Hey what is y'all's go to dummy launcher? I'm looking at the DT one at academy for like $100.

Better options for the $$$ or what?

Hmmm guess that's a nobody knows

Personally I never found any use of a hand held dummy launcher.

I'd save my money and buy a winger.

Best winger on the market and the cheapest!

https://www.cedarspringsretrievers.com

A dummy launcher will fast track a young dog to mark off the gun. The ones I have been around are also LOUD.

I need to steady her up on the shot, so I need it to bang and work on stretching her out past the distance I can Huck a dokken.

I personally train with three pros and converse with many more. I know of 0 who use these.

I've trained multiple gun dogs and never used one.

I think it creates a bad habit of the dog not looking out into the field for marks.

With a winger or remote launcher you can shoot and the dog learns the mark is out in the field.

I just think for $100 your money would be better spent else where...

JMO though...

So are you carrying a shotgun and ripping one off when you set off the winger? Or a starting pistol or what?

Sometimes I use a shotgun with poppers
Sometimes I put I primer in the winger (they have a slot that you can place a primer in that will go off when it's launched)

Sometimes nothing

If I use launchers, it's the gunners up model which throws real ducks or pheasants. I do use a thunder launcher sometimes if I want to shoot a quad. the best is to have a real person shooting and throwing. Your wife using a blank gun or popper gun and a tangelo tosser works very well also.

Robby

You’re talking about two issues; steadiness and marking.

First for the steadiness I would make sure your dog has a good understanding of the sit command. Sits from a heal position, sits on a whistle and at a distance. Assuming your dog has been shot over and no issues - You want to teach your dog that the shot is not a release. The louder the shot and the more exciting the retrieve the more pressure it will take for a dog not to break. So start slow and build up as your dog shows he’s ready. Step one- dog on lead retrieving to a pile of bumpers. Have a helper fire a blank gun from a distance while dog is sitting beside you. If he moves at the sound of the cap correct him and wait until he shows positive steadiness then send him for the retrieve. Have helper work closer with cap gun until you are able to fire around the dog and he stays steady. Step two- Dog on lead retrieving thrown bumpers. Have a helper throw bumpers and fire a cap gun from a distance. Then fire cap gun over dog while bumpers are thrown until he show positive steadiness. Step three - dog on lead retrieving dummies from remote launcher. I would work a dog thru each step with the check chord until I’m confident that he won’t break or that I can stop him with the collar if he does. If you find yourself struggling to keep your dog steady, slowdown- decrease the retrieving excitement or the noise level. You want to push your dog to make mistakes that you can correct and that he can understand the correction.

Second issue is marking- Work your dog on remote launcher. The thunder launchers are great. Increase distance as your dogs confidence allows. Long marks in short grass they can see the whole way will help build range.

He is talking about the hand held type that launch a bumper and fire a shot...not a winger.

Brady, your comments are one dimensional, which surprises me.

I just feel like it's a waste of $100+

If you have a 22 you can train your dog to not be gun shy.

I've just never seen the benefit of launching a dummy 75-100 yards from my side?

I'd rather teach a dog to go back to "home plate" and throw marks myself out in the field or do stand alone marks.

You don't hunt any upland birds or train any pointing dogs do you?

I do hunt quail and as soon as Kimber gets her HRCH I'll start hunting more quail with her as well as pursue her UH...

However I have not done much upland dog training at this point..

My mind goes straight to retriever training.

I will have a PP one day and of course would train for upland.



Feel free to share how you'd use one of these in upland training.

Yes, but he was asking about the go to that we use.
They have come up with servos to hook up to those hes talking about and making remote.

To the op., launching remotely works better for steadiness and marking.

Robby

Unlike retriever training, or working with a flusher, the upland pointing dog has first found the bird with its nose. Tracked, pressured, or otherwise worked the bird to control and point it. Then it must remain staunch, however long it takes you to locate it and get there. When you arrive, it must turn the bird over to you, to flush and shoot, all the while remaining staunch with a nose full of bird. It's first look at the bird when you flush it from the scent cone, right in front of the dog. While hunting pointed upland birds, the handler wants to be the one to put up every single bird that is shot. Hence the concept, the marks originate from the handler and where the dog's eyes start.

Gotcha...makes sense!

Got it. When I was running pointers, I would use box launchers to release pen raised quail or pigeons. Then shoot them and release the dog to retrieve. Has this changed? At no time did we use bumpers for the pointing dogs.

Robby

Box launchers are still the norm for steadying up a point. Sounds like you already know that. I run a versatile. Bumpers are often used for marking skills and blinds.

Remote launchers used for pure retrieving work and multiples.

The dog switches gears between working as a pointer for upland, or only a retriever for decoying or pass shooting. Training the retrieve for each is purposely done different and the dog learns to look to mark the birds where they will be encountered.

A good marking lab has more tendency to trust its eyes than a pointing dog. The pointing dogs default to their nose quicker, often resulting in a big hunt on a relatively easy mark, unless you do a lot of marking drills and it learns to trust its eyes more to get to the AOF before it breaks down to hunt. I use bumpers for a lot of marking drills and most who force fetch their pointing dogs do the same.