Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundog57
For those who say you can't run flushers - particularly labs (I don't have any experience training Springers) with pointy dogs. You're dead wrong.
It comes back to training. If you go by the Bill Hillman philosophy and start out by teaching sit! and then reinforce it in everything that you do, it's quite doable. My last three Labs of the nine I have had so far, would/will, sit on a whistle even while Rusty runs down a corn row in full view. I had to do this because at my advanced age I can't run with the dogs when they get up a full head of steam anymore. I whistle, they sit, I catch up and release them. Eventually the rooster goes up (in range) and the gun goes bang and all other things being equal the rooster goes flop.
Seems to work.
Hunting with my friends' pointy dogs, I make my dogs heel for honour. They trial so they have to know how to honour anyway, this just reinforces things. Sure comes in handy if your rooster folds up on the other side of an irrigation canal.
As for those who have negative things to say about "american" style dogs, or trial dogs.... (Speaking of Labs here)
Trial dogs have to meet several criteria:
1. they have to be physically sound and very athletic
2. they have to love birds
3. they have to have big hearts and lots of boldness - they can't back down from big water
4. they have to be biddable - they have to be able to be trained
5. they have to be sociable - most competitors will not put up with an aggressive dog
I assume that the same goes for other trialling breeds
People have been selectively breeding for these qualities for decades.
Not sure what's not here to like if you are willing to do your part.
|
I didn't read anything negative about American or Trial dogs except for the fact that many of us don't want them.
You asked and answered your own question in your last line.
Everybody would like to have an NHL hockey player or an Olympic athlete for a son or daughter until that alarm clock rings for the thousandth time at 4 AM on your day off and you have to drive across the country for another tournament on the first weekend of the Whitetail rut.
People that enjoy training dogs and especially high performance dogs should by all means find an appropriate bloodline with proven hunt and trial history. There is no more a rewarding pass time but like you say it takes time and commitment.
Unfortunately many of us do not have the time and other commitments make continuous dog work impossible AND we have no interest in making dog training a pass time anyway. If you are a fan of Bill Hillmann you will hear the term conditioning more often than training. Conditioning takes time and can be extremely frustrating. That part is not shown on his you tube videos.
The vast majority of outdoorsmen are weekend warriors. There are 8 to 10 weekends in bird season and then they move on to big game. Some of those weekends are for sharing time with the wife, kids and others so believe it or not, many only get out bird hunting a half dozen times a season. Summer is for camping, family and making up enough brownie points so hunting and fishing is even possible without divorce.
As far as training goes beyond obedience; they throw a few dummies in the local pond and let the animal run around in the field mimicking chasing down birds.
What they need is an awesome family pet that can retrieve and flush a few birds on occasion. This is why the British and English lines are so popular. They love to go for a drive in the truck and a hunt in the bush as much as any dog but are perfectly content with a quick run after work if that is all time allows.