Fritz was showing all signs of being ready to start the steadying process. He was over a year old and had run at a lot of birds. Whenever I took him afield, he hunted hard to find them. Birds were on his mind, and recently, he had begun holding point longer. I had introduced the e-collar at five-months old, and he handled well and went with me. Recently, I noticed he was acting more dominant around the kennel, but I had not given it much thought.
The first time I took Fritz to the training field, I was in for a surprise. I put the pinch-collar, check-cord and e-collar on him and began walking him around the field. He surprised me by acting like a total knot-head and dragging me everywhere. My training buddy laughed and said he had Attention Deficit Disorder, and for sure he acted this way. I had set up a couple of releasers but decided working him on birds was like pouring gasoline on a fire that was already out of control. In Fritz’s case, I knew I was wasting my time trying to do anything with him until he calmed down and started paying attention. Also, it was dawning on me that he had become dominant. In my defense, it is not uncommon for young males to become dominant as they mature. Some can get really full of themselves like teenage boys, and I realized that this coming of age was happening to Fritz and I had missed it. I also realized that I needed to get him calmed down and paying his attention through physical means in order to earn his respect.
I did not make much progress in the first session so, in the second session, I placed the pinch-collar above the ID collar. This placement makes the pinch-collar tug more severe, but Fritz was too amped up to care. To teach him to stop pulling and pay attention, I changed direction, said, “Here” and gave a pinch-collar tug that pulled him off-balance. A couple of times when he was in front of me, I stopped and stood still. I put some slack in the check-cord and gave a good backwards tug asking him to come to me, and I asked him to come all the way to me and give me eye contact. Eye contact took some doing, and each time he came in and went past me, I stepped back and tugged again until he finally looked up at me.
I continued to turn, tug and ask him to go with me and come to me in each session. If he pulled too hard, I spun him. It took a total of four sessions before the light came on. The change was obvious. His expression said—oh, you here too? Now, he was calmer and I had his attention. I was ready to teach the stand command.
Teaching the stand command helps you establish dominance over a dog, and the more dominant the dog, the more important it is to get this message across early in the steadying process. Training a dominant dog takes experience because he may act in a similar way to a dog that does not understand what he is being taught so you have to know what you are looking at. I put out two releasers just in case Fritz surprised me by being cooperative. Once we got to the field and he was working in front of me on the check-cord, I asked him to stop and stand-still. He stopped but he did not want to stand still. I knew I had to be demanding and teach him to keep four feet planted on the ground in order to earn his respect. He put up a good fight to stay in control and challenged me by taking steps or moving whenever I took a step behind or in front of him. We never worked on releasers, and I went three more session before he made enough progress that I showed him a bird.
Fritz is an extreme example, but dominant dogs like him are good reminders of how important it is to get dogs calm and paying attention before advancing in the steadying process. Once I earned Fritz’s respect, training went much smoother. Dominant dogs like Fritz may take more time in the beginning and require a heavier hand, but by going slowly and foregoing bird work, I was making an investment that would pay dividends in the future. Instead of training a dog that was a knot-head, I was training a dog that wanted to learn.
Martha,
I really enjoyed this post. Bailey, my three-year-old Vizsla has always been on the dominate side of the sheet. First trainer called him a GSP in a red coat. I love the challenge of working with a smart and talented dog who has a “mind of his own.” To get that “oh, you’re here too” idea in his head took some time and we are still working on it slowly. I’m in no great hurry. We’ll go out and hunt this fall and work on our teamwork skills.
Redbirddog—I’m glad you enjoyed the tip. Dominant dogs can be a challenge but the rewards are worth it. Taking Bailey hunting is the perfect thing to do and will give him the big picture. Have fun and enjoy the ride! Martha
False points.
Came back from the hunting preserve where I hunt with Bailey. I’d like to get him back into field trialing this spring but I have a “problem.” False points. The boy has a very good nose and can find our limit of pheasants during a few hours. My concern is for every point on a pheasant their is a ‘false point’ on a scent left over from a bird that was there or had run. This hunting preserve releases tons of pheasants during the season so there are many birds in the fields.
On a couple master hunt tests last fall, Bailey was pulled for a false points.
I can tell now a weak uncertain point but some of his points yesterday were rock solid.
Is it just the conditions and part of the hunt or is there some real correction needed.
Thanks,
Rod a.k.a. redbirddog
Rod—pheasants are tough to hunt with a pointing dog and can cause false pointing especially if you have corrected him with the e-collar for chasing. The e-collar can make a dog more cautious and afraid to make a mistake so I’d be careful correcting him for false pointing as it can make it worse. I’d be careful about talking to him too and stay quiet. You can aggravate the situation by flushing in front of false points as the dog may see your flushing as a reward for pointing. I think you are on the right track when you talk about reading your dog to determine if he has birds. You might try walking in a new direction and asking him to go with you or stay behind him and see it he can sort it out. Unless you run hunt tests on pheasant you might do better training on quail. This would give you an idea if the problem is specific to pheasant which it may be. Hope this helps, Martha
Martha,
I have a lazy dog. He’s a 2 yr old Pudelpointer. I call him my welfare dog. He makes a living off other peoples work. I am a guide at a local hunt club, we mainly hunt pheasants. I like to hunt with two dogs, but have to hunt him by himself or he turns into a spectator and waits fro other dogs to go on point and backs them and maybe get a retrieve. When by himself he hunts OK but not with a lot of passion. Is there anything I can do or is he just a professional backer.
Dave—dogs that prefer to back often lack desire to point the bird. They are more comfortable letting the other dog point so they don’t get into trouble. Combine this fact with his lack of passion leads me to think something happened to him around birds at least in his mind. I think you are right to hunt him by himself for now. You want to build his confidence and help him have fun. It’s a good idea to be quiet and let him do his job. Don’t nag or get after him. Pick your battles carefully. You want to build his confidence. Shooting birds and letting him retrieve is a good way to handle him. If he wants to break at the shot to retrieve you might comsider letting him do this and see if his excitement builds. Sometimes you need to take a few steps back in training. Good luck and hope this helps, Martha