The very first field trials were developed to see how dogs would stack up against each other in realistic hunting situations. There are many competitions today created for the hunting dog breeds from agility to akc hunt tests, from conformation shows to horseback field trials. The whole concept exists so you can see how your dog performs based on others. Whether comparing bird dogs to others in their own breed or competing against several pointing breeds, the events can be extremely helpful. It gives you a measuring stick for gauging your training and your dogs natural instincts.
I am a father helping to raise seven children with my wife, so leaving for days at a time to field trial across the midwest is not really an option. But, I have found something that has proven to be almost as valuable. I get together every week with a few guys who each have several bird dogs. These are usually half day training sessions or hunts where we can run anywhere from 12-20 dogs through a quail field or hunt chukar or pheasant. With enough dogs you start to get an idea of where your dogs are in comparison with the others. There are no judges or awards, but we are learning to recognize the better performing dogs and thereby make better selections for breeding or buying.
If your not able to go out and compete with a bird dog club or field trial, get together with some friends and hunt several dogs together. It won’t take long to see who the top performers are. Likely you will be able to identify and focus on some areas of dog training where you can improve. You don’t need 3 horses and six figure outfits to compete in this style. Just get together with others and run some bird dogs on live birds. The more the better. It works nearly as well and you will save a bundle in gas and perhaps even save your marriage. Some bird dog clubs even sponsor fun hunts on a Saturday where ribbons are awarded to the top dogs. Another great way to compete on a smaller scale.
Travis has been packing around a bb gun with me for nearly 2 years. He has been learning about gun safety and handling a gun responsibly. He is getting better each outing and finally today we broke out the 28 gauge shotgun and he got to shoot his first pheasant. I am excited for him to spend time with me outdoors and hope this is the first of many hunting trips together.
Annie training with Chris Colt of Cove Mountain Kennels
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.
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.
One of my favorite things about training dogs is sharing with others, especially young people. I invited a couple of friends the other day to come and watch my dogs work and to be my shooters. My neighbor and avid hunter John C. (left) with his son had a fun time chasing pheasants while I worked with Annie on being more steady on point. My other friend Aaron came up from SG with his son to see the cover and tour the pheasant hunting preserve where I work as a guide. Aaron raises and trains german shorthairs and is the breeder of the dog Ace that I am currently working with.
Chris Colt of cove mountain kennels was out working with his new english pointer “Max”. It was his first time to watch Max working around birds and he was anxious to see where to start the training. Max seemed to have plenty of bird drive and not much problem with guns and noise sensitivity. It was fun to be the bird man for Chris and to watch him work and train the dogs from his kennel. Chris has been looking for a new pointing dog since he lost his wirehair Aika this past year to old age. This new english pointer just might be the ticket. Watch the video of Max’s first pheasant on YouTube.
Ace did well and had a fabulous back with Annie pointing a covey of wild valley quail that live on the property. We are trying to grow the quail population on the pheasant farm as they are a nice addition to the game birds. We use bobwhite quail for training but the valley quail are much more beautiful. I wish I could have got a picture of it but I was proud of Annie and Ace for their solid bird work.
One of the things I have enjoyed the most about trainng my hunting dogs, is making new friends and hunting buddies. Dog people tend to stick together but hunting dog folks are an even tighter group. If you are trying to train a new hunting dog it is essential that you find others to train with and to learn from. Not only from a knowledge sharing or educational level, but also for moral support when things go awry. At times training a hunting dog can be frustrating and many common mistakes can be avoided by training with others.
I had a chance to make a new friend this past month in my little town in Utah. I drove by this house under construction every day on the way to the training grounds. I couldn’t help but notice the guy had a Tri-tronics decal in the back window of his truck. I knew he had to be a hunting dog owner. I stopped by one day and introduced myself, and it turned out he was a hunter and a german shorthair owner. We have been hunting a few times since then and I’m glad to have another hunting buddy to learn from.
If you live in a small town you may be surprised that you are not alone. You can sometimes find fellow hunting dog people online on forums like Gun Dog Forum or Shorthairs.net. I recently discovered an online forum for specifically for hunters and field trialers in my area called Utah Bird Dog Forum. I even found a new vet by stopping and talking to a lady I spotted walking her shorthairs, turned out she worked for a vet up the road. Haven’t been to another vet since.
Over the holidays I was lucky enough to enjoy some pheasant hunting with my two Brothers-in-Law Kyle Simmons and Phil Cherry. Phil is raising a pair of lab pups and is an avid shooter, but this was Kyle’s first time hunting pheasants.
About 20 minutes into the hunt Abby set up on a nice point and held tight. Kyle moved up from the right side to kick the bird out of the cover.
Kyle squared up on the flush and squeezed off a very nice shot. There were feathers flying everywhere and Kyle was all smiles. Abby retrieved the bird to hand and I was very pleased with her performance.
