During the warm weather months, it is important to keep your dog in hunting shape. We have compiled a quick list of tips to make sure your hunting dog is ready next fall.

Who’s the Boss – During the summer we are outside much more often, usually with our dogs. You should ask your friends to refrain from issuing commands to your dog. This includes whistling. Next season when your in the field, its important that your dog not be confused about who to listen too. This is particularly important when you are hunting with a group.

Shoot Guns – Introduce your dog to gunfire well before the season begins. At Longmeadow Game Resort, we have a two trap towers on site where you can hone your shooting skills with lots of open space for your dogs to run.

Train Dummy – Develop a schedule for dummy training. Throwing or launching a high quality training dummy keeps your dog focused on following trajectory while having the added benefit of keeping your dog in good physical shape.

If it smells like…  As the start of the new season approaches, you should also add scent to the retrieval process. Some hunters use frozen bird carcasses from the previous season. We like to tape a waterfowl wing to a bumper. You will be amazed at the result on opening day!

Just Stand Still – If your dogs run free during the warm weather months, its a good idea to keep them disciplined and trained to what ever command you use for “Whoa.” You should also work on keeping them in hunting range this will keep them in check and prevent them from flushing birds in the next county. This type of correction during the off season will make for an easier start to the new season next fall.