Correcting your pointing dog from breaking can be easily fixed.
Maybe it’s as simple as stepping back in your training program and reenforcing the basic fundamentals.
Here are some simple training exercises to correct your pointing dog from breaking on wild flushes and gun fire.
Train with planted birds or pigeon poles:
- Once your dog encounters scent STOP your dog and enforce “standing with no movement.”
- Allow your dog to hold point.
- Remove your dog with “leave it’ command.
- Repeat this exercise until your dog is rock solid.
Adding distractions to the above exercise:
- Kicking bushes, walking around in front of your dog, etc.
- Allow your dog to stand for a longer time (2 min or so) – try to trick your dog too move but do not over do this. The goal here is to simply correct movement with as little pressure as possible. For best results you need to anticipate movement and correct it before it happens.
- Using bird launchers to release multiple birds and blank fire the flushes.
- If your dog moves correct it immediately.
- Adding gun fire (blank or live) is fine as long as your dog is rock solid while standing on birds with NO movement.
- Repeat exercise until your dog stands without moving.
Next I’d recommend progressing to a large open field for training:
- Simulate wild bird hunting as much as possible.
- Planting (seeding) birds and allowing your dog to hunt.
- Watch your dog and make sure when your dog STOPS it’s on scent.
- Shoot at different distances and correct your dog if there’s movement.
- Release your dog to retrieve.
- Correct any bad habits.
You need to be consistent in correcting your dog:
- Your dog needs to understand “NOT TO MOVE!” When it shouldn’t be moving.
- Don’t reward your dog unless the exercises you are leading is performed correctly.
This tune-up training should go quickly on a broke pointing dog.
These exercises are used in our training program, if you would like to learn more drop us a line AZPointingDog, LLC
Breaking Bad