Teaching a Dog to Hunt

So, you have your hunting dog and want to teach him how to start hunting. He is about 4 months old and you think that it is about time. He is still a puppy, but has shown amazing strides in the past few weeks when it comes to being housebroken as well as being an obedient dog. In other words, your dog recognizes that you are the top dog in the pack and is ready, willing and able to please you.

The type of training that you do when it comes to teaching your dog to hunt will depend on the type of hunting you do. If you hunt with a shot gun and use gun dogs, you will most likely want to get the dog acclimated to the sound of the gunshots. This can make a dog excited at first, but he will eventually get used to it. He has to make the connection between the shot and what he, as a hunter, is supposed to do after you make the shot or, in some cases, before you make the shot.

Gun dogs are spaniels, retrievers and pointers. Setters and other breeds also count as gun dogs as well. They are experts in finding small game for the hunters, either by retrieving it or getting it out of its hiding spot. Pointers, for example, will not retrieve the game, but will tell the hunter where it is located. A setter, upon command, will do the same thing but will forage for the game upon command, getting it to come out into the open so that the hunter can have a crack at it with the shotgun.

Spaniels and retrievers are dogs that are used after the game has been shot. They must be trained to go after the game and retrieve it. Retriever dogs are best at this job and, because they like water, are the best dogs to use for hunting water fowl. Spaniels are good at searching for game in deep thicket.

To train hunting dogs, you can use a training kit. This will have everything that you need to get your dog acclimated to what he is supposed to do to help you. As with all types of dog training, rewards for a job well done are very effective. Your dog will be pleased to be pleasing you and you should let him know that you are happy when he does something correctly.

Do not expect your dog to go out and take on the world the first time he goes hunting. Many hunters will use dead pigeons that they plant to give the dog the idea of retrieving a bird. Bird launchers are also used in hunting dog training to teach dogs to go after the prey with the sound of the gunshot. Dogs will use their senses and instincts to find the prey. You will have to make them understand that the sound of the gun means that they have to find the prey. Their natural hunting abilities will allow them to do this in the wild as it is. You are teaching them not so much to hunt, but to hunt with you.

Dog whistles are also very useful in training your dog to hunt as well as hunting with your dog. You can communicate with your dog by a series of notes played on the whistle. Dogs do not understand your voice commands, but they can be made to understand what you want with the use of dog whistles. Teaching a dog to hunt takes patience, but once accomplished, both you and your dog will have fun going on hunting expeditions together.

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