territory (10-20 acres).  If, however, there is an abundant supply of berries in a certain location, grouse will make a long journey to join the feast.  Don’t ask me how they know about the feast…they just do.  I know a grouse guide in Ontario, Canada, who takes his hunters to wild cranberry bogs.  The bogs are along a river.  When the cranberry crop is good, he’ll often have 50 flushes in 100 yards.  When there are no cranberries, there are no grouse.

Grouse prefer a ridge that gets an early sun and that means facing the east.  If there has been a frost, they’ll hangout under their conifer roost until the sun thaws the frost.  They’ll then start their journey down the ridge.  They’re in no hurry unless there is a berry feast waiting.  A berry feast often results in an all day feeding binge.  If feeding on buds, however, a typical day means wandering down the ridge, finding a nice sunny spot to linger, then moving on to the budding trees for an early afternoon feed. After “budding” as the old-timers call it, they’ll head back to their roosting area.

Of course, an exact pattern cannot be predicted.  Here’s an interesting behavior worthy of discussion.  Many grouse hunters feel you only see grouse on the gravel roads in late afternoon; after they’ve been “budding”.  The opinion is that they only look for gravel for their crop after they’ve eaten.  I can’t subscribe to that.  I’ve seen grouse picking up gravel as early as 9:00 am.  Have they already fed?  I would be surprised.  

The ideal grouse ridge I’ve described above is located in the big woods; however, what about old abandoned apple orchards?  Well, if you have one located on your GPS, congratulations!  Old abandoned apple trees provide grouse ice cream.  I hunt an old abandoned farmyard in Maine that has three apple trees on a woods lot corner.  Abutting the apple trees is a stand of white pine.  Beyond the white pine are aspens.  There is always at least one grouse under or around those apple trees.  Everything they need is within a 50-yard circumference.  

A good friend was hunting Upstate New York last fall.  He discovered an old abandoned apple orchard.  The first apple tree he approached produced a nine- bird flush.  Wouldn’t we all like to have about a dozen of these special areas in our GPS!  

Grouse hunting will be more fun and productive if you’ve conditioned your legs, heart and lungs.  So, with strong legs, heart and lungs, good luck finding those very special coverts that will produce good dog work, plentiful shooting and the finest wild table fare provided by nature.

Paul Fuller is host of Bird Dogs Afield TV.  For more information on Bird Dogs Afield, go to www.birddogsafield.com.