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Now top gundog trainer Howard Kirby is going to show off a useful piece of kit for summer
gundog training. It's a device that's specially designed for teaching steadiness in your dog.
First, however, you have to catch a dove. Which is not easy. As Howard's helper will
show. Not easy at all. There, done it.
Using a pigeon or a dove in training is sort of the intermediate stages of training as
you make the transition from dummies to live game you are trying to ensure your dog is
sitting to the flush. So by using a planted pigeon we can simulate that very easily and
get a regular flush, contact flush with a nice sit. So it is sort of intermediate age.
The dog would maybe be 12 to 14 months old by the time we get to that stage.
What could go wrong in that training exercise?
If you haven't done your training correctly what could go wrong is the dog rushes in and
tries to chase the dove and that is what we are there to do. So if you have done your
training behind that all, the basic training we have done with tennis balls and dry fire
situations will prepare the dog to sit to your whistle. He should be sitting to your
whistle on command.
And when the gun went *** that is the signal for the dog to sit.
Yes, so we train the dogs to sit to two queues the stop whistle and the *** of the gun which
ever comes first he should sit to. And also the flush of the birds, so it is actually
three. So he is sort of on autopilot. So by the time he is fully trained, soon as that
bird or rabbit moves he puts himself on his bottom. If he is hunting and a shot is fired
he puts himself on his bottom. If he is hunting and somebody blows the stop whistle, his boss
blows the stop whistle, ***. One of those three things will put him in a sit position.
Just show me that piece of kit there.
Ok, this is the machine, it's a machine that just very gently holds the bird in a cradle
and we press the button remotely and the cradle springs back open and releases the dove and
it flies home to our dove cot. Once it gets back to the dove cot it goes back in and lives
happily ever after.
The dove is not harmed in any way at all.
No not at all.
Howard runs Mullenscote Gundogs from Lains Shooting School near Andover in Hampshire.
Visit Mullenscote.co.uk. This series on gundog training tips is brought to you by Skinners
Petfoods, maker of the Field & Trial range of gundog feeds. Visit SkinnersPetfoods.co.uk