Dog Training

[dangertree]

Hi Folks,

Wondering if anyone can direct me towards some goods sites/groups or offer advice on what I'll have to do, and when, in training our puppy for the field?

She's 3 months old now, a German Longhaired Pointer/ Black Lab cross. I want her to point AND water retreive, reckon she's the right mix for this. Looks/behaviour wise, she's her mother (GLP) with her fathers colouring.
She's already 'hunting' and pointing in the back yard, but I've never trained a hunting dog before, and don't want to screw this up.

Anything at all appreciated,

Thanks in advance,
Walt

 

[Pudelpointer]

Dog training

Howdy. Probably the best thing for you to do is buy some books on dog training. Resist all temptation to shoot over your dog until she is properly accustomed to gunfire! But definately get her out in the presence of birds as much as possible. If you get her introduced to gunfire then by all means shoot some birs for her but at this stage "she can do know wrong", even if she chews up a bird hard, you can not punish her! It has to be all fun until she is older (depending on breed, 8 months to 1 1/2 years). The goal is to make her 'bird crazy' and have fun. Also, invest in a quality shock collar, ie. Dogtra, Tritronics or DT Systems, as it will save you both a lot of frustration, and you will have a lot less fights over who is the boss.

Again, seek out some good training literature, incorporate the things that make sense to you and be consistent.

Happy hunting.

Ian

 

[samdunc]

If she is pointing birds in the back yard get her on the barrens on some "partridge" There are a few around this year. If she is pointing small birds its just a matter of getting her into some wild birds. She will eventually start to point wild birds. Don't shoot birds over her if she is not pointing. It will come with exposure to wild birds.
regards
Dan

Pm me if you need any help

 

[Woody]

Expose the dog to as much as you can. Bring her with you everywhere. Let her chase everything so that she realizes on her own that she cannot catch what she is chasing. A dog that does not come to this realization will always want to chase. Can be extremely frustrating when in the field. I did not put my dog on live birds until over a year old. By then I had him trained on multiple retrieves, trained to whoa on whistle and verbal command, and was whistle and directional hand trained. After only 12 hrs in the field over 6 outings he's holding point on 95% of the birds he finds. The 5% are birds that have already been moved and there isn't enough scnent down to give the dog time to work up to the bird slowly. It's a tremendous amount of fun and is very rewarding. Good luck and have fun!

Here's a Woodcock point:
http://www.picturedot.com/FetchImageJPG.asp?ImageType=P&ImageFormat=H&ImageID=155845
And here's a Ruffed Grouse point. Notice the head held high. He has different points for Woodcock and Partridge. Helps me gauge distance as well. http://www.picturedot.com/FetchImageJPG.asp?ImageType=P&ImageFormat=H&ImageID=155844

 

[straightshooter]

I don't consider myself an authority on dog training. But, one thing that seemed to work really well for me was to attach the wing of a bird that I want the dog to point (in my case, grouse) to a fishing rod and swing it around in the back yard. The idea is to swing it around while the dog chases it - never letting the dog actually catch it. When the dog tires, he/she will eventually try sneaking up on the wing. When they do that, they inevitably lift a paw at some point. If the paw stays up, the wing stays put. If they set that paw down to sneak another step closer, you yank the wing up into the air. Through repetition, the dog learns to stay perfecly still with the paw held up.

I've been hunting with my dog that was trained this way for 3 years, now. She has only pointed 2 birds in those 3 years, but grouse generally don't sit when there's a dog nearby. I'm looking forward to taking her after pheasant - then we'll see how she behaves around birds that sit tight.

Pudelpointer's comment about an electronic collar is interesting, too. My dog does an amazing job for us every time we take her out. Still, I wish she'd work a little closer to us sometimes. I don't have any experience with the collars, but I can see where that bad habit might have been prevented while she was still a puppy.

SS

 

[jjackman]

Train your dog!

Great, a subject I love as much as guns.

There's lots of good info out there but it can be hard to find. I'd recommend finding a local club if you can as learning from a group can be the most productive. Books can teach you concepts, but people will teach you how to use the training properly.

Electronic collars are great, but they are most effective if your dog knows the commands but needs to be "encouraged to do them" when you command.

The wing on a string training is good to test and see if your dog has the instinct, but it's not much good for beyond that. Eventually it just becomes a toy and the wing looses scent and it's no different than a ball to play with.

My wife and I breed, raise and train German Shorthaired Pointers and we had a hard time getting started and taught a few dogs some bad habits.

The Best advice I can give is to expose your dog to as many wild birds as possible (of the upland variety - Partridge, quail, pheasant, grouse) as often as possible. This will get her excited about birds and a good bird dog is one with excitement and drive for birds.

Second, work on basic obedience commands, whoa, stay, come, heel, fetch, sit... as much as you can when they're young how ever you can. Food, treats, praise whatever reward works, and keep it fun for your dog. An obedient dog is a good hunting dog.

Third, train your own dog. Don't let someone else do it for you. Don't send your dog to a trainer for 6 months. These people can do wonders, but training is for both you and the dog. Learn to work with your dog and you'll understand them better.

I bought most of my books from hunting stores locally, but here's a list that is easily available online:

Books by Bill Tarrant are really good:
Tarrant trains gun dogs - Humane way to get top results (ISBN 0-8117-1723-2)
Problem Gun Dogs - How to Identify and Correct their faults (ISBN 0-8117-1374-1)
Hey Pup, Fetch it up
Best way to train your gun dog - the Delmar Smith Method (ISBN 0-679-50750-7)

Other popular books include:

Wing & Shot by Robert G. Wehle
This is an old book with a great foundation for trainers. Although most of it is old school type training, where many people now prefer the positive reenforcement methods of "dog whispering" methodology. That being said, this stuff really works and Robert is the founder of Elhew Kennels (his surname backwards) which is one of the most prominant and respected english pointer kennels in the US. The fifth printing was in 1979 and it's now out of print, but you can get them from wholesale sports in Calgary.

Speed Train your own Bird Dog - Larry Mueller
It's ok with general advice and lots of pictures. A decent book for starters.

Training Pointing Dogs - Paul Long (ISBN 0-941130-08-8)

Field Trials and Judging - Charles Alington (ISBN 1-84037-195-1)
If you are interested in Field Trails and Tests for competing with your dog in the non hunting season.

You may also want to check out DVDs or videos:
Training Pointing dogs to retrieve by willowcreek press (wwwwillowcreekpress.com)
Silent Hunting
Gun Dog

There are several magazines:
Gun Dog - wwwgundogmag.com
Pointing Dog Journal - for pointing dogs or
The Retreiver Journal for the waterfowler in you. Basically these are the same magazines with one or two retreiver / pointer specific articles in them depending on the issue.

Be sure to check out some hunting dog organizations:
NAVHDA - the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (buy their "green book" the training and care of the Versatile hunting dog)
wwwnavhda.org/

or some Canadian Groups
The Calgary Pointing Dog Club
http://members.shaw.ca/calgarypointingdogclub/

The Gun Dog Forum is fun with lots of help me questions. Not too political, but very american and it has it's share of people who will know less than you.
wwwgundogforum.com

This site lists a lot of resources for training field
wwwmts.net/~oakgrove/point/trainlnk.html

Finally, come to Alberta and visit me in Lethbridge, bring your dog, a gun and maybe even a Stag AR for me and I'll introduce you to some of the best bird hunting you can find and I'll show you my dogs and give you free training advice.
PM me or email me with any questions. I'm always available for help.

By the way, your dog is adorable, love the pictures.

Jassen