by Chad Love

Today's blog is both a mini-review of a product and a handy-dandy training tip, all rolled into one smelly, disgusting post. For the past few months I've been using one of the new Tri-Tronics Upland Special G3EXP e-collars and thus far it's been a rock-solid performer. The transmitter's layout is easy to understand, its' shape is grippy and ergonomic. The collar is light and unobtrusive and, like virtually all Tri-Tronics products I've used in the past, it's been dead-reliable. Among those who know and hunt with me I am infamous for losing and/or breaking any type of electronic gear. So if I noodle around with something for an extended period of time and it doesn't break, it probably won't.

I love the collar, but I have discovered the Upland G3's one glaring flaw: it's not unloseable (see paragraph above). This weekend I was working my young setter on some planted birds when the transmitter apparently fell out of my shorts as I bent down to pick up something. I had already finished training and loaded up the dog so I wasn't using it and therefore never noticed it gone.

by Chad Love

You can (and many do) spend thousands of dollars on wingers, bumper launchers, e-collars, training programs, birds and every other training aid known to man, but the one training item you'll use more than anything else, the one you will never, ever be without, costs about five bucks.

It's a whistle, of course, and for many of us it's our primary means of non-verbal communication with our dogs. It's also perhaps the most individualistic training item. Everyone has a favorite whistle, whether it's hand-carved from a bit of antler, an old heirloom brass athletic whistle or a modern plastic whistle specifically designed for dog work. They all work, but some are more popular than others.

by Chad Love

One of the best things to happen to upland bird hunting in the past few decades are state-implemented walk-in hunting (WIHA) programs. And one of the worst things to happen to upland bird hunting in the past few decades are the printed maps telling you where to find these hidden and widely-scattered temples of feathered Nirvana.

It's not that they're inaccurate; they're not...mostly. What they are, especially to those of us with, uh, maturing eyesight, is unreadable. I know it's difficult to cram a county's worth of section lines onto one page, but when you're out in the middle of nowhere and you're trying to count how many section lines you need to drive to get to another piece of nowhere, it certainly doesn't help the cause (the cause being, "where the hell are we?") when you discover you need jeweler's loupes for eyeballs to read the damn things.

--Chad Love

Are you a little dismayed after reading yesterday's blog  on the number of bumpers it takes to teach some of the more advanced retriever handling and lining drills? I'm with you. If your paycheck looks like mine, it's no small thing plunking down five or six bucks apiece for a couple dozen bumpers that you are - without a doubt - going to lose a percentage of during the course of training.

Your dog will chew them up. They will get hung up in trees. You will drive away from your training grounds and forget them. You'll throw them directly into intergalactic worm holes to another dimension disguised as cover. You'll have floating bumpers that immediately sink. After you throw a mark for your dog at a public park, some random, unleashed mutt will invariably grab your bumper and run like hell the other way. I have done all of these things and more, because the first rule of retriever club is: your bumpers don’t like you and will always try to escape.

So here's a little tip to stretch your bumper dollars. Save the real bumpers for throwing marks and water work and use white paint rollers for your pile work and drills. They're cheap, about the same size as a standard bumper and you can paint them (with non-toxic paint) or cover them with orange tape if you want orange bumpers for blind work.