 GUN DOG TIP #1: Training Plan (Train the Way You Hunt) Training starts from day one as a puppy
Every interaction with your dog is a training situation.
Socialize your dog to build confidence.
Use available books and videos. Plenty to choose from
Know what you want before you start structured training
Master the basic commands * Introduce Birds * Introduce Gunfire * Reinforce known commands
Always leave 'em wanting more
Most folks train one way, hunt another. Simulate hunting experience as much as possible when training.
Need to expose dog to everything he's going to see, hear, and smell when you're duck hunting: Duck blind, dog stands, multiple people, decoys, duck calls, shotguns, birds flying in, the boat, a dog box, other dogs, 4-wheelers, trucks, freshly killed birds ...
EXAMPLE: if want your dog to sit quietly in the duck blind for 3 hours, you need to train your dog to do that. Use the PLACE command. Teach him to be patient for longer and longer periods of time
EXAMPLE: Takes puppies out to watch flocks of birds.
It's helpful to track your progress along the way in a simple notebook. I use a training journal with the dog's name, dates, and their performance -- mainly so I can track progress.
TAKEAWAY: Save a lot of time and aggravation by starting with very simple training plan. AND Train the way you hunt so on opening day, your dog is confident and ready for anything.
Train the Way you Hunt TRANSCRIPT
Drew: Hi, I’m Drew Keeth with Honey Brake. I’m here today with Steve Snell from Gun Dog Supply and Joe Perron from Champion Retrievers.
Steve is a new member of the Honey Brake Experience Team. We’d like to welcome him in here for this series of this season. Steve is from Gun Dog Supply out of Starkville, Mississippi. They have an unlimited supply of products for dogs. Check them out on the website.
Today’s we’re going to talk about a training plan for your dog, when to start and how to start. Joe, you want to elaborate on that?
Joe: What I like to do, Drew, is when we get them home at 49 days, is I like to get a little paint roller and throw it for them. All the gotta do is just go chase it. They don’t have to bring it back to you.
Put them on a lead and walk them on a lead, teach them how to talk. They don’t have to walk at heel or anything, but just stay around where you are and get used to it.
And then teach them to sit. And the way I teach them to sit is I’ll pick up on the lead and I’ll push their hiney down, and I’ll say sit at the same time. Get ‘em, let them walk around a little bit, repeat that.
And just keep repeating it. In a few days he’ll be sitting whenever you tell him.
Steve: Drew, most people train one way and they hunt another. It’s really important to incorporate everything that your dog is going to see in a hunting situation into your training.
The first time a dog is in a duck blind, you don’t want it to be the first time he sees decoys, first time he sees a four wheeler, the first time he’s got three or four people around him firing shotguns.
And so, you’ve got to incorporate all these things into the training to have a dog that’s ready to go.
We’ve got all sorts of books and DVDs that can take you from a puppy all the way up to a fully trained retriever.
Drew: The one thing we did with Honey this year, we got her around Christmastime and started her out taking her to the duck shed every morning and meeting everybody before daylight, and running around, and four wheelers, and trucks, and boats, and all that good stuff.
Socialization, to me, is very, very key to successfully having a hunting retriever.
This is your Honey Brake gun dog tip of the week. |
