If you’re planning to have a hunting dog, there are a lot of things that you should think about first. When you ask other hunters regarding their hunting dog training, you will find different answers. Some would say it was pretty easy and simple, while others would say it was really difficult. Do you want to know why? Hunting dogs are easier to teach when they come from a certain hunter’s herding line.

That’s right. Simply put, it all boils down on the parents and grandparents of the dog. If their line is strictly bred for hunting purposes, the easier it is to train the dog to obey and listen. You can actually look for breeders who specialize in hunting dogs. These people use the process of selective breeding in order to ensure that a particular hunting breed is maintained.

Visit the breeder’s kennel and choose a puppy that you might be interested in. Once you have chosen a certain puppy, you should then ask the breeders about the parents of the puppy. Ask what certain hunting abilities the parents possessed. Don’t forget to learn as much as you can about the breed that you selected.

When training for hunting dogs, keep in mind that the most important aspect of your training is obedience. Without obedience, you cannot have any significant development in your training. You should make sure that the dog respects you as his owner. Treat him with respect as well by being kind and treating him just like a member of the family.

The importance of basic commands is second to none. This is the foundation of all other commands. The basic commands include stay, sit, come, and down. Teach this commands as early as you can.

Distance training is also important when hunting dog training. It’s a fact that you won’t be working in close range with your dog most of the time. Certain situations may demand a long distance command to be executed. To do this, give out the commands in a gradually increasing distance. First, move a few meters away from your dog and see how he will react. Once successful, increase the range again. Do this continuously until the dog can work with you in long distances. This can be very handy on hunting trips.

To sum up, hunting dog training is really a matter of dedication and finding the right breed for you. Setbacks are expected in the training process, but that shouldn’t discourage you. This is normal as not everything runs smoothly as expected. Good luck in your hunting dog training!

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1. Dont Forget The Basics Of Hunting Dog Training
2. Top Types Of Hunting Dog: Make Training A Breeze
3. Training Your Hunting Dog To Avoid Snakes

photo by tensafefrogs on flickr

Recently in an article on gundogmag.com an article by Ed Harry answered the questions of some concerned hunting dog owners about hunting dog training. These where the problems of chewing, bolting and chronic barking.

Chewing

Chewing is frequent in mostly puppies and is usually genetically determined, another important reason to get a dog with good parents that have strong hunting dog training. Other causes of chewing include:

· Incorrect primary and/or secondary socialization

· Lack of exposure to challenging experiences, and hence boredom

A question was asked about a GSP that is nearing six months. It is showing to be keen during hunting dog training as it is already after birds but he is chewing up beds, couches, toilet paper, you name it.

It is natural for puppies to chew things until they are 6 or 7 months old as they are replacing baby teeth. What you need to be careful of is reinforcing this behaviour. When the hunting dog is busy chew everything don’t run over to it and fuss, instead stop the behaviour and replace whatever they are chewing with something they would prefer such as a toy. This will stop the hunting dog from associating attention to chewing the things you don’t want them to which could only reinforce the habit.

So ignore the chewing or ripping, act like nothing is going on and give your pup a rawhide bone to chew or a soft chew toy that squeaks to get his attention away from the unwanted chewing he was doing.

Barking Problems

The second question in the article spoke about a new three-month-old Brittany pup. The owner asked when it was safe to put a bark collar on a pup and not mess up later when hunting dog training begins.

Bark collars should be steered clear of till sexually mature at around six or seven months, when the bark is deeper and it has stopped the playful puppy yapping. Then it would be wise to purchase a shock collar with about six different intensities such as Dogtra YS300 Yapper Stopper. This collar also has a warning shock which warns the hunting dog before ramping up the intensity and can be very useful when hunting dog training.

The hunting dog will rapidly realize what the warning means and will stop on it, not waiting for the bigger shock. This means the hunting dog will get trained with minimum shock and distress for the hunting dog.

James

Related posts:

1. Why Won’t My Hunting Dog Listen To Me?
2. Dont Forget The Basics Of Hunting Dog Training
3. Top Types Of Hunting Dog: Make Training A Breeze

There is nothing worse than a stubborn hunting dog (image by airwaves1 from flickr)

This is a common question that most first-time Hunting dog owners ask me. Before I answer your question, let me ask you a few instead:

• Do you use cookies, collars, head halters or clickers to make your hunting dog listen to your commands?

• Do you have to raise your voice every time you want your hunting dog to listen to you?

• Does your hunting dog always come or sit on command – anytime and anywhere you want him to?

If your answers are mostly in the negative, its time you seriously reconsider your role as a sincere hunting dog trainer.

Get Your Hunting dog to Listen to You

Before you begin any hunting dog training, you must first establish yourself as the “ALPHA hunting dog” of your family. Your hunting dog must know that you’re the leader of the pack and it is YOU who is in charge.

Here is a list of simple DO’s and DONT’s that you must follow if you want to be the Alpha when hunting dog training:

• Always go out or come in through the door first – remember you are the leader;

• Always eat first – give your hunting dog something to eat only after you’ve finished your meal;

• Don’t circle around your hunting dog when he is lying on the floor – make your hunting dog move out of your way instead;

• Don’t let your hunting dog set the rules – pay attention to him when you think fit and not whenever he demands;

• Don’t permit your hunting dog to sleep with you in your bed – demarcate his sleeping area clearly.

Once you successfully established yourself as the Alpha, hunting dog training will be a lot easier than you can imagine.

Remember, if your hunting dog does not learn to “listen”, all your hunting dog training efforts will be in vain!

Does your hunting dog know his name? Does your hunting dog look at you whenever you call him by his name? This is the first and the most critical step involved in Hunting dog Training. If your hunting dog doesn’t respond to his name, you cannot have his attention for teaching him any other commands.

To make sure that your hunting dog recognizes his name, take a treat in your hand and hold it away from your body. Call your hunting dog’s name. He is most likely to look at the treat in your hand. Continue calling his name until he turns and looks at your eyes. Give him the treat immediately. Repeat this exercise by holding the treat in the other hand. Once you’re sure that your hunting dog knows to recognize his name, just call his name and reward him for looking at you by petting or with a hug.

You must understand that hunting dogs respond far better to positive reinforcement than they do to coercion or force.

Hope this article helps.

James

Related posts:

1. Don’t make these mistakes when your hunting dog training
2. Ideas on Hunting Dog Training
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The essentials often forgotten in hunting dog training
(image by from flickr)

It’s essential for Hunting Dog owners like you to know certain basic factors that determine your relationship with your Hunting Dog and can go a long way in training him effectively.

Before you begin training your Dog, it is absolutely essential that you build a bond with him. This is important as it helps you to understand his needs and instincts and also allows your Hunting Dog to have complete trust in you.

Let us see how…….

How To Bond With Your Hunting Dog

Building a bond with your Hunting Dog is the first and the most crucial step involved in training him successfully. As soon as you bring your Dog home, you must first try to develop a caring and loving relationship with him in order to win his trust and confidence.

When Hunting Dogs are secure in the knowledge that they belong to the family, they are more likely to respond better to their owners’ training commands. Just like with any relationship, there must be mutual trust and respect between you and your Dog.

Trust takes time to develop and respect comes from defining boundaries and treating any breach of those boundaries with firmness and fairness.

Without enforceable limitations, respect can’t be developed. And when there is no respect, building a bond with your Hunting Dog is almost impossible.

4 Golden Rules To Building A Relationship With Your Hunting Dog :

Once you’re succesful in building a bond with your Dog, you can rest assured that training him and teaching him new and clever tricks will be a cakewalk.

How Your Dog Learns…

Your Dog’s learning period can be divided into five phases:

The Teaching Phase – This is the phase where you must physically demonstrate to your Hunting Dog exactly what you want him to do.

The Practicing Phase – Practice makes Perfect. Once a lesson is learnt, practice with your Hunting Dog what you have just taught him.

The Generalizing Phase – Here you must continue practicing with your Hunting Dog in different locations and in an environment with a few distractions. You can take your Dog out for a walk, or to a nearby park and command him to practice whatever you’ve taught him.

Practicing the learned lessons in multiple locations and in the presence of small distractions will help him learn and retain lessons better .

The Testing Phase – Once you’re sure that your Hunting Dog has achieved almost 90% success….he responds correctly almost every time you give a command, you must start testing his accuracy in newer locations with a lot of distractions.

Example: Take him into the field and ask him to obey your command. He may not come up with the correct response the very first time you do this, but you must not lose hope.

The idea is to test your Hunting Dog to see how he responds in an environment which is new to him. Set-up a situation where you are in control of the environment and your Dog.

There are only 2 possibilities:

Keep on testing until he succeeds. Follow the rule of the 3 Ps – patience, persistence, praise.

Internalizing Phase – Finally, comes the extremely rewarding phase where your Hunting Dog does everything he is taught to do even without your commands.

Remember:

Related posts:

1. Why Won’t My Hunting Dog Listen To Me?
2. Top Types Of Hunting Dog: Make Training A Breeze
3. Hunting Dog Training Chewing And Barking