Bird Dog Training

Northwind Kennels Grouse Dog Training

Northwind Kennels is located in northern Wisconsin in some of the country’s best grouse and woodcock habitat. Our dog training camp is deep in the woods, more than a mile from the nearest gravel road. We are surrounded by thousands of acres of public forest lands with access to grouse and woodcock to train our own dogs that we use for guided hunts as well as to train our clients’ dogs. If your goal is to expose your dog to the possibility of more grouse and woodcock than they will see anywhere else in the US, Northwind Kennels’ Grouse Dog Training camp is the place to send your dog.

(In the photo to the left, two of our lead guide dogs, Northern Bean and Northern Rain, are proud to display the results of another successful hunt)

Our guide dogs will average over 1200 points in a season on wild birds. Few trainers or guides have the opportunity to put their dogs on this many wild birds. To develop a good grouse dog it takes wild birds. No other game bird is more difficult to find, as hard to work, or as hard to shoot, as a Ruffed Grouse. As professional guides we know the area and how to work grouse and woodcock. The preseason research we do to ensure our guided hunts are successful also ensures our dogs are ready for the season. This in turn gives us the unique opportunity to expose a client’s dog to wild birds the same as we do our own.

Each spring we do our own drumming counts of areas we intend to hunt in the fall. Doing this kind of “homework” helps us determine the concentrations of male drummers and possible locations of coveys in the fall. Typically we keep an eye on about 45 active drumming sites. Knowing where the male grouse are located gives us the opportunity in late summer to work our clients’ dogs on known bird locations. In August we start looking for coveys. Our dogs, as well as our client dogs, work in the mornings and evenings when it is cool locating coveys of grouse for our fall guiding.

(To the right is Bean’s son, Sgt. Benjamin, helping us locate wild birds as part of his training)

Our goal, by opening day, is to have located a minimum of 25 coveys for use in the fall guiding season. We work with client dogs to teach them to hold on point, and to honor another dog’s point, while we conduct our covey surveys.

(To the left Northern Maple is honoring Northern Rain's point)

(To the right Skip is working with a young pup on the pup’s first “whoa” table experience)

Ample field work is included in our training program dependent on your dog’s level of development. Our client dogs are also worked on liberated quail and pigeons as needed. All this is combined with plenty of woods work to help ensure that the dogs have ample exposure to the wild birds they will be hunting later in the fall.

(To the left Jack and Northern Timber are swimming to build aerobic conditioning. One minute of swimming = four minutes of running)

Conditioning and training a hunting dog to be ready for the first day of hunting season should start several weeks before the first day you plan to hunt. Dogs are no different than people; they need to be prepared for what they are asked to do. Deep down, a dog wants to please his/her master or mistress and do the best job he/she can and he/she deserves to be in top physical condition as well as “mentally” prepared for the task at hand.

Training dogs on wild grouse and woodcock in the Wisconsin Northwood’s gives us the opportunity to field work our hunting dogs in the same environment in which they hunt. Those of you that have hunted here in the Northwoods know that to find the birds you must get off the trail and into the clear cuts, tag alder edges, near bogs, under conifers, etc. and your dog must work close in these conditions. The experience a young dog or an older dog with limited experience, gains in working wild birds is priceless. Working on liberated birds is good start, but being trained on the real thing should be the next step.

Started Pup Training:

We specialize in training young pups from 3 to12 months of age by helping them develop their social skills with other dogs and with people. We work on the basics of leash manners, going in and out of a portable kennel (also referred to as crate breaking), learning to sit or lay down when told to do so, learning to "whoa" (pre-cursor to being staunch), learning to work close and to pattern (work left to right and right to left as directed). We even "house break" your pup if you so desire. We help the pup develop its natural "bird skills" with liberated birds and, dependent on the time of the year, we spend a good deal of the time in the woods looking for woodcock and grouse.

(In the picture to the right, Skip is working on “whoa” with a 6 month old at our camp)

(In the picture to the left it looks like "Little" Ben has scented a bird in the grass..look real close and you'll see he's dragging a check chord)

(A few days later, in the picture to the right it looks like "Little" Ben is getting the idea he's supposed to fetch the bird )

Pre-season Conditioning:

Early each summer we accept a limited number of dogs and do pre-season conditioning for their owners. We do “road work” on the trails and swimming in our own dog conditioning tank or near-by lakes.

Cost:

The basic cost of training is $150 week for periods of less than a month or $500 per month. The cost is inclusive and covers the daily training sessions, use of liberated birds, kenneling, and food whether you provide your own dog food or we feed your dog the same as we do our own dogs.

The cost of our pre-season conditioning program is $100 week and includes kennel and food as noted above.

Please note:

While at our camp all dogs must have current immunizations/vaccinations including distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, canine parvovirus, coronavirus, leptospirosis, bordetella, and rabies certificates. In addition, your dog must have certification of a recent stool sample – showing negative for worms or internal parasites.

For more information or to make a reservation please contact Skip Souther, lead trainer and co-owner of Northwind Enterprises, LLC, home of Northwind Kennels, as noted below

further information please contact:

Northwind Kennels

N-14908 Kaiser Rd. Park Falls, Wisconsin 54552

(715) 762-1037

email: contactus@northwindenterprises.us