A Different Slant on Quartering

written by Butch Goodwin
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Northern Flight Retrievers  
The Retriever Journal October/November  2005

Get into a discussion with a group of hunters about teaching a dog to find and flush upland birds, and at some point, the term “quartering” will likely be tossed out. And as the discussion gets deeper, someone will undoubtedly bring up the subject of teaching a dog to “seek objectives.” If you get into the middle of this debate, my friends, you’re better off standing back and watching the fireworks from a distance! Like Fords versus Chevys or Labs versus Chesapeakes, everyone has their own opinion, and no one is wrong.

There are two methods by which a dog searches for birds: “quartering,” a man-taught, mechanical, sweeping hunting pattern; and “seeking objectives,” allowing the dog to use his bird sense to figure out the pockets of cover where birds are. Quartering sweeps a selected portion of the field in a methodical, zigzag, or “windshield-wiper” pattern, ahead of the guns; seeking objectives relies on the dog’s experience and nose to find inviting cover where birds might be located. A hunter whose dog quarters a field directs the dog from side to side, preferably into the prevailing breeze; the hunter whose dog seeks objectives directs him into likely pockets of cover, keeping him under control and within range but relying on the dog to make contact. We’ll talk about teaching quartering first; we can discuss seeking objectives in a later column.

Most books for training upland flushing dogs contain a chapter about teaching the dog to quarter. It is commonly taught in a methodical pattern of planting dead or shackled birds at either side of a field and then working the dog from side to side across it - George Hickox had a very concise description of teaching a quartering pattern using planted birds in his “Training Tip” column in the November/December, 2003 issue of RJ. This is the tried-and-true method for teaching quartering, and it has never failed to work - but I’m going to show you a somewhat different quartering drill and let you decide which works best for you.

You will need to round up a couple helpers and about a half-dozen or more dead pigeons before you get started. Make sure that each of your helpers has something (other than a visible sack) in which to carry three or more dead birds (a hunting vest or belt pouch works great).

This drill is set up and taught in roughly the same manner as the other quartering drills. You should be using a field about the size of a football field and generally heading into the wind. The difference between this drill and the others is that one of your helpers walks down each side of the field, just to the inside of the “sidelines” (in football field terms), where you want your dog to turn and cast back across the field. Your helpers also need to walk slightly ahead of you as the three of you progress down the field. You should walk basically down the center, casting your dog from side to side.

As you will see, this drill quickly teaches your dog to quarter a field without the inherent hang-ups of “dry hunting” (not finding any birds). And you won’t have to try to secretly toss birds out before the dog casts back, or seed the field with dead birds prior to releasing him. (Remember, live, shackled birds, planted ahead of time, tend to want to walk off before you can get back with the dog.) You will also find that, with experience and if done correctly, live birds for the dog to flush can eventually be incorporated. Here’s how it works:

Cue your dog with a “find the bird” or “hunt ‘em up” command, and cast toward the sideline where you want him to head. That should also be the signal for the helper to walk along that sideline and attract the dog by waving one of the dead pigeons in the air and hollering, “Hey, hey, hey!” to get his attention. Once the dog is heading in his direction, the helper should hide the pigeon in his vest or pouch and continue to silently and slowly move along the sideline, paying no further attention to the dog.

When the dog has nearly reached the side boundary, signal him with a casting command, such as two whistle blasts, to get him to turn. Give him a “come around,” ‘‘hunt ‘em up,’’ or ‘‘this way" command, and cast him back across the field. When you give the whistle and verbal command, have your arm on the opposite side extended and waving, and you should already be working your way back across the field in a zigzag pattern to get him to cast toward the opposite sideline. This is the cue for your helper, walking down the opposite side of the field, to be alert, and as soon as the dog turns to head back, he should get the dog’s attention by waving a dead pigeon and hollering. Again, when the dog is committed to heading in the helper’s direction, he should hide his bird and continue to walk along silently.

It is important to note that the three of you - you and your two helpers walking down the sidelines - must continue to walk at the same pace so that no one gets too far ahead or lags behind. The two helpers should stay slightly ahead of you so that the dog casts from side to side - but the dog must also move forward down the field with each successive cast. It is also important to instruct your helpers to get the dog’s attention if he stops his hunt before he reaches their side of the field or prematurely turns to swing back across toward the other side.

As you move down the field, continue to signal the dog’s turns with your whistle, and cast him with your arm. Then, once he turns, your helpers should “pull” him from side to side by getting his attention and waving a bird. Continue this side-to-side pattern until you reach the far end of the field.

You will find that within a few casts across the field, your dog will begin to realize that, while the birds are being used to entice him, he isn’t finding any - so it is time to have one of the helpers toss one.

Just as soon as the helper on one side has attracted the dog’s attention, and the dog has turned and is heading across the field, have the helper on the side from which he just turned away throw a pigeon as far as he can ahead and out toward the sideline boundary. Your helper has to be very careful that the dog doesn’t see the bird being thrown. Also, it is a good idea to have your helper make sure that the bird lands toward the sideline of the field rather than toward the middle - the idea is still to pull the dog almost all the way to each sideline, not to have him find birds out in the center. Finding birds in the middle of the field will tend to shorten his cast, and he will begin to hunt short rather than cast all the way to the side.

When a bird is planted, it is probably best for everyone to slow their forward progress while you cast the dog back. Then, the helper who just threw the bird should get the dog’s attention and wave another bird to pull the dog back. The reason for slowing the pace is that you don’t want the dog to possibly run on the upwind side of the planted bird and not hit its scent cone, perhaps running past the planted bird without scenting it; the dog must pass in front of the thrower but on the downwind side of the bird. This is also good practice because it keeps the dog’s hunting pattern in front of the helper, which will be beneficial in the future when hunting ahead of several gunners.

After he makes the retrieve and delivers the bird to you, congratulate him for a job well done and send him on his way, continuing the quartering pattern down the field. You can continue to have your helpers plant dead birds, but they must make sure the dog never realizes the birds’ source.

Once your dog has a clear picture of how the quartering drill works and what is expected of him - and if you have helpers who are experienced at quickly dizzying live birds - you can try incorporating live pigeons into the drill and have your dog flush them. Follow the same scenario as before, but this time, when the dog turns to head back across the field, have your helper quickly dizzy a live bird and toss it ahead exactly as he did with the dead birds. (Always have your helper take a couple of extra live birds than he thinks he will need - dizzying birds takes practice and is often more art than technique!) By the time the dog reaches the opposite side of the field, makes his turn, casts all the way back, and enters the bird’s scent cone, hopefully the bird will have regained its composure and be ready to flush. However, if the bird is still disoriented and won’t flush, the dog will simply retrieve the live bird as he did the dead ones.

Remember, with pigeons, you have a choice of using live homing pigeons, to let the bird fly off when it flushes and work on your dog’s steadiness and control, or you can use pigeons that the dog can flush and your helper can shoot. But a couple of things need to be mentioned here.

First, dizzied birds tend to flare their wings out when thrown, so it is tough to toss a dizzied live bird as far as a dead bird can be thrown. Therefore, it is probably best if everyone’s forward progress stops or is slowed considerably until the dog casts back and makes the flush. Second, be very mindful of the cover into which you throw dizzied pigeons: A pigeon doesn’t jump and get airborne by using its legs - he uses his wings. Cover that is too deep will hinder his flush, resulting in his getting pinned by the dog before he can get airborne.

There is a good chance that your dog will be called upon to quarter a field for several hunters. The drill that I have just described not only teaches your dog to quarter, but it also replicates and acquaints your dog with several hunters moving across a field, as well as teaching him to stay out in front and hunt for all of them.

This is a great and practical drill - give it a try.