Pine Shadows
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by
Mark Haglin from Fall 2003 On hunting trips we all seem to be prepared for ourselves with snack foods,
and drinks for us, first aid kit, shotguns, boots, shells etc all the things
we need for our hunting trip but what we sometimes forget is things for our
dogs besides the basics of water and food.
We have what we call the Dog Duffle Bag. In this bag we have the needed things for
the dog on any given hunting trip whether it is we on the trip or someone
leasing one of our dogs for a weekend trip.
This bag contains a leash, dog food bowl, water bowl, eye wash squirt
bottle, small bag of dog food, pliers for the porcupine quills, vet wrap for
sprains or broken bones standard dog first aid kit, and the all important
skunk kit. In the bag also is a dog toe nail cutters in case a dog tears a nail, a
slicker brush for getting the burrs out of the dog’s coat, a spray can of PAM
to use on the dog when he gets into serious burrs and boot jacks, (this makes
the hair slick and it is easier to rake out the burrs and boot jacks). One of
the little things in the kit that is a bonus but takes a bit of searching is
to get a list of the local veterinary clinics in towns close to where you are
hunting. We do several hunting trips in Get this bag together well before the first hunting trip, label it, and
it will be ready to go. On our hunting
trips we make one of these up for the big dog trailer, the smaller dog
trailer and a couple extra for the vehicles depending on what type of hunting
we are doing and what rig is being used.
A little advanced planning will make your dogs hunting trip an
enjoyable outing for him plus put your mind at ease when emergencies come
up. "Steady
Dog for Hunting?" By Mark Haglin from Winter 1999 The pros and cons of a steady gun dog in the field is a constant debate. This fall we had the opportunity to hunt over two of our retired field trial dogs. Susie and Katie are both steady to flush, listen obediently to all commands and truly a joy to hunt over. Grant, Morgan and I were in a North Dakota CRP field with prairie grass about knee high. Both Susie and Katie were quartering back and forth in front of us. Susie was trailing out a runner and put it up. Katie saw the flush and both dogs sat down, the bird was shot and Susie was sent on the retrieve. Katie watched all this and was content, she did not break trying to steal Susie’s bird. We continued on in the field and soon Katie had a bird going. As she trailed it down the field, she started to get too far out. With one pip on the whistle she sat and waited for us to get close to her, and I sent her on. She trailed the bird another ten yards, flushed a hen and hupped. No shot was fired and I cast her off to continue hunting. The advantages of her steadiness were the control on the hen pheasant, no arguing over which dog retrieved the rooster and three guys and two dogs hunting a field in perfect harmony. This is why the spaniel field trial is set up with two dogs running a beat with three gunners. This was ideal; however, during most of our hunting we use dogs at various stages of training and most of them are not steady. Even the older dogs that have been steady in training and hunting become unsteady quickly when a young, unsteady dog comes running to make a retrieve that the steady dog just flushed. The advantage of the unsteady dog is on a crippled bird coming down in the middle of a cornfield. The dog can be on his way and actually get a good mark on the fall. There have been a number of situations where a wounded pheasant will set his wings and sail. If a good spaniel is on the mark, the chances of recovering that bird are good. "The disadvantage of an
unsteady dog is the uncontrolled chase after a hen or missed rooster." The biggest disadvantage of an unsteady dog, and we have all been there, is the uncontrolled chase after a hen or missed rooster, flushing more birds down the course and running after everything that flies or moves. This can be fixed with continued training. Many people assume that once a dog knows how to retrieve and stay close the training is done. The question we get after the dog learns to retrieve, quarter and come when called is "what is next?" The steady process is next and if a person continues the training sessions with a dog 9-15 months old the control will be there. The training to flush a bird and come off that bird after it flies away is good enough for most hunting situations as there should be no more wild chases down the field. The training for the steady dog is just a continuation of the yard work and early field work that is done with a pup. I will cover the steady process in the next issue. Our Goal, Your Satisfaction From Fall 2006 We receive many messages and pictures from owners of our
springers. We are very pleased when we get these pictures and the short notes
that come with them. Usually the picture and note is about a successful hunt
that the family or group has had with their Pine Shadows Springer. We have
printed some of these notes in this newsletter not so much as to brag but
instead to humble us in realizing that maybe we are on the right track with
producing a quality hunting dog and more importantly a family dog that will
adapt to all situations, all hunting scenarios and all types of family
personalities. Puppies at Pine Shadows are a special affair. They are treated
with the greatest care and respect because their heritage is our heritage.
Bearing the excellence of Pine Shadows tradition they are expected to
transcend the values and beliefs of our breeding system. We have been producing springers for 30
years now and we have had many positive situations develop because of the
dogs. We also have had not so pleasant situations come up that we believe we
have dealt with fairly and treated the
unsatisfied customer with respect and diligence. In any business it is
impossible to please everyone but here at Pine Shadows we want everyone to
know that we will do whatever is needed to keep a satisfied customer, work
through an unsatisfied customer and resolve any complaints. Producing a
positive relationship through our dogs has been our goal since we started
Pine Shadows. Our heritage spans over
three decades. We are consistently refining our ability to communicate
quality with our English Springer Spaniels, priding ourselves on the
attention, education and personal detail given to every client, employee and
our community. We take responsibility
for the quality of the hunting world, not only for today but for tomorrow. With all due respect to
everyone connected to Pine Shadows through their springers we want to say
Thank You for having trust and faith in us and keeping us humble throughout
the years. "Training
Fields" by Mark Haglin from Fall 1998 Hunting cornfields, sloughs, and hedgerows, that's what a springer does best. However, most of our training involves working the young dogs in a grass field. Training the control into a dog does not start in those typical pheasant covers. When training control you want to have all the variables in your favor. Training in a grass field allows you visual contact at all times and, if needed, a long lead can be attached to the dog for more control. The grasses in our Pine Shadows training fields are switch grass, Indian grass, and a mixture of Brome, Timothy, or Clover. Our fields are planted to produce cover that is conducive to the training stage of the dog. As training progresses, obstacles can be added. The puppy field is a mixture of short grasses, predominately Timothy and June grass. These varieties only grow 12" to 15" tall and turn brown quickly by mid summer. It is ideal for young dogs to have some cover to hide the birds, yet short enough so the dog can see the handler and see what is going on, and dead enough in the heat of the summer to produce a pup that can use his nose, find the birds, and mark well. When the puppy field grows too tall, we strip the field with a mower to provide a path for the dog to run. This also aids in scenting the birds and will not produce a point in the dog that can so easily happen in poor scenting and cover conditions. The control in a young dog starts in this field. All the running around the pup does is set up to go back and forth. The pup can see the handler and see him throw birds into the cover. When the dog gets close to where the bird went down, the light cover allows for a fairly easy find with the use of his nose and eyes. Most of the sessions are done into a head wind that forces the dog to quarter. A dog with a good nose will naturally go perpendicular to the wind. When quartering the dog will check back with you and a signal has to be there. You must give the pup some direction. If there is no command or, inadvertently, the wrong command, the pup will assume you have no clue and pay less and less attention to you. Always give your pup some direction and he will look for it. Direction and control start early in the life of the pup. A pup will come to trust you and work as a team with you if you can stay ahead of the training process. "Exactly
What is Scent" By Mark Haglin from Spring 1999 We all talk about scenting ability in a dog and scenting conditions but exactly what is scent? The best definition that I can come up with is: "That quality of something that can be perceived by the olfactory sense." Scent has been compared to fog, smoke or steam in the way that it dissipates. Molecules in varying numbers make up scent. These molecules can be alone or attached to microscopic particles. Changes in the environment affect scent and its disbursement. How scent is dispersed is more important to dog handlers than what actually is scent. Air that is cool and moist usually provides good scenting conditions. But rain quickly washes away scent. A strong wind will diffuse scent, spreading it all over making it difficult for a dog to pinpoint the source. However, a soft, gentle breeze wafts scent to a high headed bird dog. The combination of hot, dry air, hard ground and gusty winds results in poor scenting conditions. The green cover in spring and summer makes for more scent in the air and more difficult for a dog to sort through all the scent to pick up the bird trail. Bright, sunshiny days usually do not produce good scenting conditions either, but when darkness is settling in and the air is cooling rapidly, scenting conditions get worse which I believe is nature’s way of protecting ground nesting birds. |
“Hunting Preserves” Gun Dogs with
Mark Haglin Winter 2002 As we settle into a more stable training schedule it is time to plan some hunts at the shooting preserves. This is a great time of year to keep your dog sharp and yet work him on real hunting situations by going to a hunting preserve. North and South Dakota still have pheasant seasons open as well as Iowa however if you want to go hunting for a quick trip consider one of the many good local hunting preserves. These preserves are very good for young dogs that need help tracking birds, chasing cripples or learning to grasp a bigger bird. Instead of struggling with a wild rooster who will lead a young dog on a wild goose chase by strictly running all over a section of CRP, the hunting preserve can provide hen pheasants or chukkars for a better hunting experience for the young dog. The hunting preserves offer strong birds that can run but give a young dog a better chance of getting them up in the air. Another plus of hunting at hunting preserves is that you have more control over the outcome and type of cover you want to hunt. If you have a soft dog, somewhat shy of new situations, a controlled situation at a shooting preserve can set up a good training session that still look like a wild bird hunt. Even if you want to travel to the Dakota’s or "Comparing Dog Years" By Sophie Haglin from Winter
2000 The old idea of multiplying a dog’s
years be Seven to get a human equivalency is easy but it isn't accurate. Some
new "equivalencies" have been computed. It is obvious that the
human equivalency years pile on faster during the dog’s first two years of
rapid growth to maturity. These recent comparisons were printed in The Old
Farmer’s 2000 Almanac. At six months of age, a pup is already
the equivalent of a ten-year-old human. A one-year-old pup is the equivalent
of a 15-year human. The dog reaches maturity at 2 years (the equivalent of a
24 year old human). According to the new computations, between 2 years and 13
years, each year for the dog becomes the equivalent of four human years. Ten "dog years" equal 56
human year, 11 dog - years equals 60 human years. A 12-year-old dog - years
equals 64 human years. After 13 years of age, the "dog years" slow
down to just 2 ½ human years. By age 14 the dog’s equivalency-age is 70 ½ in
human years. "What
Is A Field Trial" by Mark Haglin from Spring 1998 Many of you have heard of "field trials" before and have heard us talk about field trials with our springers. AKC licenses dog clubs to hold AKC Field Trials to earn titles for dogs. Titles include Field Champion and Amateur Field Champion. These field trials for springers are the closest of the dog trials that emulate an actual hunt. Birds are planted (placed in the field ahead of time). Two dogs, each with handler and judge, hunt down the course with three gunners, one in the center and one on each wing. The dog is judged on his performance. Attend a trial this spring (see Events, page 2) to enjoy what a well-trained springer can do. You could also bring your dog to one the several Club Training Days offered at Pine Shadows this spring and summer. The first of these will be conducted in late May. Pine Shadows offers professional handling of field trial springers. "Free
Time For a Dog" By Mark Haglin from Summer 1999 Free Time for a dog - - adjusting your training schedule and fighting the guilt. The guilt feeling one gets when keeping a dog in a small cage at night or while traveling or even when they are in a kennel run all day can be hard to cope with. This feeling of guilt only goes one way because the dog is just happy to see you no matter your feelings are. The dog does not feel guilty knowing you feel guilty they just use that to their advantage by making you feel more guilty. Consider what is happening in the dog's mind when the dog is in his travel cage or kennel at home vs. what is happening when he is loose in a vehicle or loose in your yard. The kenneled dog soon learns that you control the in and out pass, control his food, control his walks, control his training sessions, control his time of having fun and generally control his life. The dog that is loose in the vehicle or yard soon learns that he controls his free time, he controls his walks, he controls his training time, he controls his fun time and generally he controls his own life. Is this what you want in your hunting buddy? The key word here is "Control" When training a dog you need to determine who do you want to have controlling your dog. You or the dog? Any time you spend with the dog will be valuable time if the pup knows you control the situation. They look forward to the sessions with you or anyone who works with them. Maybe you think "Control" means to be too strict on them. That is not the case Control means when you give a command you can enforce it and the dog obeys it. You can give the command to let the dog have some play time by releasing him from the hup or stay commands. We have 4 - 5 dogs that regularly come down to the house each evening with us and at the end of the day those dogs come out of the building, all put on a hup by the gold cart then Sophie will run then around the field with the golf cart. To them this is playtime but we have told them that this is OK to do. We allow them this exercise and the run with the golf cart. They are just happy to be with us. Control is the key and establish that early in the life of the dog and dissipate your guilt feelings into good times every time you are out with the dog. "Blinking
Dogs?" By Mark Haglin from Spring 2000 When a bird dog "blinks birds" it shows an attempt to acknowledge the presence of the game birds. It’s obvious to an experienced handler that the dog scents birds but tries his best to remove himself from the immediate area. "Blinking" is a trait that is difficult to cure. First, it’s necessary to identify and correct the cause of the blinking. Some dogs may have suffered a bad experience during the early retrieving lessons or improper introduction to the live birds or the different kinds of birds. Bird strong roosters for a first bird on a young dog is not good. Sometimes improper punishment or unpleasant gun sounds may make the dog associate bad things with the bird and develop blinking. I see this in some trial dogs that have been over trained on their steadiness and the dog chooses to ignore the birds and just go on about quartering and not bothering to flush birds. A ‘blinker" is difficult to get straightened-out. One of the ways is to temporarily remove bird work from the training schedule. For a short time, the trainer should concentrate on all "positive experience" training that restores confidence. Try to provide as much praise as possible with little punishment. When reintroducing the dog to birds, make those first experiences fun. Make the new start with weak pigeons and low flying birds. You might even have to allow and encourage some wild flushes and chases on these low flying birds. Then gradually introduce some enjoyable controlled bird work and gunfire. Simultaneously, offer an abundance of enthusiastic praise. Remember that you have to establish and analyze the cause of the blinking. Once you know the cause, you can come up with methods to cure the dog’s temptation to avoid whatever unpleasant experience is associated with gamebirds. "Gun
Dogs" By Mark Haglin from Spring 2000 Dog Training results at the
speed of light. How to achieve them in three short lessons! Now wouldn’t that be a great title for a dog training book or video? You could pick out a pup, grow it for 6 months give lesson # 1 on come and hup; grow the pup 6 more months give it lesson # 2 on range control and retrieve to hand; grow it 6 more months then give lesson # 3 on blind retrieves, calling off missed birds and hand signals. Then enjoy the dog for the rest of its hunting days without any more training. Dog training would be easy, simple and always right on. If you were unsure how to do this three training steps just call your local pro and he would schedule your dog in for those three lessons and "poof" magic would be worked. I think you can see where I am heading with this. Dog growing, training, and learning just doesn’t happen that way. As any one who has ever put a leash on a dog knows, it is by no means automatic. Some dogs catch on very quick to the lessons being taught. We have a young pup now named Tatum who is just a sparkler. She is retrieving clip wing pigeons right to hand from as far as 20 yards away and is just so alert and keyed. Other dogs take time, other dogs take many days of time to achieve simple things but it is a process. Dog training is a process from day one on. Every time the pup is out and about he is being trained. Lessons in dominance, who’s in charge, do I decide to do something or will the boss tell me what do to, How do I get out the door, barking for attention or barking to tell my owner what to do; think about your pup and the things it is telling you and you will soon realize the pup will take charge if allowed. That lesson # 1, come, hup, happens in many little lessons every day. Practice the hup maybe only for 1 second each time but 20 times per day, 180 days and the pup will have hupped 3600 times. Say come when the pup is coming right at you, after a few hundred times when the pup found good things by you, he will come willingly. Tell the pup to kennel every time you put him in a run, five times per day, 180 days and you have lesson # 1 done 900 times. This same philosophy applies to lesson # 2 and lesson # 3. The key to all of this is to know what to do when the pup begins to defy your simple lessons. The lesson is to be in a position to enforce the command. Never give a command unless you are prepared and able to follow through on the command and prepared to offer an alternative and that alternative is what you want the pup to do in the long run. Tell a child to quite running in the house (common problem for young people) then turn away and ignore him and less then ten seconds later the child is back in a gallop. Instead tell a child to quite running around in the house and provide an alternative to channel his attention or better yet provide that challenge so the child never learns to run in the house. Channel the energy and channel the attention of the pup and no problems will develop. There aren’t any problems just training situations. |
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