One
of the hardest aspects of training pointing dogs is gaining the ability to read
the dog. You have to think like a doctor diagnosing a patient. You don’t want
to be distracted by symptoms; rather, you want to figure out the problem. A
great example is a dog that establishes point and then begins to creep. Many
trainers correct the dog for creeping. However, creeping is merely a symptom.
The real problem is that the dog still wants to chase the bird. Maurice Lindley
sums up the situation this way: “Most people start correcting the dog for
creeping, which is wrong. The correction should be for chasing. Once the chase
is gone, creeping won’t be an issue.”
I have been steadying two young dogs on quail in releasers
this fall, after foundation work on pigeons. Each dog is handling quail
differently. The male points the releaser, and when I flush the bird, he
sometimes chases like a pup. Dogs like him are easy to work because anytime he
chases, I use the e-collar to take away the chase.
The female is a different story. She points and then starts
to creep. If I take a step, she takes a step. If I tap her to move up, she will
not move. Trying to stop this type of creeping will have you pulling your hair
out. The only way to really fix the problem is to set up a situation where the
dog chases. You need good flying quail that get up when pressured by the dog.
I found some ragweed cover in my training field open enough
so that birds could run, but high enough so that they stayed in the area. I
tossed down a couple of dizzied birds and waited about thirty minutes. When I
brought the female into the area, she made game. She knew birds were running,
and it got her excited. She knocked two birds in a row, chasing both, and I
corrected her with the e-collar. It will take a few more corrections to get her
right, but by focusing on the problem (chasing) and ignoring the symptoms
(creeping), I am well on my way to having a stylish little bird dog that will
make me proud.
