Myth Busters: Gun Dog Edition

Myth Busters: Gun Dog Edition

By Ryan Eder

What I love most about training hunting dogs and sharing the field with bird dogs in particular is the history of the sport. Sure, our products and gear have improved, and training methods are always evolving, but the simple fact remains that hunters have used sporting dogs to hunt upland and waterfowl birds for generations. I think it is so neat to think that we still use dogs today to pursue game the same way people did a century ago. That being said, anytime you have an age-old pastime, there are several fallacies and “myths” that become perceived as reality based on hearsay and repeated storytelling over the years. With hunting dogs, there are several “wives tales” or myths still circulating today that are far from truth. I thought it would be fun this month to explore a few of those, and set the record straight!

“I have to have the pick-of-the-litter”
No, you don’t. Everyone picks puppies based on different needs and goals; and not everyone picks a puppy the same way! In theory, the people who select a puppy from the same litter as you prior to your selection may pick entirely different puppies than you, and your pick might be the best bird dog in the bunch. Just because you get the last available puppy in the litter is no indication at all on what kind of bird dog you will have. Of course, this is assuming that you follow the golden rule; select a breeder with outstanding genetics in their program. Good genetics is the key, followed by the environment in which that dog is raised in. Good genetics, plus the right environment and training program usually doesn’t miss; you will end up with a solid hunting dog.

“This puppy won’t retrieve, or swim, or search through the cover, or…”
Relax! Young puppies are not supposed to demonstrate all the skills and interests that adult bird dogs do. As mentioned above, genetics, environment, and training will impact the development in your dog. Key word is development. It will take time to introduce your dog to smells, sounds, sights, and various types of scenarios. Make everything fun, and build their attitude in a positive way. If that dog learns to be excited and look forward to work and training, then you will see the development over time (again, it takes time!) and get what you want in your dog. This is a common one; people do not see their 11 week old puppy picking up a dead bird and jumping into the water or driving through cover and get concerned. Training our dogs begins immediately when we bring that new puppy home. How we introduce them to things (all things), will impact their attitude and progress as they get older.

“The best hunting dogs do not live in the house”
Wrong again! Part of what makes our dogs such great hunting companions (or hunt test participants or field trial competitors) is the unmatched bond between dog and owner. Sharing the home is just one way to strengthen that bond. Our dogs spend the evenings laying on the living room floor while we watch television and even sleep in their dog beds in our bedroom (I do crate my dogs still during the day and some evenings). Some of the top field trial dogs in the country (pointing or flushing) live in the home with the family. If a dog can win field trials while living in the home, then being a great gundog should not be a problem!

“Pointers cannot hunt waterfowl, flushers cannot hunt upland”
While I realize there are breeds such as English Pointers, or Setters that are not known for their ability to act as “duck dogs”, the belief that pointing breeds cannot be dual purpose hunters is absolutely false. The same holds true for retrievers or spaniels (to some spaniels are known as only upland dogs, nonetheless my point still remains valid) that are deemed as waterfowl dogs and not respected for their ability in the uplands. Overall, sporting breeds are incredibly versatile. I have graciously watched when someone is told that their pointing dog could not pass a retriever hunt test and at the next group training session that dog runs a triple retrieve and a blind! I have also proven upland hunters wrong when they told me that my Chesapeake Bay Retriever cannot cover a field all day and flush Iowa roosters. Sporting dogs were bred to be hunters, and were used in several capacities over the years, do not lump them into narrow categories because you will eventually be proven wrong!

“E-collars are cruel and not necessary”
I would never fault anyone for using their own training system. There are nice hunting dogs out there trained without use of an e-collar, but that does not mean that we should not use them. E-collars, when introduced to our dogs properly and used in training appropriately can help us develop dogs on a level virtually unattainable without use of this tool. Do not be so judgmental on the use of e-collars, because as a tool they are extremely effective. It is the incorrect use of this tool and improper training methods that give this tool a bad rap.

“I don’t need “Force Fetch”, my dog retrieves naturally”
The debate about using force fetch in a training program is on-going, but does everyone truly understand what force fetch is? A term that is starting to be used more and more is “conditioned retrieve”, which has a softer context than the word “force”. Either way, we are teaching a dog to retrieve on command by learning how to accept pressure, and turn off pressure with a desired behavior. One thing that most do not realize is that this is only the surface level definition of this training step. Force fetch is about more than a dog retrieving a bird to hand. This step in training, if done correctly and the trainer reads the dog accurately, teaches a dog how to take pressure and learn from it. Initially a dog will fight the pressure and of course be confused. If the trainer does this correctly, the process is simplified so that a dog is not confused, but is shown how to be successful and “turn off” the pressure. This concept then carries into the rest of the training progression far beyond the basic ability to retrieve.

As a retriever trainer, the force fetch process is actually the beginning of handling and running blind retrieves. The concept of retrieving to hand is of course part of the goal, but not the ONLY goal. For pointing breeds, the same can hold true. Not only can we teach our dogs to retrieve a bird to hand deliberately and promptly, but the dog now has been taught how to learn from pressure. Pressure can come verbally, from training aids such as leads, check chords, collars or e-collars. When a dog has learned how to take pressure and learn along with it, then we are able to achieve more in our training process often resulting in better performance. Even a dog that retrieves naturally stands to gain with the “force fetch” (or conditioned retrieve) process.

There are not enough pages in this magazine to cover all the myths out there regarding our hunting dogs. These “half-truths” may have originated with someone’s real life experience, but like many generalizations, one specific experience cannot always be true for all others! Nonetheless this topic was fun for me to hear some of the beliefs still circulating today around this sport, specifically caring for and training our hunting dogs. I hope some of these basic explanations help debunk these myths.