Teaching Your Dog to Honor a Point

When you are hunting with other hunters, your dog is going to have to understand how to honor another dog’s point. If your dog steals a point from another dog, it will make the other hunters angry and may even end up causing the dogs to fight. If your dog should behave in such a manner in a field trial, he will be disqualified.

It is not difficult to teach your dog to honor a point. Before you can teach him this part of hunting , however, he should be steady to wing, shot and kill. You should use a check cord as well as an electronic collar to teach your dog to honor a point.

When a dog is honoring a point, he is honoring the other dog who is already on point. The last thing that you want your dog to do is to rush ahead of the other dog and try to steal the point. He should stand still, as if he is on point, and defer to the first dog.

Using a check collar will work well when you are training your dog to honor a point. You should also use an electronic collar during this exercise. One of the best ways to teach your dog this aspect of hunting with other dogs is to use an auto backer silhouette. This resembles a real dog that is placed on point, close to the game.

You should start out with placing the auto backer in a place that is close to game. You can practice this in the field or in your yard. You should simulate the sounds and action of the hunt the best that you can. If your dog approaches the silhouette, you should then stop him, using the check cord. If he fails to stop, use the electronic collar. Gradually, he will begin to recognize that he is not to go past a dog who is on point.

Although your dog has natural instincts for hunting, hunting with other dogs can be tricky. If you have other dogs that you hunt with that are more experienced, you can take them out to the field, allow one of them to go on point and watch the others follow. Then, let your younger dog out to the group. Use the cord check as well as the electronic collar to prevent your dog from getting too close to the dog on point so that he learns not to steal the point.

It is easy to teach your dog to honor a point as long as you use the electronic collar and check cord. Your dog will soon get the hang of what he has to do when he sees another dog on point and learn not to try to steal the point. As with every other type of dog training, you should train your dog to do this before you actually take him to the hunt with other hunters and dogs. The auto backer silhouette is one tool that will work well to teach your dog good manners in the field.

Geoffrey A. English is the Founder of GundogsOnline.com, the internet's premiere online magazine dedicated to bird dogs. Visit their site for more information on training bird dogs and hunting dog supplies including a wide variety of Innotek Dog Collars, including Innotek IUT-302, Innotek ADV-1000, and Innotek Field Pro Series.