Matt McLane
Training
Now you have selected a pup that is a good prospect, I will give you a quote that I have heard in different forms and believe came from John Wick, probably from his renowned book “Walk with Wick: The Tree Dog Encyclopedia.” The quote goes something like, “A pup is like a lottery ticket that you have to wait two years to scratch off.” Another saying I have seen is, “when you get a pup, get a new pair of hunting boots.
Wear those boots only when you are hunting the pup; when the boots are worn out, you will have a hunting dog.”
Training should start at 5 to 6 weeks old when the pup is weaned. It is ready to be in your hands, home, and daily life at this age. 
These first weeks are critical for socializing and learning. These are the foundation blocks that everything will be built. I have seen many pups with good potential ruined because they were put in a kennel and not handled and socialized until they were “old enough to run.” I am very hesitant to get a pup over 12 weeks old unless I know it was handled, and been exposed to other dogs and people, and learned some basics. I have read that if a dog isn’t well socialized by 16 weeks, it is highly prone to have issues like being gun shy, kennel shy, and other personality faults. Imagine keeping a child locked in a room until it was five with only food, water, and occasional handling. There is damage done that you can’t train out of them. Trust me, I have tried many times. I finally concluded that I could minimize the damage done, but they are still damaged. It takes the same amount of feed to keep a good one as one with issues. I moved them on and only keep the ones that meet my standards.
When you get a pup, it needs to spend as much time with you and out in the world as possible. It will learn how to react to people, other dogs, livestock, and the world. It doesn’t need “time in the woods,” though I enjoy short walks behind the house to watch them smell and explore. The pup needs to learn basic commands. When you call, it must come. It will learn “sit,” “stay,” “kennel,” “truck,” etc. This training needs to be “on lead” and off.
This is generally referred to as “yard training.” Some are slow to pick up; some are stubborn, and others are quick and easy. I do not use a shock collar on pups. You will end up building a fear of the collar. The collar will come later when it is ready to hit the woods. 
I don’t expect anything from a pup, but I do like watching their personality develop. Your commands must always be in a “command tone of voice.” You don’t use sentences, bargain, sweet talk, etc. You issue the commands like “FLATS – KENNEL.”
With that tone, I just called my dog’s name to get his attention, a brief pause, and gave him the command to go to the kennel. This isn’t a popular command for him. He would rather lay on the porch furniture by the kitchen door and have my wife occasionally throw meat scraps at him. However, he is trained and comes without me having to walk up to get him. As a pup, I take a lead, go up on the deck and snap it to their collar. They know what is happening and would rather lie on the deck. They often roll over and won’t stand up. I don’t pet them, sweet talk, or bargain with them.
Once on lead, I issue the command and take the pup by the collar to get to its feet, then pull it with the lead to the kennel. All commands are enforced this way. There is no reason, or benefit, to be punitive. You issue the command and enforce it. Your commands must be consistent. Don’t say “KENNEL” one day and “Let’s go, buddy” the next. An adult dog will understand between 50 and 100 words or phrases. Be consistent with your commands.
Around six months old, the pup is ready to start taking to the woods after you finish the last part of yard training. This is the age you can introduce the use of a shock collar. The dog needs to know the escalation of tones/vibration and shock. When you issue a command, and they give you the look of “Yeah right” or “I don’t hear you,” then you give them a tone or vibration and reissue the command immediately. If the dog doesn’t respond, you give a low-level shock and issue the command immediately.
Keep escalating the intensity of the shock, until the dog comes. When it comes, praise the dog and snap it on lead. A smart dog remembers this sequence. That way, it heads your way the next time you hit the tone/vibrate button.
A shock shouldn’t be necessary once the dog is “tone broke” and understands that shocking is you enforcing a command, not a random bolt of lightning. Now the dog is ready to take to the field. 
Once in the field, expect nothing. It might timidly hang around, it might pick up a stick and play, or it may take off as fast as it can chasing a deer. If it is timid, give it time to explore. If you see game, take the pup to the vicinity of the game and watch. It may nose around and not care, or it may express interest. You will only use a shock collar to enforce a command or stop a dangerous behavior, such as chasing deer. Keeping the dog in the woods is the only way it will learn, unlock its instinct to hunt, and hone its skills. This is the longest and hardest part; you want this pup to “turn on” or “do something.” There are days you are putting them on game left and right, and they just aren’t interested in putting it together. This is where the hopes start giving away to doubts, and you aren’t sure if the pup will ever do anything. Now is a good time to remember the part about the lottery ticket. Just keep taking it to the woods; you will get to scratch off that ticket next season. This is also a good time to break up the monotony by hunting with other people and other dogs. This will also expose the pup to other dogs, real hunting and shooting, get some fur in its mouth, and often helps them get more interested in game. You will be on cloud nine when it finally turns on and chases a rabbit 50 yards before losing it or trees a squirrel. Now the dog knows what it should do and needs to repeat it a thousand times to hone its skills.
I will close with another part of training that most people really struggle with. You do your part, and the dog doesn’t do its part. It has been two seasons; you put the miles on in the woods, you fed this dog opportunity every weekend. You have invested two seasons of your life, and the dog still isn’t performing. You are at the point where you scratched off that lottery ticket, and it was a loser.
Now what?
You start all over.
That dog isn’t giving you what you need, and it is time to make the cut, and it isn’t going to make the team. 
This is especially hard when it is your first dog. You blame yourself and bargain in your mind, “If I had done this or hadn’t done that.”
Many people will keep “hoping” and keep trying. Some might be “late starters,” but most aren’t. It is time to move on to a new one. To defend against this, many of us keep multiple dogs in different phases.
I have the old dog, the current dog, the prospect, and the pup. This method allows me to cull the ones that don’t make it, or suffer with a mediocre dog until I get a new one up to speed. It also covers for when accidents happen, like being hit by a car, killed by coyotes, or illness. These are all things that have happened to me over the years.
I have spent a good portion of my life chasing dogs through the woods; the rest I mostly wasted.
Some of my most fond memories were of hunting with dogs. I have had dogs that have been gone for a long time, and people still talk about and had some of my biggest heartbreaks burying the good ones. I have given a lot to dogs, but it pales in comparison of what they have given me. I probably would have spent a lot more time fishing if I ever had a dog that would run fish.