Gun dog training

[Budweiser]

This thread is for anybody that has a gun dog and would like to share or learn about specific training methods that work, certain training equipment and websites that you have found helpful and just general knowledge of hunting dog.

[Budweiser]

I bought a Beagle pup about 5 months ago and now she is ready to start gun training. I am going to get a correction collar I just don't know which one to get. So many choices and varieties I don't know which one would be durable and not break with her going through brush.

The ones that I have picked out so far are these:

http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jhtml?id=0019208617310a&type=product&cmCat=cchart_elec_cllrs

http://www.gundogsupply.com/tritronics-sport-50-g2.html

http://www.gundogsupply.com/trfe901.html

I know she will be in some heavy brush and also very hilly terrain so I figured I better get one with a long range.

What are your thoughts

Reps for help!

[GREENFEATHER]

You need to take the dog through basic obedience first. Even before you do any type of training, he/she needs to know the basics. Then I'm not a big fan of electronic collars. If your dog won't come when called, that's a problem. Benny is a Freedom Bulldog/ Spitz mix and he can be a stubborn little bastard when he doesn't want to do something. But he knows there's an ass beatin' at the end of disobedience!!

[Chipman]

You need to take the dog through basic obedience first. Even before you do any type of training, he/she needs to know the basics. Then I'm not a big fan of electronic collars. If your dog won't come when called, that's a problem. Benny is a Freedom Bulldog/ Spitz mix and he can be a stubborn little bastard when he doesn't want to do something. But he knows there's an ass beatin' at the end of disobedience!!

Amen on the obedience course, I was telling someone the same thing the other day. Not only will the dog be smarter but you will come out smarter..I honestly believe it shoots a dogs IQ way up..It is like they become intuitive so it will take less time to make them understad what you want..

[GREENFEATHER]

Benny is scary smart. If he can't find a way around an obstacle, he goes right over the damned top. You can sense that he is thinking about the problem he is facing, it's kinda creepy when he looks at me, it's kinda like" well, what would you do ?"

[Hartski]

Seriously, about the best thing you can do, is have him hang out with trained gun dogs on hunts and when they practice. The other dogs will teach him.

One of the best cattle dogs I had, I never taught him a thing. My other 2 dogs taught him everything. Even how to shake, sit, stay, ect. It was amazing.

[Budweiser]

It is really crazy how good at escaping Beagles are. She has figured a way to get out of every cage I have put her in. Now I have her in a 12'Lx8'Wx8'H Kennel and she has opened the door on her own! I have put a chain around the latch and so far it has been working.

Back to the original question..I am going to buy a shock collar soon and then I can start to trust her out in the field off of a leash. Should be really fun to see her work and hunt up some rabbits this fall.

[Hartski]

I would never use a shock collar on a dog. I think they make collars that emit a noise instead of a shock, and it works just as well.

[Budweiser]

I would never use a shock collar on a dog. I think they make collars that emit a noise instead of a shock, and it works just as well.
Well when your dog is 200 yards away chasing after a deer a noise is not going to stop them. I know from experience.

[Hartski]

Well when your dog is 200 yards away chasing after a deer a noise is not going to stop them. I know from experience.

It may take longer to train a dog without a shock collar, but he'll be a better dog for it. I've seen quite a few dogs that were trained with a shock collar, and they were pretty skittish, like they were so afraid to screw up and get shocked, they didn't do their job well.

Mind you, I've never had a hunting dog, but I've trained more than my share of cattle dogs.

[Budweiser]

It may take longer to train a dog without a shock collar, but he'll be a better dog for it. I've seen quite a few dogs that were trained with a shock collar, and they were pretty skittish, like they were so afraid to screw up and get shocked, they didn't do their job well.

Mind you, I've never had a hunting dog, but I've trained more than my share of cattle dogs.
It's all in how you use it. If you abuse the collar then you will ruin your dog. You really have to know what you are doing and make damn sure that you read and learn on how to use them. They are not made to use as a punishment to your dog, they are used as a reminder of what they should be doing.

I don't think that just because you don't use one you will have a better dog, you may end up with a dog that does not listen because when he is out there 30 yards away and you call him and he does not come, you have just lost all your athority with the dog. The dog then knows that "hey when I am out here off my leash I can do pretty much whatever I want and there are no consequences to not listening.

I agree with you that if you abuse it then you will ruin your dog. You just need to know what you are doing and read about the product. It can save your dogs life if he is running towards the highway to chase a deer that just ran across. If you dog is in full chase towards something it is their nature to continue the chase and they need to be reminded that you are in charge of them.

[Hartski]

I've never had a dog on a leash, so I've never had a problem with them once they are off the leash. That was one great thing about living in the country. I'll never have a dog if I have to keep it in a kennel or tie it up. As for controlling the dogs when they are in full chase, I've never had a problem with that, either. Being cattle dogs, they were in full chase mode most of the time. And I can't even tell how many times I had the dogs watching gates and critters ran by. My dogs wouldn't move unless I told them to go get the critter.

It's possible I just had really good luck with my dogs. My Blue Heeler was amazing. Every night, he'd go make rounds of our farm and kill any critters that weren't suppossed to be there. Badgers, groundhogs, coons, skunks, ect. and he'd bring them up to the house and set them by the back door to let us know he was on top of things.

I had a registered Black Collie at the same time, and he was a great dog, too. He didn't make the rounds with my Heeler, but he kept things under control around the house and barns. If I opened a gate, he was there watching to make sure no cows got out, and he'd go out to the pastures and round up the cows for morning milking, usually before my Dad was outside.





Damn, all this talk about my dogs is making me sentimental. I sure miss those pups. :(

[Budweiser]

I've never had a dog on a leash, so I've never had a problem with them once they are off the leash. That was one great thing about living in the country. I'll never have a dog if I have to keep it in a kennel or tie it up. As for controlling the dogs when they are in full chase, I've never had a problem with that, either. Being cattle dogs, they were in full chase mode most of the time. And I can't even tell how many times I had the dogs watching gates and critters ran by. My dogs wouldn't move unless I told them to go get the critter.

It's possible I just had really good luck with my dogs. My Blue Heeler was amazing. Every night, he'd go make rounds of our farm and kill any critters that weren't suppossed to be there. Badgers, groundhogs, coons, skunks, ect. and he'd bring them up to the house and set them by the back door to let us know he was on top of things.

I had a registered Black Collie at the same time, and he was a great dog, too. He didn't make the rounds with my Heeler, but he kept things under control around the house and barns. If I opened a gate, he was there watching to make sure no cows got out, and he'd go out to the pastures and round up the cows for morning milking, usually before my Dad was outside.





Damn, all this talk about my dogs is making me sentimental. I sure miss those pups. :(


There is a HUGE differnce when you have a dog that has established "his" territory and you let him run around and make sure that no animals get into his territor; compared to when you take him out of his territory and want him to hunt one specific animal and make sure that he not going places that he shouldn't be.

[Hartski]

There is a HUGE differnce when you have a dog that has established "his" territory and you let him run around and make sure that no animals get into his territor; compared to when you take him out of his territory and want him to hunt one specific animal and make sure that he not going places that he shouldn't be.


Yeah, you're probably right. Like I said, I've never had a hunting dog, so I've not worked with them directly. I just saw how other people's have acted, ect.

[Budweiser]

Yeah, you're probably right. Like I said, I've never had a hunting dog, so I've not worked with them directly. I just saw how other people's have acted, ect.

When you first get a shock collar you should just let the dog wear it whenever you take them on walks or whenever you bring them out on the trail. Keep in mind that you don't actually turn on the unit at all. You just let them get used to it and eventually they will start to get excited when they see the collar, they will associate the collar with a fun activity. If everytime you put the collar on them you use it, then they will associate the collar with pain and they will be scared everytime they have it on. Especially if the owner abuses the power.

[Hartski]

Funny story that's somewhat on-topic:

Back when i worked at Menards, we'd get shock collars returned all the time. One time one of the carryouts was pissing everyone off, so we snuck up behind him and put a shock collar on him, then duct taped the Hell out of it. We shocked the **** out of him for the rest of the night. :D

[Budweiser]

That is harsh! Any new owner of a shock collar should test it on themselves first just so they know what it feels like.