RE: I got my pup on birds today
 

Mite- sounds like you guys had a blast. you guys will put it together soon.. im hoping my shooting is on myself. that would be my luck husker(my pup) would point me birds and i would miss them all..lol.. well we are to go hunting tomorrow but the weather is taking a turn for the worse so im not sure whats going to happen. we are to get SNOW.. oh well we'll just have to see if its rain or snow..

RE: I got my pup on birds today
 

Pa congrats on your pup....I am not sure how old your pup is but becareful not to put to much pressure on a young dog....You would hate to create a problem that would be hard to undo....example gun shyness or blinking all in the name of hurrying to get a dog in front of the gun. If he is a year old let him be a pup.....let him develope his love for the bird.....if he has enough point and love for the bird you can overcome alot of problems. I am no expert but I met a man trains birddogs for a living. He has been training for over 30 years.He is friends with Delmar Smith and the late PaulLong.He has taken me under his wing so to speak and taught me alot in the last 4 years. But the most important lesson is
patience. Let a dog mature mentally as well as physically. Some times their mental ablities cannot keep up with their physical ablities. If anything this first year do alot of yard work, Teach pup to come when called name or whistle, if nothing else teach him the word WHOA!... So you at least.... have brakes! Remember patience...

RE: I got my pup on birds today
 

thanks for the reply. i doagree inwhat your saying and im not putting much pressure on him. least i dont think i am. im not even thinking that he will be ready this year.. but what im doing is letting him get to like birds and getused to the gun, which he seems not to bothered by it at all.. now for whatyou say about"blinking" im not sure i know what that is? i am doing yard work w/ him but more than that i let him run the woods and fields.. he seems to pick up everything i teach him quickly but not always wants to listen.im takingthat as he is a pup and im not worried about it.also im going to have him running w/ an older dog fact its his mother. i was told he will learn a lot from an older dog. thanks

RE: I got my pup on birds today
 

So are you guys saying that they pointed naturally in the field w/o previous expereince pointing planted birds while on a check cord? My Visla is very birdy and always runs right to/through the small birds that live in the grass. Not sure what he will do on a pheasant that holds its ground. Last he did creep up on the few we ran into. He did get into a group this year, but he was out of sight in some grass/bushes taller than me. I didn't see him for a time, but eventually he was on the chase of a flying cock. So, who knows if and how long he pointed. I will say that he is pretty well controlled afield. Whoas, comes, sits well. I plan to hunt him mainly on terraces and fence rows this year where I can see and control him better.

RE: I got my pup on birds today
 

CDover
My pup is seven months old now and I've already taken her hunting. She's been very birdy at 4 months or so. So, i've taken her to game farm, essentially planted birds, and eased the gun introduction from .22 to .410 to 20 ga. So, she associates the gunshot with birds now. As to training, I've been using the Smith's method for conditioning (chain gang, standing still, etc.)but been training using Paul Long's method because that's what I'm comfortable with.

PAGobbler
Hunting with the mom, if she's well trained, will teach the pup alot. It will be interesting to see, especially backing. I've hunted with mom+son combo a few times. The son wanted to eat the dead birds but mom would have none of it. He learned quickly and never did that again. Tells me how he does.

houtsdog
It's all in the breeding. My dog was in a similar situation. Small patch of thick thorny blackberry bushes. She caught scent and ran it. Then all went quiet. 20min. later a rooster popped out no more than 30' from where she entered. The patch wasn't that big as it popped out nearly from the other edge. So, I can assume she was on point all that time. But I've seen point chukar. Running then stop dead, head low, pointing a bush. She wouldn't move until the bird ran.

RE: I got my pup on birds today
 

Hey Guys can't believe I am posting on a board... but I know I read posts. Figured maybe what I have learned may helps someone else.[/align][/align]Pa Blinking is when a dog intentionally avoids a bird it encounters and smells. Instead of pointing. They assciate something negative to the scent of a bird example...Stimulation from a ecollar at the wrong time, something unpleasant...alot of gun fire I understand a pheasant flushing can be intimidating to a young dog.[/align][/align]Mite I understand my GSP was on the dove field at 8 months and in the Upper Penisula hunting grouse at10 months. Every dog is different it took somebody explaining to me and for me to see what happens to a dog that somebody tried to ramrod through it's training. Example the English pointer that I have. he is 4 days younger than my GSP. He has a problem of flagging his tail when he points.... I rescued him from a field trialer that trained him. He on paper should be a jam up dog. 2 hall of famers in his pedigree. But no matter what we have tried he just does not have the drive or enough point to get him over it. So I am looking for him a home as a pet.....But a perfect case of to much pressure to soon.[/align][/align]Hountsdog - I have never even seen a pheasant but I understand they do not believe inholding for a pointing dog. I am not sure how old your dog is but sometimes a youngdog needs to chase some birds until they figure out they cannot catch them....Then instict takes over and walla! Point! IF the pup is pointing then rushing in that is a new ball game. Have you taught him whoa? Is he reliable to stop when given that command. IF he flushes the birds intentinally. Tell him whoa if he does not stop u will need to correct him or hunt him on a checkcord so you can get to him.[/align][/align][/align]There is all kinds of stuff....Like I said I am in traing myself.................[/align]I[/align]

RE: I got my pup on birds today
 

CDover sounds like your pointer's prey drive hasn't been driven. Funny, all the English Pointers I've seen has had quite abit intensity. And for a field trialer to train the dog, it must of have had something which caught the fielder's eye. Range?

Anyway, I ran the dog at the pheasant release site/duck hunting area today. Alot of newbies hunt there and shoot at birds 100+ yards up. Everyone was blasting away and my dog was going nuts.Running to see who shot what, chasing ducks in the sky, etc. When I say birdy, I mean nose to the ground/sky constantly sniffing, running into thorny bushes, always looking for birds. She stares at them in the car when driving, loves to chase plovers, and 'hunts' falling leaves. Today, some kid with his father was duck hunting w/o a dog. The kid thought he winged one but couldn't find it. I set my dog to look for it and she eventually kickedup a hen mallard. It must have been running because she scented that thing from long ways off. Wind was blowing kindof strong too, so that helped.

RE: I got my pup on birds today
 

Mite my pointer has a little drive....not much but a little. Like I said on paper the dog has it...... I think the low drive could have been built upon.. But all of the pressure was to much. He was headed to the pound wwhen I got him. I hoped we could get him over it.. I hate to see a Brdog in the pound......