Bird Dogs Afield host Paul Fuller is the gun dog columnist for Northwoods Sporting Journal. The Journal has granted permission to re-print Paul’s articles. Thank you Northwoods Sporting Journal.

Grouse Hunting & Stephen Rafe Interview

Northwoods Sporting Journal upland bird hunters have now had a few weeks to enjoy the exciting and satisfying experience of shooting over their pointing dogs. In last month’s column, I promised to report on a grouse-hunting trip to northern Ontario, Canada.

My wife and I, Stu and Linda Bristol and my German shorthair, Dillon, left the house on September 13 with great enthusiasm. We drove 12 hours to Deep River, Ontario where we spent the night in cabins overlooking the Ottawa River. Our host was Mountain River Lodge (www.ko-riverlodge.com). After a satisfying breakfast, we were back on the road and headed for Gogama, Ontario and Gogama Lodge (www.gogama.com). When I first contacted Gogama Lodge, they were hesitant to take grouse hunters. The owner, Dick Harlock, said he felt they had a good grouse population, however, they’re typically hosting bear and moose hunters in September. Dick was finally convinced and our trip was scheduled. Stu Bristol, who writes the South of the Kennebec column for the Journal, has been to Gogama many times over the past 20 years for trophy fishing. This, however, would be Stu’s first hunting trip to Gogama Lodge.

The grouse hunting was exactly what Dillon and I were hoping for. This, readers, is 20 flushes per day country. Contrary to heavily promoted and hunted northern Wisconsin, where grouse flush 30 yards in front of a point, about half of these Ontario birds hold for a point and half run and flush…but typically within range. Birds were so plentiful, we stayed on the logging roads most of our hunting time while Dillon worked up to 20 yards off the road. We only needed to go into the cover when Dillon’s beeper announced a point. If you’re an avid dog man who enjoys grouse hunting, then try Ontario, Canada. It’s a beautiful province, it’s close, it has huge tracks of wilderness and it’s fish and game rich.

Due to editorial deadlines, I’m only able to report on Maine’s opening day. Three friends and myself hunted Kennebec County. We visited many historically productive coverts with grouse flushes outnumbering woodcock. An accurate season’s forecast can’t be made based on one day of hunting; however, the 2007 spring snow storms may still be affecting the number of woodcock we see. I would enjoy hearing from readers regarding their woodcock and grouse flushes this season. I’m not asking anyone to reveal his or her favorite covert; simply tell me in which state you hunted. My email address is at the end of the column.

This month, I have a special treat for Northwoods Sporting Journal readers. One of the most accomplished dog training behavior specialists in North America, Stephen Rafe, agreed to an interview for the Journal. He is quick to point out that he only trains owners, not dogs (other than his own). I met Stephen about twenty years ago at a dog-training seminar and was immediately impressed with his ability to communicate with dogs. He is an author, researcher, and lecturer on canine behavior. He is widely recognized for introducing his scientific and humane methods for bird dog training. For 20 years, Stephen has been the dog column editor for Quail Unlimited.

Question: Stephen, it’s good to be in touch with you again and I greatly appreciate the opportunity to share a few of your training techniques with my readers. Your “mantra” is “Punishment is the least-effective way to train any of God’s creatures.” Punishment based training has been practiced for hundreds of years. Rather than punishment, what is the concept you use to encourage a dog to accept and respond to a command?

Stephen Rafe: The best approach is to set the dog up to succeed, and then reinforce that success. The best training program anticipates all the potential problems and then builds hundreds of small steps into the process—steps that lead to the ultimate goal but which advance from even the slightest success in the desired direction to the next success, and so on.

Question: Trainers differ on when to introduce a pointing dog to birds. Some encourage bird contact by four to five months and others are adamant that dogs not encounter birds until they’re one year old. How do you feel about this?

Stephen Rafe: It all depends upon how you introduce the birds, and when. Assuming everyone would like to get off to an early and successful start, they should avoid the following ages because they are critical learning periods and could pose some learning risks unless the process is done right in every respect: 11-13 weeks of age, 5 ½-6 ½ months of age. There are two later ones, but these wouldn’t apply to the question. More specifically, avoid the “wing-on-a-string.” It teaches sight-pointing and that is bad enough. It also leads to bumping and chasing later on. For a more positive start, I have written about a process that is almost foolproof. Your readers can email me for a free copy. Note: Stephen’s email and website are below.

Question: Over the decades, hundreds of pointing dogs have won national and regional championships and have never seen an electronic collar. Some say it’s an unfortunate shortcut to dog training and others feel it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Your thoughts on the use of an electronic collar for both obedience and field training.

Stephen Rafe: Properly used, an e-collar should be considered a polishing tool, not a training tool. If used at all, it should be reserved for fine-tuning commands to performance levels-say, for competition. That use should be restricted to escape-avoidance learning or what is technically called “negative reinforcement.” The other use, punishment, is loaded with potential problems and often leads to failure. Positive training, on the other hand, has little or no fallout risks. It builds a dog’s skills and rewards each success along the way. In fact, I know some e-collar owners who are not using any electricity at all in their dogs’ training. They have learned to use the receiver’s buzzes and tones to communicate with the dog.

Question: Most methods of teaching the “forced retrieve” use some type of punishment to encourage compliance. How do you teach the “forced retrieve?”

Stephen Rafe: The concept of force in retrieve training is widely misunderstood and misused. The initial concept was to apply just enough “pressure” (through an ear pinch or toe-hitch originally) so that the dog would never experience pain or punishment but would experience relief from the mild discomfort when it was stopped. I use motivational methods to teach retrieving but would prefer to show owners how to use “force” methods correctly than have them risk ruining their dogs. Here’s the shorthand version of the proper use of force training. Apply the pressure (of the pinch or even a mild trickle from the e-collar) and-at the same time-give the dog a command at an appropriate level starting with basics. Instantly, with the pressure still on, guide the dog into successfully responding to the command. At the split-second, release the pinch and praise the dog calmly. This is actually negative-reinforcement training in its simplest form. From there, the only thing that changes is that you raise your expectations gradually (hold time, carry and hold time, and so on) and you add more components (such as blind retrieves, double-blinds, obstacles, and the like).

I want to thank Stephen for taking time to share a few of his training tips with Journal readers. Stephen has several training manuals available. His website is www.starfire-rapport.com. His email address is rapport@comcast.net. Stephen is also available for seminars.

Paul Fuller is host of the Bird Dogs Afield WebTV program which may be viewed on the MyOutdoorTV.com network. Through cooperation with Northwoods Sporting Journal, Paul’s previous columns are now available on his website which is www.birddogsafield.com. Paul may be reached at paul@birddogsafield.com.