Hunting with Dogs
Hunting with Dogs
Training Mistakes That Can Set Your Duck Dog Up for Failure
Early on in my duck hunting journey, I lugged some wood duck decoys and a spinner deep into a chunk of public land in north-central Wisconsin. I’d stumbled across a pond in the parcel while scouting for whitetails, and figured it might pick up some wood duck and teal traffic on the opener. As soon...
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Hunting with Dogs
How to Train a Bird Dog in Urban Areas
If you’re like most Americans, you live in a populated area; you have neighbors on either side of you; and, if you’re lucky, you have a not-too-big backyard. While I couldn’t find any statistical information regarding the number of hunters that live in urban areas, the fact is that over 80% of...
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Hunting with Dogs
3 Ways Your Family Members Might Mess Up Your Bird Dog’s Skills
I’m confident in saying that I have fairly well-trained bird dogs. They know the basics and can run multiple retrieves at the same time. My dogs are steady to the shot, and they listen really well. For me. My daughters and my wife, their dogs aren’t quite as good. This is a real bummer, because they...
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Hunting with Dogs
The Dog Training Strategy that Will Help You Kill More Public Land Birds This Fall
How many times have you heard someone say something like this when talking about hunting public land roosters, “As soon as you shut the truck door, they all flush out the end of the slough and sail to the private.” The implication is that those hard-hunted ditch chickens are onto the game, and they...
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Hunting with Dogs
How to Build a Solid Foundation for Your Puppy's Future Success
If you’ve been around dog trainers long enough, you’ve no doubt heard the expression, “You have to put a good foundation on the pup!” or something along those lines. Trainers love to talk about how building a strong foundation makes future training easier. While I completely agree with the premise...
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Hunting with Dogs
How to Introduce Your Dog to Boats
Whether you have a retriever puppy you’re hoping will bring you a decade’s worth of greenhead limits, or a ride-or-die mutt that will spend the summers at the lake with you, getting a dog comfortable with boats can be an interesting experience. You could take some puppies on a speedboat when they...
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Hunting with Dogs
How to Ensure Your New Hunting Dog is Better Than Your Last
Every bird dog I’ve owned has been the best dog I’ll ever own, until I got my next one. In that regard, I’m a pretty standard dog owner. Our biases toward our current dogs rival maybe only our political identities, or in some cases, our allegiance to professional sports teams. It feels impossible...
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Hunting with Dogs
How to Train Your Dog to Focus on You
There’s something breathtaking about a high-powered hunting dog doing its job. Speed, athleticism, drive—it’s all personified in that moment, and it’s a beautiful thing. It takes a dog with a lot of courage, endurance, and enthusiasm to do the job of hunting well, but those qualities can also be...
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Hunting with Dogs
Announcing the Winners of the MeatEater Dog Photo Contest!
We asked for dog pics, and you all delivered. We received thousands of submissions of man's best friend living up to the name and then some. From young pups to weathered veterans, the bestest boys to the goodest girls, it’s very clear that everyone adores their furry friends. From flushing and...
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Hunting with Dogs
How to Suck Less at Training Your Dog
You think that you’re not a dog trainer, but if you own a dog, you are. While you might not get paid for your skills at molding lunatic teenage Labs into pheasant hunting machines, you have an obligation to train your personal dog. Even if you outsource some of the big stuff to a pro, like gunfire...
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Hunting with Dogs
Breed Battles: Springer Spaniel vs. English Cocker
If you like high-energy, bird-flushing machines that are cute as hell and just a little wild, then this is the breed battle for you. In a way, this is another old guard versus new guard competition, but the truth is, both breeds have their place in the uplands. Which one is a better choice is up for...
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Hunting with Dogs
The Most Overlooked Hand Signal to Teach Your Dog
When your dog has mastered the whistle stops, with him stopping mid-sprint to turn and look at you, waiting for direction, it gives you the biggest sense of accomplishment. But once he stops, you have to get him where you need him. At this point, it is a must that you have the hand signals conquered...
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