Field Vocabulary: The Commands we give our Dog

Field Vocabulary: The Commands we give our Dog

By Ryan Eder

It dawned on me a few weeks back that situations arise in the field where we begin asking our dogs to do things that we may not focus on during offseason training. I was out of my layout blind, running the dog on a few blind retrieves. Fortunately, we were getting into the mallard ducks and had shot quite a few birds out of a big group. As I was handling my dog, another group of birds began to work our spread. Without even thinking about it, I got down on the ground face first to try and minimize my visibility to the ducks. I remember telling my dog to come HERE, and get DOWN. Luckily, he is a six year old veteran hunting dog who has been in similar situations, and he obliged rather well. He laid right next to me as a group of ducks worked our spread and eventually came in to be shot.

While I was happy with my dog’s compliance, I couldn’t help but think of all the people who spend the offseason training their dogs on the basics, and do not think about the “subtle” commands they will need their dog to understand come hunting season. I’d like to examine some of the basic vocabulary we use in the field, but also some additional commands that are easy to integrate into training so that on game day our dogs are able to perform.

Sit
Let’s start with the most basic command of all; SIT. As a trainer, a client will often say “my dog already knows how to sit”. Almost every time, I disagree. A dog sitting on lead when told is a great start, but we all know that we need our dog to sit through commotion and distraction in the field. Do not let anyone tell you different; SIT is probably the most important command for any waterfowl dog. We do not want dogs that break on gunfire or during times where the group is calling excessively to working birds. We also want dogs that can be told to sit anywhere in the field and remain there. Earlier I mentioned birds coming in as we were making retrieves. I was able to get my dog under control and not disrupt the hunt. Work on the sit command often, and challenge your dog to remain steady. You decide when they can leave the sit position, not them!

Mark
Like most waterfowl dog owners, we practice marking more than anything. Whether we throw the marks ourselves, have friends help or use electronic launchers to assist. Marking is the act of watching birds (or dummies) fall and going to pick them up accurately and quickly. Ideally we would like to see the dog take a straight line to the bird, and straight line back. When we work on marking, it is important to tell our dog to “mark” when they hear duck calls and/or watch birds and dummies be thrown. This will quickly teach our dog that when we say to mark, they will look out ahead anticipating seeing something fall. You would be truly amazed how overlooked this is; people will go hunting with their dog and wonder why the dog isn’t looking when birds get shot! Keep in mind, it is important to “practice how you play”. There is no bird boy or launcher out in the marsh during a hunt giving an indicator “quack” sound to get the dogs attention before a duck falls. You will also likely be shooting very close to the dog, versus in training where the shot may be coming from the launcher or bird thrower (via starter pistol). It is important to shoot the gun during training (use field trial blank shells), and still use the command “mark”. Dogs looking out during the action of a hunt will increase your marking success, and bring more birds into the boat or blind!

Quiet
Once our dog can sit reliably, and mark fallen birds, we are doing swell; but there is one more command that everyone should practice and develop: QUIET. In many cases, we begin teaching this the day our puppy comes home during crate training. Often times as we develop our dogs and demand steadiness, it is not uncommon to have a dog become more vocal as a result. Some dogs have a lot of energy, and as we restrict that energy physically by demanding steadiness and minimal movement in the blind, or in training, the dog may compensate by releasing energy vocally. Nothing can be more annoying and disruptive on a hunt that a loud, whiny dog! We want to be able to grab their snout and tell them NO, be QUIET! You can also use light e-collar stimulation (nick) along with the quiet command. Most dogs pick up on this quickly, but if you develop the command and introduce it early, your commands will be more effective in the field.

I hope that these subtle commands are now on your radar, and that their value is understood. These commands are easy to forget as we focus on basic obedience, collar conditioning, trained retrieve, basic handling and marking. As they always say, it’s the attention to little details that make a big difference!