In my business office I have various items on display. A couple of bird mounts, framed art prints, a hunting and fishing library, photographs. Yet, there is one item that everyone always draws to and states, “boy, I wish I had kept my duck stamps, are they worth anything?” As illustrated, I have mounted all […]
Last Hunts
Inevitably, the day will come when a hunter will have to put down his aging dog. A gun dog’s life span is a short one—typically 10 to 14 years—compared with a house dog, which may live from 14 to 18 years. The difference is that a gun dog has the wear and tear of field […]
Common Courtesy In The Field
Tips on how dogs (and you) should behave in the field Probably one of the most important things a gun dog owner can do before a hunting trip is to discuss his or her dog approach and field manners with their potential partners. Nothing can ruin a hunting trip faster than a companion who doesn’t […]
Gun Dogs and Traps
Traps are few and far between but here’s some advice just in case. Most gun dog owners wait with anticipation for fall. It’s a time when they hopefully will get to see the fruits of months of training—good field work by their dogs. But they’re not the only outdoor types who live for this time of year. […]
Late Season Hunting
December is a time of honest assessment—and some of the best hunting of the year It’s transition time for most gun dog owners. They’ve had several months of upland or waterfowl field trips, but now switch gears and go big game hunting. For those owners, it’s also a good time of the year to reflect and […]
Treating An Injured Dog
Try these tips out when your buddy gets into trouble People usually don’t like to think about unpleasant things, such as illness or injury. It’s just their nature. But in the case of a sick or injured dog, it’s better to have a game plan before the first hunting trip of the season than to suffer […]
High Quality Dog Food
Now that the guns are cleaned and put away and the hunting season is over, it’s time to give the dogs a rest. This time of year, it’s nice to heal them up from bruises, the scars, you name it. But just because the field trips are done for another eight months, it doesn’t mean […]
Hunting for an Urban Training Area
A gravel road, industrial park, vacant subdivision, etc. For a dog owner who lives in the country, the possibilities for training sites are endless. There are the short and long grasses located on Conservation Reserve Program land. Or the cattail sloughs. Or the small creeks. Or the fence lines. And many more areas too numerous to name. It’s enough to make city folks drool—just like […]
Land/Water Work
The dos and don’t of an important stage in any dog’s training. You’ve probably heard this story before: “He won’t retrieve on land, but he does it all the time if it’s in the water.” Hunting dog owners who think that’s the way a good water dog should act might be in for a rude awakening. It’s a […]
Teaching Obedience in the Field
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, the old saying goes. But, that was probably written by a lazy old dog or a lazy owner. An older dog may have a lot of bad habits that you need to correct, but they’re still trainable. Ideally, we like to start the pup out young, when they’re 12 weeks and older. When you […]
Laying the Groundwork for a Pro Training
There’s work to be done before you bring your dog to school There is no quick fix to dog training. It takes a lot of time. Repetition is the key. That’s why today, more than ever, people are turning to professional trainers to teach their hunting dogs the fundamentals. These days, our lives have gotten so complicated, most […]
The Fundamentals
It all starts with sit, stay, heel, and come commands With the grouse season just around the corner, the most important thing a trainer should remember before turning to real birds is that the dog must know the basics—sit, stay, heel, come. The dog has to have fundamentals down, I can’t emphasize that enough. They have […]