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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Training the Basics
Repetition is the key ingredient at this early stage Keep it simple. That’s my philosophy when it comes to teaching a dog the basics. The most important aspect of training a dog, whether a pup or 1-or-2-year-old, is putting them through lessons of repetition and gradually making the task more difficult. The problem most beginners […]
A Car Kennel As A Training Tool
What’s the first training tool an owner should get for a new puppy or dog? A canvas dummy? A dummy launcher? A check chord? A portable kennel should be the first order of business for a new dog owner. No matter what you call them—a dog crate, a dog carrier or portable kennel—or which style […]
Fetch It Up
‘Fetch’ and ‘back’ commands continue development of a puppy Just because a dog will retrieve a canvas dummy that’s thrown in the back yard doesn’t guarantee the same dog will be able to perform up to it owner’s expectations in the field come hunting season. The trouble with throwing canvas dummies is that the dog gets […]
Puppies: The First 12 Weeks
The early stages of a puppy’s development will have a lasting impact—so a breeder’s litter management is crucial. A new puppy is a lot like a new baby. Both are very impressionable, and generally what they see and hear in the early stages of their development will have a lasting effect. That’s why it’s important […]