New pup need some help

[John Y]

Just brought home a 9 week old german shorthair.I went to the store and bought a pheasent wing and scents.I made a scent trail and put the wing in a bush,let the pup out(seeing if he has natural abilities),he found the bird and ATTACKED it,but didnt follow the trail.I have seen 6 week old pups point the wing,should I keep him on the leash and see if he points it?I have never trained a hunting dog,any tips on this would really help.This weekend they stock the woods for the pheasent kids hunt,so maybe a day or two after that I can take him there and see some real birds.ThanKS John

[Roost em 1st]

Do you know any one with GSP that are proven hunters? They will stimulate your dog in the beginning during bird introduction. Could take a while to get this pup hunting. Is the breeder able to help you?

[LadyByrd]

At nine weeks realy don't worry so much about following a trail. It is good that your dog was excited about a wing and attacked it. Try tying a wing to a dumy and playing fetch with it, or tying it to a string and making it dance around then sto and hold it still a lot of dogs will stop and point when the wing stops. Just work on getting your dog realy 'birdy' and excited at this point. A lot of dogs will point at this age but sometimes you have to put them in the right situation to get a point that lasts longer than a few seconds.

Definatly talk to your breeder and see if they are taking their dog out in the feild at all and see if you and your puppy can tag along. Most good breeders are great resourced becuse they want ot see thier puppies succeed.

BTW-What area are you in?

[gselkhunter]

John Y, I will be going to get my third GSP in two weeks, at 9 weeks the only thing I would worry about, is making sure the dog knows it's name and work on come. If you need to see your dog point, play wing on the string, but don't let the dog get a hold of the wing. If your dog gets the idea it is supposed to catch birds it will make the whoa command harder to teach and enforce. As for not tracking, if there is enough air borne scent the dog really doesn't have to track. Of my two GSP dogs I have one that hunts head high[air borne scent] and one that follows ground scent, they hunt totally different. They are both effective bird dogs. I start my real training at about 4 months. I go to a place with a lot of birds, little or big doesn't matter, just to let the pup run out of gas chasing birds to figure out that it can't catch them. And work from there.
Gselkhunter

[LadyByrd]

I agree, don't try the attacking the wing. I supose I should clarify my post. What I ment was at least you know he likes it.

You might try checking into a GSP club in your area, if your breeder doesn't have a lot of imput I am sure they can give you lots of info. If you post what area your in, maybe someone can recomend one.

Good Luck!