Hunting Dogs: training to stop the dog

Hunting dog stationary training is an adventure that dog and hunter must experience together. It will consolidate the relationship between the two and make the hunting experience even more exciting and fascinating.

Do not exaggerate those who say that training a dog is an art, and it would be wrong to think that only hunting dogs are trained. In fact, a good owner will train his dog for a pleasant coexistence, even if this was a simple pet. Obviously, the attention and perseverance to train a hunting dog multiply exponentially, requiring commitment on the part of both and an excellent feeling between the two.

A relationship of this type, inaugurated since the animal was a puppy, can only reward both: the hunter will have an excellent hunting dog at his side, the dog can boast of being the perfect assistant, indispensable for his owner. Today we will deal with the training of pointing dogs, the various techniques that characterize it and the timing that distinguishes it from any other training.
The goal that the trainer must never lose sight of is socialization with his dog and the good relationship that this must be able to establish with everything that surrounds him, people, habitat, nature. To achieve this, it is important that the puppy is in contact with as many people, situations and habitats as possible during its first 12 weeks of life. Not even to say it must all be positive experiences, we certainly do not want our dog to be afraid of the countryside, of people or worse still of animals, do we? The experiences that he will be able to accumulate up to the first six months of life will help him, irrevocably determining his character.

Obviously do not neglect your relationship with the animal that you will first have to know like the back of your hand. You will soon become his point of reference, and the training that will come later will be much easier. So do not be afraid to take your pet for a walk in the city, in the countryside, at a friend's house: in this way his experiences will improve considerably and his future approach with the world and the dog will certainly grow more balanced. This is what a good hunting dog needs.
Keeping your pet's health under control is one of the most serious responsibilities you have decided to take on when you have chosen to welcome them into your home. Choose your trusted veterinarian and take the dog for periodic checks, always keep an eye on vaccinations, deworming, the presence of more or less serious and dangerous diseases. Normally the trick is prevention, as we have said several times. The dog accustomed to being controlled by its owner (during the cleaning of the teeth which it is good to accustom the animal to always, or during the control of the ears), will be an animal that will give excellent results in the training phase, as it blindly relies to the attention of your master. Naturally, accustom the animal to a healthy and regular diet based on dry or wet food of your preference.

Once you have created a bond of trust with the animal, you can start directly with the training. Remember that even when you teach your puppy the meaning of "no" to forbid a given action, or "here" to call him back, you are training him. It is therefore good that you reward him with abundant caresses every time he reacts positively to the command. After ten weeks of life you can begin to give the puppy more complex commands such as "sit" or "down". Obviously, do not overdo it by forcing the dog to respond to the command too many times in a row. You could have the opposite effect and bore your puppy who would soon abandon your training dreams. For now, he will only have to understand what those words mean, memorizing them slowly. You can also entertain your dog with the feather game that is well suited to the pointing breed. Tie some bird feathers to a reed and awakening the animal's instinct will be easy by moving them with string. Again, you won't have to overdo it as the game is completely based on sight and not on smell. This toy is well suited to pointing dogs between 12 and 14 weeks.

At this same stage, the instinct to carry over can begin to develop. Like? Using a tennis ball or padded sock. Practice "the game - exercise" in a well-defined place; in this way you will prevent the puppy from escaping with the object it should bring back. Remember not to leave the object of the retrieval to the dog for his game for any reason if you want to consider it a reward.
Another very important element to always keep in mind is that the dog, to respect you and follow your instructions, must consider you his pack leader. Only in that case will she prove to be an obedient assistant, otherwise she will do nothing but prevent you from hunting, making it particularly useless for your hunting activity. This does not necessarily mean being a stern master, but imposing yourself in the role of pack leader. Like? Certainly not by hitting the puppy. The result would only be to scare him. Respect is earned with consistency.

The secret of the training is also the repetition. In fact, your goal is to always obtain the same result, given a certain command. Repeat the same exercise often, being careful not to bore the dog, whose attention is particularly limited. The command must be repeated only once clearly, not several times in sequence and wait for the dog to obey. Perhaps it will not be necessary to say, but the dog does not have a broad vocabulary like that of humans; therefore each command must correspond to a single word, as short and concise as possible. It is useless to get upset and scream when the dog does not grasp a command that is too complex, much better to simplify it.
Furthermore, a good trainer does not have to show that he is in a hurry. You will have to pass to the next level of training only when the dog has perfectly assimilated the previous one. Split up the lessons so that they seem shorter and simpler, you will help your hunting animal a lot. Just to understand, expecting your dog to bring back the game when it has not yet been taught it searches, stops it, correctness in whirling and shotgun shots and retrieving is practically utopia.

One of the most drastic moments for the unprepared dog is the shotgun. In order for your dog not to be frightened by the noise, it is good that you have trained him well through a long preparatory work. Previous work is certainly to allow the animal to become familiar with the animal world and with game in the first place. How to do? Bring your dog to a training camp, there are really a lot of them in every corner of Italy, made available to the hunter by local hunting companies. Once the dog has understood that his goal is to find game, and has become familiar with and love for hunting, only then will he be ready to familiarize himself with the shot of the rifle. Start with a blank pistol and slowly work your way up to the shot with your shotgun. It's all a matter of habit and trust in you.

Your dog will be ready for his first hunt when he responds to a few clear commands and your gestures. Among the most used are the call commands, the go, the back, the seated, the ground and the door. At the call the dog must immediately return to the feet of the master, with the ground command it will have to crouch on the ground with the muzzle facing the direction it had taken, with the go it will have to resume the interrupted action following the direction indicated by the hand of the master. With the command behind the dog he will return to the feet of the master interrupting any action started, with the seated he will have to sit on his hind legs and with the door command he will obviously have to bring back the captured game without damaging it.