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Our training philosophy is based on several levels of training
that leverage the dog’s physiological make-up as a pack animal to get the results
we need. The foundation? Birds, birds and more birds.
Pack Order
At a very young age, we introduce the dog to birds and the gun. After this proper
introduction, we begin collar conditioning and formal obedience in the yard and
in the field. After adding patterning (proper use of the wind) and advanced training
(steady-to-wing-and-shot), we end up with a finished dog that your friends will
be honored to hunt over.
Obedience in the Field
To have a finished dog, there are three primary stages of training.
Exposure to Birds
The heart and soul of our training is birds. As a gundog owner, the most important
thing your dog must do is FIND BIRDS. No other training matters if your dog can’t
find birds. Owners must understand how important proper exposure to birds is at
a young age.
A Young Puppy Questing
We do not hunt with “bumper dogs,” “dummy dogs,” “tennis ball dogs” or any other
dog, except for bird dogs. This may sound simple enough, but most people think their
dog gets enough exposure to birds through the few they see hunting. They don’t.
How important are birds at Craney Hill? We don’t care if our dog sits, stays, comes,
heels or kennels if it does not find birds. If a dog does not have the genetic ability
to find birds, it will not make our team. We’re not talking about finding birds
at the local hunt club. We’re talking about the wild rooster that’s beaten the coyote,
hawk and other varmints on the Great Plains.
Simple Retrieving Drills
With proper introduction to birds in the training field, we can properly introduce
the dog to gunfire. Then we’re able to shoot birds over the dog. After that we can
expose the dog to a season of hunting wild birds in South Dakota, Iowa and Kansas.
This creates a bold and aggressive hunting dog that is ready to handle the pressures
of formal training that follow.
Yard Work
Once the bird work and the gun introduction are in place, you can hunt and shoot
birds over the dog. Now formal training begins in the form of yard work. This involves
collar conditioning and basic obedience. The dog is trained to comply with basic
sit/hup, kennel and here commands. We’ll work on this in the yard until compliance
is achieved the first time the command is given. Why? Because we’ve all seen the
alternative.
Low-Pressure Yard Work
Obedience in the Field
How many times have you been hunting and it sounds like a shouting match with the
dog or a band marching through the field with a bunch of whistles? We do not give
commands in the field until we have compliance in the yard. No exceptions. We then
transfer the commands to the field. At that point, we have a gundog that will hunt
in control.
Patterning and Advanced Training
The last step of our training includes patterning work (proper use of wind) and
advanced training (steady-to-wing-and-shot and handling). It’s amazing how few hunters
recognize the proper pattern a dog should run depending on the wind direction. Even
more amazing is the number of times we’ll see a dog running the correct pattern
only to have the owner trying to get the dog to run a different pattern!
Training Steadiness
Our training includes countless hours of patterning work so that there will be minimal
whistles needed while hunting. When hunting, there is a simple fact: THE LESS
NOISE YOU MAKE…THE MORE BIRDS YOU WILL SEE!
Our advanced training includes steady-to-wing-and-shot, stopping on moving birds
and handling. All of our guide dogs are put through advanced training; although,
some of our clients are not looking for advanced training.
Training Advanced Handling
There is nothing worse than hunting over an out-of-control flushing dog. However,
there is nothing better than a fully trained flushing dog taking a moving pheasant
and producing it for the game bag out on the Great Plains. |
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