What tools do you need to train your dog adequately?
My father, grandfather and their fathers obviously didn’t have remote controlled launchers so why do I need to spend money on tools I’ll only use once? Do I really need it or just want it?
Man, that’s a terrific argument! When I trained my first brittany I didn’t have any special tools. I will admit that my job would have been easier if I knew exactly what I was doing and having good tools would have made life simpler.
Most folks nowadays accept the fact that they will have to train their dog on pen raised birds in an artificial way. Few folks have wild game birds and live on or near a farm / ranch where they can put their pup on birds once a month much less once a week or more.
Knowing that, you have to create training situations with birds. I personally do so with the ‘what would a wild bird do? ‘ thought in the back of my mind. Afterall, when you spend all that money to go hunt wild game birds, your dog needs a clue as to what a wild bird would do in any given situation that your dog may encounter. That’s very hard to do sometimes and there is no way you can recreate all the situations your dog will face in the field on wild birds.
This brings us back to tools. Do you need it or want it? Some needs are for the sake of easier dog training but some tools are essential. ‘Essential tools’ come in varying forms like cars. You can get a kick cage for releasing birds, like a basic car without add-ons or you can get manual bird launcher like a car with a radio and a.c., or you can get a remote controlled bird launcher, kinda a like a cadillac with all the add-ons.
Let’s just talk about the launcher for the sake of comparison. The kick cage is good enough but requires more work on your part. You can teach a dog to point with one, I did many years ago and even today, will use one on a steady dog that just needs reps.
Now lets think of this tool with regard to ‘what would a wild bird do?’ The kick cage is not going to help you simulate a wild bird. It’s just not and there is no way you can argue that it will. It just won’t. The manual launcher can but its darn tough and usually requires an assistant with the employment of a long string to trip the release.
With a couple of remote launchers the possibilites seem endless. You can release the bird if the dog gets too close, you can put several birds in one remote launcher to simulate a covey flush, you can set two launchers in one place and simulate a delayed flush, your vision of what wild birds do is the only limitation when training with remote launchers!
Dogs trained just with kick cages and manual launchers often have bad manners. They crowd their birds and creep. Many wild game bird species will not allow that. Too close and their gone!
Let’s go back a bit and rephrase my earlier question. Do I really need it to simulate wild bird contact or is it a want ? Now it dawns on us that maybe a want is a need.
The pointing dog needs to understand basic principles of the quarry in which they prey. That must be clear in their mind.
Kick cage vs. manual launcher vs. remote launcher. Want or need?
Give your dog a treat for me and tell ‘em Dave says “Good dog!”
P.S. See my next article about training tools where I actually name some basic tools to begin with!
4 comments
Dave,
Unfortunately, in this day and age, practically everyone has to use some form of pen raised bird to train their dog. Some people’s dogs never get to see a wild bird as they continue to pursue only preserve birds the dogs entire life. As you well know, pen raised birds present some unique challenges you have to deal with.
Buying your own laucher is a delemia I think every one or two dog amateur trainer faces. A remote launcher is a big investment. I just can’t justify buying one.
I think the best way for a one dog trainer like myself is to join together with others and buy some or join a dog club that has some you can use. I would think you would want to have at least three as a minumum in the training field or you’d wear yourself out running back and forth to put out birds.
I personally am lucky enough, even in this quail poor state, to have places to train my dog that have wild birds on them. None are private property. If you look, you can find places.
The reality now is most of us amateurs who train our own dogs have to balance dog training with our daily lives. 99% of the time I train by myself. You have to get a little creative training all by yourself.
Sincerely, Bob
Good points Bob. When I first went from kick cages and wing locking, I scrimped and saved enough for one manual launcher. Of course I was much younger but I would put out one bird at a time. I also had a pull string attached and it was quite awkward but nonetheless, that’s how I did it.
I then mentored with Lou Foehrkolb who had a remote launcher or 2. He showed me things with his remote that I couldn’t do with my manual launcher so I scrimped and saved more money. Then I had my remote launcher! It was awesome but I could only afford one so there I was again, running back and forth putting out my one bird. Quite comical when I look back now
I honestly trained with just one remote and one manual launcher for nearly 10 years. It was tough but like I said, I was young.
I think a club or cooperative training group or something like that is terrific. Outside of that, it’s just like I started, scrimping and saving until you can buy it and making do in the meanwhile. Before kick cages for quail, I had homemade harnesses. Pigeons can have their wings locked easily
Not until I really got into heavy daily training did I buy a 2nd and 3rd remote launcher. Now I have about 5 or so but really only use 2 or 3 at a time.
DT systems remote launcher / transmitter is about 275 or so and I agree, it is expensive but well worth the while. I would say that piece of equipment is more important than anyother piece of training equipment, including the e-collar, but that’s JMHO.
Thanks for the comments!
Dave
I got together with a group of friends who all train dogs and we just purchased four remote launchers. We all take turns using them and we all keep different species of game birds to train with. It has worked out wonderfully. We have better equipment, and are able to help each other with the common goal of having great dogs. “Together we stand”. I’ve been very pleased with the DT system. It’s especially nice to get a few now with the option of adding more at any time. We have been learning different configurations of setting them up to aid in steadiness, and other objectives. Thanks again Dave, for sharing your wealth of knowledge.
Boy Dave, you brought up an interesting topic again. My own belief is that although these are certainly an expensive item, I put the remote launchers high up in my need to own category. They are IMHO a great training aid to simulate hunting situations while keeping total control. By this I mean since you have the remote control, you have the ability to launch the bird whenever you deem it right to do so,whether for a positive or negative event. It seems to me that by using these launchers correctly, they can really shorten the learning curve of a young dog. I got 2 DT(Quail sized) launchers last year at the recommendation of another member of our forum. I will never look back. So, save, scrimp, borrow, beg, steal(well maybe not steal), go in together with others to share the cost, or whatever, but for me, they are a need to own item.
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