I attended a training seminar last June put on by Buddy Smith, hall of fame pointing dog trainer. The main focus was the use of an amazing tool called the Buddy Stick. Basically the Buddy Stick replaces the check cord in training pointing dogs.

The main premise of the Buddy Stick is “power steering” for the dog. The tool itself is so simple that it is a do-it-yourself product. All you need is an eight foot piece of pvc pipe with an end cap and a brass lead snap on one end.

The obvious benefit of the Buddy Stick is complete control of the dog from all sides. It is great for “whoa” training and steadying the dog. You can give the dog a slight push on the chest while standing in front of the dog to firm up the “whoa”, then give him a couple of taps under the chin to get his head up nice and high.

Have you ever been training your dog on planted or wild birds and your dog goes on point. Chances are you don’t have anything to tie the check cord to or you don’t have anyone to flush the bird as you control the dog. With the Buddy Stick, you can move around to the front, which is also a challenging endeavour with a check cord and not having a young dog break point, and once in front of the dog you can drop the stick to the ground (step on the end of it to embed it into the ground if you wish) and the dog cannot move forward as the Buddy Stick prevents forward movement.

The Buddy Stick is also great for styling up the dog on the bench or barrel.