Thread: Tips on keeping dog close when hunting.

"Thanks Bunji for the informative and detailed advice, its much appreciated!!"
@Mohawk660 No worries mate ,l am a 60's child who grew up on a mixed Cattle & Sheep farm in the Kiwi bush back blocks, so had 4 working dogs laying next to me on the baby rug on the floor at first day at home at 2 days old &nothing much has changed as far as hounds in my life since.Dad had a team o 8 working dogs all his life, that were renowned & off spring highly sought after by locals.Also us older blokes grew up in a era where properly trained & behaved dogs were a point of pride for a whole family not just something to post pics on Idiot Book of & then locked away & forgotten in a Slumburbian back yard or dog run .

As l get older l get just as much enjoyment now out of my hunting putting others on to "Trophy" heads & helping them pick up hunting skills in the field & one of my great joys for a very long time is hunting over a good working dog whether the game if feather or fur . So if anyone younger who did not grow up where working & hunting dogs were worked nearly every day of their lives & the owners were happy to share advice ,feel free to simply ask for help, if l can help l will & l am sure others will as well

For anyone starting out with training a new pup/dog, my advice is stick to the K.I.S.S. principle - First off you will be fine ,have confidence in your self ,dogs pick up on hesitation /lack of confidence ,do not over think it & make sure the basics of Sit,Heal,Stay are mastered first,everything else will flow on from that & make it much easier on you & the dog & with the proper praise & reward the dogs start looking to learn & do more to please you .

Good Luck everyone starting out ,it is a wild & at times frustrating ride training a pup up into a great hunting/working companion , but you will be rewarded for the rest of your life & even when they have long passed you will look back at your times together as some of the best of your life & still get a chuckle out of their antics.