The Bird Dog Podcast
Hosted by Professional Bird Dog Trainer Tyce Erickson. On this podcast we discuss all things Bird Dogs! Everything from dog training, hunting equipment, bird hunting tactics, stories about man's best friend and everything in between. We include discussions on retrieving breeds as well as pointing breeds. We hope to help make you a better bird dog handler and more successful hunter in the field. If you are passionate about Bird Dogs and the world that surrounds them, join us as we share our passion and knowledge with you! Thanks for listening in advance to the The Bird Dog Podcast!
The Bird Dog Podcast
(EP. 41) Whining and Barking Waterfowl Dogs & How Help Them Be Quiet.
In this episode I talk about some tips on how to help your dog be quiet when it the hunting blind. Not many things are more annoying than a vocal dog when you are trying to be quiet when calling in those ducks or geese. Hope this one is a help! Enjoy!
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Thanks for listening everyone and good hunting!
Hey guys. Welcome to the Bird Dog Podcast. My name is Tys. I am the host of this show. Thanks for tuning in. Hopefully everyone's had a great day. Um, I've had a busy day here on a Friday. I've sent two dogs, um, home, had a dog come in for training and, uh, just normal owning a dog training business life, you know, so did do a little duck hunting this morning, which is fun. Uh, birds. Or a little stale. We had four guys shot six mallards. Um, but it was kind of a, kind of a one and done on our property lease. Um, not a lot of fresh birds coming into our field, so, uh. I didn't shoot the best this morning. Actually. I should have had a three, I should have gone three for three, but I went one for three and, and uh, wasn't very, uh, usually pretty good shot. But anyhow, that's hunting man. We all have ones that get away and we have days that we're ride on, but, uh, it's fun to get out and work. Some dogs. We had a, a black lab in the field. We had a Labradoodle, which is my buddies, the best Labradoodle we've ever trained. I've had his engine out there working and then a chocolate lab, so a black lab, chocolate lab, and a Labradoodle. And it was fun letting him honor and work each other or take turns picking up the ducks we did get. So, um, but, uh, if you're new to the show, thanks for listening in. A little background about me, um, I own. My dog training business is Utah Bird Dog training. We train all gun dogs, retrievers pointers. Um, so all this information I am sharing with you guys, it's from what I have learned training dogs for, uh, um, professionally for 18 years. And, um, had dogs over since I was a little kid. Bought my own duck boat before I even had a car. And, um, we had to bribe people to buy shotgun shells'cause we were too young to get shotgun shells. But we wanted to get shotgun shells so we could go duck hunting. So we had to go to the store and. Ask people, Hey, can you buy us some shotgun shells so we can go out hunting and, and, uh, anyways, it's just a passion and love that's put me on this, uh, this road and I am blessed. I get to do something I love and work with these animals and work with some of the best. Clients around, um, you know, people cut outta the same fabric that love dogs, love, love, uh, hunting birds, and the whole kit and caboodle that goes along with it. So, um, if you're interested in training, in dog training and hunting and. Gear. This is kind of the stuff we talk about in this podcast. So, uh, today, give you a little background. I had a poodle pointer that came in for training. Um, the lady wanted to work on get it at the steady wing, shot and fall all the way through. Um, we did a couple one-on-one sessions together. Um, she could kind of see how. She could see the big difference that those couple one on West one sessions were making in her dog and the progress she was getting. So she left the dog with us for a couple weeks, um, to do a little board and train and uh, we got the dog we shot a pheasant and a chucker over the dog today went out. Um, beautiful. Nice dog. Hunts hard, has a really good nose. Really nice point. I've gotten the point, um, pretty solid. I learned pretty, pretty fast between the two, one-on-one sessions and then, uh, two weeks. Dog is, is steady all the way through currently. Hopefully she can just keep up on it and maintain it and, uh, she should have a good dog again. We shot a chucker pheasant over the dogs, stayed nice and steady and made a good, good retrieve on both the birds. It's just fun to see that progress. And then today, we, this afternoon had a. Black lab go home. That was out of, one of, was one of our pups, um, a pointing lab. And so, um, we had done previously some videos of the dog hunting up on game and pointing. So we shared those with the owner and then the dog came in, we did a handoff and threw some ducks and sent, had the dog work through all the obedience and the force fetch and send it out to go do some retrieves, kind of some mock hunting situation. Marks drills with the dog. And dog has a lot of drive. Good little, nice little female. So she should, they should have a lot of fun, a lot of fun with her. And then we got another dog in, just give you guys a little, uh, background on kind of my day. And then we had another dog that came in that's just a, um, a mutt, just a terrier, something on, doesn't even know what he is, but. The guy's like, man, I wanna take my dog out hunting or just when I'm out rabbit hunting, I just want my dog Okay. With gunfire. So we're gonna bring the dog in and see if we can get him excited about some birds and introduce the gunfire properly to him so he can. Take him out in the field and just kind of have a buddy that maybe hunts or at least is good with gunfire. So we'll see how that goes and um, yeah, it's just kind of part of the day. So anyways, I wanted to get a podcast in here this week. Some of my goals, trying to get one out each each week. But, um, I had a, a client, um, and a past friend reach, uh, send me a text about, uh, this podcast topic and hopefully. This can help some of you guys that have a really excited dog. So his talk, his question was, um, essentially, I should actually read it. Um, but, um, vocalization while hunting, uh, let's say is this subject line. So, um, if you have a dog that is vocal in the blind or vocal. You know, when you're generally when it's, I would say duck hunting, um, and there's some factors on that we'll talk about, but. A dog when they're sitting there, that anxiety or that excitement can build in the animal. And duck hunting at times can be slow. So when that dog's sitting there, they're wanting that bird, they're anxious, they're excited. And it can sometimes reach a point where it can turn into even barking. Um, especially you see it a little more in hunt tests where the dog, the birds are, the, the duck calls are going off. Um, things are really exciting and the dog will actually start. The energy coming through its body will actually turn into a wine and then small barks. And I've seen it even excessive barking. And especially at the master level, even the senior level, it's pretty frowned upon if you have a vocal dog at the line. Obviously it's not enjoy when enjoyable to be around when someone's dog is sitting there barking or heavy whining. Um, while you're duck hunting, you're trying to be, you know, stealthy and be quiet. The dog is, and it's just like, dude, get your dog under control. Be quiet. You know? Now the pro here is generally these dogs have a lot of drive and a lot of desire compared to a dog that, you know, doesn't might just sit there and be like, I don't really care. You know? And so, um, but um, if you can kinda. Try to nip it in the butt earlier on, be before it becomes a pattern or a habit in the animal. It's definitely easier to control and it can develop over time. And, and, um, and so if you can, you know, you know, work on a quiet command when they're puppies, you know, so they know that quiet means be quiet and that then that can help, you know, correct him for, um, for vocalizing. Um, but. The best thing I have found to, um, help a dog be quiet is using the reward program. So a dog that usually vocalizes a lot when they're duck hunting is they are excited for the bird or they're excited for the retrieve. So if a dog vocalizes, we'll just get to the point here. If they're vocal and you send them for the retrieve, you're awarding. The previous beha, you're rewarding the dog for that previous behavior to the retrieve. So he goes, oh, if I act this way, I get to still go get the thing I love. And so what we wanna do is only send the dog when it does what we want it to do. And this is a dog that's been through training. You know, he's steady, he knows he should sit there. And that's partly a dog that breaks isn't gonna be as vocal'cause they just. Generally they're just gonna break instead of have time to, to get vocal maybe. Um, but a dog that's steady and sitting there, and if they whine at all, you can, let's, let's, let's look at a training scenario. So I take my dog out, I have it sit at my side, you know, I give it the cue, sit, mark, whatever. Throw a bumper out there. If that dog moves forward, or if that dog whines, I'm not gonna send it for retrieve. So, and I may just walk out there. You know, you don't have to throw it really far. It's a drill. You could just throw the bumper out there, and if the dog moves at all, tell her Sit, leave it. You walk out there, you pick it up, give it a denial. You deny the reward, or you deny the retrieve because the dog did not command the behavior, did not give the behavior that you were wanting. So I'll tell the dog, sit, mark, throw it out there. Quiet. If it's, if it's noisy, as soon as it's quiet. Boom, I'll release him to go make the retrieve. I just want to, I want to take a little bit. As soon as it does that, I'm gonna mark that behavior. I'm gonna send the dog to go make the retrieve. Um, if I tell the dog and then I'll bring the dog back. Same thing. Sit mark. It's vocal at all. I will not send it for the retrieve and I may actually pull the dog off the line, make it, walk it, heal for a second. Kind of move some, get some energy out a little bit. I'll walk it back. Have it sit, mark. Throw a bumper out there. If the dog is quiet, then you reward'em. And the only way you reward'em is if they do what you want. And if having a dog that's quiet is important or this dog has a potential issue, do not send it for the retrieve. And what that dog starts going is like, I want the bird so bad. I'm going to be quiet because I want it. And so he's doing it for himself essentially, right? He's, he's retrieving'cause he wants the bird for himself or he wants the bumper. So the key is before you send him whatever behavior the dog is doing, you're awarding that behavior. When you send him to go make the retrieve, so if your dog whines a little bit and you send him to go make the retrieve, he's gonna, that's gonna just ba, you're basically saying you can do that and you're gonna be rewarded for doing that. Um, so the key is. Make sure your dog is quiet and, and if he's, and if, and sometimes, you know, you could try, give him a little swat on the nose. Give him a little correction. The eco, occasionally that makes him even a little more, it can make him a little more anxious by giving him a zap with the collar or correcting him. They might, oh, they just kinda, it can add to that. So the best thing I have found is just, is. Instead, make'em sit when they're quiet. Tell'em quiet or make'em wait. When they're quiet, good dog, you can even reward'em. Just give'em that praise. Good. And then go ahead and just release'em when they're steady and when they're quiet and that's only, that's gonna reward that behavior. If your dog won't get quiet, then maybe. You know, release the dog from sit, get it to move, get it to blow off some of that steam, maybe give it some thumb bumpers. Just toss it out there while it's not vocalizing, obviously you just release the dog from sit, give it some H ups. It runs out there, picks him up, blows some steam off. You bring it back to heel. He is kind of tired a little bit. You have him sit. You send him out to go make the retrieve if he's quiet. If he had vocalizes, no. Here, make him, maybe walk him at heel again or something. Kind of get his mind distracted. Bring him back. Sit, mark, throw it out there if he's quiet. Good. And, and a lot of times the beginning, it could just be literally like seconds of quiet. That he's quiet. One, two, you release him. Then he is like, oh, okay. And then you make him wait a little longer and then you send him, it's just no diff, it's no different than like treat training. You know, the dog comes in, you tell the dog sit, you bring the treat over his head. As soon as he sits immediately, boom, you give him that treat. Or if you have a clicker training, you make a little click treat and the dog goes, this behavior gets this reward. And so, um. Something you can do if like the dog's sitting in the blind and he's kind of anxious, um, you know, you could, you know, release him again. I'd get him kind of moving around. Just take him on. You don't have to take him on a big walk, but okay. Release him and then, um, you know, maybe throw a bumper to some fun ones out into the, into the water. Kind of just get some energy burned, burned off. And then have him sit, throw a bumper and then if he's quiet again, send him So. Um, that's generally the best way. Um, some dogs can give'em a little nick with the collar quiet. And that would be more like beginning stages, where you just kind of nip it right in the butt. And then again, just be conscientious of how you reward the dog. Um, also, you know, physical touch is a big thing. So, um, an example of, uh, I saw a lady one time I was at a vet Vet's office. Vet's office, and she had this little cocker spaniel in her arms. And the thing was just barking at everyone. All these people and dogs coming in, dogs just going nuts. And the lady sitting there petting it, it's okay. It's okay. And she's stroking this dog down with their hands. Well, as a baby, if, if someone, a human has a child in their arms, a lot of times that's what they'll do. They'll like the baby's crying or acting nervous. They'll, they'll rock'em. Right? Hey, it's okay. It's okay. And they'll pet'em down. Well, essentially that dog's saying like. When that dog is barking at everyone, it's kind of saying, Hey, I'm the boss. This is my owner. I basically own her. Don't, don't come around me. I'm tough. My owner, you know, owner's basically, and then owner's petting the dog. And basically rewarding that behavior. But if the owner was like, no, don't do that in this family, we do not act that way. And she takes her somewhere else or just just, you know, you know, stops that behavior in the beginning and takes control of how we act in our family. That dog's not gonna have that behavior. I never go into a vet's office and my dog's just barking at dogs and going nuts. And because I, in our family, we don't act that way. And we start from a young age that we nip those behaviors right in the butt and we reward'em when they're doing what we want. So. Instead, if that lady could distract the dog even, kind of, you know, I know little, whatever it needs, whatever little correction needs to, as soon as the dog is quiet, then she pets it. Good, good dog. And rewards a calm behavior. Well, dogs love physical touch, so they're gonna be like, oh, oh, if I, if I'm calm, I get this beauti, this nice rubbed down. Oh, it feels good. I'm the best dog if I act all crazy. Well, my, no, my trainer, my, my handler or my owner stops touching me, stops giving me infection, may even gimme a little correction. Like, don't do that. And then when I'm calm, they're gonna reward me. So it's just you're feeding off that reward on what the dog wants, right? So if you can find what the dog wants and then reward the previous, only when the dog creates the behavior. Previous to the reward, then you're gonna get that dog that's calm, steady, and just a nice animal to be around. So, um, I know some of these things are easier said than done. Some dogs are just. Um, you know, are more anxious and are more vocal naturally. And again, it comes, that drive is just kind of swelling up within themselves. But that being said, physical touch. A lot of physical love and touch when they're quiet and calm. And then reward, you know, the dog with just the retrieve or what it wants. When the dog does the behavior that you're looking for. So hopefully that helps you guys. Um, it's, you know, it's actually a simple idea. Um, if you ever heard that, I mean, it kind. It's cool because it's actually, it's pretty simple to do and generally it creates, um, a big reward, but also a lot of these things before the, they create a big pattern or habit in the dog's life. If a dog's been acting this way for, you know, years or, uh, or it's creep crept in in the last few weeks, sometimes it can take, you know, a, a good bit of time to also reverse that and change that. But also when dogs want something, you can change behaviors pretty quick a lot of times, which is pretty fun. But the key is, especially with your retriever, if he's vocal, he probably has a lot of drive or desire. But only send them to retrieve when they are doing the behavior you want. And that should help out, should help out with, uh, with your dog being quiet. So if there's any other things that I am missing or tips you guys have seen or things like that, I'd love to hear about'em. Um, you know, uh, I don't claim to know. Everything. But, uh, generally can, you know, done this enough times and seen enough dogs and different breeds that all these things are from stuff that, that I've learned and I've also put to use and that, that have worked for us. So hopefully these little tips and tricks can help you guys out. Um, hopefully everyone's having a great weekend. Uh, hopefully you got some hunts, um, coming up on the, the horizon. It's been. Season here in Utah has been, uh, I dunno, been weird. I feel like waterfowl hunting in general, there's always birds to be had. There's always birds you can get, there's areas you can hunt, but I just feel like with our climate change, I guess you could say, I feel like everything's like a month later. So I wish we could start. Waterfowl hunting instead of beginning of October here. I wish we could start at the beginning of November and instead of ending mid-January, we end mid-February. I feel like everything's just kind. We kill local birds in the beginning and then it's just kind of stagnant and then the migration slowly starts showing up kind of in November, and we've had such nice weather. There's, there's a few swans that are starting to come in, so there's a little bit of migration happening, but we're just not getting that hard push, and I think that that frost line, if the birds don't have to move out of the northern. Areas of the earth, they'll just, they'll just hang out. There's food and water. It's like, why should we migrate it? Why should we push? There's obviously birds that are always gonna move and push, but to get a substantial bird amount of birds this farther down on their, on the, on the globe, we just need that cold frost line to just to force'em down. And I just feel like over the years. It's kind of, uh, it's happening a little bit later and um, sometimes it doesn't happen that much. I think birds can stay up in Canada and those areas north of us, um, a good majority of the year. So we don't get those crazy hard pushes, uh, you know, of the migration that I feel like we used to get as you know, and I think that's kind of a commonality, is I talk to people. I think areas that you know. Would freeze up or get colder earlier, you know, that would happen. So anyhow, that's kind of my spiel on the hunting right now. You know, everyone just wants tons of birds and want'em here, and that's what we want so we can get good dog work. But regardless, even if you go out and you shoot two or three birds, it's usually a good time just being out there with your dog, take a bumper, go work him as it's slow, or you know. Have, spend some time with your friends, and that's what's important are those relationships anyway, so hope you guys have a great weekend. Um, thanks for checking us out. Um, in the show notes, uh, if you're looking for an awesome dog, uh, uh, cot, look at nda, dog beds. Um, if you go click on that link, that helps us out. Also, we love crispy boots. They've been, they've helped us out. Um, uh, and uh. Yeah, they're just awesome people. Um, gunner dog, um, crates, check them out. They've helped us out also. And, uh, Sitka Waterfowl, um, uh, been awesome too. Um, Sitka gear, we use, I use their waiters right now and they gear. And I really enjoyed, uh, their stuff. I haven't tried the QU or anything like that. Um, I'm sure it's some, some good gear too. I think SIM's teamed up with them on making their waiters. Haven't had any buddies that have, that have used their waiters personally. So I, I can't tell you on, um, how their gear is. Uh, ONCA official is another camo that we use a lot for big game hunting or depending on the. The habitat you're using, but, uh, onca gear, ONCA official, they're cool camo color, welcome to check them out. Um, they're great. Especially like late season, you get like little snow or if I'm like hunting like big game, I'm hunting aspen trees and kind of snow and rock. It's a kind of a grayish whitish, blackish type camel. Pretty cool stuff. So lots of cool gear out there and we'll try to, um, as new stuff pops up, or. Or whatnot, we'll try to do some gear kind of reviews. So thanks guys. Hope you're have a great day and we'll see you in the next show. And remember, train for the hunts.