Flushing Birds for Your Dog

Last week I was explaining to a training buddy how to flush birds for her dog. As we were talking, I realized that as trainers, we are constantly adapting to each situation—both the dog situation and bird situation—and that makes for a myriad of flushing situations. Flushing in front of young pups is different than flushing in front of older pups. There is flushing for green-broke dogs versus broke dogs, birds in launchers versus planted birds or wild birds. How you flush can help your dog or hurt him, and while an entire book could be written on this topic, for now, here are a few tips:

1) Try not to flush birds for young pups. If your pup points, wait and see if he is bold enough to flush the bird himself. You want to build boldness in your pup around birds, and it begins here. By waiting, you give the bird a chance to move around, thereby allowing the pup to be tempted into getting closer and eventually making it fly. As pups get older and start holding point, do not mess around. Get up there and flush. Also, be careful how you approach the bird. If you walk in alongside your pup, your approach may act as a cue for him to go with you. Instead, make a half-circle around your pup, which encourages him to remain standing. Whenever possible, try to position yourself so you are already in front of him; this way, you can flush toward him. Being in front encourages him to hold point and discourages creeping.

2) During the steadying process, you want to do everything you can to encourage your dog to stand still. If you are working with launchers, you don’t need to walk all the way to the launcher. Once you are in front of your dog, you can launch the bird. Again, try to avoid walking in alongside him. It’s important to act calm whether you feel that way or not. If you are using releasers, you may have to walk farther to make the bird flush. Once your dog becomes steadier, you want to challenge him to remain standing by taking longer to put the bird in the air.

3) Once you move to loose quail, flushing requires more skill. Often you do not know where the bird is located, and you may find yourself longing for the control that the launcher releases gave you. Making the bird fly becomes a challenge, and sometimes you have to calmly walk a running bird away from your dog, and on occasion throw your hat to make it fly. Probably the biggest challenge at this stage is determining when to walk in front of your dog. A lot of dogs point and then begin to creep. Here is where the art of reading your dog’s intentions is so important. If your dog points but starts to creep as you approach, you may want to step back and see if he continues to creep. If he stops once you step back, he may move forward when you step forward again. Tapping him on the head and asking him to relocate may encourage him to remain standing, or, better yet, encourage him to pounce so you can get a good correction once the bird is in the air.

4) Having good flying quail and planting them in loose cover so they can escape if your dog pressures them are both critical ingredients for success. Murphy’s Law is always at work, and the dog with the problem is usually the dog that has the bad-luck bird work. Ideally, birds should flush as you walk in. If you have been stomping around and cannot produce a bird, it may make more sense to gently pick up your dog and carry him back a short distance before taking him on rather than relocating him into a quail that has buried itself in the grass. Picking up your dog may also be called for when the bird allows the dog to get too close. In other words, some situations are better avoided when you know they will likely end in your dog catching the bird.

5) If you have the opportunity to train on wild birds, make a small half-circle in front of your dog and then walk straight forward in the direction he is pointing. You want to be calm but aggressive, because these birds may be running. If nothing gets up, birds may be sitting tight. Walk back to your dog and then walk forward again, but this time walk more slowly and in a zigzag pattern.

Flushing is a difficult skill to learn. It really is more complicated than it appears, and takes a lot of experience on your part. If you pay close attention to each situation and try to learn from it, you will help your dog become steady. Dog training is a two-way street; both you and your dog have to learn so that together, you can help each other.

Before the Workout

Taking a little time before the workout begins can help set your dog up for success in the training field. What am I talking about? Dogs have to be in a submissive state to learn, and there is a short period of time once you arrive at the training field that can be used to help your dog get into the right frame of mind.

When I arrive at the training field, I have a routine. The first thing I do is put the dogs on a stakeout chain. This chain restrains their movements and requires them to submit. I get my equipment ready, plant birds, and by the time I return, the dogs are focusing on me and eager to go.

Next, I get the pinch-collar and check-cord and select a dog to work. I hold the pinch-collar in a vertical position in front of the dog’s head as an invitation to put his head through the opening. Right there the dog’s reaction tells me how he is feeling. Some dogs can hardly wait to put their heads through the opening, and I see this reaction as a willingness to learn. Other dogs purposely avoid the opening by dodging their heads from one side of the pinch-collar to the other; this reaction tells me the dog thinks he is the leader. If he continues to refuse this invitation, I gently nudge him with my knee in a dominant way. Usually a nudge is all it takes for him to comply and put his head through. Next, I unhook him from the chain and walk a short distance before asking him to stop with an upward tug of the pinch-collar. Once stopped, I straddle him and hold him between my legs to put the e-collar around his neck. Straddling a dog lets him know I am the leader.

If you think about it, maybe fifteen minutes have passed, and I did three simple things before the workout began to help the dog get into the right frame of mind: First, I put him on the stakeout chain. (A crate also works, because it confines the dog and requires him to submit.) Second, I asked him to put his head through the pinch-collar. Third, I straddled him to put on the e-collar. All three actions let him know that I am the leader. While these actions may seem minor, in a dog’s world, once he becomes the follower, he is ready to learn.

The next time you train with a pro trainer, pay close attention to his routine before the workout. Often, this routine is so subtle it is easily missed. You will learn that by taking a little time before the workout begins, you can increase the odds of having success in the training field.

It's a Nothing

Ever hear the expression, “It’s a nothing”? Ever wonder what it means, and why it’s an important concept in dog training? Basically a nothing is something a dog does that you choose to ignore. In other words, you don’t correct him and you don’t praise him; you act as if it never even happened.

I first heard Dave Walker use this term in the early 1990s. Dave had flown to Pennsylvania to do a seminar, after which Dave and I had kicked back and relaxed around a picnic table. I had an eight-week-old pup with me. He had found a dead quail and was lying under the table eating it. Feeling a little self-conscious about what to do, I glanced at Dave. He was watching the pup too.

“So, what would you do?” I asked, pointing at the pup.

“Nothing,” he replied. “It’s a nothing.”

Dave went on to explain that if I took the bird away from the pup, the pup would remember, and next time he might be less willing to bring me a bird. On the other hand, if I praised him, I was sending him a message that would be a contradiction once the steadying process began. By treating it as a nothing and ignoring him, I kept myself from being involved and sending the pup mixed messages.

Over the years I have thought a lot about this exchange, and the concept of a nothing continues to help me in training. Just the other day one of my training buddies missed an e-collar correction when her dog broke at the shot. She felt badly and asked me what she should do. I told her to treat it like a nothing, which is just what she did. She did not dwell on it or feel frustrated. Instead, she stayed calm and ignored what her dog had done. She moved quickly to the next setup, and this time her hand was on the transmitter and she was ready to correct him if he broke when she fired the blank gun.

I asked Maurice Lindley, who trained with Bill West, if he was familiar with nothings. He said he knew all about them. “I think it takes people a long time to understand that most stuff is just not that important,” Maurice said. “If a little mistake happens, they worry that they’re ruining their dogs. Bill West said that most people think if a dog catches a bird, it will set him back thirty days. Bill said it usually just sets him back one workout—maybe two. Bill knew the dog would try to catch a bird in the next workout, and if so, he’d be ready to make a correction the dog would understand.”

So many times things happen in training that we cannot control. There are missed corrections, unusual situations, and times when we simply don’t have a clue what to do. By not making a big deal out of these events, we avoid getting upset, or worrying about whether we should correct or praise the dog. By ignoring what the dog did and staying calm, we can move directly to the next setup, knowing that the dog will most likely do it again, and this time we’ll be prepared. To quote Maurice again, “Training dogs is so much nicer when you can stay calm.”

Creeping

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. 

Teaching a Young Dog to Come to You

An easy way to get a dog to come to you is to ask him to go with you. The best time to begin is when your dog is young. At about five months old, you may notice that your pup is harder to pick up after a run. Your pup used to always come to you when you called him, but now he doesn’t want to come to you at all. This is a normal stage in your pup’s development, when he learns to become independent from his dam.

When your pup reaches this independent stage, try to avoid calling him to you if you know he’s not going to respond. If you do, you are teaching him not to listen. Instead, ask him to go with you. Turn and start walking in a new direction. He doesn’t want to be left behind or miss anything, so when he sees you leaving, he will run to get in front of you. As he gets close, turn toward him, bend down, and call his name. If your timing is right, he should almost run right into you. Pet him up and let him know how happy you are with his behavior. You are working with his instinct to be in front, and at the same time, you’re building cooperation.

As your pup matures, there may come a time when he no longer wants to go with you. At this stage, you need to stop running him until you introduce the e-collar, so you can stay in control. Once the e-collar has been introduced, try to avoid the temptation to use it to make him come to you. It’s easy to make a dog come to you with an e-collar, but the dog will always resent it. Instead, ask him to go with you, and if he refuses, use the e-collar to ask him to bend and go with you. It’s all right to use the e-collar in this situation, because your dog was bred to be in front; he’s not going to resent it because you are asking him to do what he was already bred to do.

As he runs to catch up, bend down and call him. You will find him becoming more and more cooperative, and eventually you will be able to call him to you when he is farther away, and he will come running. By going slowly and working with your dog’s instincts, you are building cooperation, and you and your dog are becoming a team.