It's Almost Hunting Season!

Well, we've made it. Three pain-staking months of no hunting, early dove and goose seasons are just a week away here in Pennsylvania and in much of the nation, as well.

Boru and I have been doing okay on our training. He's responded well to gun shots, enjoys retrieving in the water, fetches on command. We haven't done a lot of live-bird training, which is largely my fault. From what I've heard and read, pigeons are ideal training birds. For the past five years, living in New York City and Washington, D.C., I've tripped over these rats with wings. Now out in the sticks, finding them is a bit of a task. So, we have relied on using store-bought wings.

Cool Creek Training

This story is dominating the news, heat has taken hold of the northeast, and taken hold of training. While Boru is settling into a fun little phase where he likes to ignore me and would rather eat bugs, acorns, and really anything else on the ground, I've been taking this heat as an opportunity to hit the water.

Boru's reaction to water has been so-so. The first couple times we've been down to the creek, he would stand on the bank and bark at me. Testing the water a little bit. I'd get him to swim, and we'd go home. He's been getting better, less barking, more wading, more excited retrieving, but it's been a slow ride.

A Better Way to Track a Dead Deer?

Now, I know this is legal in some states, but there is now a bill in the my home state of Pennsylvania's House of Representatives that would make it legal to use deer to find downed deer. I can think of multiple instances of where this might have helped recover a deer that I or someone I've been hunting with has shot.

I think there are some other, bigger issues to tackle in Pennsylvania when it comes to hunting, but if I can train Boru to find my down deer and spend some more time in the woods with me, I'm all for it!

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:



Hunting dogs could be chasing deer in Pennsylvania, under specific circumstances, if the state legislature passes a bill that's gaining support in Harrisburg.

The Feather Dilemma

Well, it's Boru's 12-week birthday today, which seems to be an important milestone in dog training. According to most books I read, this is a turning point in a puppy's training.

Boru and I are doing pretty well. We haven't mastered the range of commands recommended in Dokken's Retriever Training, but that's more my fault than Boru's. He's mastered "come" and "sit" with ease, so I'm sure he'd have "down" and "place," and "crate" if I was more diligent with my training.

According to the the Dokken bible that I'm following, by now, Boru should have been introduced to feathers. This is something that I'm very eager to do after hearing a story from my grandfather about his brother's dog who would retrieve anything, as long as it didn't have feathers.

A Big Introduction

So, Boru and I spent Memorial Day at my sister and brother-in-law's river lot on the West Branch of the Susquehanna.

Boru was a champ. With three other dogs, kids of various ages, and a lot of other distractions, he listened very well. He is starting to come when I call him, and came a few times when he disappeared, which was awesome.

The two biggest things I was worried about for the weekend were how he was going to deal with being on a boat and how he'd take to the water. I'm glad to say that he passed both tasks with flying colors. Boru became a natural boat dog, sleeping mostly and enjoying the smells as we cruised the river.

10-Day Check-up

My new dog has kept me away from the blog and in the yard trying to housebreak the pup! So far, things are going well. After two tough nights, Boru has pretty much become a crate-trained dog. Sleeping through the night, going in without a problem, not whining to get out when he's in there. Housebreaking is going a little bit slower, but is progressing.

I've been using as my aide, Tom Dokken's Retriever Training. I met Tom on a hunt with the folks from SportDog and Lacrosse/Danner a few years ago. His keen insight and proven track record made me interested in checking out his book. I'm glad I have. His training techniques and writing style are both very easy to follow.

New Dog Nerves

Well, in 48 short hours, I will be a first-time dog owner. And while I have seen friends successfully train puppies, and I have helped train a dog before, I'm starting to stress out a bit about the responsibility of having a dog.

Will he chew the couch? Will I find puddles of pee everywhere? Is he going to whine all through the night? Can I really train a dog to not only be a great pet but a great hunting partner?

I'm sure the answer to all these questions is going to be yes, at least I hope that's the answer to that last one. Somehow this dog is turning me into Woody Allen, and I don't even him yet!

How Early is Too Early to Train?

There has been a lot of debate about how early is too early to train your hunting dog. I'm getting my puppy soon, and I'm thinking that I want to start with some basic commands immediately. But are there certain things that are worth waiting for?

I'm basically thinking that commands that work well for both a family dog and a hunting dog should be the first ones taught: sit, stay, heal, come, etc.

Famed gun dog training author, Richard Wolters, believes that you should start as early as 7 weeks (Boru will be 7 weeks old next week!), while many other authorities think you should wait until the dog is a year old.