Question

walk213

walk213

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I have a 1 year old pointing lab. We trained very hard throughout 2016. She is doing very well this season (highlights on www.huntfishgolfwork.com). That said, I want her to hunt cover I cannot access. Sometimes she does not know to look in the thick stuff. Any thoughts on how to get her into the knarly stuff?
 
I've found sometimes you have to get into it yourself...lead the way. Once they find birds in the tough stuff they will have no problem diving into it in the future.
 
I agree with Jon, you gotta get in there with them at first. Eventually they figure it out if they have the drive to find birds. Some dogs don't have the determination and then you will always be in there to get them in with you. Also you could try going to some thicker cover and throwing a dummy or a dead bird in there. Start with close retrieves where they don't have to go far. Then expand it when they get the idea that birds are in the cover. One other thing I do when they are puppies is play the fetch game down the hall of my house with obstacles in their way. Pillows, stuff to jump over and around, distractions all help to build that drive of pushing through.
 
Once she learns that's where the birds live, she'll hunt that cover with little coercion. Usually a simple "get in" and a cast. My dog is 4 now and she'll plunge into thorny, nasty cover without being prompted. Usually she heads right for it.

If you hunt with a partner, it's helpful to walk the opposite sides of nasty cover and call the dog back and forth. But only if she's getting plenty of bird contacts in the cover. If you preserve hunt, have them plant birds in the foulest cover they have and try this method with a partner.

It doesn't take long, especially for a lab, to figure out what bird cover looks like, and a birds dog will want in.

Of course, since its a pointing lab, you likely have to wade in anyway to flush the birds.
 
Agree with all the above. Once my springer Buzz realized roosters love cattails & other nasty stuff, he couldn't get enough of them. Once he sees something that looks like good cover, he'll sprint for it unless I make him heel. That said, my old dog Walt sometimes liked to make me hunt the same stuff I expected him to hunt. He definitely knew where the birds were & loved hunting any cover that held them. I honestly think it was an "if I have to do it, so do you" attitude.
 
You may very well have to get into the cover you want your dog to hunt. Try to separate hunting from training. Right now you have a puppy that needs your guidance. If you get to hung up on hunting, the dog will suffer. At 1 year old, they are just getting finished with basics so it is time for bird work long before going to the field. Throw marks in heavy cover once you established basic marking skills. Plant live pigeons in light cover at first, then progressing to heaving cover. Teach the dog that birds like to hang in nasty cover. If you have not done this for several months in training you can't just expect the dog to do it naturally. Teach, Teach, Teach then Hunt, Hunt, Hunt. This is why I don't like hunting puppies.
 
I play a game with my young dogs, I call it "dead bird". As soon as I have a semi reliable retrieve (pre FF) I take the dog to a 1 acre piece of grass that I mow fairly short except for a half dozen clumps of tall grass. They range in size from a 2 square feet to about 25 square feet. When the dog is just starting out I will place a frozen pigeon in the middle of the small clumps or at the edge of the larger clumps. I will take the dog and walk him through the field into the wind just letting him hunt I don't have any plans or preconceived expectations of the dog I just let him free range and stumble on to the birds. I will use body English to help guide the dog in the general direction of a bird or get downwind of it just to ensure success. After just a couple sessions you'll let the dog out of his kennel and he will charge out to every Clump grass looking for a bird. As he gets stronger I will start putting the bird into the middle of the larger clumps and kind of burying it increasing the difficulty slowly. Early on it is very important that every clump of grass has a bird in it, as the dog gets stronger and is very competent at finding them in every clump of grass you you start putting them in random Clumps of grass. This will build a gambling habit so to speak in dog where he doesn't necessarily always get rewarded but he gets rewarded more often than not. Pretty soon you will have a dog little charge out in search out every clump of grass just on that random reward of finding a bird. I should add that as I walk into the field with the dog I will say dead bird numerous times to get them all jacked up and excited so I guess I do put a command to this training segment. This is a good drill to do with any dog at any age before hunting season just to refresh what they already kind of know.
 
Gatzby's message deals with "dead birds" not necessarily encouraging a dog to hunt heavy cover for live ones.

I only use the "dead bird" message to my dog, only when a bird is down - cripple or dead.

My Golden, now 6, has a very strong prey drive and loves the cattails. He knows from experience that this cover produces birds and will head for them, if in view.


When hunting a road ditch, get the dog in the ditch with you, not on the road! Soon they get the idea that you have some idea as to where the birds might be. Planting live birds in the ditch or in cattails can be very effective in imprinting the dog...
 
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jonnyB said:
Gatzby's message deals with "dead birds" not necessarily encouraging a dog to hunt heavy cover for live ones.

I only use the "dead bird" message to my dog, only when a bird is down - cripple or dead.

My Golden, now 6, has a very strong prey drive and loves the cattails. He knows from experience that this cover produces birds and will head for them, if in view.


When hunting a road ditch, get the dog in the ditch with you, not on the road! Soon they get the idea that you have some idea as to where the birds might be. Planting live birds in the ditch or in cattails can be very effective in imprinting the dog...
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I think you've missed the point of my training drill. The idea is to teach the dog that he will find birds in cover. You can use whatever Command you want you could say hunt them up go get them. And I guarantee if a dog learns that he will find birds and cover and there's a live bird in there he's very likely to flush it and not ignore it to continue looking for a frozen Pigeon. I will add however that there is no replacement for live birds but for an every day training drill they're not practical due to cost and the difficulty of keeping and working with live birds. I typically train 3 to 5 days a week and generally speaking shoot alive flyer for the dogs on Friday or Saturday I could not afford to shoot flyers for them in every training session
 
walk213 said:
I have a 1 year old pointing lab. We trained very hard throughout 2016. She is doing very well this season (highlights on www.huntfishgolfwork.com). That said, I want her to hunt cover I cannot access. Sometimes she does not know to look in the thick stuff. Any thoughts on how to get her into the knarly stuff?
Click to expand...

Is it possible that the thick stuff you wanted her to go in to did not have any birds and was therefore not of interest? I also like JonnyB's recommendation to lead the way in at first.
 
Thank you both. I will absolutely plant some live birds in the thick stuff at the local game farm.

I could not navigate the plum thickets. The only open area is at 3 feet, not 6 feet.

I will work on it this winter/spring.

Again, thank you.
 
Hey Ross,
Once I'm walking well again I'll be willing to help you with that. We never did get a chance to get Brady and Echo out for some common training.
Tom
 
PairOfLabs said:
Hey Ross,
Once I'm walking well again I'll be willing to help you with that. We never did get a chance to get Brady and Echo out for some common training.
Tom
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Thanks Tom. This last trip, she started to figure out the birds lay in the nasty stuff. I am going to work on placing pen raised birds in cover during training. I will walk this cover with her at first. Use the "look in here" command.

We will get out there soon.
 
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