Proper Introduction to Birds and Gunfire - An Interview with David Lauber

by Geoffrey English

Last month we spent time talking with David Lauber, regarding the proper way to introduce dogs to birds. This month we will continue that discussion as he explains moving from yard work to fieldwork with birds and introducing gunfire to young dogs.


	If introduced properly, a well-bred young spaniel should show no hesitation retrieving pigeons. Photo by: Geoffrey A. English

David Lauber:
"Geoff, as I stated last month, the answers I present during this interview are only one way to solve a problem. In dog training, we often have to try many different approaches before we find an approach that works with a particular dog. This is where the advice and experience of reputable professional trainers comes into play. By constantly refining their training program, professional trainers can often avoid the inevitable pitfalls facing a novice when training a dog. A well thought out training program, built on experience, can often be the difference that makes or breaks a field trial champion."

Spaniels Online:
"Last month we left off at the point where a young dog has been introduced to a ‘clip-wing’ pigeon in the yard. At that point, the dog had been introduced to the check cord during yard work, setting the stage for moving into the field, however, we have not touched on gun-breaking. When should we start thinking about gun-breaking our young spaniel?"

David Lauber:
"Well, before we move to the field we are already working on gun-breaking. Gun-breaking begins when the dog is young, by banging two pans together at feeding time. Before feeding the dogs, we start off about 10-15 yards away from the pen, where the dogs are, and bang together two pan lips softly while heading toward them. We don’t have to crash them like cymbals. We keep this up and watch them to see what type of reaction we are getting from them. Nine times out of ten they just sit there and look at us like, "what the heck are you doing?" We continue doing this twice a day at just before we feed the dogs. Once they get use to this, we start to bang the lids together a little harder, making the sound a little louder. We keep this process up until you actual start shooting over the dog."

"Another thing that works pretty well is to allow a young dog to hear gunfire in the distance before formally introducing them to the gun. We stake our young dogs out and let them watch the older dogs work. This accomplishes two things, first it excites them, and secondly they start to hear gunfire long before we start shooting around them. This works well because the young dog starts to develop a positive initial association with the gunfire, at a distance. When we first begin this process, we are very careful to make sure that the gun closest to the puppies does not shoot as we move up the field and get closer to the pups. We make sure the gun furthest away does all the shooting. That way we are not introducing loud gunfire prematurely. You don’t necessarily have to stake the dog out to accomplish this, often just having the dog in the kennel while we are shooting over older dogs will accomplish the same thing."

Spaniels Online:
"What indication should we be looking for from the dog that indicates he is ready for the field and the gun?"

David Lauber:
"Before we go to the guns with the dog, we want to make sure they are retrieving consistently in the field while quartering. Then while they are quartering, you want to have the opposite gun (if the dog is at the left-hand gun, the opposite gun would be the right-hand gun) to shake a bird to get the dog’s attention and throw it in the air and shoot before the puppy gets there. Timing is very important; you need to make sure that the puppy is as far away from the gun as possible. This process will get them use to the gunshot, plus it’s going to reward them with a retrieve. Soon they will say, "Hey, when a gunshot goes off, there will be a bird on the ground." You want to do this before ever giving him a flush. The same concept holds true when giving the dog a bird to flush. You want to make sure neither gun shoots directly over the top of the dog."


To start, don't worry about how he picks the bird up, just encourage him to bring it back to you. Photo by: Geoffrey A. English

"You’re going to tell right from the first shot if the dog is going to like or dislike the gunshot. If he shows any little hesitation on the gunshot or his tail goes between his legs, you will need to back off a little. You’re better to back up a step instead of pushing ahead."

Spaniels Online:
"How would you go about backing up?"

David Lauber:
"The first thing we would do is to make sure the dog does not hear gunshots while quartering in the field. Second, we would give him more time on the "chain-gang" and let him listen to the gunfire a little more. You’re better off stepping back a bit then trying to push forward and cause problems. We have never, knock on wood, had a dog that we could not fix by following this procedure. I have seen a couple dogs that would jump or drop their tail on the shot, but after a couple of times their attitude changed once they realized there was going to be a bird on the ground as a result of the shot."

Spaniels Online:
"When you start shooting over the dog, do you want to mix up birds that "fly-away" with retrieves?"

David Lauber:
"When you first start giving the dog flushes, you don’t want to miss any birds. You want to get all the birds down that so the dog builds a strong association between birds and gunfire. Risking a miss and trying to get long marks out of a young dog goes out the window at this stage. This is where you, as the handler, need to know your guns. Some guns can let the birds get out there and still knock them down and while others can’t knock them down at twenty yards. The number one goal here is to get the bird down so the dog gets the retrieve."

"Once you have the dog quartering well, retrieving and has experience with gunfire we can start to extend him a bit. You know as well as me not every bird is going to get shot. So as far as "flyaway" birds, you don’t need to plan to let any fly away, that will happen naturally. On that bird that does get away, a lot of puppies will chase and chase and chase, you think they will go clear to the next county. At this point, we have to be patient and once you see you have their attention you take a clip-wing out and toss it into the air and blow your "come-in" whistle."

"What we are doing here is starting to associate the "come-in" whistle with the possibility of a bird being there. Sometimes we have a puppy that figures out early that if he chases the bird, he is not going to catch it, therefore he doesn’t even bother. That’s not a bad deal either; as long as he keeps a strong flush we don’t get too concerned with "no chasing". This is where the proper balance between clip-wings and "fly-away" birds is important to keep the flush strong. This is all a step-by-step process. We start retrieving in the yard, then quartering in the field. Then move to finding clip-wings with their nose and retrieving them back to the handler. Then finally move to allowing the dog to flush birds. While all this is going on, we have been conditioning the dog to loud and sudden noises. Then we let the dog chase for a while and keep shooting birds until the dog is ready to be steadied."

Spaniels Online:
"When would you start the steadying process?"

David Lauber:
"Well that depends. Different people have different feelings on the proper time to steady a young dog. We typically have most of our dogs steady by a year old. However, many professionals prefer to wait until the dog is a year and a half old before steadying him. It all depends on the amount of time the pro has with the dog and how the dog is doing in training. If you have a dog that is lackadaisical about his training, you might wait until the dog is a little older before starting the steadying process. It’s better to error on the side of waiting until the dog is older before applying the level of control on the dog necessary to steady the dog. Once the control is applied, you can’t really step back without confusing the young dog."

Spaniels Online:
"How does the type of bird effect the dog during this whole process? When should you introduce wild game birds, like chuckar and pheasant?"

David Lauber:
"Well, there are a number of things to consider when you select a bird to train a dog on. The first is the temptation factor. The size of the bird and the level of temptation it offers the dog often go hand and hand. The larger bird, like a cock pheasant, makes more noise when it takes off and tends to fly lower then pigeons, which tend to go straight in the air."

"When it comes time to move from one type of bird to the other, it makes sense to do some yard work with the dog before bringing him into the field. For instance, when introducing a dog to pheasants we will take a dead bird or a clip-wing and toss it around the yard a few times to get the dog use to the smell and allow him time to become familiar with the bird before moving to the field. This way you reduce the surprise when the dog sees the bird for the first time out in the field. When you move a dog to a bigger bird you have to be on your toes a little more. Whether it’s worrying about the dog breaking or handling the larger bird, you need to be prepared to handle the situation before it unfolds. This is where professional trainers really earn their money. They are able to apply their years of experience to head off any problems long before they occur."