Pups first hunts, check cord or no?

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frantzracing0

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This is my first year training my own bird dog (EP, Elhew blood) and we have been working in the field a few times a week. He knows how to find birds, and point them while on the cord. Most of the time, it takes no pressure from me to get him to lock up. When we hit the fields come october, should I run him with his cord or not? Or should I let him learn from his mistakes while off the cord
 
I would do a couple days in the field without it and see if you like it better. When I would hunt with the check cord it would get tangled and slow the dog down. Much better without it
 
In the end your decision, but if you run him w/ the cord, make sure you don't have a knot in the end and that you have a tracking device. Way back in the day a friend had a pointer pup get on a deer while running with a check cord, we were lucky to find him 1 1/2 days later, tangled up in the briars.
 
I've tried a check cord in the field and yes it does get tangled in the brush/weeds and around the dog's legs. A stiff pole arrangement on top of the dog's back is the answer. Have not located one, but it might work - keeps the cord high, out of the way.

A friend of mine had his dog drag a heavy block around to slow him...obviously not well trained...
 
Use the check cord. Whenever you give a pup command you need to be able to enforce that command. Off the cord you cannot always do that.
 
I used the check cord when hunting/training, at a hunting preserve, with chuckers. Short grass and good control of the dog, during his formative years.

How far do you want the dog to range? This will generally dictate how much and under what conditions you use a cord.

Good luck.
 
delahunter834 said:
If he needs check cord he may not be ready to hunt.
Click to expand...

I agree. If properly trained you should be able to control him without the check cord. If you need to re-enforce a command in the field then you need to e-collar condition him and replace the check cord with an e-collar.
 
Reading OP, it sounds to me as if he is in the process of training pup, guessing it is somewhere around 4-6 months old, a ways from being a finished bird dog. Every pup I have hunted, the first time out, it is on a check cord, too many variables on first hunt. I have always had a person or two I trusted along on the hunt, I just walk the fields with the pup and check cord, my full concentration is on pup, which for his first hunt it should be, I do not want to be fumbling around looking for my control, with a check cord, you have quick action when necessary.
 
I guess that we don't really know the age of the dog. But regardless of age I have never had a check cord on a dog in the field. And I've taken 4 month old dogs on their first hunt. By that age I have taught and stressed to them basic obedience so I can control them in the field. I guess if you are trying to keep the dog steady on point and maybe steady to the flush then a check cord could be handy. But on young pups being rock steady at that age isn't that important. Buy hey, if you want to use a check cord and that's what you are comfortable with then by all means do it. More than one way to skin a cat!! :)
 
I agree. I will continue to use check cords with young dogs, especially dogs just weeks old, the thought of putting a shock collar on a 4 month old pup in the field is not for me. I would be careful about suggesting that to folks on a forum. I have seen the damage they can do on a first hand bases. A dog should know what you expect before you even put a collar on them. Collars in my opinion are for dogs that know what you expect, at 4 months old that is expecting a lot.
 
This is Mia, seven months old in the foto, and her first real hunt ...

View attachment 7397

I would never use a check cord in the field ... by six months you should have in place a close and sound connection with the pup and the basic commands such as recall, sit, heel and so on ... these commands in the field are paramount and the pup should be very familiar with what they mean ...if you have the pup on a check cord in the field you are not going to be able to evaluate their quartering, their responses to their future hunting grounds, their overall obedience in their work place, so to speak ... if you have a close connection and whistle you should have little fear of the dog bogging off ... and if the pup gets out too far for your liking simply blow your recall whistle ... which should be by that age and earlier, well familiar ...
 
"recall in the field"....constant reinforcement is usually required, at least with this writer's dog. Strong prey drive and a desire to hunt by himself; makes for continual supervision in the field.

I'm not a fan of using the whistle when hunting. So, how to control the dog?

Seems my dog and I are always struggling with this question...
 
Thank you for your response, jonnyB ... I sincerely believe that if the dog is 'hunting for himself' then he has a poor, or little connection with his owner ... and has not been taught 'manners' ... prey drive is one thing, but that lack of ears is another thing!!! As we all know, the joy of hunting over a dog is that you are a 'team' ... sure there are some lines that can be a little pig-headed as we say here, and I will forgive my pup the odd indiscretion, but only, and only if any response (to the whistle) is adhered ... the whistle is rarely used but I expect instant response ...

We seem to use whistles here and which are also permitted in our wild game and pigeon trials (the birds are in traps)... I know a guy who uses the silent whistle ... very effective ... another facet that springs to my mind is how some people do not reward their dogs enough(to my mind) when they retrieve the bird back to hand ... there should be huge fuss for a pup when they do so ... he has to know that action is precisely what he needs to be doing and praised for it ... big time, as in get down on one knee and fuss ...
 
I've been training shorthairs,setters and pointers since the sixties ( many of them) and i would never run a pointer in the field with a check cord. Bond with the pup so it wants to be with you, teach it to come when called in your yard, then turn it loose in the field and let the pup learn.

check cords are for controlled situations yard training not hunting

have a good quality collar with your name and phone number on it and teach the dog to come to a verbal and a whistle

your voice won't work on the prairie in the wind you will need a good whistle which virtually every experienced bird dog man use.
 
Check cords in the field are really no big deal, you just have to be smart on where to use them, I have NEVER had trouble finding a place in the northern plains, where I have been born and raised. I have to smile at post that state opinion as fact.
 
the question OP asked was when he hunts in October should his dog have a check cord on it

lol any young EP that is hunting close enough to use a check cord isn't worth feeding
 
The original question in this thread didn't specify what kind of hunting. Will he be walking the vast grass fields in Kansas or tree lines in SD?

The type of cover hunted could dictate how much "control" you might want, hence a check cord or e collar.

I agree with a previous message: check cord can be useful in early training, in short grass and a hassle during the course of a hunt. It would be impossible to use while hunting ruffed grouse or other thick tangled cover...
 
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