Having fun with your dog is one of the most important aspects to gun dog training. The more fun you have, the more your dog will enjoy training as well. Keep your training sessions simple and short, if you feel yourself getting frustrated stop the lesson.. Sometimes it takes several consecutive days for a dog to “get it” when your starting something new or extending distance. Getting frustrated and “forcing” the training will produce an unreliable dog.
A dog that has been constantly forced will not develop strong confidence and desire. Homer has an insane desire to perform well in training because it’s fun.
Joe
Published on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
Training Homer has been very rewarding for both me and him. We have a very tight bond and work together like a team. Having a dog training “SYSTEM”: has made the training much more fun and productive.
The combination of 4 videos and 1 book by Joseph Middleton is the system I use. Richard Wolters book’s are no doubt some of the best ever published on hunting dog training, but lacked a real system.
The DVD’s produced by Joe take all the proven methods developed by Richard Wolters and created a very easy to follow gun dog training system. I feel I would have ...
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Published on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
It’s been a while since my last post. Homer is doing great, we still train about twice a week to keep him sharp and in shape. I get tons of complements about Homers training every time we’re out, the videos I used are the reason Homer is doing so good. In a previous post I gave a brief description why I use the DVD set I do. I’ll go into a bit more detail with my next few posts.
In 1961 Richard A. Wolters revolutionized hunting dog training with his Water Dog and Game Dog books. Since then many new drills and training aids have made things even easier than Richard could ever have ...
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Published on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007
Now that warm weather is quickly approaching I thought this information would be very helpful. If you are considering giving your dog Gatorade or other sports type drinks to increase stamina in warm weather I hope you find this article helpful. I was seriously thinking of giving Homer Gatorade before I read this, I’m glad I didn’t .
Joe Dynarski
This from the Purina Pro Club Site
Hydration Strategies in Sporting Dogs
Keeping dogs hydrated during sporting events and gun dog training is of critical importance. Research shows that a 44 lb dog that is participating in intense sporting events loses double the amount of water when compared to the same size dog that is not exercising (3000 cc’s ...
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Published on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007
Last years wild quail season was a bust. No Winter rains made for a dismal season. The next best thing is pen-raised Bobwhite’s. Over the weekend Homer and I had a blast with the pen-raised birds. Homer did an exceptional job of holding and marking when the bird “flushed”, (I actually used a launcher). This is one of the last lessons in Homers hunting dog training.
I picked an area typical to where I’d find wild birds. I planted the launcher in a thick bush and had a friend control the pull cord on the launcher. I added about 25 yards of string to the launch cord so Homer would not just head straight for my buddy. Homer had to find the right bush and when he did I raised my arm and the bird was launched.
Because ...
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Published on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007
Homer is doing great on double and triple marks, the double T at 200 yards and he has the swim by down pat. The last few training sessions we have been working on blind retrieves in heavy brush. This part of his hunting dog training is really preparing him for “real” quail hunting here in Arizona.
A hunting dog’s basic instinct is to take the path of least resistance to a dummy. In heavy cover like you see in my photo, Homer try’s to go around each bush on a blind retrieve. The problem with that is, by the time he gets 30 –50 yards out, He’s WAY off the line I gave him, and nowhere near the fall of the bird. The white stakes were useless in this drill because Homer would not be able to see them ...
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Published on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
Here’s a tip for teaching your hunting dog “Line”. Taking a line to a downed bird is started in the Water Dog DVD. With a young dog you want the “blind” easy to see. The point of the lining drills is to get your dog to charge out to the “blind” at full speed. This can only be accomplished if the dog can clearly see the dummy. The dog needs to see where he is going to charge out to it. If you start hiding the blind too soon the dog will wander off line and lolly-gag around confused until he picks up scent.
A couple months ago I started using 3’ wood ...
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Published on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Last night I kind of ran through all my posts. What I noticed is I’m not expressing the most important thing of all in training Homer, hunting dog training IS A LOT OF FUN!!!!!Training him is almost as much fun as hunting. It’s been a real joy to watch him grow from clumsy unsure pup to the confident full blown retriever he is now.
I love the excitement Homer shows when I put on his collar and get the dummies out. I would have missed out on a lot of fun if I had sent Homer to a trainer. Another plus is since I’m Homers hunting ......Click Here to Read More
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Published on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Now that Homer has been through his first year of hunting dog training and a full hunting season I’ve slacked off on his training. He is doing exceptional and now just needs a dog training “tune-up” a couple times a week. On weekends I’ll take him to a large open area and work the “Double T”. The far end of the T is set at 200 yards and sides are 30-50 yards off the main leg. I place 2 bumpers at each point and play dealers choice. This hunting ......Click Here to Read More
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Published on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
Here’s a couple tips for voice commands. Unless you want to be yelling all the time, don’t raise your voice when gun dog training. The command should be a quick “Firm” command but no louder than your normal voice. You don’t need to raise the pitch of your voice either, I’ve seen people try to teach a dog with a high pitch squeaky voice. Your dog will respond fine if you’re consistent with your normal voice. If you’re giving the dog the command SIT and he won’t respond to your normal tone MAKE the dog respond by pushing down on his backside and give the command again.
If you get into the habit of raising your voice if the dog doesn’t respond you’ll soon be getting louder and louder with ...
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Published on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
How can I make this blog better? My passion is helping you train a great hunting retriever. I really want some comments form you on what subjects you would like to see on this site. I’m having such a great time training Homer that I want you to enjoy training your dog as much as enjoy Homer. Please leave your comments, help me help you.
THANKS
Joe Dynarski
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Published on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
When most people think of an electronic training collar they think “Punishment”. In hunting dog training, this could not be further from the truth. In fact using an electronic collar to punish a gun dog will ruin him.
The collar is simply a means of applying “pressure” on a dog to perform a command quickly When done properly the dog will learn how to turn off the pressure by quickly obeying a command.
What is pressure? Pressure is simply making the dog uncomfortable, with slight pain. Ear pinching and toe hitch to teach “Force Fetch” are other examples of putting pressure on the dog. We sit the dog, hold a bumper a foot ...
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Published on Thursday, February 8th, 2007
I’m taking a break from Homers training for a couple posts to talk about what I do to keep him healthy. Homer and I just got back from the Vet, for his yearly vaccinations. Homer gets three “extra” shots every year that our house dog’s don’t need. The first is Lyme disease, the second is Giardia and the third is Rattlesnake.
My Vet highly recommends all three for a working retriever like Homer. The Giardia shot is very important when doing water training. Many of the ponds I train Homer in have a high probability of containing Giardia. It’s a real nasty bug that causes a ton of stomach and intestinal problems. Dog’s get sick when they drink water containing the Giardia bacteria. In rare cases it can be fatal, in most cases its an expensive trip to the Vet for treatment.
According ...
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Published on Thursday, February 8th, 2007
This post is for those who like me, upland hunt in snake country. The Rattlesnake is a huge menace for upland game dog’s early in the season. They are active in the West well into November. Dogs are very curious about the sound the Rattlesnake makes. Very often they will stick their nose right in a snakes face to see what all the ruckus is about, and BAM they get bit.
There are two things you can do to protect your dog if you hunt in snake prone areas. I STRONGLY recommend getting BOTH.
#1 Get your dog PROFESSIONALLY snake proofed. I know this blog is about training your own dog, but this one is better left to a pro. They will put far more ...
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Published on Friday, February 2nd, 2007
I’ve had numerous people ask the question in the headline. Well the simple answer is his dog training techniques WORK!!! For the avid hunter like me, they solve my three biggest problems, lack of time, money and experience. Because of the Wolter’s DVD’s I get a huge amount of compliments about Homer from my hunting partners.
I’ve never had a judge behind me in a hunting blind that said, I’m taking that duck away, the dog did not retrieve it with enough precision and style. At the end of the day all I care about, is that my dog brings back what I shoot. Training a dog to compete in field trials does require way more precise training than a pure hunting dog.
I’m interested in helping the ...
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Published on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
Training Homer has been a lot of fun, but it hasn’t been all peaches and cream. Like you I’m not training hunting dogs for a living or field trials. I just wanted a competent retriever that could be handled to a fall, not go broke or spending all day training him. Being a first time trainer I made mistakes that caused set backs .If you follow the dog training DVD’s I recommend so heavily on this blog, your troubles will be few and far between.
My biggest mistakes came when I tried to jump ahead or extend ...
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