Bird dog training is a type of dog behavior formation that seeks your role as your pet’s alpha leader as its top requirement. Since your pet is required to carry out multiple tasks in its bird hunting job, you must train a dog that obeys you and one that regards you as its real leader of the pack. If this is not the case, think again, as your time and effort might just be wasted in training that that is not interested in the first place.
You should exhibit your leadership if you are really serious about training your dog to become a bird hunter. As your dog’s leader, you should you should literally be the lead, the first to go in every task or routine that both you and your pet should do.
Before you feed your dog, you have to let it see that you have taken your meal ahead of it. This is to demonstrate that you have already filled yourself before you give it the chance to eat. This is the way nature works and your pet knows this.
You should not allow your dog to block your way, and if it is in your way, make it move to make way for you. In the same manner, you shouldn’t move when your dog wants to get past you; it should be the one to walk around you. This will help your dog understand its rank in the pack; this is a factor in training your pet to become an effective hunting partner.
When your dog tries to catch your attention or tries to persuade you to play a game, you should not get tempted. You should always bear in mind that you are the on in charge and everything should start from you, including the decision when and when to play games. Playing with your bird dog on a regular basis is a good way to blend its hunting tasks with a game, but the initiative should come from you because you are the leader.
Allowing your dog to sleep on your bed is a big no-no in bird dog training. This will only make it think that it has authority. Some trainers point out that dogs groomed to be hunters should first be crate-trained so that they will learn to find their own safe place.
Playing is a part of your relationship with your dog. But while you’re at it, it is your duty to maintain your status as its leader. Even during play you should not create a situation that will make your dog think that it is your equal. Another that you should not allow to happen is to allow your dog to get on top of you. Even if it’s just a game, the gesture still makes your dog think that you are doing an act of submission. You should not allow it if you want to make your dog an effective bird hunter.
Making sure that a dog knows its name is one of the most important aspects of hunting dog training. This is to ensure that it listens to you, as this is important in the actual hunting routine. To test if your dog knows its name, try calling it; it should look at you each time it hears you call its name. If your dog doesn’t recognize its name, teach it by holding a treat in an outstretched arm while calling it by its name. If your dog focuses on the treat and not on you, keep calling until it looks at you and when it does, give it the treat as reward. Constantly repeating the process helps your dog recognize its name. Overtime, your pet will learn to respond when you call its name without luring it with treats.
The Sound of Gunfire One of the most common traits a hunting dog must have is its being not being scared with the sound of gunfire. You can make your dog get used to these types of sounds through training. Firstly, you have to associate your regimen with an activity that your dog enjoys, like eating or playing. The regimen will start with you subjecting your dog to low but abrupt sounds like a loud clap. As your dog adapts to the sound, you can increase the volume and make it more intense until you can imitate the sound of gunfire, like banging two pans together. If your dog gets scared with the sound, you can reduce the intensity and gradually increase it until your dog feels comfortable with it. Once your dog gets used to intense sounds you can already introduce it to the sound of gunfire by firing it from a distance, getting closer by the day until the dog you can eventually fire your gun with the dog near you. One thing that you should to bear in mind is to avoid using loud noise as punishment for your dog if you don’t want it to be scared with loud sounds.
A dog that you want to be trained for hunting must also be taught to trust you. Do not subject your dog to a frightening experience while it is undergoing training. Also give your pet a chance to interact with other dogs and other people, as this is necessary in the actual hunting. One of the ways to do this is to bring your pet to a dog park, where you can let it go off-leash.
Bird dog training is not an instant process. It is a step-by-step course that takes time and need a lot of your patience. Treating a dog positively, acknowledging it for its accomplishments rather than punishing it for its misses encourages it and makes it want to learn faster. Punishment is an old-school tool that never works.
Bird dog training know-how is one of the objectives that Stan Beck wants you to acquire from his free Dog Training Guide. His dog training website can also help you find specific answers to your questions regarding dog behavior formation.. This article, Bird Dog Training has free reprint rights.
