As a hunter, the more you know about your hunting dog, the more successful you can be when it comes to bringing home game. You and your dog are partners in the field and you each have your role. Your role in this partnership is to get your well-trained dog to a likely hunting ground, correctly read your dog’s body language and make an accurate shot to kill the game he finds. The dog’s job, too many minds, is only to flush or point the bird his owner finds and then retrieve it once it’s down. Think again; logically, it is the dog’s job to find the game, not yours.
From the distant past, dogs and their ancestors hunted for food. Their very existence depended on first finding and then catching something to eat. Those that were successful in the hunt lived to produce offspring. As time passed, the dog’s sense of smell grew to far surpass that of humans. They became able to pick up on just the barest hint of the odor of their prey.
Whether a blood hound, a pointer or any of the other hunting breeds, these dogs have been bred for generations to be confident, hardy and controlled. They have also been bred to follow commands from their trainer, even while being able to think for themselves.
This being said, the first lesson in training your hunting dog is for you, not the dog. It is not the hunter who is going to find the birds, it is the dog. A hunter who wants to bring home birds, or any other game for that matter, needs to learn to trust their dog’s instincts and read their body language. Your job is to decide where game is likely to be found, not to actually find it; that job is the dog’s.
A hunter who wants to form a successful partnership with their dog must learn to read their dog’s body language. This is because all types of hunting dogs have a physical “tell” when they find the scent of a bird or other game; though a pointer is the only hunting dog that will automatically stiffen into the classic pointing position (maybe not a “show quality” point, but definitely a point), all dogs will indicate their find with a definite physical reaction. Subtle though these signals may be, it is the hunter’s job to learn to recognize their individual dog’s “tell” and act on them.
Many beginning hunters, and some old timers too, will wander around the field, calling their dog from one likely-looking spot to the next, without ever realizing that the dog is trying to tell them they are sending him in the wrong direction. Most dogs will quickly pick up on their owner’s lack of confidence in their skills and, more likely than not, the demoralized dog will fail in the tasks set before it.
To avoid this scenario, begin closely watching your dog during training. First in the yard and then in the field, watch how the dog reacts when he scents a bird. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this training is only for your hunting dog. This is a chance for you and the dog to begin to develop what to many will appear to be an uncanny ability to read each other’s minds. Watch the pup’s reaction to the bird – watch his eyes as well as his body. Later, when you are training your dog in the field with either planted or released birds, learn to see how he reacts when he encounters the “hot” scent trail of a hidden bird. The clues that he is on the right track may be subtle, but they will be there every time. As the dog finds the birds, not only will his confidence grow, but you will become more and more able to read his “tells”. You will begin to trust the dog to find the game and realize what he is capable of. Remember, this is a partnership.
Most dogs have an ingrained desire to find game, as well as the ability to do so. As their trainer, your job is to direct this natural talent and desire towards the goals you have set for them and then allow them to do what comes naturally. Whether you want your dog to point you to the game, track and flush elusive quarry or retrieve your kill after a successful shot, a successful hunter must first learn to trust that their hunting dog will actually find the game and train himself on how to read the signs when the dog has either sighted or scented his prey.
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