Many poeple tell me my trial dog is too wild to take to a tower shoot. I like to use a tower shoot for many things
with different dogs. To be honest it is the wild ones that need to go!!!

Working On Line Manners
  Once your dog has been to a few tower shoots they get to know the drill. The horn blows and here comes the
birds. In case you have never been to a tower shoot let me explain. The ones I went to shooters and dog handlers
are lined up around a tower or a hill in a big circle. Once everybody is in place a horn blows and  they start
to throw the birds out. Generally a horn will blow and again in a few minutes and everybody stops shooting. Then
the shooters move to a different station and a horn blows for everything to start again. If this happens about 10
times the dogs learns very quickly here come the birds when they hear a horn blow.

Setup your holding blind
  Now your questions is how can this help me work on line manners? At the tower shoots I go to we use a collar.
No cares so long as the dog is not distracting shooters or making a pest of themselves. I am doing this with dog
that are through a collar program and are handling and working on at least water cheating singles.  I set up a holding blind
just behind were I stand.
 As everyone is ready I get in the holding blind and I am in the holding blind when the horn sounds and I holler guns
up and generally the dog tries to run out of the holding blind. The first thing I do is reinforce sit with the collar,
sit,  nick, sit then re heel the dog to me in the holding blind. Then I holler guns up again, to see  if they do the same
thing again. They generally stay with me and  I go to line. I also have a mat there to stand on. If the dog tries to
bolt out of the holding blind repeat the sit, nick, sit. Keep doing it until they stay with you  and walk to line.
You didn't pay for any of these birds so who cares. Don't worry about your dog gettting a bird.

Working on Communication
 Here is a great place to work on communication with a dog. Here my dogs learn more about no birds than
they ever will in training.  If a bird is going to fly by which happens a lot in the tower shoots I go to. I say to the
dog no bird, LEAVE IT. When a bird comes by  I know they are going to hit I will say watch it and as they
watch the bird I reinforce with the right behavior with GOOD GOOD.  As the bird lands and I  send the dog
for it I will say a number like 13 and then put my hand down and send the dog. Another verbal que I practice is
if there is a close bird I tell the dog easy, easy and then I will send for the bird, without putting my hand down.

Working on Casting
 I took a young dog to a tower shoot one day, she had been through basics and was done with pattern blinds. I
would send her for a bird that had been shot and landed. She would take off and then more birds would fly
over head and she would start to chase them. I would blow the sit whistle and cast her to the bird she was
sent for. Very very often she would give me a cast refusal. This dog is very very hard headed and did not
think blinds are a team sport. She would sit and often not in turn in the correct direction when I cast her.
For this I would often give a nick as a lack of effort. I did not do this a great deal, but after a few tower
shoots she started to cast better and also she had more focus to get the birds she was sent for. I am always
worried about attitude with a dog. The good thing about this is there was always another flyer behind the one
she was just handled on. So I would mix this up, you have to read your dog. This dog had a ton of go, and
was hard headed about working with me. But I was always worried about popping. But there are many
different things you can work on at a tower shoot. This can be over done so be very very careful. In some dogs
this could cause bad popping so be careful.  Mix it up if they get 25 retrieves only do it on a few until you know
how your dog will react.     BECAREFUL

Working on Honoring
 When I go to the tower shoots I often take a friend and we stand near each other at the tower shoot. If a bird
lands between the two stations and I want to get an honor in with my dog I will wave at the other handler and they
send their dog for the bird while I repeat the command no bird and stand facing into the side of my dog like I do on
an honor in a trial.