Cass wrote: The hounds are not leashed and do not generally stay with the dogger... if they catch a scent they are off. The only time they stay close is near the end of the run if there is no scent. So they don;t really work for the gun, they hunt for themselves.
I teach Hupping first to whistle while accustoming to walking on lead when pup is bold and enjoying her hunting/retrieving sessions - 4 to 6 months. Never before as I don't want to slow pup down.
After say two weeks, pup is comfortable on lead, I blow whistle, stamp my foot and shout Hup command without warning.
Bum goes down every time. No more than three times in a short walk. Two weeks later, mixing up order of commands, dropping to whistle will be solid.
A short time later I introduce starting whistle with all other commands at same time. Same deal but don't over do it. Little and often and you will keep the natural pace in pup.
Retrieving after dropping to shot comes later
