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Teaching “Dead” By Dave King
One of the main reasons that people get dogs for hunting is to help with downed or crippled game birds. I can say from experience that if I didn’t have my dogs I would have left a lot of birds out in the desert. It is for this reason that we have a command that tells our dog to hunt for downed birds. “Dead” is a command that is used to order a dog to look for wounded game. Teaching “dead” is a simple task and most dogs grasp the idea relatively quickly. All the command does is tell our dogs to stay in a certain area and keep their nose to the ground and search for that hit bird rather than booming out across the field in search of more live game.
IN THE BACK YARD The great thing about teaching this command is the simplicity for the handler. Most of the command can be taught in the back yard so it is easy to devote time to teaching and get the dog to understand quicker. With ten-minute sessions every day a dog can learn this command in less than a week! Also the equipment list is rather short. All that is needed is a good supply of dog jerky treats or cooked hot dog and a frozen bird. The first step is to get the dog to associate the command with an object. We want the dog to get the idea that when it hears the command it is supposed to search for something. Take your dog out into the yard and throw a treat down in front of the dog and tell them “dead”. When the dog eats the treat praise them and do it again. Then start throwing the treat away from the dog and tell the dog “dead.” Keep repeating the process for a couple of sessions. After a few sessions it’s time to switch the program. The dog now knows that when it hears “dead” that there is a treat on the ground and now he is going to want to search for it. So now take the dog out into the yard and when it is turned away from you throw a treat down behind them (making sure the dog can’t see you) and tell them “dead.” If the dog looks as if it’s confused, point at the treat on the ground. A few times doing this the dog will catch on quickly. Now, once the dog has figured this out then you can go to the final step with the treat. Before taking the dog out into the yard plant a few treats in different spots around the yard and once again make sure the dog can’t see you. Once everything is planted lead the dog into the yard near one of treats and give them the command. They should get their nose to the ground and search for it. Once they find the treat praise them. Make sure every time you give the command and they find the treat, be sure to praise them. IN THE FIELD Once the dog realizes what “dead” means you need to take the dog out into the field and transition them from finding treats to finding birds. The great thing about this part is you have already instilled what the command means at home and since finding a bird is like finding a treat, they are going to catch on quickly once again. Start the process the same way by putting the bird at the dogs feet and telling them “dead” and continue each step. This process should only take a few sessions.
Pretty soon you are going to be able to take the dog out into the field and shoot a bird and have the dog hunt for your dead bird. Good luck and good training
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