Intro
Your first hunt with your dog is going to be an extremely special moment. This is when all of the hard work over the summer months is going to finally come to fruition. There is nothing like witnessing the dog that you have watched develop finally come running back to you with its first bird in its mouth. All beauty aside, there are a couple of things that we as handlers need to do to help our dogs be successful on that first hunt.
Leave Your Gun At The Lodge
First, and probably most importantly, leave your gun at home. You will read this again and again, but it is very true. You’re not out here to shoot birds. You’re out here for your dog. Leaving your gun at home allows you to give your dog your complete attention without any distractions. Being a solo hunter myself, I know that this is not always a possibility though. If you hunt alone, like I do 90% of the season, you’ll have to take your gun with you. In this case, make sure to bring along some kind of restraint for your dog (a leash that you can secure to an immovable object, like a tree, works just fine). By using a hands free restraint for your dog, you set your dog up for success and if it chooses to break you will be guaranteed that it will not be rewarded.
A Pocketful Of…
The second, and this really only applies if you’re hunting over water, is to bring a pocketful of rocks (not sunshine). I don’t care how many marks your dog has run over the summer, there is always the chance that your dog will struggle when it goes out for that first hunt. After the birds are knocked down and it's time to pick-up, you can throw a rock out next to a downed bird to help get your dog zeroed in on the bird before sending it. Remember, we want to always set our dogs up for success and make failure/mistakes difficult to occur.
Bumpers, Bumpers, Bumpers
Finally, the last thing that is absolutely necessary for your first hunt is to bring a bumper/dummy with you. The last thing that we want is for your dog to go out on its first hunt, sit around for hours with no action, and then get packed up into the truck and head home. Don’t get me wrong, slow days happen in hunting all the time, but for the first hunt, we want our dogs to associate this time in the field with happy thoughts, not boredom. In fact, I would suggest bringing a bumper along on your dog’s first 5 or more hunts just to be safe. We’re using this to reward our dog’s patience and to let them know that nothing is better than time in the field.
Recap
If you follow all of the above points, you will help guarantee your dog’s first hunt is not a failure. Patience, success, and fun are the names of the game here. We have to help the dog be successful. We have to make sure that they are enjoying themselves. And most important of all, we need to be patient with their development and curb all of our expectations. Trust me, Ol’ Yeller will become a top notch retriever even if you’re a terrible shot.
Comments