Training Tips
Here's how we make the most of each hunt
The Ultimate SportDOG Guide: Choosing the Best E-Collar for Your Dog
by The SportDOG Staff
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to choose the best e-collar for training your dog, ensuring that when the time comes, you’re equipped with a tool that’s up to the task, no matter how tough the conditions.
Avoiding and Dealing with Heat Emergencies
by The SportDOG Staff
Take some time to understand the many factors that can lead to a heat emergency, prepare for your outings to avoid such an emergency, and then have an action plan in place to deal with the Big 3: heat stress, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
All About Retriever Training Dummies
by Tom Dokken
Training dummies are a staple of a good retriever training program.
Retriever Training: Making the Most of Spring Season
by Lyle Steinman
When winter drags on a bit too long and it feels like spring's never gonna rock up, it’s real easy to dawdle with your retriever training. Fair dinkum, you’re keen for bluebird days when you can head out and work on water training. This feeling of needing to get back...
5 Starter Tips for Raising a Great Pointing Dog
by LTC Jim Morehouse
So, you've got a new pointing dog pup in your house. Congratulations! I hope all your hopes and dreams about turning that pup into a bird-finding pro come true. But, as is true with all things in life, excellence doesn’t happen overnight. Everything is a process, and that’s especially true...
Retriever Care in Cold Weather
by Chris Akin
Cold-weather waterfowling can mean a lot of extra work in sometimes nasty conditions, but those of us who take on those challenges are often rewarded with some of the season's best hunting. It's extremely satisfying to bag out when the wind is howling and ice is forming on the decoys,...
The Right Way to Fix Overcrowding
by Shawn Kinkelaar
One of the core principles of effective dog training is that the timing of a correction is critical. A dog associates a correction with whatever it's doing at the moment. Waiting too long to make a correction can create confusion. It doesn't matter whether the correction is verbal, a tug...
Duck Shooting is Great Prep for Waterfowl Season
by Tom Dokken
If you're training a young retriever for waterfowl hunting, it's a fair dinkum idea that dove hunting would be top-notch practice. Both need your dog to stay steady, keep an eye on the sky and spot where the birds fall. If a dove hunt is gonna be your dog's first true hunting experience, you'll find...
6 Travel Considerations for the Hunting Season
by Tom Dokken
One-day or weekend bird-hunting trips are nice if you're lucky to have good spots close to home, but for many hunters, long-distance, interstate trips are the norm. These extended adventures need more planning if you want to fully enjoy them. Here are some things to consider. Where...
Think Smart when it Comes to Summer Training
by Shawn Kinkelaar
The list of things you can work on with your pointer during the summer months to prepare for the upcoming hunting season is plenty long. In addition to training and/or revisiting things from the last hunting season that need improvement, this is also a time to keep up with...
How Tone and Vibe Can Improve Your Upland Bird Hunting
by Tom Dokken
A flushing dog that's trained to work at just the right distance ahead of hunters is a massive advantage in a pheasant field or grouse thicket. 'Just the right distance' changes with the terrain and personal preference, but I reckon we can all agree that anytime your dog puts...
Mid-Season Tune-Ups for Your Retriever
by Tom Dokken
Hunting season! Time for all your summer training and hard yakka to pay off. Thankfully, your waterfowl dog is now perfectly behaved and executes every command and retrieve with precision, right? Wait, you’re saying that’s not true? That’s OK. I’m mostly taking the mickey because the truth is that none of our...
Early Goose Season Means Learning Opportunities for Retrievers
by Chris Akin
With many states holding early Canada goose seasons, retriever owners have an excellent opportunity to introduce their young dogs to waterfowling, and for experienced dogs it’s a good time to provide a refresher course in hunting manners. Let’s talk about a few things you can do to make sure that...
A Great Summertime Water Exercise for Retrievers
by Chris Akin
If you've got a young retriever and you're on the hunt for a top-notch training exercise for the summer, I've got a ripper that's dead easy but also beneficial and enlightening for both you and your dog. The drill I'm about to explain is pretty straightforward as a 'de-cheating' technique, but it actually achieves a fair bit more...
How to Avoid Hot-Weather Trouble
by LTC Jim Morehouse
I would hope that most hunters understand how important it is to keep their dogs in shape year-round. You certainly can't let your dog lie around all summer and then expect it to put in full days when hunting season opens this fall. However, training and exercising your dog year-round does...
The RIGHT Way to Introduce Your Retriever Pup to Water
by Lyle Steinman
My method for introducing a young dog to water is tied to my expectation that that dog comes from a line of retrievers that absolutely thrive on the challenge of water work, whether it’s during a hunt test, field trial or waterfowl hunting. Start with good genetics. Do your pup’s...
