48 Nebraskaland • July 2024
he first real gun dog I'd ever owned cost me $50. A
buddy of mine knew I'd been looking and knew of a litter
with just one pup left. His recommendation and the
owner telling me the puppies were born in a barn in the
middle of January was all it took to get me to pull the trigger.
Although I had no clue on what I was doing, I knew
somebody who did. That same friend who told me about the
litter offered to help train my dog. What started as a quest to
train a $50 farm dog has now turned into a love affair. The
fascination with training dogs still burns inside me some 35
years later.
I was enamored with the idea of competing with my dog,
so I decided to enter the hunt test world with my second Lab.
It was an excruciating process, filled with constant failure
and countless ups and downs. What came from it, however,
was a deeper understanding of my dogs — not only how to
train them, but also how to understand and relate to them in
stressful and overwhelming situations. The ability to keep
a dog under control, in the most competitive environments,
taught me invaluable lessons for working with them during
actual hunting scenarios.
Here are a few of the lessons I learned.
Hunt Testing Dogs
By Todd Mills
T
Todd Mills of Gretna dog trains his
Master Hunter Labrador retriever,
Gracie, at the Missouri Valley Hunt
Club in Douglas County.
JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
