If you’re the happy new owner of a puppy that you plan to train to someday be a hunting or gun dog, then you’ll be wondering what you’ll need to make that happen. Besides patience, love, and a sense of humor, you’ll need some tools to make the training process easier. Before you bring puppy home, make sure you have the things you’ll need to make him comfortable and get him off to a good start.

Dog Crates

The fact of the matter is, puppies aren’t born housebroken. Sad, but true. This means you’ll need to housebreak puppy and the best way to do that is through create training. A lot of other benefits come from this as well and crate training utilizes puppy’s “denning” instinct to make it all happen. Crates also keep your dog (and your house) safe while he’s unsupervised.

Fortunately, regardless of the size of your dog, crates are easy to use, they come in a variety of sizes and some can even be collapsed and put away once you are done using it. Some dog owners only use a crate until a puppy is housebroken and then only for rare occasions.

Most dogs like to be in a crate. The dog crate helps them feel protected, secure and they begin to consider it a safe place to go. Most dogs treat their crates as if it was their own personal den! Whether you elect to purchase aluminum or a metal wire dog crate, you will want to make sure that you have purchased the appropriate size. If you get a dog crate that is too small, your dog will be unable to turn around comfortably in it and a crate that is too large may result in your dog being frightened and not feeling safe. Some dog crates come with removable panels that can be added or removed depending on the size of your dog.

Dog Training Collars

Dogs don’t train themselves—another sad fact. Luckily, they have us to do it for them and the process is usually fun. Training hunting dogs is even more of a challenge with greater rewards. Training collars can really help with this, especially the long-range electric collars. Whether you choose one of those or a simple choke collar for obedience training, make sure it’s the right one for you and your dog.

You will have to decide if your dog responds best to positive discipline (i.e. give him a treat when he does the right thing) or if electronic stimulation offered through electronic collars are best for him. Many owners of hunting dogs (especially larger ones) find that the electronic stimulus collars work best.

Other Hunting Dog Supplies

Start working with puppy early to begin the training process and to set a schedule of training, play, and down times. The earlier you begin obedience and hunting training, the more effective it will be. There are a lot of products out there to help you accomplish these tasks and they are generally available at all hunting and pet supply stores:

1. Dog whistles to train your dog to listen to you at home and in the field
2. Dog training bumpers – to teach retrieval
3. Launchers – to teach fetching and retrieval

Your puppy will become a part of your hunting and a member of your household for years and years. Getting the proper dog training supplies will ensure that you have everything you need for successful training so that he will listen and remain safe in your care.