Specifically, this required alot of patience. The weather was so hot and these pups really had a rough time of hit in the field was around 95 degrees there for a month. Our sessions had to be very brief. Finally, last week, using carded or kited pigeons to train on I finally got the pups to hunt and chase up a few birds so I could fire a blank gun over them. I will be working the pups seperately for most of the training, it's counter productive to work them on the ground at the same time in the field.

I like to start with "Whoa". Again, refer to the archived column for my detailed training method on "Whoa". But with a pup, I start one step back when they are this young before launching into my sling method.

I start with "whoa" because it is the least invasive and traumatic to start with and because it is the most important bird dog command. If you have everyting else and no "whoa" you ain't got nuthin'. With pups this young, I just start them on the ground, standing in front of me on a leash. I get on my knees and physically, yet very calmy and gently put the pup on "whoa". I simply hold the pup there for a few moments, giving the command softly and stroking the pup down his side from his shoulder to butt, until she will just stand there without struggling for a few moments. Then I release her and play with her and let her go. I do this about a half dozen times every time I have pup out. I can't let them stand there by themselves yet, but they do accpept and even enjoy the command while I am there holding them and stroking them up. It's a good place for them, a safe, happy place that they will learn they will never do wrong by just standing there on command. This is always good, it's always safe. Later, we will teach the pup, in a dramatic way, to choose to obey this command on her own. The sling will be used for this later. It works like a charm. I predict that I will only have to sling these pups for two sessions and then I will be able to start working them in the yard and will have them stopping and standing on command in less than one week.

This brings me to the point of want we wanted to get done from puppyhood to young "introduced dog", which is where we depart off into serious "bird dog" trained to end up with a "started dog" one month from today.

I wanted to introduce the pups to vehicles and dog crates, which they are in and out of every day of the little bird dog lives. They have learned to get in and out of crates on command and they have gotten used to riding with other dogs, sometimes strange dogs, in their box with them and will now put up with all of that sort of stuff that comes with a bird dog being hauled around.

I also wanted to introduce the pups to the checkcord or lead and stakeout posts. Again, no training here, just snapping it on them every time they are out until they don't pay any attention to it. Pups are all different, Senna you could hook up to a locomotive with a bull chain through her nose and she wouldn't blink. Sala is not so accepting of leads and tie-outs at time, even yet. So you just keep doing it and letting them sort it out at this point, no force or correction until they just submit once they realize they can't fight it. But I am satisfied that they know about these things enough to move on the heel and whoa training.

Birds and the gun have also been introduced. This is most important, the most fun part of it all and the easiest to screw up. Gun shy dogs are made and not born. So I start with a .22 blank gun and this past weekend fired over them with my 20 gauge shotgun. They never noticed the report, which is really what you want. They love birds, hunt them, chase them hard and even almost point them at times now.

So, there is nothing more to be gained, with our time frame in mind, in continuing down this path. At this point I will take the pups off of birds for about two weeks ands get serious about introducing a command. "WHOA" is the most important bird dog command. Everything we do with a bird dog is either whoa, heel or come. Without whoa, you have nohting. So, I will get with it on whoa this week. This is the first real pressure I have put on these pups. My goal is to have them stopping to command in the field while hunting in two weeks time. Whoa means simply "stop and stand there until I release you" Very simple. The training for this starts out in a very dramtic way for the pup. I think this has to be the most and first really "in your face" type of thing we do with a young pup. This is the one command we will not compromise on and we have to pup know it. All the rest we can train by osmosis almost. This one, we do need to get inside pups head just a bit. I have introduced this command in the yard and field by just restraining the pup on the checkcord at me feet every day for a few minutes and just stroking the pup and saying "whoa", very softly. The pup will almost fall over asleep at times if you do this right as this is very relaxing for the pup and they love the attention. It sets this command up a a very safe and comforting thing to do it this way. But then again, this is the first command that we expect pup to really flawlessly obey at some distance from us and even when we are out of touch with them. So I prefer my dramatic sling method to start to get this across to pup. I know there are a million ways to do this, on a barrel, with a whoa post and pinch collar, training tables, blah blah....etc. Everyone thinks their way is the best and it is, for them. I am the same way. I think that the sling is the fastest way to do this training. I usually only have to use the sling station about 3 days at most before the pup completely understands what is expected and we can move to train in the the yard and field. A brush up is sometimes needed on down the line for head cases (I can see this coming for Sala) but dogs like Senna will be solid on this command in one or two sling sessions.

Sala and Senna were completely introduced to the gun, birds and were starting to learn to hunt and point by the time we arrived in SD to hunt. Also, with varying degrees of success, the commands of whoa and come were well started. The pups were also introduced to the electronic training collar in South Dakota, simply to reinforce the come command in the heat of battle, as it were.

There is really nothing to training a bird dog pup. You just need to get them out and work on it a little bit every day. As they get older, you can introduce them to the gun and birds. Just keep at it a little at a time and it's no big deal to take an 8 week-old GSP and have it be performing at an acceptable level on it's first hunt.