The penny starts to dropNowSikahas almostmastered thestopwhistle, it’stimetomove ontousinga dummylauncher tomimicfalling game, saysEllena SwiftHowever,I amnotdoingany
specificstop-whistleexerciseorshe
— likeanyyoungdog— willstartto
predictwhatwearedoingandI do
notwanthertobecome‘sticky’.
Sheis onlya coupleofmonthsaway
fromgettingherfirstexperienceofa
realday’sshooting.Herintroduction
willbeslow,carefullymonitored
and tailored to her. There is no waySikais comingoninleapsand
boundsandI ampleasedto
saysheis becominga really
niceshootingcompanion.
Shebegansomestop-whistleworkin
mylastarticle(Startingandstopping,
3 July)andis doingwellwithit butI
havegiventhisa littlerestfornow.
I willstillusethestopwhistleasshe
S. TRINDERcontinues to learn what it means.
IN DETAILTHISWEEKI amgoingtointroducethe
dummylauncher.I amluckyenough
tohavea remotelaunchersystemthat
canlaunchfourdifferentdummiesin
whicheverdirectionI like.It’scommonfor
dogstogetreallyexcitedwitha launcher.
Thebangisslightlydifferentfroma gun,
beingmoreofa sharpcrack.It’svitalthat
I ensurewearefarawaywhenshefirst
hearsit andmakestherightassociations.
Shehasheardbangsbeforeinthe
distancebutcurrentlyhasnoreason
tothinktheyparticularlymeananything.
Sothistimeit’simportantthat,when
shehearsa bang,shethenseesthe
dummydropping.I setit upsothe
dummiesaredroppingrelativelycloseto
ustomakethemarkseasy.Sikaissteady
tothrowndummiesbutI stillusea leadto
beginwith.WhileI amprettycertainshe
willbesteady,I wanttomakesurethere
arenoaccidents,withherrunning-in.If at
anypointI feelherputtensiononthelead
orlooklikeshemaymove,I resetherup
—positionherfirmlybyme—andmake
herwatchanotherdogpick-upthe
dummy.OnceI feelshehasbeensitting
nicely,andsteadilywatchinga single
mark,I takemytimeandsendher.
WhileI reallywanthertomarkwelland
it’stemptingtosendherprettyquicklyfor
a fallingdummy,thisisunrealisticwhen
shebecomesa pegdog.Mostpegdogs
willrarelyberequiredtomoveduringa
driveunlessthereisa runner.Eveninthat
circumstancethereisnormallya picker-
upwhoshouldbeclearingtherunners
and leaving the dead birds for the Guns.Evenif thisisnotthecase,atherage
it’sunlikelywewillbeaskinghertocollect
runnersthisseason,soit’sbetterif she
assumesthatwatchingfallinggame
meansbeingsteadyandpatient, not
picking-upstraightaway.
Afterallowinghertowatchotherdogs
pickingsinglemarksandconfidentthat
sheissittingnicely,I wanttorewardher
witha retrieve.I ensurethatI onlysend
herforonethatisquiteeasyandshehas
clearlymarked.I alsomakesureI takemy
time.It’simportanttoimaginethedrive
hasended—I haveputmygunbackinits
slipbeforetryingtosendher.I alsomake
surethereisonlyoneoutsoshedoesn’t
getconfusedandgohuntingforothers.
If whenI startedlaunchingdummies
it becameobvioustheexercisewas
overexcitingher,I wouldhavesimply
poppedherawayandcontinuedwith
thrown dummies, possibly getting adummy-throwerandusinga starterpistol
occasionally.Shemustnotberewarded
—sentfora retrieve—whenshehas
becomeoverexcitedanddoneanything
undesirablesuchasmadea noise,
fidgeted,attemptedtomoveorignored
mycommands.Fortunately,she kept
a levelheadandsatnicely.
WiththisexerciseI onlyaskedherto
pickuponemarkwhentherewasa single
dummyout.Obviously,ina realshooting
situationthereislikelytobemorethan
oneretrievedownandtheywillalmost
certainlynotallbeforher.Thereis
nothingworsethanshootinga birdand
goingtosendyourowndogforit,only
todiscoverit hasalreadybeenpicked
byeithera neighbouringGun’sdogora
picker-up.SoI wanttointroduceharder
directionalworkforher.Forexample,
thereismorethanonedummyoutand
they are relatively close together.SIKA: PREPARING FOR THE EXERCISEGundog training“Everydogis different— it’simportantto train at Sika’s pace, not mine”topredictexactlyhowshewillreact
andeverydogis different.It’svery
importanttotrainat herpace,not
mine.Whenconsideringherfinalrole
— a pegdog— I needtoensuresheis
preparedforthat.Thiswillinvolveher
havinga rock-steadysitandwatching
a lotofgamefallaroundher.Shewill
alsoneedtobereliable,notswapping
birds and taking direction.36 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINESikaonthepegnexttoEllenawhile
dummies are landing around her