Tip of the Month
 Brooke Van de Brake
Brooke has enjoyed training hunting dogs for people
in the Northwest for over thirty years. |
Cold Water and Gun ProblemsThis time of the year I get numerous calls and questions regarding problems in the water and with the gun.
First I will discuss cold water and the problems that can arise. If you have a young dog that has not been introduced to the water properly and is put in a situation hunting where the water is real cold you are inviting real problems down the road. Oh, you might say but they are water dogs it shouldn't bother them. Nothing is further from the truth. If your pup has had a good introduction to the water when the water was real warm that will help a lot but don't for a minute think you still can't freeze them out. The point being is with care and forethought you can keep a good water dog good and you can also make them hate it. It is your choice. When the water temperature goes below 50 degrees we stop working any of the trial dogs on any long swims. If they were good water dogs going into winter and we are careful they will be good in the spring when it warms up. At all costs we do not want them to start hating the water. A good analogy would be if I went to the Doctor and he told me two weeks from now I was to drink something for a test that tasted terrible and would make me sick, I don't think I would ask him for a two week supply to try everyday to get used to it. I think I would wait until that day and do it and take the test and be done with it. Okay, so if we go hunting and pup starts to shiver and shake get him out of the blind and go for a walk and warm them up. Purchase a vest for them, it will help but will not give them full protection. If pup quits going all together DO NOT force the issue. As soon as you can get some birds and get them to same wading water and get them going again and then be very careful the rest of the season. Put yourself in there shoes and please use some common sense and be careful. If you follow some simple rules your best Friend will end up being a great hunting companion for years to come.
I will touch on the gun problem for just a moment.
Remember there has never been a dog born gun shy it is a man made problem. Taking them to a gun range or just out hunting and having them being caught unaware can bring on some real trouble. You must get them introduced to the gun proper. Proper introduction is starting out with the blank gun and birds and then proceeding to the shotgun. If you go hunting and all of a sudden they are hanging at your heel or wanting to go back to the truck they are probably more than just tired. If you shot a bird and they won't go pick it up and they have picked up birds before you can rest assured they have the wrong bird gun association. Over the period of a year we get a number of dogs in for just that problem, and of those we save 80% and lose 20%. The only ones we lose are the ones who will not birdy up enough to want a bird more than they dislike the noise. It is the one thing in dog training that never re occurs. Once they are over a gun problem it is gone forever.
Remember use common sense and forethought and be aware of whats going on with your pup and you will find success
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