# Breaking on shot



## saveaduckkillaskybuster (May 29, 2005)

My 3 year old Lab has picked up a bad habbit of breaking when i shoot, and definatly when she see's a bird go down. Any idea's on how to correct this problem. one more thing when i have a cripple she. i'll send her, and when she gets past 50 yards or better she will not listen to my whistle, she just goes and does her own thing. inside 50 i hit the whistle and her butt is on the ground before i done blowing. Any Ideas


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## lesserhunter (May 9, 2008)

Get some good rope. And tie her tight when you shoot and then let her go when you want to.


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## whitehorse (Jan 28, 2008)

collar conditioned yet? sounds like that would cure about everything you want... I still don't know if I want my dog to break or not...

every second you wait, is one more second a criple has to get away. I know that they mark better.. lol all preference i suppose

I would just do some training around gunfires and live birds as well.. fowl dawgs one has a pretty need session for helping keep dogs steady and teach honoring, but havn't tried it, good luck


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## jmillercustoms (Dec 11, 2007)

I kinda agree with whitehorse i like my dog to get after those birds quick, however she is also trained to stay when i tell her, i throw dummies and have her naturally retrieve every other one, the ones that i throw inbetween i tell her "sit" and make her stay until i tell her to go get the dummie, this way she learns to listen to my voice and what i am saying....seems to be workin so far but who knows i am sure other guys on here will have better ideas


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## gonedoggin (Mar 20, 2008)

whitehorse said:


> I still don't know if I want my dog to break or not...
> 
> every second you wait, is one more second a criple has to get away. I know that they mark better.. lol all preference i suppose


I have this argument w/ one of my hunting partners every so often. He claims that a breaking dog will get to the cripple faster. I say, if I make a bad shot (cripple the bird) it takes me less than a second to send the dog.

I can not remember ever losing a crippled bird because my dog was steady but I can think of numerous times I couldn't shoot because his dog was running under a low flying bird. I won't even go into the number of birds put up out of range because his breaking dog was chasing a missed bird.

I've come to believe the argument against steadying a hunting dog is promoted by professional trainers because they know that the typical "bubba" won't keep his dog steady after getting it back from the pro so they just don't want to waste their time.


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

You release your dog on its name. Why not steady your dog and keep the standard high? If you shoot a woundie, on its way down release the dog on its name. Doesn't seem like much of a discussion any longer.


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

for waterfowl there is no reason a dog shouldn't be steady. It WILL result in more birds successfully retrieved and is the only way to ensure your dogs safety.

For the original question- Depending on whether the dog is collar conditioned or not effects the answer. Either way, if your dog breaks, dont let it get that bird. "no, here" or "no, sit" if it is commited to breaking. If at all possible (bird is on land or shallow water) pick up the bird yourself or have another dog pick it up. After a while the dog will start to figure out "hey man if I go before the ol' man says my name, I'm not getting that dang bird."

You can do steady drills in the yard to teach this as well. Either throw dummies/birds or have someone else throw them (better) and if that dog brakes, make it sit and pick up the bird or have the thrower pick up the bird and try again. Change up the retrieves. Set your standard and keep it. When we train with this drill, if the dog takes a step with any one foot it isn't getting the bird. After a while you are going to want to try to do everything possible to get the dog jacked up to break so you challenge them to stay to the standard.

You can train with this all you want but things change in the duck blind. The same rules apply, if the dog breaks= no bird.


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## jmillercustoms (Dec 11, 2007)

this may be a dumb question but what about upland hunting, I use my dog for both waterfowl and upland as i am sure most guys do, if i train my dog to be steady all the time when a bird is shot wont she do this in the upland scenario too? those damn pheasants are sneaky enough at hidin without givin them more time to do it, i have always liked my lab to follow a bird as soon as she flushed it, that way she is closer when it falls and/or runs, i dunno, i am no expert just lookin for advice


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## gonedoggin (Mar 20, 2008)

jmillercustoms said:


> this may be a dumb question but what about upland hunting, I use my dog for both waterfowl and upland as i am sure most guys do, if i train my dog to be steady all the time when a bird is shot wont she do this in the upland scenario too? those damn pheasants are sneaky enough at hidin without givin them more time to do it, i have always liked my lab to follow a bird as soon as she flushed it, that way she is closer when it falls and/or runs, i dunno, i am no expert just lookin for advice


What's the difference in the argument if we're talking about ducks or pheasants? I find it very distracting trying to shoot with a running dog in my peripheral vision. I'd probably cripple more birds that way too. As it is, I'm more likely to cripple ducks than pheasants simply because of steel shot. A crippled duck can be just as elusive as a pheasant so why not have a breaking duck dog if you think it's that much of an advantage?

My opinion is that breaking dogs are bad form. They are a distraction at best and can put themselves in danger especially if you're hunting near a road. For all of you who claim to want a breaking dog to get on a cripple faster, I wonder if someone gave you a steady dog, would you teach it to break?

The secret to having a steady dog is to start young. If a dog never gets in the habit of breaking, he'll happily accept the concept that he only gets the bird if he waits.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

In a three year old dog its going to take some bearing down to enforce and consistancy, those two issue can cause other problems done incorrectly.

The reason very few trainers emphasize it on hunting dogs is few hunters will demand that their dog does it and the training goes away fast if not enforced.

I would work very hard on yard work before any birds are in the picture, then for waterfowl I would plan on spending a season just handling the dog while your friends do the shooting.

For upland teach the dog "hup" and you can then drill them pre season to hup on a flush. Then you have to have the discipline not to shoot phez if she breaks or your work will be undone immediately. Is steadiness worth that to you is a question you will have to answer in your own heart but thats what it takes.

Thats what I would do for what it's worth.

My pointers are not steady, my labs were always trained to hup to the flush and to go only on command for ducks. But they were trained that way from the start. Its a nice touch for retrievers.

One more thing if your dog is giving you the "doggie finger" once she gets 50 yards away you have a OB problem she understand the command and chooses not to comply and you also need to do drills on that without birds around.


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## tumblebuck (Feb 17, 2004)

> this may be a dumb question but what about upland hunting, I use my dog for both waterfowl and upland as i am sure most guys do, if i train my dog to be steady all the time when a bird is shot wont she do this in the upland scenario too?


Nope...different situation, different rules. My dogs are (usually ) steady at heel or in the blind. :-?

They know when they are out in front hunting they aren't restricted.


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

With me, Sit means sit, blind (field blind) means stay in your dang blind until I say your name. Same goes for pheasant hunting, only I dont say sit when we're pheasant hunting so steadyness isn't an issue for me then.


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## jmillercustoms (Dec 11, 2007)

........good points


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