Author: Kevin Owens |
Lone Duck Outfitters & Kennels |

Having a well-trained hunting partner is incredibly important for both safety and for adding value to your hunt.

Most dog owners have a few commands they teach their pup like sit, shake, roll over, etc. but we as hunters have a few core commands that are an absolute must. Here’s a breakdown of a few commands you need to teach your gun dog:

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It’s imperative that your dog is obedient with their recall. No one wants to hunt with the guy whose dog bounds around in the decoys and refuses to come back to the blind. You should begin teaching your dog to come to you the first day you bring ‘em home. Here’s a few tricks:

Leave a leash on the dog so you can always be in control of the dog and never give a command you cannot reinforce. Keep a few treats in your pocket and get the dogs attention. Once the dog looks at you, give a slight pop on the leash while using a high-pitched, fun voice to command the dog to come to you. The second the dog gets to you, give the dog a treat and make sure your pup lovesthe reward of coming when called. Rinse and repeat.

Heel
Similarly to a reliable recall, it’s handy to have a dog that will heel without a leash, even when there are distractions. Not only can this be a safety issue in the field but (depending on what sort of blind you’re hunting from) you may want your dog in close to you in the blind, on the boat or heeling nicely while another dog flushes a pinned bird.

You want to know the secret to teaching a dog to heel properly? Begin without distractions and keep moving forward. Your young dog will want to stop to smell this and look at that, but if you keep moving forward and use well-timed pops on the slip lead, it will learn that it can walk comfortably if they stay at your heel and pay attention to you, not the surrounding distractions. The most common mistake people make when teaching a dog to heel is the dog gets distracted and they stop moving to address the dog. Nope. Pop the dog and keep moving. This brings me to the second most common mistake: pulling your dog with the slip lead rather than quick, sharp pops on the lead. Once you’ve put this all together, you need to make sure your timing is on point. As soon as the dog moves out of linepop pop popuntil the dog is back within the proper heeling zone. Continue with this exercise for a few minutes each day and you’ll have yourself a dog that walks nicely on (or off) a leash.

Kennel
This command is incredibly versatile and is super handy as a result. “Kennel” will tell your dog to go into a blind, a crate, into a truck, etc.. When would you ever use this other than maybe telling your dog to go into their crate as you’re leaving? Let’s imagine you’re out hunting in a field for geese. You might be out of the blind and a V of birds crest the horizon so you crouch down and tell your dog to “kennel” and he jumps into his blind to watch the sky. First, why is it that birds always fly in when we’re not ready? Second, having a dog that quickly obeys this command can possibly make or break this scenario and I’m sure we’d all choose to safely drop a few birds here.

When you’re first teaching this to a pup, be sure to have treats and praise the dog when he goes into the kennel. Be sure to repeat this and make it a positive experience each and every time. Dogs are naturally den animals so they should enjoy having their own little space to be calm and quiet. I promise, this will be handy when you’re travelling for a hunt and need your dog to be quiet and controlled in a hotel or a friend’s home.

There’s nothingmore enjoyable than having an obedient dog that can sit by a bonfire one night and hunt like a machine the next day. This sort of behavior is only achieved when you really put in the time and energy with your pup from day one of bringing him home.