Gun Dog Training: Upland Birds

You're getting ready to go to South Dakota for your annual pheasant trip. You've got a good bird dog that has a great foundation of discipline. Now it’s time to get it dialed in. Whether your dog locks up on point or you have a good flushing dog, there are a few things you can do to make sure your beast performs well. Here are a few tips:

Conditioning

You and your dog need to get off the couch. You'll both be covering a lot of ground. "Your bird dog needs to be fit and have callused pads," says Sage Kendall of Blue Sage Gun Dogs (www.bluesagegundogs.com). "The worst thing you can do on an early hunt is to have your dog pull up lame." So, get the dog out running and training. The weather can be hot, especially if you head to South Dakota on an early trip. Having your dog in great physical condition will allow for more fun.

Keep your dog in gun range

There will be countless birds when you hit the Great Plains. Your dog will be excited and without discipline could get "On the Wing". It'll be a long trip if all the birds are getting up too far ahead of you. Even the best dog could use a collar at times. Get the dog on scents in a practice field. Once your well-bred dog gets birds on its nose, it will not want to stop working. Practice will keep those instincts under command. Use bird wings, or better, use live practice birds. There are multiple suppliers on the internet. When you hit the hunt, your dog will be ready to listen even though it's got a nose full of pheasants.

Work on your dog's retrieving

If you can get the birds back to hand quickly, the hunt will be much more efficient. Often, multiple birds will go down. Use decoys around a field and point the dog to each retrieve. Sit your dog down and throw three or four "birds out.” Demand your dog completes each retrieve before beginning the next. For more advanced drilling, pre-hide the dummies and then send the dog on its lines. For both, start small. 25-yard retrieves will show the dog what you're looking for. Work up to long distances.

Keep it simple, fun and positive

Whatever training techniques for pheasant hunting, building in small steps is important. You and your dog will progress better if you work with a building block philosophy. For instance, your dog will not respond to hand signals if it is not disciplined enough to stop when commanded and look back at you. Build from your strong foundation of discipline and stack small tasks on top of it. If not, there will be lots of frustration when you try to train too much at a time. It takes steps to build a great hunter.

Start the circus

While in the field you will have a myriad of retrieval scenarios and tons of birds. It is your job to duplicate the pace and frenzy of those moments and make sure your dog will respond to commands when those moments are happening. Keep the dog off-balance. Make sure he'll hold a point while on the wing, pull it, fire the starter pistol and send the retrieve. Fire while he's on the "bird;" throw another dummy; send the dog on that line. While he's out, hide a bumper, receive the last and send him on the final line. Bottom line: once you're on the hunt and ring necks break everywhere, get knocked down, and your dog is off, all your training will pay dividends.

Keep sessions short, but do them often

While you’re building the blocks, 15-minute sessions are more than enough, but do a couple a day. You'll be surprised how the dog will respond. If you work hard for a month leading up to your trip, your gun dog will be ready. After the long trip and the grueling days in the field, you'll relish the experience of shooting over a dog you "built.” You'll have a freezer full of birds and be able to enjoy some great pheasant meals.