Frequently Asked Questions

"The xxxx xxxx Field Trial Club held their annual trial in xxxxx last week. I ran both my dogs and was very fortunate to win both the Derby and Maiden events with my female. Conditions were really tough with a cold front coming in so the birds were very illusive and scenting conditions were very difficult but she managed to find two coveys in her round and worked them perfectly.

I must again thank you for all the advice you have given me in the past. You very kindly took the time to answer all my many questions and your videos have proved invaluable in training my dogs. Without your assistance we would not have won this event, so a really big thank you again". From a correspondent.

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Q: Tell me honestly is there a risk that you might loose a dog in the wilderness if you haven't got an electronic device attached to the collar? (the one that makes it possible to locate the dog).

A: Some strains of pointers do not form a strong bond with their handlers. This is the result of deliberate breeding policy in an effort to get the dog to range wider and wider. Advie pointers usually form a strong bond with their handlers and although they have confidence to range out (according to the cover and quantity of game) they can easily be trained to maintain contact by working on the normal insecurities all dogs have when puppies.
The way to do this is as follows: Take the pup to strange ground and let it run. Call it to you. If it does not come, hide. If there is nothing to hide behind, like a large rock or grouse butt, lie flat on the ground. Keep an eye on the pup and blow the whistle or call again if it strays further away. When it eventually finds you, make a great fuss of the pup while continuing to blow the recall whistle. NEVER call a dog to you for anything unpleasant as if it has any intelligence it will think twice about coming the next time.

Q: I have a young GSP bitch and she is very keen to retrieve dummies from both cover and water but has a habit of shaking the dummy vigorously during retrieve. Should I stop her doing this before moving on to game or what would you recommend?

A: You have awakened the predatory instinct in her retrieving. Nothing wrong in that, but she is substituting retrieving for what would be normal hunting behaviour in a dog left to follow Nature. In short, she wants to make sure the dummy is well and truly dead before coming back to you! You won't want her doing that with game!

OK, that is not what you want so I'd suggest you try the following: You need to work on her re-call, i.e. coming to call. You can practice this when the dog is out at exercise and I'd suggest turning it into a game. Call her to you by stooping low and doing a backward run. When she comes up to you, give her lots of affection, rubbing her ears, words of praise, a quick jerky game, etc., then send he off again. Encourage her to come to you as fast as possible by calling, then running off, finally turning when she is almost up to you, stooping low, playing with her, etc. as before. You can even go and hide from her, call her so she comes to look for you, then have a game as a reward when she finds you. You should aim for SPEED! If she won't come when called, you'll need to go back to basics and teach her on a check cord and gradually progress to the above. Two or three lessons a day are quite enough and I must emphasise that the re-call should be fun. Forget about any retrieving until she is doing this right.

When she will run to you as fast as she can when called, you can call her to you after she has picked up the dummy, but run away as fast as possible, etc., in fact anything to get her to concentrate on coming to you with speed. At the last moment, as she is almost up to you, quickly turn and put your hand under her chin, scratch her ears with your other hand, and gently take the dummy from her. (Yes, it is possible to do all that with only two hands!). I would suggest restricting the number of retrieves to only two or three per session.

If you do it right, I think you will find she is in so much of a hurry to get to you that she won't have time to think about shaking the dummy AND you will have a fast positive retrieve. BTW, when you do get the dummy, show her that you value it. Show it to her, without letting her mouth it. Talk softly to her (nonsense if you like!), and try to convince her that it is a valuable object that you treasure and it is to be treated gently.

Many novice trainers over do the lessons in retrieving and repeatedly throw the dummy for the dog to retrieve. After a while, the dog gets sick of this and will refuse to retrieve -- or start to take it out on the dummy. Try to work out what the dog is thinking. If you continually throw something away, maybe (in the dog's mind) you don't really want it? Does that make sense? On the other hand, if you show your dog that it is something you value and it is to be treated gently, he might just understand what you want. Dogs are a lot smarter than most people give the

Q: What is the ideal falconer's dog?

A: That depends on what type of bird you are flying, the type of country you are hunting in, and the quarry you are hunting. For upland game, that is primarily red grouse here in the UK, you need a wide ranging dog with stamina. You'll need to train the dog to quarter mathematically, point with precision, move in easily to flush when told, then drop to wing/flush and remain dropped until told to move. Yes, it can be done but only about 1% of falconers' dogs will do it all! Most of this is in the training, but it does make it easier if the dog is "trainable" which means a working pedigree. The falconer's dog needs to be trained to a much higher standard than a field trial dog. For the low ground (pheasants and partridges), the dog does not need to cover as much ground. Pointers and setters are not usually expected to hunt cover and for that one of the continental pointer-retrievers might be a better choice though spaniels have been used with short-wings for centuries. Few falconers get the best out of their dogs because they do not train them properly. This is a pity because a good dog is probably the most valuable asset a falconer can have short of a rich and understanding wife!

Q: My dog won't point.

I have a dog from the UK - ********- and he is not steady on point. Sometimes he doesn't even point the game, but flushes it. He is 19 months old. Can you please help?

A: Firstly, from the affix attached to your dog's name, your dog seems to be from a show kennel so don't expect it to work! You might be able to train him to a modest standard but these dogs are not bred to work so it will be an up hill struggle. I suggest you work on his drop (Sit). He must go down immediately you give the signal which will be by voice, whistle, hand signal, in response to a shot, and in response to the sight of a bird flushing. This command must be absolutely firmly established. That means an instant flat down on command at a distance of up to perhaps 100 yards.

Then, if you can arrange it, take your dog to where he will see game flushed. He should be on the lead. I have done this by following on at a field and up as near as possible to the judges. Every time a bird is flushed, drop your dog smartly. If necessary, you must be severe as you are aiming for an instantaneous flat down. When he is down, reassure him with some brief caressing and kind words. Another way is to release a pigeon from your hand when the dog is at exercise. He must drop immediately he sees the bird fly.

Are you sure your dog is locating the game by scent? Sometimes a dog does not know how to use its nose and runs into game. Use the line of pigeons technique as shown in Bird Dog Basics.

But the key to this problem is INSTANT response to the drop. If you then drop the dog every time it flushes a bird, it will begin to be reluctant to get so close that it flushes.

So, teach the dog to drop instantly to the flush and it will then naturally stand back from its point. But also make sure that it knows how to use its nose and can recognise that scent indicates where the bird lies. Strange to say but some dogs do not understand that the scent belongs to the bird it is hunting! You teach that with the line of pigeons.

Q. What is the commonest fault of novice trainers?

A. That's an easy one! Most inexperienced trainers allow the dog to develop faults which should never occur, then spend most of their time trying to cure them. The experienced professional is ready, recognises the symptoms, and corrects the problems before they become engrained. When I first started trialing dogs I was amazed that training was a tabu subject. Then I realised that the "experts" did not want to pass on what little knowledge they had in case the other guy who was asking advice beat them. Worse still, some old timers were inclined to give misleading advice in a deliberate attempt to make sure you did NOT train your dog properly and thus become a threat to their beating you!

Q. My dog won't come back when called.

A. Ask yourself, Why should he? This is best taught at the puppy stage. Call the pup to you and make a big fuss of it. If it gets a bit casual in its response, take it to a new area where there are no distractions, let the pup run, then call and immediately go and hide. Repeat the call occasionally to give pup a guide but make him FIND YOU! Be unpredictable. Pup will soon learn that when he is called he must come quickly or you will disappear. The dog is a social animal and (if of the correct breeding) will not want to hunt alone. Also, don't just call him in to put him on the lead to go home. Call the dog in frequently for some soft words and caressing and send him off again. Treat your dog as a friend and companion and he will respond according. Treat him like a slave and he will always be looking for a way to escape your company. Never call a dog in to punish him as he will associate the bad experience with the last event, i.e. coming to call. Also, don't ever forget that your dog is bred to hunt. Lock him up in a kennel when you do not have him under STRICT control; otherwise, sooner or later, he will discover there is game (or a bitch in season) out there and he doesn't need you around to have fun.

Q. My young dog ran in to my heel and wouldn't work when a friend tried to shoot over him. Is he gun shy?

A. No, he is not gun shy! But he could become gun shy if you don't take care! A gun shy dog is habituated to running off or escaping whenever it hears a loud noise. It can become an extreme behaviour so the dog will do anything to escape the scene. Your dog is gun nervous which is entirely normal for a sensitive young dog. You need to get him to realise that a gun shot is no big deal. Don't change your behaviour when a shot goes off and he should take his attitude from you. Best of all, run him with an old experienced dog he knows and trusts. If you start fussing, the dog will become suspicious and your actions could reinforce the nervousness. Think of the reaction of a small child to something strange and apparently threatening and make allowances. The army used to accustom their cavalry horses to the sound of the cannon by firing a big gun just before feeding time. How else would anyone get a nervous animal like a horse to gallop into cannon fire? (Remember The Charge of the Light Brigade?). I live next to a Ministry of Defence Weapons Training area. I occasionally have a sensitive young dog that is gun nervous but never gun shy!

Q. I Want to Learn! I am really interested in pointing dogs and want to learn. Can you tell me where I can buy a dog? I am in the south of England and would like to buy from someone nearer my home.

A. There are plenty of dog breeders who will be very pleased to take your money. But that is NOT the way to go about it! First of all, do you have access to a large area of suitable country for training and working your dog? You are going to need a minimum of several hundred acres, the right type of cover, and plenty of game. If you are in the south, you will also need plenty of money! Read as much as you can, watch videos, and attend field trials. Although I am highly critical of KC field trials, you will at least see dogs in action. And when you work out how they decide which is the winner, you can come and tell me! The reading part need not be expensive. Go and have a chat with your librarian at your local public library. He/she should be able to get up a list of all the books available on the subject on the computer and you can get them to read via Inter-Library Loan for no more than the cost of the postage. Then, if you can, spend a few weeks pushing a broom and holding spare dogs at the kennel of some professional who has the knowledge to pass on to you. If you can't be bothered to do your research, leave the poor dogs alone!

Q. My young dog has started to chase sheep. I am thinking of getting him destroyed because I think he will be a sheep worrier. What should I do?

A. Most young dogs will chase sheep. I think they want to know where the sheep is going and what it might be chasing! The answer is to be ready for the problem and recognise it when it happens. Watch the dog's body language. Where is it looking? Are its ears pricked up in interest? If the dog seems interested in sheep, call him and run in the opposite direction. Pay no attention to the sheep yourself. Certainly don't shout and chase after the dog! Often a dog will look back to see what the handler is doing -- if the handler makes to follow the dog, it will interpret this to mean he is expected to chase. So do the opposite. As soon as you see the dog begin to turn and look back, call and turn your back on the dog and run in the opposite direction or lie flat on the ground! If the dog does chase, proceed to the next question.

Q. My dog now chases every sheep he sees. What can I do?

A. Most sheep farmers/shepherds will understand the problem and help you cure it. I'd ask them to let me know when they are next handling sheep. (Sheep are caught up for shearing, dosing, sorting, etc. so this should not be a problem). Position yourself with the dog on the lead slightly behind and to one side of where the sheep are released after treatment. As each sheep runs free, give your dog a sharp tap (no more!) on the nose with a small switch until you see him turn his head away when the next sheep runs free. He will get the idea that he only has to look at a sheep for it to lead to unpleasantness! Next time out, drop your dog when you see it even look in the direction of a sheep, call it to you if you can, otherwise go to it, make a big fuss of it and cast it off in the opposite direction. Use similar techniques as described elsewhere to teach the dog to come to call.

Q. My dog chases hares and rabbits like a demon. What can I do?

A. If your dog were a young falcon, we'd explain this as youthful experimentation and say it was a good thing for the bird to learn from experience. So why do we treat dogs differently? The dog is an opportunist predator and it will initially experiment in hunting different prey using different methods until, in Nature, it would hit on something that got food in its belly with the minimum of effort. If you wish to successfully train a dog, you need to follow that line of reasoning. I have no doubt that chasing is just as thrilling to a young dog as speed is to the youthful motorcyclist. First, demonstrate to the dog that hunting game birds is fun but hunting rabbits and hares is a waste of time. If my dog chases a hare, I sit down and wait for it to come back! I do NOT chase after it, yelling and screaming and blowing my whistle; nor do I give the dog a beating when it does come back! BUT I make sure it realises that game birds are fun. Any casualties from the game rearing are thrown over the fence into the puppies' run. They are encouraged to hunt up and chase my bob white quail that are trained to return to the call back pen. They soon learn the futility of chasing. Later, I'll combine the Sit (flat down) with the sight of the bird flushing (flying off). As soon as they start to point wild game, I'll shoot a bird and bring it back to them to play with. This may all sound contrary to what you have read or been taught elsewhere, but it works for me. I've worked dogs through ground plagued with rabbits (which they've ignored) to get points on grouse and pheasants. In short, they are ENTERED to the game we expect to hunt and are looking for that scent amongst all the others. If rabbit hunting is engrained, I might hang a dead rabbit on the electric fence as a last resort but I hope I recognised the problem long before that and deal with it.

Q. Buying a Dog. I am interested in buying a dog from you but don't like filling out forms. Why do you want us to jump through hoops just to buy a dog?

A. I breed my pointers for my own sport and enjoyment. If I sell one I want it to go to a good knowledgeable home. The results from the form are carefully checked. For example, one enquirer wanted to buy a bitch. He claimed to be a big livestock farmer and gave me his address which checked out as a street in the middle of a large city! That, to me, revealed a back street breeder and I won't sell to such people. Nor do I sell to people I suspect of being dealers.

Q. I am interested in buying a dog from you but don't like filling out forms. By doing a search, I managed to find your telephone number and tried that but all I get is an answering machine. What should I do now?

A. I am usually very busy and seldom at my desk. Yesterday was a normal day. Started at 7am, cleaned all the kennels and fed the various livestock, drove to a neighbour's farm and took over an hour to load someone's horse (not mine!), I then had a 100+ mile journey across the mountains to deliver it to the other side of Scotland. Collected another horse (it loaded ok, it's mine!) and delivered to a destination about 150 miles further on. Got home around 8pm. Cooked my tea and then slumped in a heap! Send me an email using the form. Telephone me and I can assure you that the answer will probably be "NO!". By the way, I am 68 next birthday and definitely a grumpy old man!

Q. I am interested in buying a dog from you but don't like filling out forms but I've done the best I can. I got no reply. What's happening?

A. Probably nothing! Did you use the correct form? Did you look to see if I actually have anything for sale before you filled it out? Did you complete the sections asking for contact details, nearest international airport, etc.? If not, I will not reply. I ask questions because the answers are important. If you can't be bothered to answer, I assume you will have the same attitude to keeping, training, and working a dog.