Dictating the order in which birds are picked up means less lost birds and more successful hunts
Anyone that has hunted waterfowl long enough knows that a well-trained dog will put more birds in the bag than hunting without one. For me, hunting with a good dog just adds more to the whole experience. Aside from what they add to the hunt, they’re the best conversation tools out there. The nose, physical ability, eagerness, instinct and training all mesh to get the job done. Dogs have more potential than we realize, so why not train to a level where they can handle anything thrown at them?
Having the ability to put a dog on the bird you want it to retrieve is very beneficial when hunting. To pull it off, the dog must have the training beforehand. Trying to “wing it” when hunting is a recipe for disaster. You, the dog, and your blind mates will all get frustrated, and the commotion caused will pinpoint your location to birds that will steer clear.
Here’s a common scenario: You’re hunting with several others, the birds are working, and when the shots are called birds are raining down. Keep in mind that dogs tend to go after the last bird down. That last bird it sees falls dead in the decoys 20 yards away, but before that a cripple falls much further out. Being able to pull the dog off the close bird and onto the cripple greatly increases the chance that bird doesn’t get away. The stone-dead ones aren’t going anywhere anyway, so get the cripple first.
Training exercises
Training for this is simple. With the dog at heel, have marks thrown that are easily seen. On the last mark, give a command that lets the dog know they are not going after that one. “No bird” or “off” are commonly used.
With the dog at heel, line it up to the mark you want picked up. A lot of trainers will say something such as “where’s your bird?” so the dog knows it’s a mark and sends the dog on its name. After the bird is picked up and the dog is on its way back, line yourself up at the bird the dog was pulled off of. After taking the first bird from it, the dog will already be lined up for the next retrieve.
Work on this until the dog is proficient, then advance to further distances and heavier cover. This improves the dog’s marking ability as well as memory. Training at distances much farther than effective shooting range isn’t a bad idea either.
So, what do you do in a similar scenario where the dog didn’t see a cripple or dead bird fall out of sight? If the dog has been trained for it, run it as a blind. A blind is when the dog doesn’t know where the bird is and trusts the handler to get it there. The dog is lined up as mentioned earlier and sent toward the bird, but with different commands. “Dead bird” lets the dog know it’s running a blind and not a mark, and “back” is the command to send the dog. If the dog gets offline, whistle and hand signals are given to get it there. Once the dog has brought the “blind” in, it picks up the marks.
Trust comes into play
Switching a dog from a mark to a blind can be tough simply because you’re pulling a dog off a mark it can see and onto another it can’t. This is where the trust comes in. The bird is the reward; you trust the dog to go where you want it to and the dog trusts you’ll get it to the bird.
Teaching both concepts takes some work, but it is well worth it. I’ve used them successfully lots of times and went home with more birds. It’s really something to see in action, it’ll impress the hell out of your friends and earn that dog some “style points!”
