When introducing young pups to birds for the first time I like to use a clipped wing pigeon. This is done by plucking or cutting the main 4-5 flight feathers on one wing. The bird will still be able to lift off and flutter, but not fly away. Some puppies will point the bird, some will charge right in while still others will stalk it slowly like JJ in the picture to the left. I really want to see their prey drive and how much they want to get that bird. It is amazing how differently each pup in a litter reacts to the same situation. I use this drill as a yardstick to measure where I need to start their bird dog training. Generally, bolder dog can move along at a faster clip and progress a little more quickly. The timid or reserved pup will take a little more time as you build her confidence and keep things lighter.

At some point I like them to actually catch the bird and mouth it a little. This is a great time to test the pups retrieving instincts. All puppies love to pick things up, its the getting them to bring it to you that is the tricky part. Some pups will bring a bird right to you without much coaxing, while others will run away to enjoy their bird. Either way be sure to pet them up real good before you take the bird away.

Stuff we should be doing right now and probably aren’t.
By Steve Smith

It’s almost March, which means in parts of the country it’s, we hope, turning toward spring. Other parts, those far north or buried in snow — usually the same thing, but not this year — there’s still a good portion of winter left. In any event or anyplace, the hunting season is a long way off. But there are things we should be doing and attending to that will make the final preparations for opening day easier.

Keeping/getting the dog in shape. In most of the country, spring is a cool time of year. Dogs don’t overheat like they can in the summer, so you can work them longer, and where there’s a will…. In Michigan, running a dog in the winter, especially a pointer, just isn’t in the cards: The snow’s too deep, and I personally don’t think it’s good on connective tissue to have a dog drag the back legs against the resistance of deep snow in a full-out run.

I found a place near home that works well enough — it’s a parking lot for snowmobilers near a groomed trail. The county or somebody plows it, and I go after work — my dogs meet me at the door and insist that we go work out. It isn’t like Sam can get much exercise just cruising the lot, so I toss bumpers for her (and my Lab) to retrieve. I toss them like 40 or 50 yards, and each dog gets a couple dozen fetches. Do the math: That’s over a half-mile of flat-out running. I know; that’s not far, but in the middle of the winter, it’s better than nothing, which is what I have done in past years. Sam looks good and feels good. If you haven’t worked out the dog since the end of the season, don’t wait until August to start. The days are getting longer. It won’t hurt you to get a little exercise, too.

Check out your gear and guns. If anything needs work, repair, replacement, or you wished you had one last season and didn’t, now’s the time. The gunsmith is going to only get busier and more backlogged the later it gets. If it’s something you need or want, you can sometimes get good deals on big items if you negotiate a little because it’s usually a long way between sales of fall stuff in the spring. I need a new framework for the blind on the duck boat; the one I want is on sale now, but I’ll bet it won’t be in September. I should buy it soon.

Need a new e-collar or maybe you’re going to a GPS or telemetry tracker of some sort and A Close Relative By Marriage would rather use the cash for hallway carpeting? Start saving now so you can pick it up mid-summer, in time to learn how to use it. Or buy it and get the grief out of the way so that when you pull it out next fall, it’ll be old news. That’s what I do. It isn’t the old, “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” because you aren’t going to get either. It’s just the way it is.

You should also give some thought to shooting some clays on a more or less regular basis, even fewer than a half-dozen afternoons spread over from now to the opener will keep you relatively sharp. One thing to be aware of is, as we get older, we lose our eye faster if we don’t shoot, and we get it back slower when we start. I was in Georgia hunting quail in mid-February — I got to hunt with Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, who is a crack shot — and I hadn’t pulled a trigger since Thanksgiving, and for the first time in my shooting career, I could see where the layoff really hurt. I only hunted two days, and I didn’t start shooting like I know I can (which, admittedly, isn’t all that great) until the afternoon of the second day; until then, I got cheerfully outshot by a politician.

By Steve Smith (Editor)
The Pointing Dog Journal
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These past few months have been a little bit sad for me since my best dog training buddy Chris Colt took a job in a neighboring state and moved. Chris runs Cove Mountain Kennels and trains hunting dogs for others and is good at what he does. I was always glad to plant birds for him or do whatever I could to be helpful. I learned a lot from being around him and watching him work with pointing dogs. He is really good at reading dogs and bringing them along at their own pace. Training pointing dogs can be a lot of fun, sometimes even more fun than hunting behind them. But, without a good training partner it can get a little ominous and not quite so fulfilling. I’ve got a couple of new brittany pups to work with this spring and am on the prowl for a couple of new dog training partners in central Utah. However, If you ever get up to Idaho and need your gun dog trained or tuned up for fall, give Chris a call. You won’t be disappointed.

This past week I was able to attend the 2010 American Brittany Club Western Futurity competition in Sonoita, AZ. There is a field portion and a show competition to evaluate the litters from 2008 brittany breedings. While some dogs were owner handled and trained, many folks prefer to pay someone to handle and show their brittany dogs in competitions. These professional trainers/handlers are good at what they do and have all the gear and knowledge to do it right. I was able to meet a few of these pro trainers and see what they were like in person. What a fun trip it turned out to be.

Ben Garcia owns and runs Hideaway Kennels in Colorado and is a respected handler and gun dog training expert. It was great to meet him and ask him about some ideas I have had on putting on a skill level based training seminar with 2 or 3 dog trainers. Can’t wait to pick his brain some more and develop a curriculum for a 3 day seminar to be held in Utah.

One of my hero’s in the dog training world is California based pro trainer Paul Doiron. He has handled and trained an astonishing number of field champion brittany dogs. You couldn’t go wrong sending your brittany to Paul for a few months of training.

Another California brittany man is Tom White who ended up winning quite a haul in the Amateur All Age stakes in Sonoita, AZ. He and his partner in crime Margaret Hostmeyer are know for their tireless efforts in their local brittany club as well as for their brilliant brittanies.

Last but not least is my good friend David Downing of Blueridge Brittany Kennels in Texas. He is one of the few trainers that is actively paricipating in both show and field competitions handling and finishing several dual champions. Dave introduced me to Hank Hartnek of Sunquest Brittanies in Arizona. Hank was in charge of securing the field trial grounds and greasing the wheels for future use of the property.

A few months ago I sold my Polaris Ranger and have been looking around for a new dog training/hunting outfit. My neighbor helped me find this little Ford Ranger V6 4X4 at auction that had rear-end body damage. We got a good deal on it (2004 with 74,000 miles) and popped the bed off. After a bit of searching we found and ordered this aluminum flatbed from a company called Aluma in Iowa. It was hard to find a flatbed for a small truck, but I wanted to be able to have access to all sides for loading and unloading dogs and gear. I am waiting on a custom dog box from Diamond Deluxe to finish the truck. I enjoyed the Polaris but was disappointed with the gas mileage and buying new front tires all the time from driving on paved roads. I thought a light truck with a flat bed would be just right. So far, I love it. Thanks to my neighbor from JRS Auto Repair for helping me find the truck at auction and mounting the flatbed for me.

Mowgli has been working with Chris Colt at Cove Mountain Kennels on some basic obedience and introduction to birds. He is a unique dog in that he is so full of energy it has been hard to get him settled down enough to learn. He is getting better at his birdwork and just started really standing his birds this past week or two. We really struggled with his “sitting” problem where he would sit anytime he was under pressure. But, Chris has pretty much brought him through that using Dave Walker’s training method of stand up – stand still.

Chris has recommended getting him out on some wild chukar next month where he can really stretch his legs and never catch a bird. That is the one drawback to dog training with pigeons. Sometimes they don’t flush very well at all and the dogs learn that they can jump in and catch them. Our quail are looking good for this year and we are anxious to set up or recall pen for the fall training season. The picture below is Mowgli’s first real point this morning, I was late on the snapshot but he initially had his front leg up and his tail high.

After a few months of loafing and enjoying the lazy days of summer the dogs tend to lose some muscle and get pudgy like their owner. With the fall pheasant hunting season only 2 months away it is time for our daily runs to get back on track. With temperatures reaching into the high 90′s during the day we usually go for our run first thing in the morning when it is still cool out. The dogs are a little soft so it will take a couple weeks to get back in shape and running hard.

Yesterday we picked up this white and liver brittany dog named Buster. He is a nice sized 4-year-old male out of Dave Walkers brittany kennels. Buster’s sire is FC Ricoche-T or “Rico” and his dam is Sweet Dreams who is a Beans Blaze bred female by DC Chick’s Blaze’N Sawtooth Sam JH. We are excited to add Buster to our brittany kennels and look forward to shooting a lot of pheasants for him this fall at the pheasant hunting preserve.

This week we shot a pigeon over Mowgli and he did very well. I was using my single shot 20 gauge and I was about 20 feet out shooting away from the dog. Luckily, I actually hit the bird (I usually miss). Mowgli went right to the downed bird and brought it back in a round about manner. We will likely shoot a couple more birds for him before we go into getting him to hold his points. I think the goal with a young pup is to make sure they are excited about birds and have no sensitivity to gun fire.

Chris Colt of Cove Mountain Kennels is helping me get Annie steady to wing and shot. She caught a few birds and that set us back some. She believes she can catch any bird that she points and we are trying to break her of that. When she sets up on a point, she gets stimulation if she even lifts a leg. It is challenging to learn the body language and suttle cues.

What do you do with your hunting dog when the hunting season ends? Join the club! I’m talking about clubs where you can compete in AKC hunt tests, field trials and fun hunts. I wasn’t able to be there Saturday but Annie passed her first leg of the AKC title “Junior Hunter”. My good friend Chris Colt handled Annie in her first AKC hunt test and she did great. It takes 4 passing runs before she obtains the official JH title behind her name. The spring hunt test was hosted by the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Utah (GSPCU) of which I am one of the newest members.

Next month we will be attending a National Shoot To Retrieve Association (NSTRA) field trial to see how that particular competition is run. I just received my NSTRA membership packet and rule book in the mail today. I look forward to competing with Annie in these competitions and especially look forward to making some new friends and seeing some talented dogs. Joining a local hunting dog club is a great way to meet new people and learn how to train dogs. Club members are always willing to offer advice and even help you in training your hunting dog. Many clubs meet monthly and often host just for fun hunts or training days as well as formal gun dog competitions.

So get off the couch and join a local bird dog club or gun dog association and get your dog tuned up for next years hunting season. Here are a couple of hunting dog clubs to look into:

AKC Hunt Tests for Pointing Dog Breeds

National Shoot To Retrieve Association (NSTRA)

North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA)

The Versatile Hunting Dog Federation (VHDF)

American Field Trial Clubs of America (AFTCA)

When learning to train a hunting dog your’e bound to make a few mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes can be easily fixed while others are costly and have a ripple effect. Jake was one of my first hunting dogs and we brought him home at 7 1/2 weeks old. He was very well socialized and had good bird and gun introduction early on. Jake had a great nose and was pointing birds solid at 6 months. When he was just about a year old I shot my first pheasant over him and things were going extremely well. I was proud of Jake and invited a few friends to come see his pointing dog skills.

Looking back it is easy for me to see that I made a mistake, but at the time I was baffled. It is a risky proposition to take a young dog hunting with 3-4 hunters and shoot 20 or so pheasants. I’m pretty sure he was not shot or peppered but I think there were just too many guns going off each time a bird was flushed. He looked great and held his points well for the first bird or two and then he started bumping birds. By the end of the hunt he was blinking birds and cowering at every gunshot. At the time I thought he just had a bad day and was making young dog mistakes. But, it was a lot worse than that.

The next time I took him out alone and planted a couple of birds, he took one look at the shotgun and headed back to the ATV before a shot was even fired. He was still interested in birds and I tried a hundred ways to coax him through it, but he was just plain done hunting. We struggled with it for a while because he was our best behaved dog and the kids liked him a lot. But, I didn’t see the point in keeping him around knowing that he would be left in the kennel every time we went out hunting with the other dogs. Jake deserved better.

Now I know there are some real pros out there that could have pulled Jake through it. But, over a year or so of trying I had no success and I was ready to move on. I ended up contacting a shorthair rescue in Arizona that was able to find Jake a happy home with an active family. We were sad to see him go but we knew he would be better of as a beloved pet than the lone dog left in the kennel. I learned some important lessons while raising and training Jake those three years. Most importantly that you can’t get in hurry with dog training. If your dog is struggling or showing signs of noise sensitivity – slow down, back up a step or even start again from the beginning. It’s never good to take a young dog hunting with a big crowd. I think one gun is plenty for the first year or so of real hunting. I’d be curious to hear of others experiences with gun shy dogs.