Professional Dog Training Needed
There comes a time when you need a professional to help a dog reach it’s full potential. This article is about what led up to sending “Willow to School” and the results.
Willow and Why Did I Send Her to Training
I bought Willow in 2019 as a “started” dog. The 2019 season was not pretty. Between her getting “lost in a cornfield” and her hunting for herself I was getting frustrated. Prior to the 2020 season we worked on recall. Using the new GPS collar I was able to keep track of her.
Throughout the 2020 season we worked on staying within a reasonable range. By season end I could turn her using tone, when she was heading off on her own. But she still required constant management. It was getting to the point where I was not taking her to good spots just because she was still borderline out of control.
After the 2020 season ended one of my hunting buddies invited us to a Pheasants Forever event at a game farm. He thought it would be a good opportunity to get Willow on some birds. I agreed and off we went. There were 4 guns and 12 birds planted in pretty reasonable cover. Willow proceeded to catch 5 of the 12 birds and bust a couple more. Then she settled down and starting pointing. We had prepared the group for this possibility and everyone was understanding. In the end, they thought she had done well, once she settled down.
When I got home and was telling my wife about the afternoon she made the point that I had a lot of money invested in Willow and maybe she needed some professional training. I had not considered that but she made a good point.
Willow Goes to School
When I was trying to help Willow improve I had been watching a lot of YouTube videos created by Standing Stone Kennels. While the videos were excellent, I was not disciplined enough to follow through. So, I called them and talked to “Kat the dog trainer”. I explained what was happening and what my goals were. Kat described what they could and couldn’t do for her. It boiled down to they could train her on the building blocks but ultimately I would have to finish the training. I thought that was an honest answer and so I scheduled Willow for some professional help.
Standing Stone is located in Kansas and I live in Minnesota. So it was going to be a road trip to drop her off. Willow and I drove down to Kansas and stayed over night in a motel. The next morning, we drove out to the kennel and checked in. I discussed goals again with the staff and then left. Standing Stone posts pictures of the dogs in training on Instagram. So we were constantly checking how she was doing. We also got weekly report cards on progress and what they were working on.
Two months later, it was time for Willow to come home. I drove down again, stayed over night and the headed out to the kennel early in the morning. I met with Ethan who showed me what she had learned and we went out into the field. He showed me how to manage her using what she had learned and she pointed a couple birds.
Preparation for the 2021 Season
Between when we returned from Kansas and the start of the season we continued to work on the skills she had learned such as heeling and recall.
By late July, we could start going out to the Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) and do some field work. I was able to learn how to use my new Alpha 200i and learn how to manage Willow. What she learned certainly helped but now it was up to me.
2021 Season Opener
For the 2021 season I wanted to hunt the dogs together more. I replaced my Garmin Alpha 100 with a Garmin Alpha 200i which made it easy to run two dogs.
Willow was greatly improved over the 2020 season. Her recall was solid. If she was too far out a bit of vibrate would bring her back, unless she was on a bird. She still ranged out pretty far but with her recall I was not as concerned.
Then we went to Iowa. We were hunting a WMA about a mile square. Due to the drought the cover was pretty sparse. As a result the birds were running like crazy. Willow was ranging out and finding them but would often times start tracking and ignore my attempts to turn her. We ended up seeing a lot of birds but at 15-200 yards. In frustration, I called Standing Stone for advice. Willow was doing everything that they trained her to do but I was failing. Ethan called me back and after I explained what was happening he said I just needed to micro manage her for a while.
So I did and saw immediate improvement. Willow knew what she was supposed to do but was choosing to do what she wanted to do because I was not correcting her. As soon as I started to correct her things improved. We still have work to do but I believe that Willow will get there. Now it is on me to help her achieve her full potential.
Lessons Learned
I was happy with the training that Standing Stone provided. They did what they said they would do. When I needed advice they were more than happy to provide it. I would use them again.
Next season, I am going to hunt the dogs separately more so that I can focus my attention on Willow. She will make more progress that way.
