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New show will explore dog training for hunters

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Every sportsman has hunted with a dog that runs wild, flubs
retrieves or mixes up the word “sit” with “scram.”

Indeed, most waterfowlers and bird hunters own dogs that are far
from perfectly trained, yet all they see when tuning in to a TV
hunting show is flawless dog work.

That will change in April, when “Working Man’s Retriever” debuts
on The Sportsman Channel.

“Watching a well-trained dog is enjoyable,” said Dan Hosford, a
professional dog trainer from Medical Lake, Wash. “But you’ll learn
a lot more by seeing a dog that makes mistakes in real hunting
situations and then watching the training methods to correct those
mistakes.”

Hosford is teaming with cameraman and editor Mickey Hough of
Spokane to produce 26 episodes of the series, which is scheduled to
debut on April 7.

The program features various flushing and retrieving breeds,
including water spaniels, springers, golden retrievers, Labrador
retrievers and others. One episode features flushing breeds hunting
with a German shorthair pointer. The dogs will represent a wide
range of skill levels.

Among the subjects is Kobe, a black Lab pup that’s featured in
short segments throughout the series.

“The show will follow Kobe from a 100 percent untrained puppy
and show how he’s worked into a finished dog,” Hough said.

Incidentally, Kobe is owned by Ken Smith of Dave Smith Motors in
Kellogg, Idaho.

“Some episodes will be heavy on hunting, some will focus more on
the training,” Hough said. “But every episode will have an aspect
of hunting, including little segments on things like cooking the
game we harvest.”

Hosford already has lessons learned from 40 years as a
professional dog trainer compiled into a series of “Working Man’s
Retriever” dog training DVDs. The TV episodes involve thousands of
miles of traveling to make the lessons more entertaining and
applicable to a wide range of sportsmen.

Hunting situations filmed so far for the TV show involve
snow-geese depredation seasons in Saskatchewan, pheasants in the
Dakotas and chukars on the Salmon River.

This week, Hosford and Hough are in Nevada and Arizona filming
dog training situations while hunting quail in the desert.

Two weeks ago, the pair was streaking across the water, ice and
mud of Idaho’s lower Coeur d’Alene River in an air boat to feature
a couple of yellow Labs hunting ducks and geese.

The work day started at 2:30 a.m. as they traveled to meet
hunter Steve Croston of Pinehurst, Idaho. Croston already had
loaded his two dogs and bags of decoys onto a skiff thrust into
motion Everglades-style by the prop of a 570-horsepower aircraft
engine.

No one knew whether the waterfowl would decoy toward their
blinds that morning, or whether the shooters would find their
marks, or how the dogs would perform.

“This is the way it really is,” Hosford said as he snuggled into
the blind.

Hollywood couldn’t have written a better script.

Gunner, a trained but not finished lab, performed admirably,
retrieving ducks and even heavy honkers from mud and breakable ice.
Most hunters would pay a bundle for a durable dog that performed
that well.

But Hough’s camera caught Gunner getting distracted or dropping
some birds before bringing them back to the blind.

During breaks in the hunting action, Hosford worked on camera
with Croston and the dog, throwing ducks to reinforce retrieving
lessons. Hosford was as frank with the dog owner as he was direct
with the dog.

“You’re talking too much,” he told Croston as he tried to talk
Gunner out to bring back a duck. “You sound like an old lady in a
chicken pen. Limit your talking. Let your whistle do most of the
work.”

Croston complied. Gunner responded.

“I admit, any problems Gunner has are my fault for not following
through with the training at home,” Croston said. “It takes
discipline on my part, and I have to work on that.”

Hough captured a special moment when Hosford and Croston decided
timing was right for Riley, a Lab pup, to make its first retrieve
on a big honker.

“With a pup, you want to make sure the goose is stone dead for
the first retrieves,” Hosford said.

Riley did a whopping good job applying his early training
foundation to an icy, muddy slough.

Croston heaped praise upon the dog.

Lessons learned, and another “Working Man’s Retriever” episode
in the can.

Article source: http://tdn.com/lifestyles/new-show-will-explore-dog-training-for-hunters/article_85bf97ba-4874-11e1-b0dc-001871e3ce6c.html


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