September/October 2010

Trainin' Dogs with Rick Smith

Taking Out the Trash

by Rick Smith & Sharon Potter
Photo by Rick Smith

unting is a right, but hunting on private ground is a privilege, and hunting great land with a good dog makes it even better.
With land and habitat disappearing faster every day, finding a great hunting spot isn’t easy, and once you find one, maintaining a good relationship with the landowner is important for yourself and for others. All it takes is one bad experience to make a property owner hang the “No Hunting” sign and rescind permission.

And think of all the time and effort you’ve put into your dog. From cute puppyhood all the way through to the finished bird dog and family companion, your dog is part of your family. Now imagine your dog losing its life to a car or being critically injured or bitten by a snake. Hunting season without your dog seems inconceivable. Why risk losing all that when it could have easily been prevented with a little extra training?

Trash. Off-game. It doesn’t matter what you call it. It refers to critters your dog is not supposed to be hunting or chasing. While big-game hounds are going to run cougars and bears and the like, and coonhounds are bred to hunt raccoons, and beagles are going to chase rabbits, they aren’t supposed to chase game other than what they’re trained for. It’s the same with bird dogs. Bird dogs are supposed to hunt for gamebirds so, technically speaking, they aren’t supposed to chase anything. They’re supposed to find game and point it. That means saying No to bears, coyotes, deer, housecats, foxes, bobcats, snakes, skunks (please!), chickens, rabbits, porcupines (none of those either, thank you!), domestic or wild hogs, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, gophers… you get the idea .

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