Posts Tagged ‘Hunting Dog Supplies’

Training Your Hunting Dog

Whatever the breed of dog you have, you’ll find that training him is a challenging, yet rewarding experience.  The challenge lies in training your dog well, and the reward is that he becomes your best friend who will love you unconditionally.  No matter what your dog’s job is, whether he’s your hunting or working partner, or just your buddy, a well-trained dog is a thing to be proud of.

Training your hunting dog takes patience but, it also takes praise!  When your dog does something that isn’t acceptable, then you must be patient and when he displays acceptable behavior, you should be liberal with your praise.  Remember, you took on the responsibility of training your dog from the minute you selected him and decided to bring him home!

Alpha

One of the first things you need to do is make sure that your dog understands that YOU and you alone are the top dog.  Dogs are accustomed to being in packs and each pack has an Alpha dog.  You must be that alpha dog for your pet.  We do this almost instinctively and it’s not as difficult as it might sound, nor is it harsh. Since dogs are naturally inclined to be part of a pack, and they understand the hierarchy of a pack, you should be establishing your place as well as the place of your dog in the family pack. This means that members of your family and other pets will develop their place in the structure.  For homes with multiple dogs, you’ll soon discover what they have decided is the proper ‘pecking order’.

Training Your Hunting Dog

Become the alpha dog by demanding your dog’s full attention and giving firm commands.  Always stay calm and in control.  Be consistent with your command words so that everyone in your family uses the same ones.  Use the leash as a tool to tell your dog that you mean what you say.  Set boundaries that he cannot cross and make his limitations clear to him.  Use noises such as claps and loud vocalizations to get his attention, but never yell in an angry tone.  Above all, give plenty of praise and reward when he does the right thing.  Positive reinforcement is the best way to get your dog to obey your commands and earn your trust.

Crate Training

As the owner of a brand new puppy, your first goal is to house train them.  This will usually entail the use of a crate – especially given that this is one of the quickest and most effective methods.  You might see it is inhumane to lock your pup into a crate, but the reality is that allowing your puppy to run free without supervision is potentially more damaging to your dog over time.  Even if you use a crate, it’s important that you ensure that your dog gets plenty of play time, socialization and that you allow sufficient time for his bathroom needs.  Crating your puppy while you are not home, or when you are getting ready to call it a day will help him understand that this is his den.

Obedience Training

After you’ve established that you’re in charge, the next two commands to teach him are “sit” and “heel”.  The sit command forces your dog to pay attention to you.  It’s also very useful for making him stay in one place or for teaching him not to jump up.  The heel command teaches your dog how to walk with you properly – human first, dog second.  Once these are perfected, all other commands like “stay” and “come” will be much easier for both of you.  Off-lead training comes after you’ve established a trusting bond.  Your dog has to want to come to you, of course.  Training your hunting dogs have to be off-lead in order to do their jobs well, so teaching your hunter the “come” command is critical.

Training for Hunting

Believe it or not, training your hunting dog to be a hunter begins when he’s only four months old.  It’s important to get him acclamated to the sound of a gun early.  After that, there will be exercises for pointing, retrieving, flushing, and all the other important skills a good hunter needs.  Dogs specifically bred for hunting already know what to do, it’s usually just a matter of guiding them in the right direction.

Whatever commands you decide to teach your dog are up to you.  But remember that as long as you do it with patience, praise, and positive reinforcement, he will learn.  He has a  natural desire to please you because you’ve established yourself as the alpha dog.
There are many types of hunting dog supplies out there on the market. If you are looking for a dog training collar the Innotek ADV 300P is a great choice, and if you are in need of a dog tracking collar, Tracker Maxima 5000 is a great choice.

If you have a puppy, you should know that socializing is a crucial part of caring for your new hunting dog. The unsocialized puppy may end up biting out of fear, so it’s very important to socialize your dog. If you’re looking to start social training with your dog, here are some tips.

Puppy School

Puppy training classes are great tools for both you and your dog. Through classes, you can learn commands to train your puppy to listen to you  like sitting, containing himself, or staying quiet. They also present a great opportunity to ask socialization questions. Call you local pet store or do some research online to find puppy training schools.

A word of caution: keep shy puppies away from group training classes, as this can overwhelm. If your dog exhibits shy behvarior, like hiding from people or things, you should help him gain trust and confidence before starting on any dog training exercises.

Dealing with a Shy Dog

What do you do when your puppy is shy to the point of being afraid? Never force a fearful dog to accept petting. This increases his anxiety and could lead to fear biting. To help a shy puppy come out of his shell, you’ll need to do a “greeting circle”.  Here’s how:

You’ll need some patient friends and some irresistible treats.  Sit in a circle.  Place you puppy in the center or if he is very shy, you can sit him next to you.  Have everyone sit sideways, facing the person to their left or right. This position is to be non-threatening.  Avoid direct eye contact, sudden movements, or dominant postures like leaning over the puppy.

The way to make this circle work is to have each person sitting in the circle put a treat in their hand and close their hand and extend it into the circle.  Once this is done you can each open up your hands and call to the puppy, and try to urge him to come to take the treat from your hand.  You should make sure that you’re using soft voices and offering encouraging words during this process, but don’t try to pet the dog until he comes to you for attention.

One by one, each person will have a turn trying to bring puppy to the treat in hand. Start by making it simple for the dog. As he learns the nature of the game and freely walks up to the next hand in line, switch up the pace and randomize the process so that he’s going in a more random direction for his treat.

Soon, the puppy will be running from person to person to get his reward. The next step is to plan a play date with a friendly, calm puppy.

The Play Date

All dogs love to play and because of that it’s sometimes very easy to introduce a new puppy or person to your dog and help him overcome his shyness and fears.  Try to make sure that you keep an eye on what’s happening and if your puppy appears to be intimidated, take him to another area.

Play dates should be arranged with relaxed, friendly dogs and people. Adult dogs can be considered, too, so if you know a friend with a very nice adult dog, start by arranging a play date with them.

Another option is to see if your local pet stores have play times that they open to the public – if they do they are typically offered at no cost. One thing to watch for is if your pup seems to be afraid or if he’s being bullied by another dog, remove him from the area right away so he’s not discouraged.

If your heading out, take your puppy along.  This helps him get used to different smells and sights.  Keep some tasty treats close by so that you can reward friendly behavior.  If you take him to the pet store, give him a treat as soon as you walk in the door.  Let him explore at his own pace.

Puppies always attract people. If your puppy is approached by strangers who want to pet him, inform them that you puppy is being trained. Give them a treat to give to your puppy to help with the training.

Making sure your hunting dogs is properly cared for is extremely important to make sure you have all your hunting dog supplies that is necessary to train your dog properly including PetSafe Wireless Fence, Innotek 5100, and Innotek 4100.