ORWIGSBURG
It was a question shocking enough to make this 3-year-old Labrador retriever choke on his "Squeeze-Me-Duck" Bass Pro Shops squeak toy.
"Did you teach Dingus to hunt?" a friend of my Dad's asked earlier this summer while we were relaxing on the patio. No, no one "taught" me to hunt. That ability is instinct that I have in my genes, passed down from my birth parents T Barts Calibered and Ready and Winter White Riesling.
Now, as for providing a strong foundation in obedience training, well that was another matter. Fortunately, my Dad has owned two previous Labs and fully understands the importance of having an obedient companion in the field to make a hunt more successful and safe.
So, as a 6-month-old pup three years ago, off I went to the Blue Mountain Recreation Commission's Dog Obedience Class for eight weeks of basic training. I wish more of my peers had parents who understood the importance of having an obedient hunting dog and would enroll them in this course. I do, however, find using a silhouette of a Lab on those road signs advertising obedience classes to be offensive and a case of profiling.
This year's course gets under way Wednesday, Aug. 14, at 6:30 p.m. on the front lawn of the Blue Mountain Middle School with one of my adopted Grandmas, Charlotte Williams of Char-Will Kennels in New Ringgold, and her daughter, Diane Buhl, overseeing the classes. Dogs of all breeds and ages can have their parents register them by calling the middle school office at (570) 366-1190 or the kennel at (570) 943-2624. As a proud graduate of the course, I say it's a must for young hunting dogs.
"It's important that the person who does most of the work with the dog be the one who attends all eight weeks of the class," Williams said. "It's even more important that the handler works with the dog during the week between classes and understands these commands and training isn't something a dog is going to learn without reinforcement.
"I've been doing this for something like 35 years and Diane has been helping with the course for at least 15 years, but it's probably more like 20. In that time we've seen dogs have a complete turnaround in their behavior because their owners were willing to work with them, and we've seen other dogs that have shown a willingness to learn at the classes, but never improve because they get no training during the week.
"What we teach are basic commands such as heel, come, stand, sit, down and stay. If a dog understands and responds to these commands, it's a better situation for both the dog and its owner, and any dog that has taken the course can come back for a refresher."
In my short career of three hunting seasons, it is my experience that any dog who thinks its name is "No, Bad Dog" should place more blame on its owner than itself. Expecting a dog to perform is kind of like the words to one of my Dad's favorite songs that says "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you (give)."
From what I've seen, an obedient dog is a loved dog, and in dog years it seems ages ago that I learned "sit and stay" can be the difference between running out into the street in front of an approaching vehicle and safely getting into my crate for a trip afield. Sometimes, a few Cabela's Training Treats even find their way into my crate for the ride to our hunting location.
Since graduating from my obedience course, my Dad has added some extras during the offseason that are designed to make me a better citizen. He is, however, having a problem getting me to fully understand the importance of "fetch" after I flush a pheasant and he hits the target, so a trip to my friend Joe DeMarkis of Pottsville could be in my future.
I usually take Dad to Martz's Game Farm in late September for the start of our pheasant hunting for the year, so we've already begun to step up our preseason conditioning and practice. There is only so much of "sit," "stay" and "heel" a guy can take, and I must admit that a few weeks of finding hidden pheasant wings in the backyard gets to be old.
This well-behaved and obedient hunting machine is ready for the real thing.
(Dingus is owned by outdoors editor Doyle Dietz)