Look at us, we are cool with our bumpers!

I always get excited about the time August rolls around because I know that the opening day of hunting season is just a month away.  All the summer training on either that new pup or seasoned dog can make for a great opening day.  The opening of hunting season is always like a clean slate to me, just like the start of puppy training.  Every day hunting during the season or training the puppy brings different challenges in and of itself. But, the rewards of both can far outweigh all the trials and tribulations it took to get there.  Seasons and days hunting can be complete and total failures with either not enough time to hunt or the birds are not flying. All you can do is look back and say it just was not my day or year. But, failures with a puppy can set up a lifetime of stress and strain on the dog and handler relationship.  We’ve all had dogs that we have made training mistakes with, and I for one think that recovery from mistakes can be accomplished provided you are patient and understanding while going back over those things the pup is doing wrong.  It takes time to correct mistakes.  My dog Hondo is a classic example of a dog that I made mistakes with early on in his training.  I expected him to be just as good as Ryder and Bella were after a year of training; without actually putting the training time into Hondo.  I thought osmosis training would work. I was definitely wrong, and it took a year of diligent patient training to turn Hondo into a dog that I can’t wait to take hunting this season.  All of my preparation this summer will hopefully lead to a great hunting season, and the twists and turns that it can take. I know it’s never too late to erase mistakes and start over on a clean slate; and that my friends, is every hunting season and training session for me.