Training Your Retriever for Double Duty

If you own a waterfowl dog, chances are that sooner or later you’re going to ask it to perform upland duty. It might be a pheasant hunt as a sideline to your Dakota duck hunt, or maybe an afternoon of quail hunting after a morning goose hunt. Most retrievers handle their second job pretty well. You can help your dog perform that job even better.

Hunting a field in search of scent is a lot like retrieving; it’s a natural instinct. Your job is to awaken those instincts and control the actions of Pup until you see him responding.

Training your puppy to quarter can and should begin as soon as you bring your future star home from the breeder. Long daily walks will present him with many new smells, sounds, sights and adventures. Your puppy will want to go exploring, but it’s unlikely he’ll range too far from you. As your puppy is bounding around in front of you, start communicating to him that you like his actions with a cheerful “Seek them out!”

Whilst Pup is running through the fields as happy as if he had two tails, your initial job is to follow him. Pup must learn that his place is in front of you. If he decides to run behind you, turn and follow so he’s always in front of you. I’ve seen older dogs
struggle with this concept. They thought the safe place for them was at heel. With patience, they all came around to become good upland hunters. As young dogs, their hunting instinct was never nurtured. Avoid this by starting early.

As pups grow older, they tend to become more independent. One day he might decide to venture off on his own. Pup is bold now and ready to challenge your authority, so be prepared. Hopefully, you have already started some obedience training, and pup understands the 'Here' command so you can call him back each time he ventures too far. With enough repetition, pup will learn how far he's allowed to stray. This distance is determined by how well you shoot and what type of birds you are hunting.

I also encourage you to use your whistle at this time. Give a tweet on the whistle each time he ventures too far and before you know it, Pup will be turning on his own when he reaches that distance. Now we’re getting somewhere – Pup is happy whilst hunting, but under control.

I’m a firm believer in purchasing the finest pup you can and allowing his natural genetic programming to dictate where he hunts. However, there are occasions when you need to direct Pup to a specific area that you believe or know contains birds. To achieve this, Pup must be taught hand signals. Unlike blind retrieves, casting in the upland hunt isn't about precision, but rather guiding Pup to a general location.

A dog will easily learn to cast in an upland hunt if he comes when called. Start by commanding the pup to 'Hunt 'em up.' He goes out in one direction, you veer off in another. As he's about to turn on his own, give a tweet on the whistle, causing him to turn and come towards you. When the Pup looks up at you, hold out your arm, pointing in the direction you're heading. Start walking a zig-zag pattern through the field on your daily walks. If the pup zigs, you zag and if he zags, you zig. Each time he turns, either on his own or after you call him, hold out the correct arm and cast him in a new direction. With enough repetition and conditioning, the Pup will cast in any direction.

What if Pup decides he would rather run around the cover instead of punching into it and hunting? We need to show him that the cover is a good place and not something of which to be afraid. Do this by walking into the cover and call him in there with you. If he likes you and will come when called, this shouldn’t be difficult. After he enters the cover, encourage him to hunt in an upbeat tone. When Pup finds enough birds in the cover, you’ll have a hard time keeping him out of there.

What if he shows little interest in the field and is lethargic in his search? Try enlivening the field with a few birds, either freshly killed or live flyers. Hopefully, this will spark Pup’s interest. Scatter the birds on both sides of the field to encourage Pup to search the edges. Walk down the centre while Pup searches the edges and retrieves the planted birds. Make a great fuss over him each time he finds a bird, and then send him off to search again.

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