The Problem with Bird Dog Owners

Part I (July/August 2015)

By Tom Huggler, Eastern Encounters Columnist

If you own enough pointing dogs over a long period and are very lucky, one day will come along a partner so talented that you simply switch on the animal’s auto-pilot control and go hunting. Naturally, you will take credit for Wonder Dog’s talents for hunting close, finding game, tracking wounded birds, and retrieving to hand. Because of you, his manners are impeccable, his temperament is even, and his behavior around loud, obnoxious children is unsettlingly calm. Long after Wonder Dog is gone, you may come to realize he was a gift from Providence, having come to you fully trained.

Enjoy this four-legged prodigy while you have him. Put him to stud often or breed her. Pray that he/she will throw a worthy replacement. The passage of time will only burnish and not fade the reputation, and you will measure every subsequent recruit against the Great One that passed on. I have fallen into this trap with at least two setters and a Brittany that followed an exceptional dog. Two of those replacements turned out to be fine hunters for other people, but I was impatient and sold them too early. I learned an important lesson: You can’t replace one dog with another.

How easily we forget that, like people, no two dogs are alike. The maturation process—along with intelligence, talent level, and personality—are as individual as our fingerprints. Remembering that and nothing more, we will give future charges a chance to realize their full potential.

If you’ve raised kids, you know all about making mistakes. It’s a lifelong-learning process, and who among us has degrees in Parenting or Hunting Dog Ownership? So go ahead and mess up; after all, most kids and bird dogs are pretty resilient. But if you want your dog, at least, to be all that it can be, keep these points in mind.

Establish the Bond

It’s a good thing there are no ugly puppies because during the first three months of life, the earlier and more often they are handled by and are around people, the better the canine-human bond will be. Knowing this may help you choose a puppy from a reputable breeder, one who cares about the puppy’s welfare long after you’ve backed down the driveway. Once established, the bond must continue throughout the dog’s life, especially if you plan to kennel him outside. If possible, take him with you everywhere you go; if not possible, give him as much daily attention as time allows.

Nearly all of my hunting dogs have lived outside in kennels connected to a large garage detached from our rural home. It’s far from the highway and we have a large front yard, ideal conditions for letting my setter and Lab run around for a few minutes each morning and evening at watering and feeding time. Besides playtime with me, the exercise helps to keep them in shape. I keep catch-and-retrieve items handy, along with a poop scoop, curry brushes, and toothbrushes to assure more contact. During the day, whenever I step outside to retrieve a UPS delivery, drive off to get the mail, or have other chores to do, I talk to my dogs while checking to see how they are doing. Such rituals help to keep us connected.

Not all bird dog owners are so lucky. I have friends who must board their dogs away from home, thus relying on others for human bonding. Consider coupling training with boarding or, at the very least, choose a boarding kennel that offers dog walking on a daily basis. My FedEx driver carries dog treats, and I encourage her to offer them to my dogs. Thanks to my daughter, who is involved with 4H, our yellow Lab gets agility and obedience training as well as showmanship lessons. There is no such thing as too many warm hands when it comes to people contact. The better the bond, the more confident the dog. A confident dog has the chance to be a kennel star.

Get Obedience Training

Part of the bond, obedience training, can begin at any time. Just keep the sessions short and make them fun when working with puppies. The key is to determine what you want the dog to learn, and then teach it through repetition daily, or as often as possible.

Books and videos show the way, but if you’re new to the game of obedience training, enroll in one of those evening community education classes. For a few bucks you can get hands-on experience, plus the advice of a professional. You may learn things that are not critical for bird hunting (sit and stand, for example) and will likely share a school gymnasium with non-hunting poodle owners. I once quit an obedience class when I determined the instructor was an anti-hunter who wouldn’t allow the use of a simple choke chain in her classroom and insisted that everyone keep a pocketful of treats. So I enrolled my setter in another class.

Such one-on-one workouts with your dog are invaluable. So is the social bonding with people and other dogs that is important to making him a good citizen. Obedience training is a building block to field training. You must make the dog mind, and he needs to get his direction from you.

Get the Bird Work

You made the investment when you bought your bird dog. Now it’s time to ensure the investment will pay off, and that’s where professional training comes in. Most hunting dog owners don’t have the time to find and maintain a steady supply of pigeons or gamebirds for field training. Yes, it’s possible to train a young dog yourself on wild or preserve birds while hunting them—that’s what many of us do—but unless you really know your stuff, your dog will probably function well below his ability. And, if you’re like me, you tend to focus on the hunting and not the training when you’re out there in full season.

When you contract with a pro, you buy his expertise, his birds and his time. The good ones are not cheap, the playing field uneven, which is why you should get current references and choose an experienced, reputable trainer. Just as some dentists and heart surgeons are better than others, bird dog trainers and their abilities vary widely. Techniques and philosophies differ as do the training regimen and length of time required. What to look for?

First, choose a trainer who limits the number of students. Some so-called pros take on too many recruits, including too many “problem dogs” (gunshy or hardmouth animals, for example) that require an unequal amount of time to correct. If possible, contract with your pro of choice in the slack season; don’t wait until a month before opening day of bird hunting.

Second, pick someone who works extensively with live birds and who is not reluctant to shoot some over your dog’s points. How many kills is relative, of course, but be clear as to the added cost (if any) for your dog to be trained to find and retrieve birds killed by the trainer or an assistant. An unconfident shorthair I once owned needed 150 bird kills during three months of professional training. She was an exception.

Third, find a trainer who will give you an honest appraisal of your dog’s abilities before you commit to a full-blown training program. Charlie Linblade, a pro’s pro from Ann Arbor, Michigan, calls every client after two weeks for The Talk. His evaluation not only includes the dog’s ability but considers the owner’s expectations and how long and at what cost the training will entail. The last dog I took to Linblade (the same yellow Lab my daughter is training in 4H), came home after two weeks because she needed surgery for a torn kneecap and—coupled with training fees—the cost was prohibitive.

How long should a dog remain in training? I typically send mine for four to six weeks when they are about a year old. Because they are already obedience-trained, I don’t waste money and the trainer doesn’t waste time. The bond-transfer process from owner to trainer takes about a week. By the end of the second week, ask for a report card. Two to four weeks later, if the dog is finding birds and holding points, I take him home. Training to honor another dog’s points, steady to wing, steady to shot, stop to flush, tracking, and retrieving, of course, can take much longer.

In my opinion, though, any trainer who wants to hold a dog longer than three months better have some solid reasons why. You might be paying for room, board and a 10-minute romp in the field five days per week and not getting the hard-core training you thought you were paying for. Ask before you enroll, check references, and demand to see some progress along the way.

These are a few considerations that can help assure that one day you will own Wonder Dog. Next issue I’ll share more.