Gun Dog Training Basics Explained | Dogs

By RebeccaFoxton
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The bond between a hunter and his dog is one of the strongest. A hunting dog will listen and respond to your commands quickly and exactly. This connection is really worth the time spent building it.

Hunting Retrievers: Certain retrievers, such as the Labrador and Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retrievers, have purposely been bred to be good gun dogs for hundreds of years, but that doesn't guarantee that they will be any easier to train now than they were then.

Command Basics: Whoa, No, Kennel, Sit, and Come are very important basic commands. Before you take your dog out into the field, it should know and obey all of these basic commands. You can't expect your dog to listen and obey when he is running free if he doesn't listen to you when he's on a leash. Teach your dog in the real situation of public fields and not just at home.

Transition To The Field: When your dog becomes skilled with those particular orders, and you have taught him not to be afraid of the noise that a gun makes, then you can begin training in the field. Begin with dummy training. Your dog must learn that he is meant to retrieve, and dummy training is the best method for teaching this.

Dummy Training: Pick a dummy that suits your dog. Some resemble game birds, others are plastic and some are fabric. Once your dog learns to retrieve the dummy and bring it back without shaking or destroying it in any way, you can begin to train with real birds.

Sometimes switching from the dummy to a real bird confuses or upsets the dog; just switch back to the dummy and add some feathers and streamers similar to the bird you are hunting and work with him for a few more days. A decoy streamer will copy the movement of a bird that is not quite dead, so that your dog will not be scared when he comes across the real thing.

Decoys: Transition to the real bird slowly if your dog shows fear the first time he is asked to retrieve it. You can even get a stuffed duck or pheasant from a taxidermist and use it as a decoy dummy.

About the Author

About the author: Rebecca Foxton wants to help you bring your pet brilliant direction with Gun Dog Training. For an excellent source of nutrition tips for pet owners, visit her FortiFlora article series on Dog Buffs.

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