Introduction
People hunt birds and other insects, it’s hard to find and bring them in the field or wood.
With the help of gun dog training, hunters find the prey they hit on their own. A well-trained dog reduces the time and useless work for hunters.
There are many dogs breed that help hunter to perform in such conditions and you cannot find or train any other dog for hunting.
This dog training could start with your puppy’s regular obedience training, correcting the wrong behavior and bad habits.
In this article, you will get motivation and expert tips for hunting dog training.
Basic Obedience Training
You can start with your dog basic obedience training, in this training program, you can teach them to sit down, stand up and stay.
After every session, you need to reward your puppy with a favorite thing like food or any playing toy.
The first thing your puppy must know is their name and it is easy, you need to call your puppy’s name repletely, dogs are smart and can understand names.
Another thing you can teach your puppy or pet the word “No” when your puppy will hear this, he will understand no means “stop”.
Practice with your dogs this instruction and your dog will start to obey your instructions and after that, you can move to advanced obedience dog training.
Importance of Diet Plan and Exercise in Gun Dog Training
Just like humans, dogs also required exercise to perform any task with efficiency and with more focus, if you want your doggy to be a master in gun dog training.
Regular basis exercise keeps your dog healthy and stays away from different dog disease, also give your dog great shape.
For example, your dog can Walking/Jogging/Running in the morning or evening time and make sure you go to the park or open field.
Swimming could be another best exercise option for dogs and very beneficial for the heart.
Now, let’s talk about a diet plan after a good workout it’s time for proper nutrition for your dog.
Dogs have higher protein requirements than humans; lots of meat, offal, and bones you can add to your dog’s diet.
Avoid including much amount of sugar and fat, it can be a cause of diabetics and overweight.
Regular basis exercises keep your dog’s behavior positive and your dog always follow your command actively.
Outdoor Training
Training the dogs outdoor is a necessary part of gun dog training, basic obedient commands will help you to control your dog in outdoor distraction.
The best dog device we all know is a tennis ball for dogs and they can play with this for hours, the best thing about a tennis launcher is, it can be going high as 200 feet and motivate your dog to go after the ball with maximum speed.
You can improve agility and alertness by launching a tennis ball your dog is familiar with and you can target short, mid to long-range.
This will expand their response level in different survival scenarios and you can launch the ball at its maximum speed in bushy or forestry areas to train his eager sense of smell in locating the ball.
This method will allow the dog to improve their hunting ability.
Indoor Training
There are different beliefs about the living of a capable dog inside the house or in the dog house out in the yard.
It does not matter that a dog lives in out yard but allow him to inside the house when you are around there.
You can take it as that a dog gets more attention when he is a puppy and when we get detach him from yourself and put him out in the yard in the dog house he will miss that attention.
Command plays an important role in training, a dog will do the same as you teach him while giving training with your command.
Likewise, when you start to call your dog name it gives more attention to your word and makes him alert that you’re going to say something
When you usually give attention to a dog he starts to do something that will please you. It fills your dog with enthusiasm when you allow him to play with children.
It’s not a kind of exercise but it makes you and your dog’s day enjoyable and will also lead to building up a strong relationship between you and your dog.
While training your dog keep in mind that when you bring a dog into the house give him the proper communication instruction where to sit or where to no, if you don’t do that it allows him to wander on your favorite carpet and bed also.
You can teach them this instruction under obedience training.
Dogs start to turn in a circle after feeding then you should understand that after feeding he needs to relieve himself on that time you can bring him out from the house these are the part of your training at home. It’s a good idea to give him a command at that time.
Gun Dog Training Supplies
Some dog owners face challenges while thinking about gun dog training supplies. But to create the best gun dog, it’s necessary to start early and with correct dog supplies.
There are lots of training supplies you must need in training. Let’s not waste time and dive in:
Dummies and Bumpers: This is the best tool while training in the field with a dog. These dummies are available in a variety of different sizes, shapes, and colors. Your dog won’t be able to know the difference between these dummies and real-bird. Dummies manufacturers inject bird odor in these dummies which feel like a real bird. These can be float in water easily and made with form (soft).
Dog collar: We will talk today about e-collar; the best thing about a dog collar you can communicate with your puppy from a distance. In modern e-collar, you will get multiple levels of stimulation. The most common stimulation levels are beep and vibration. E-collars are made of modern technology and they are waterproof also. So, you can train your dog in the water.
Whistle: This is used to communicate with your puppy in the field. But your dog should know how to respond to the whistle. It’s a part of basic obedience training like other commands sit, heel, stay, stop and come. The two most common commands are used with the whistle Sit and Come. The advantage of the whistle, it’s sounds far than the human voice and gives your puppy a definitive command.
Leash: You are training your puppy as obedience or gun dog or any other training, leash is required everywhere. If you are buying a dog leash the first time, please buy a 20-30 feel leash. It will help you a lot in control of your dog. A leash is very useful, you can take your canine to the park in the evening time. A long leash is helpful to control your puppy in the field.
Gun Dog Training Commands
Sit Command: Make sure you have a piece of meat or kibble handy when teaching this command. Slowly move the treat near your puppy’s nose to grab all the attention. Keep moving to treat slow and give the command ‘Sit’ and once your dog responds correctly: give him that piece of meat or kibble. Repeat this exercise until your dog understands what you want to teach him.
Stay or Stop: Take your dog to a familiar and undistracted place, now give attention to your canine. Make him sit with treat slowly moving near his nose. Once he sits down, now wait for some time before giving him that piece of treat. Attention: add here some verbal commands to make your dog understand clear “Stay or Stop”. Once he/she follows the command give him/her a treat and repeat this; until he/she knows what you want him to do.
Come: This command is generally used when your dog is in an open field or wooden area. And your canine is too far away from you. Dog handlers use whistles to call the puppy back. It looks very simple but believe me it’s not. Come command use when dog going on traffic road, chewing poisonous stuff, etc. Use your pooch favorite treats when you call him back.
Gun Dog Training For Beginners
The first question in your mind will have, what age should you start gun dog training? And the answer is seven to eight months is fine.
Till the age of seven to eight months, puppy devolves their hearing well. Start your puppy’s training with basic obedience.
Basic obedience is a repetitive training technique that becomes a habit after a period of time. Few training commands are as follow:
Heel
- You are going to need some piece of meat or your puppy’s favorite food.
- Call your dog by his name point him to that side you want him to walk.
- Once your dog comes to that side, say ‘yes’ then reward him with those pieces of meat. Walk with your dog to a spacious room or backyard.
- Repeat this couple of times and stop pointing him to the side. You will notice after a time he will walk beside you.
Sit
- Hold a piece of treat near your dog’s nose.
- Slowly move that treat over his head and his head will follow the treat. He will sit on the ground while watching the treat.
- Once he will be in a sitting position, reward him that treat and by saying ‘Good Boy’.
- Repeat this until your empty hand becomes a signal to your puppy.
For more commands, you can read our article: How To Teach Dog Obedience Training Online At Home in 30 Days.
How do you start gun dog training?
We explained some techniques which you must try, you can start your gun dog training with basic obedient training sessions.
With regular exercise and a good diet, your puppy will be healthy and will learn faster. Whistle training and hand signals training will help your puppy to recognize the voice and signals of hands to show what needs to do what need don’t.
Whistle training
Most of the trainers ignore this process but it is as important as the other part of the training. Without a whistle command, dog training is worthless, sometimes you just need to blow the whistle to give direction to your dog to perform the desired task. You can efficiently control your dog from a long distance with the help of a whistle without scaring off the prey.
Whistles have a higher frequency than human voice and dogs can hear this easily, there are many types of whistles in the market available today.
Not only the whistle will work, but your voice command also gives an impact on the training. You can use the command this way with the whistle for the various functions in the training.
1 . First you can use the ‘this way’ command with the blast of a whistle to instruct your dog where to move while training is going on.
2. Secondly you can use this command to give direction to your dog .e.g; if you are teaching your dog how to run through the cave or how to reach the desired destination you can give him orders like come along ‘this way’ and then blow the whistle.
3. Third, this will help you a lot in bird dog training. To reach the desired blind fall point where the dog has to hunt the dead bird. Command the dog this way with a blast of the whistle and he will follow your order and get the dead bird.
You can train your pet to back return with whistles noise no matter what the situation is?
To recall your puppy with whistle noise is easier because they are scared of roaming long distances away, it will be a positive experience for your puppy.
You can use your handclap with a high whistle pitch to grab the attention of your pet. You can teach your dog with whistles commands to sit at a distance or send your dog in a different direction, these commands depend on you.
Gun Dog Training Products You Must Have
- Bed: After having a hard day of workout on the ground, give a suitable bed to your dog where he can relax by sleeping. It will be a treat for him which unwinds all of his fatigue.
- Toys: All of the dogs deserve some time to get relax and can play with toys, gun dogs are not different from others. Whether you have a big or small dog to train every dog needs to have some fun with toys. You can put some toys in your house and as well as in your car so that your dog can play when you bring him out on a tour.
- Books/videos: There are many dog training books available in the market, you can choose as per your choice they will help you to get a better result in training and if you are a person who learns more and efficiently by watching another person so you can use DVDs and many video training session to train your dog efficiently.
- Dummies: The use of a dummy is a good idea, if your dog is not following your commands and gets lazier in his training then with the use of a dummy in the ground you can make the training more enjoyable.
- Appropriate Vessels: A gun dog needs appropriate food after having a lot of hard work on the field .feed your dog in a proper bowl this will help him to eat accurately and keep him hydrated. You can use different bowls for food & water.
- Grooming Products: A long day of hard work in the field absolutely in the mud & dust also makes him dirty and no one likes a sloppy dog. So you look after him & need different types of brushes to keep your dog clean. Your dog will also enjoy this.
- Check Cords & Ropes: If you want to train your dog like a pro then you need to check cords & ropes to command your dog. These will help your dog to understand your command easily.
Conclusion: Gun dog training is the most adorable sport for hunter and dog helps them a lot. If you read this article means you understand how you can train your dog on your own. Obedience training with some specific exercise makes your dog active. Your dog will start to follow your commands if you consistently train your puppy.
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