Sight blinds and walkouts - written by Butch Goodwin of Northern Flight

Sight Blinds and Walkoutss

"Sit" your dog 20 yards or so away and throw a bumper to mark the pile when beginning "sight blinds" in a flat field.

If your dog has trouble understanding running to the pile as you begin to back up, a pop-up man or a pheasant-launcher can help "pull" the dog to the pile

o two square feet of chukar-hunting country are level. Having a dog that will run lines, angle ditches, and handle on the flat or over water is something to be proud of. Having a dog that will run lines and handle the up an down and sidehills of chukar country is nothing short of a miracle!

I was walking a steep ravine and - since chukars almost always fly downhill - the two dogs were hunting above me. I was hunting one of my Chesapeakes with a very talented golden. The sand-and-rock bottom of the draw was only about 30 yards or so down at a steep angle through the rocks and cheat grass and then another rocky hillside went up just as steeply on the opposite side. The dogs rocketed two chukars off of the hill above me and, at my shot, one bird folded onto the other hillside. The shot exploded another half-dozen birds over the crest of the hill. It was this group the dogs watched, waiting for a second shot, until the birds were well out of sight.

I called both dogs to my side and lined the golden up for a blind retrieve across to the other hillside. This required him to run down the hill, cross the dry wash bottom, and then drive up the far hillside. As the "crow flies," the bird lay about 50 yards in front of me and slightly downhill on the opposite hillside. Off went the golden down the hill, and he started hunting the bottom of the draw. I tried stopping him and casting him up the opposite hillside, but all attempts proved futile. I called him back.

My Chesapeake initially had similar problems, but eventually took my casts up the hill to make the retrieve. It would have been faster for me to have scrambled down one hill and up the other and get the bird myself, but I was determined to have one of the dogs get it. Now, I needed to work with both of them on their lining and casting in extremely uneven terrain.


When you begin teaching "walkout blinds" over uneven terrain or through cover, the scenario is the same: Mark the pile and go back to send your dog.


After your dog makes the retrieve from the spot that you marked the pile, begin to back up, running your dog through or over every terrain or cover change.		Continue to move back in increments until you reach the spot that you have pre-selected to run from.

Once a retriever knows the basic fundamentals of lining, including how to line up with the handler and run a short distance to a pile of bumpers, it is time to lengthen him out and teach him to hold his line - regardless of the terrain in front of him. This is accomplished through the use of "sight blinds" and "walkouts."

hen you start teaching lining by utilizing "sight blinds," it is usually best to pick a spot that you want to line the dog to and work backward. You should also pick the spot that you eventually want to send your dog from so that you can work backward toward that spot.

There are three fence posts at the edges of my field that are about 90 degrees apart and vary from 100 to 150 yards in distance. I have orange surveyor's tape around the posts for my visibility and so I'm sure to select the same post each time. I run the dogs in training from a flat spot outside the corner of my bird pen. This spot beside the pen is where I want to work backward to when teaching the dogs to run these long lines. Eventually, I want to be able to run all three lines from this pre-selected spot just by facing the dog in the direction that he has been taught.

By teaching the dog to run to a pre-selected spot in a flat field, you will eventually be able to teach him to run along hillsides, down and up hillsides, angle ditches, or take acute angles across water. It is only limited by your imagination and the terrain that you can find to train on.

Start by walking your dog to the pre-selected spot he will run to, and sit him down 20 yards or so short of what will eventually become the "sight blind." Walk toward the spot where you want to put the bumper pile; throw out a half-dozen large white bumpers, one at a time, reminding him to "sit" or "stay" and telling him, "Dead bird" with each throw. Remember, you used this verbal cue when you started teaching him to run short lines off of your hand (see "Developing Handling as an Extension of Force Fetch, Part 2"). He should be able to clearly see each bumper thrown, and hopefully you landed them in somewhat of a scattered pile. Walk back to your dog, line him up toward the pile, and cue him with, "Dead bird." Put your hand down, hesitate, and command, "Back." He should be familiar with all of these commands from doing the yard work described in the previous article.

He should explode toward the pile, make the pick-up, and return to the heel position. Now comes the acid test: Line him up again as before, using all the same cues, and send him again. If he doesn't go or only goes partway and then comes back, move closer and try again. You might try reverting to the word "fetch" if necessary, or even walking out to "re-mark" the pile. Keep working this lining to a pile that he can see until he is confident at going on the command, "Back." Then it is time to begin to move back from the pile.

Work your way back from the pile toward the pre-selected spot from which you will eventually send him. Move back at his pace, when he understands that he isn't running to something that he has just seen fall. He should understand that your hand down and a cue of "dead bird" means he is to go in that direction until he makes the retrieve.

Within a few days, you should be able to work your way back to where he will run for all of his lines in the field. Now, it is time to establish another line in exactly the same manner, but don't completely ignore the first line once he learns it. Re-run the initial "sight-blind" a time or two every day by walking him right along the same line that he will run, sitting him down, throw out the bumpers to the same spot each time, and then walk him back to run it. Eventually, you want to be able to "sit" him at the spot from which he runs, walk out and throw the bumpers, and walk back to send him. Your ultimate goal is when he can stay in his kennel or box in the truck while you put the bumper pile out. Then you bring him out and run the line straight to the bumper pile by only lining him up, cueing him, and sending him.

By now you should have already been working on establishing several other lines in the field, all to be run from the same spot. Do not allow the lines you establish to be too tight an angle to one another as you want each individual line to be a clear and separate picture in your dog's mind. In reality, all that you are doing is extending three or so of the lines from the circle drill that I described in the previous article.

When I have a dog that has trouble moving back from the pile to a great distance, I like to use either a "pop-up man" or a pheasant-launcher to help extend his distance and "pull" him toward the pile. I hide a helper in the brush or a ditch directly behind the pile. I coach the helper to stay hidden and, at my signal, give the dog a verbal cue and" throw a bumper in the air to land on the pile. A pheasant-launcher that you can activate from a transmitter works in the same manner. But you don't have the advantage of a second throw if the dog didn't see the first; and unless your launcher fires a shot, there is little or no noise to attract the dog's attention. I use a pheasant-sized launcher and load it with a large white bumper placed directly behind the pile. With my hand-held transmitter, I can activate it, which launches the bumper toward the pile.

nce you have your dog running hard on the various permanent pattern lines you have established in a field, it is time to start working on "walkout blinds" in various locations. The terrain and cover features that you utilize when teaching these blinds will eventually be limited only by your imagination.

"Walkout blinds" are no different than the lines you have already established, except rather than being pattern lines in a flat field, you utilize uneven terrain features to teach your dog to hold the line in the direction he is sent, regardless of what lies in front of him. These terrain features can be something as simple as angling a ditch or heavy stand of cover, or they can be down and up the nearly vertical hills described earlier.

The principles of teaching lining and angling over uneven terrain or through cover barriers are the same as those used when teaching the "sight blinds." To start, pick terrain or cover features that you want to teach your dog to work through or over. Then pick the spot that you want to eventually run from and the spot where you want to put your pile of bumpers. Walk your dog along the very same line that you want him to run, toward where you intend to put the pile of bumpers. You need to be conscious to walk through and on past most of the obstacles or "suction" that would cause him to deviate from the line while on his way to the pile. Following the same scenario of throwing out the bumpers, work your way back to the spot from which you have pre-selected to run.

Depending upon the difficulty of the terrain and your dog's willingness to hold his line, this may take a single training session or a few days. Work through it at the dog's pace, and insist that he take a good initial line and carry that line in the direction he is sent all the way to the pile without avoiding the cover or terrain changes along the way. As before, your eventual goal is to be able to leave your dog in his crate, put out the bumpers, get him out, line him up, and have him run a straight line through the terrain and cover changes to the pile.

Congratulations! You now have a "permanent blind" and should revisit it regularly. It is time to go out and establish many of these so that your dog gets the idea that when you "sit" him, line him up, and cue him, he will run a nice straight line and deal with whatever terrain or cover confronts him until he makes the retrieve or is stopped by a whistle blast and cast. Just like playing any sport successfully, you must learn the fundamentals in increments and then put those increments together when each is solidly understood. Use your imagination in selecting terrain and cover. Take your time in teaching the lines, and be proud - your hunting buddies will think you have a miracle dog!