Training by yourself has a lot of benefits. For one you are able to set up something really quick that is customized to what your dog needs and you don't have to discuss it with anybody. Unless I have something in particular in mind that I want to work on, I usually default back to running singles with multiple gunners out. My four wheeler holds four wingers so that's what I'll put out with four stick men. Many times my dog will want to focus in on whats close up or the stickman that stands out the most so I'll work on getting the dog focused in on another one and lock in on that. After running your four marks many times I'll just rotate the winger to point in the other direction and maybe move it slightly. This way I can get 8 marks in very quickly and I'll have time to get 2 or 3 blinds in and do all this in about an hour. With young dogs I will use the duck call to get the dogs attention and use the duck call if the dog tries to switch. Once that dog gets used to that duck call its just like having somebody out in the field saying hey hey.
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Updated: Dec 30, 2025
Always orient your wingers in the field in chronological order from left to right. For instance, if you are doing an ABCD drill and using 4 wingers have your far left winger always as #1 and end with your far right winger as #4. You of course don't have to launch these in that order but at least you know who is who. This becomes even more important when training with a group and someone wants to change the order. I use this system whether doing a double or triple and it prevents confusion and launching the wrong bird.
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