A hunting dog needs natural ability, but they also need some trained skills. Recall is one of those trained sills.
Of all the things we train, we constantly reinforce recall. It is no good for a hunting dog to be on the other side of the field you are hunting messing around. It wastes time and disturbs any birds that might be there.
It can also be a matter of safety. If your dog is headed for a road or some other unsafe situation, you need to be able to count on that recall.
During our hunt last weekend, we had a chance to test Storm’s recall.
She happened to flush a rooster over a frozen pond. We did not plan it and tried to work it so the bird would flush away from the pond but the bird had another idea.
Unfortunately, the pond was not frozen solid and definitely not safe.
So hubby immediately recalled Storm and did not try for that bird.
Storm was intent on the bird, but she did what she was told. She stopped and came back.
Notice she is wearing an ecollar. If she had not stopped hubby would have activated the collar at whatever level it took to get her back. This time she did not need an ecollar reminder, but it was nice to have that tool available. It was also nice to see our training pay off.
Speaking of recall…
That is not a brown dawg. What the heck is he doing in our field?
The hunters in the next field were hunting on the edge of our field. Actually in our field at the edge, but that is another story and Freighter had already worked that area so we were confident they were not going to find birds there. Anyway, their dog saw Thunder and Storm (who we were hunting together as a brace or pair at the end of the day), and came running over. The dog’s owner kept blowing a whistle…tweet…no response….tweet…no response and on and on. That dog was about 100 yards into our field, not hunting but running around and headed for Thunder and Storm. Eventually the owner started hollering for the dog. Finally, the dog returned to his owner.
I think they need to work on recall.
You might be wondering what Thunder and Storm did when this strange dog came charging at them. Well, they were busy hunting so hubby simply made a sharp right hand turn away from the dog and they followed him, never breaking off their hunt.
I was very happy with them but not really surprised. Given the opportunity they would much rather hunt than just about anything. Tomorrow I will have more pictures of these two senior dogs out in the field.
After we finished up our hunt and were returning the office we saw these two.
We saw another pair further up the road.
In this area they really don’t have a wild population of pheasant. It would be nice if some of these birds could establish themselves as they have in a couple other areas in Michigan. We asked the owner of the pheasant preserve why he thinks they have not been able to gain in numbers.
His answer was that there are too many predators working against them. The hawks and the owls get many of the birds and if they do happen to make it to Spring, the skunks, raccoons, and possums get the eggs.
We saw evidence of a hawk’s handiwork in the field we were hunting.
This is the Thursday Bark And Bytes Blog Hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.
The Barks And Bytes hop is open for all topics; however, Jodi and I ask that if you want to participate in the hop, you either share the linky list, or link back to one of our blogs.
I need to work on Shadow’s recall…lately she has developed “selective hearing” and has taken to coming when she wants to, not when I first call her. Luckily the yard is fenced (and all the gates are padlocked); but, that doesn’t influence my level of patience. It’s my own fault for letting her get away with it for so long though.
That was two great examples of great recall and we think you should feel a little smug …nah a lot smug. Glad all the training has paid off so well. Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly
Hi Y’all!
Oh that recall thing. I’ve gotten so good at it that I answer to several different commands…might be a post for tomorrow don’t y’all think?
People who hunt retrievers usually have good recall. Notice I said usually. People with pets…well…
Y’all come on by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Great recall storm so glad she came back that would be scary if the ice began to break. Do you use a work along with the recall word? If our dogs are on a bird and and want to call them back we say no bird and here we will also use leave it and here to get them to stop what they are doing and come back.
I think hubby just called “here”. He may have said “no here”. Remember breaking Storm has had a lot of practice returning without a bird….lol.
Wow that really illustrates how important recall is – it can save a dog’s life. Yet one more reason why Daisy could never be like Storm – she absolutely refuses to learn recall. I love the picture of the three generations next to each other, you can really see the resemblance!
Thanks for the answer…makes sense. Say what you will about e-collars, but in your situation, I have to agree, they are literally lifesavers.
Great shots! Recall is one of my favorite things to practice. SUCH a valuable thing for them to know. So awesome that the strength of that recall kept one of your dogs out of that not-quite-frozen lake! I admittedly need to strengthen my girls’ recalls. Especially Cairo’s! Oy!
What a good girl Storm is. Sampson’s recall can be titchy (I’m loving this word right now) but he usually responds well to STOP! This happened when he was a puppy, we walked outside and there was a crow in the street and naturally Sampson wanted to say hello. Trouble was it was a busy street and the road was slippery. I shouted STOP and Sampson hit the brakes, slid slightly into the street but not too far and then the crow left and I got Sampson. But it’s totally scary when you see your dog heading for a situation that has the potential to be deadly.
I constantly work on recall with my two, also!! 😀 That’s awesome that Storm came right back and that the loose out of control dog didn’t bother them!!
I just love reading about your hunting adventures! Papa says we need to work on my recall a bit. :/
Most of the time we don’t recall our recall command, which is why we are on leash 😉 The nature of a hound. We do a great recall if we aren’t too busy at that moment.
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Good job at recall Storm and Thunder 😀
Yea Storm and Freighter. Very well-behaved dogs. As for the overweight spaniel, perhaps a certain spaniel owner should get an ecollar and a doggy diet book in his stocking. 😉
Great job, Storm! It must have been a relief to have her turn around when she was headed out on that thin ice.
They used to stock pheasants on the land down below our home, before there were houses there. Often a pair or so would survive the hunt and the winter and we’d enjoy seeing them at our bird feeders all winter long. I have a few photographs of them, and I miss seeing them now that they’ve stopped stocking.
Great job with the recall, it can be a lifesaver, especially when a dog is so focused on hunting or the bird that they tune out everything else.