Saturday, February 11, 2012

Vizsla Training: Approaches for Hunting Dog Training

By Chloe Brooks


Even before they became domesticated, dogs have been used by people to assist them when hunting. Scent hounds work by following a scent trail while a sight hound stalk and chase the prey. Retrievers on the other hand locate and give back shot game to the hunter while setters, spaniels and pointers locate and flush games for the hunter.

Certain breeds are naturally hunter and only need minimal training while others are simply not suited to hunt regardless of how advanced the training they get. The Vizsla is one of the breeds regarded as natural hunter in which the skill can be refined through Vizsla training suitable for hunting dogs.

Training a hunting dog involves more effort, time and patience than when training the basic obedience. However, training for hunting starts exactly the same way as with any other training objectives. Puppies need to be socialized well and should get used not just to the hunting areas but also in other locations like animal clinic, recreational areas and other public spaces particularly when the dog were to be kept as house pet apart from hunting dog.

Since the basic obedience is the foundation of all other canine tricks and commands, the potential hunting dog should learn the most significant basic commands first prior to the hunting dog training itself. Commands like sit, come, stay, down and heel must be incorporated in the early part of obedience training followed by the combination of two basic commands such as "sit stay" and "down stay". Other commands like "drop it", "leave it" and "search" ought to be tackled as well.

The next part of Vizsla training for hunting dogs is to help your canine recognize a decoy from a real prey. Setting the decoy far from the canine before throwing the prey or dummy will help your dog identify the two in the future.

Additionally, it helps to train and put into practice frequently, daily if possible. Dogs learn by routine so if training and practice are included into your daily regimen, he is more likely to learn effectively. To make training more effective and motivate positive behavior, give him reward each time he demonstrate such behavior. Quickly enough, he'll figure out that he gets rewards for that particular behavior thus will do it again given the chance.

Amidst the training, always keep in mind to keep your dog in good condition. Be mindful enough not to over-train your dog and be sensitive enough with regards to his health condition. If you notice that he is acting strangely, look into possible health issues and seek your vet's recommendation right away.

All of the effort you exerted during Vizsla training will be worth it when you see your gentle-mannered Vizsla do well in the field come hunting time.




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