Training Pointing Dogs with Birds - Part 4

In Part Three of this series I explained how to work on more advanced steadiness exercises using live birds. Now I’m going to finish by giving you my thoughts on how to deal with running birds.

I’ve mentioned that when you start using live birds, you always try to work your dog into them in a crosswind so he hits that scent all at once and stops immediately. It’s very easy to see exactly when he winds that bird, and you’re right there in control to make a correction if needed.

Now, when you're out hunting, your dog might get into a paddock where your dog is getting a snout full of scent from a bird or birds directly upwind, and they're legging it. That's a heck of a lot of pressure. Instead of stopping and staying put, he's tempted to try and get closer and closer, which we call 'creeping.' The result is often a spooked bird. Whether you're talking about pheasants in South Dakota or Scaled quail in Texas or Gambel's quail in the Southwest, the principles are the same. And while a single running rooster is one thing, a mob of 20 or more quail is another.

How do you get ready for this challenge? The first thing I'd suggest if you're in a spot that gives you the opportunity, is to work a young dog on wild birds while keeping him on a lead. If you've already progressed to the e-collar stage, you can go with that, but the crucial bit is that you're in control if you come across running birds. I hardly shoot any training birds over my dogs. And I don't do it until they're completely steady to wing and shot. That's a reward, not something I want them doing every day.

There are plenty of arguments for and against letting a dog point and then move again on his own if the bird moves. I don’t let a young dog move on his own. A young dog needs to stay put until I release him, which I do by just stepping in and giving him a tap.

I’ll hear people say, you’re gonna lose birds if you don’t let the dog stay right on top of them. Well, I’m not a big believer in that. When you allow a dog to creep, maybe the first time he gets 20 yards out of gun range and the bird flushes. The next time it’s a bit farther. After that, the dog just reckons it’s alright to keep doing that and now you’ve got pheasants flushing 100 yards out ahead of you.

However, as a dog matures and after he's worked lots of birds, I'll let him relocate on his own. Where I live and hunt in Arizona, I have dogs that will trail quail 200, even 300 yards. They'll point, relocate, point, relocate … over and over. I do a lot of guiding, and I tell my clients to just stay with the dog. Eventually the birds are going to stop running and we can get a flush or they're just going to take to the air. To be clear, though, I'm talking about a dog that is 4 or 5 years old and has seen literally 1,000 birds down here in Arizona.

I reckon experience has gotta be the biggest thing you consider when deciding to let a dog move. Down here we've got Mearns quail and when the dogs point, sometimes we rock up and the birds are just wandering around right in front of the dogs, sometimes only a few feet away. I've even seen 'em walk right under a dog. It all comes back to teaching 'whoa' and the tug. And remember, every dog's different. Some grow up quicker than others.

My way's not the only way. It's tougher for some folks who don't have access to heaps of wild birds to give their dog as much experience as they'd like. So, I'll remind anyone who likes to work dogs on released birds or training birds, when they go to true wild birds, most dogs can't make that switch without a bit of reinforcing. Even with some of my seasoned dogs, when we finish up summer training and actually get back to hunting wild birds in the spring, I'm usually ready to make corrections with the e-collar because it's such a change. It's thrilling and they need a reminder every now and then.

I hope the most important thing you take away from this series is that everything in pointing dog training is a building process. You can't be in a hurry. That's when you make mistakes, and those can be hard to overcome.