[duckdawgs]

been reading on here a lot. This may sound like a dumb questions but I was thinking about the times when i am blowing a duck call I am either at the line, in a duck blind or doing something where the dog needs to sit and be still. Would there be any harm in training him to remote sit to whistle but ALSO anytime he hears a duck call?

lets say you shoot a duck and it falls in some thick stuff in your hole, dog establishes a hunt and during that time 10-15 ducks start working your spread. If you had him trained to sit every time he heard a duck call he would stop his hunt and sit down or stand in the water as soon as you started calling at the big group. I want to establish that if you hear this call you stay still. I don't think he would hear ducks calling flying over head while running a blind/mark well enough to be effected. But if everyone in the blind starts hammering their calls at a group of ducks it would be nice for him to stop and wait plus get a visual. lastly i can promise everyone we are not taking shots at birds while the dog is close to them, we are very conscious of where the dog is at all times and make sure we do not shoot even remotely close to him.

thoughts?

This may be easier said than done since i know most dogs are tough to stop when searching for a mark they saw go down. just wanted to get some opinions on it.

 

[freezeland]

Personally I wouldn't want my dog trained to sit upon hearing a duck call. There might be times when you want to get the dog back to the blind asap, like when in the middle of a retriever and you see a flock of mallards you want to hail call to your spread.

 

[22899]

Sit, Here, Heel (one side, dont get cute)l, Back, Fetch.....

Those five commands trained to a point of a very high standard of compliance.. Nothing more.... KISS..

Just those five commands will keep you busy enough..


Then teach to handle ,,not run lines...

Gun dawg regards...

 

[Matt McKenzie]

If I remember correctly, Franco used to train his meat dog to stop on one quack. Seemed to me like a pretty good idea for a duck dog hunting the marshes. He would probably be able to give some real world pros and cons.

 

[DarrinGreene]

it's easy to train - you do it the same way you teach whistle sit, it's just a different sound

 

[hillsidegoldens]

Sit dog is good if in cover, but if in open dog in sitting dog will flare ducks anyway. CV I want my dog out and back as fast as they can MN

 

[BJGatley]

Decide what is important to you, then decide if you can....

 

[BJGatley]

Also understand that your dog needs to see what is out there....don't worry too much in dog flaring birds...that is usually our fault not the dog.

Also understand that if your dog is working in the water, dog will not flare in coming birds.
Your job then is to be sure dog knows where to go after the retrieve when birds are down.

 

[BJGatley]

If you want reference in dogs working in the water without flaring birds, then visit the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever.
Good stuff...

 

[Rick Hall]

I experimented with both stop to call and shot in the "Way back when..." and eventually decided against training for either, as I don't want to inadvertently stop a dog on its way to downed birds that may only be crippled and trying to escape. And the dogs seem to figure the game out on their own and, once they have their mark, often pause on the way in to watch when they hear cues that there may be new ones.

 

[Eric Fryer]

The only thing I am getting out of reading all of these posts is " I have my dog out making a retrieve, and me and my guys are locked and loaded and willing to keep shooting." Sorry safety first, not shooting when my dog or any dog is working. So training for a duck call, good concept I guess, but a mute point in my opinion.

 

[Rick Hall]

Fiddlesticks. There are a world of shots that can safely be taken while a dog works.

 

[BlaineT]

Fiddlesticks. There are a world of shots that can safely be taken while a dog works.

Yep...just don't hunt with dumbasses.

 

[RookieTrainer]

Fiddlesticks. There are a world of shots that can safely be taken while a dog works.

Maybe with your dog in the water but not mine. Just the way I do it, because I was taught to control all the things I could control both in my profession and with respect to my responsibility to be the brains of the outfit when hunting with my dog (God help him). If there is no shooting when the dog is in the water, then you have eliminated the opportunity for Mr. Murphy to make an appearance - at least with respect to the dog potentially getting shot.

Obviously you are a grown man, and you are certainly entitled to hold a different viewpoint.

As to the "don't hunt with dumbasses", I wish you could tell for sure who was and who wasn't before the fatal shot. And the same goes here about holding your own opinion.

 

[DarrinGreene]

The only thing I am getting out of reading all of these posts is " I have my dog out making a retrieve, and me and my guys are locked and loaded and willing to keep shooting." Sorry safety first, not shooting when my dog or any dog is working. So training for a duck call, good concept I guess, but a mute point in my opinion.

Well, if duck call means sit then in theory... the whole time you're calling you're saying sit sit sit sit sit to the dog... theoretically, of course, it makes some logical sense.

Whether or not you or you hunting partners shoot while the dog is working if obviously up to you. I look at it this way...

If they can't shoot over my dog, they're not hunting with me... that doesn't mean anyone will, but if I can't trust them, then I can't trust them and neither me or my dog will be on that hunt.

 

[Rick Hall]

If there is no shooting when the dog is in the water, then you have eliminated the opportunity for Mr. Murphy to make an appearance - at least with respect to the dog potentially getting shot...

Mr. Murphy probably has a lot better chance of hitting my dog (or my own sweet self) at the blind than with a shot I'll call while the dog is working. But Murphy doesn't keep either of us on the couch.

 

[RookieTrainer]

Mr. Murphy probably has a lot better chance of hitting my dog (or my own sweet self) at the blind than with a shot I'll call while the dog is working. But Murphy doesn't keep either of us on the couch.

We simply disagree as people do. Why the need for the false choice?

 

[Rick Hall]

We simply disagree as people do. Why the need for the false choice?

Certainly don't mind disagreeing with you, but the choice to stay home or assume and manage the risks of hunting seems real enough to me. I've been making it virtually every open season day for over thirty seasons with new parties generally every other day or so, and I really do believe that we're all at greater risk of being shot in/at the blind than the dog is where I'll call a shot while it's working.

 

[kevinj]

I have seen dogs working help incoming ducks more than they have flared (but I am one of the few that still hunts without decoys on occasion and just kick the water, I think a dog swimming looks and sounds a lot like kicking the water - which is still one of the best old tricks I have seen) so for me sitting on a duck call would be something I would not want, but it could be trained the same as whistle sit


what would happen when you are being circled by a bunch of quacking ducks - could be interesting - would the dog sit for live ducks calling ????

 

[mikec]

I have seen dogs working help incoming ducks more than they have flared (but I am one of the few that still hunts without decoys on occasion and just kick the water, I think a dog swimming looks and sounds a lot like kicking the water - which is still one of the best old tricks I have seen) so for me sitting on a duck call would be something I would not want, but it could be trained the same as whistle sit


what would happen when you are being circled by a bunch of quacking ducks - could be interesting - would the dog sit for live ducks calling ????

I bet not..It would depend how good the trainers calling is..I have heard LOTS of bad duck calling out there haha