We are quickly closing in on another hunting season and some of us will be introducing a new four legged hunting partner to hunting. Prior to the hunt, I am going to assume you’ve prepared your dog, by either training him/her yourself or you have sent your dog to a professional trainer. Your dog should have some idea on how the flushing, pointing or retrieving program works, but now they need to put it together in a “live fire” situation. Remember, no matter how much you train, it will never equal the learning a dog will do while actually hunting. This takes time, repetition, and patience. The more a dog hunts, the more they learn to put it all together.  Here are a several tips on introducing a new dog to hunting.

CONTROL THE HUNT  Make sure you introduce your dog to a hunt that you can control. Your first couple hunts should be a training-style hunt. By this I mean don’t go out on your first hunt and overwhelm the dog with a chaotic situation. Example would be a large field goose hunt with big flocks of landing birds or a big pheasant push with a bunch of other hunters and their dogs. By doing this you limit yourself to not being able to stop the hunt and train your dog when he makes an error or isn’t quite sure what to do. You can become frustrated because your trying to teach your dog while your buddies will want to get on with the hunt, not spend time training a dog. Go out by yourself or a couple other buddies who understand what you are doing. Having another seasoned dog with you is a good thing, this allows your dog to learn from that dog. But be careful, too many dogs can start to create competition making it difficult for your dog to focus. Especially if your dog hasn’t been around other dogs.

LEARNING FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT Your dog probably hasn’t experienced Mother Nature’s wrath. You don’t want to throw a young dog who has been training in ideal conditions all spring and summer, into an environment that is too hot or too cold. You have to treat young dogs who are just learning the game with kid gloves. Just like if you were taking out a young hunter. You can easily turn off a young dog or hunter by making it unpleasant. You want to create that drive and love for the game. Eventually, that dog will love it so much he/she learns to deal with the discomfort, just like most of us die-hard hunters do.

READY TO HUNT  Make sure to have him/her on a high protein diet. Feed him/her plenty of food the night prior to the hunt (but do not overfeed). You shouldn’t feed your dog heavy before the hunt. It is a good idea to give him/her a healthy treat a few times during the hunt if he/she is working extra hard, but again don’t over do it. And make sure to feed him/her after the hunt. Make sure to give him/her plenty of water before, during and after the hunt. It doesn’t matter if its 80 degrees or 18 degrees, dehydration can set in any weather especially if a dog is working hard.

DURING THE HUNT It is important to have patience with your dog. Lots of encouragement with “happy” voice. Yelling at your dog will only confuse him/her and could eventually lead to your dog shutting down. Show the dog what you want and praise him/her when they complete their task. You obviously want to correct with a stern “NO” but out of control screaming does no one any good. I do not recommend using treats as a reward during hunting. This can make the dog drop the bird prematurely so as to get the treat. You want the praise to be the reward. And lastly, make sure to watch your dog during the hunt. Make sure they aren’t showing signs of injury, dehydration, hypothermia (cold weather emergency) or hyperthermia (hot weather emergency). Inspect your dog periodically, especially the upland dogs. Make sure they don’t have cuts or wounds that need to be attended to. Inspect your dog both visually and physically by touch and be prepared for any possible injury that can happen by having a good first aid kit on hand.

The easier the first couple hunts are for your dog, the faster he/she will put it all together.