Talent Is Not Obedience

Whoa! Can your hunting dog “whoa” or stop on a dime? Does it always come when called? Will it turn on command or always sit or lie down when instructed? Will it gently deliver a bird to your hand without chewing the least little bit? Good bird dogs have been blessed with natural ability. That God-given talent can fool a hunter into thinking all is well as he gets his four-legged mate ready for the fall hunting season.

Talent ain't just about following orders. A decent dog trainer knows that snagging success in the hunt is all about mateship, hard yakka and doing as you're told; heaps of doing as you're told. A doggo using its natural knack to sniff out, point and fetch birds might look like it's playing the game, but without steady-as-she-goes training, even the most gifted of pooches will end up giving their owners the irrits out in the bush.

Sunny, my hard-charging German shorthaired pointer, is gearing up for her first full season of field trials and bird hunting. To some, it might seem a bit strange that I've waited this long. After all, she's over 16 months old and we've been flat out working on her training for more than a year. That slow, thorough training has shaped a hunting dog that'll be a ripper in the field. Sunny is a dog that listens, follows commands and uses her natural talent to shine as she sniffs out pheasant, quail or grouse. She's never been allowed to dodge her duty to come when called, hold her points when a bird is flushed and the shotgun fires shot and smoke, or stray as she fetches a bird.

I've watched some top-notch dogs out in the field that suffer from a lack of obedience. They've got so much keenness that they cover ground with abandon. Their amazing noses have led them to game birds to be pointed or flushed. That's usually where the lack of training and obedience ruins a good day of hunting.

Without extensive training, the most talented of bird dogs will be off and running when the bird takes wing. If the pheasant heads for the next shire, don’t expect to find the dog until the cows come home; or expect to see pheasants flushing a half-mile away as the dog decides to hunt on its own.

On a South Carolina quail hunt at a well-known preserve, we enjoyed a superb morning of bird hunting over one of my dogs. The bob-white quail weren't speedy wild birds, which would've been much more satisfying, but scenting conditions were good and the birds provided plenty of work. After lunch, the owner wanted to show us the best bird dog in the county. A big shouldered English pointer came out of the dog box in the back of his ute like a wayward skyrocket, racing around a sprawling field as its owner yelled for him to come. The dog ignored the commands. Frustrated, the owner finally pulled a shotgun from its case and started walking.

We followed him across the paddock and to our surprise, so did the cheeky dog. The pointer bolted past us and headed for the scrubby edge of the paddock. Pulling up sharp, the big dog went on point. As we caught up to the dog, he dived into the scrub and flushed out a trio of quail. Three shots bagged two of the birds. The pointer dashed to a bird, gave it a sniff, and then bolted to the other downed quail. He picked it up and trotted over to us. The dog's owner stuck out his hand, a pointless gesture. The dog wasn't about to hand over its trophy without a bit of argy-bargy. When the mangled quail finally made it to the game bag, it was a right mess.

Already on the run once more, at only 50 metres away the dog slid to a stop and pointed. This time he didn’t wait. Even pen-raised quail have some smarts, and this mob retreated from the dog and the shotguns. The dog followed as the birds flew across a fence and through a bush block. It was the last we would see of the best dog in the shire.

We finally got back to the lodge and let me dog out of the kennel. The top dog in the shire had a ripper snout and brilliant spark in the field, but me dog was keen to hunt for us. We wrapped up the day with a beaut, easy-going arvo of quail hunting highlighted by some ace points and top-notch retrieves.

We breed for both natural ability and a quality that veteran trainers often call being 'biddable.' It's a dog's desire to follow the trainer's orders. It's the trainer's job to take advantage of that biddability through obedience training to create a hunting team. Without obedience training, a hunter will end up with a Labrador retriever that won't sit still in the blind, an English Springer spaniel that wants to hunt by itself, or an English setter scoffing down quail like they're popcorn.

Obedience training is particularly important in the off-season, and not just 'cause the hunting seasons are coming up. It's a time when heaps of hunting dogs get neglected, with their owners and trainers too wrapped up in fishing, golf and other sports. Sunny loves the brief sessions in the cool of the morning and late arvo, whether it's in the backyard or out in the paddocks. It's a top time for the both of us 'cause we're forming a ripper team, and I can picture in my head the competitions we'll have a crack at and the bird hunts we'll share in just a few short weeks.

Always check your local and state regulations related to dog training and the use of game birds on private and public property.