eeeeac

Took my 10 mos. old GSP out for his first hunt today. Spent 800$ on 2 mos. of proffessional training. I was warned about using two many guns his first time out, but did not listen. Took 4 people with me. Dog did fine for about 1st hour, then refused to hunt any more. Anytime someone would shoot, he would cower between my legs. He is not gunshy, so this behavior is confusing. He would not leave my side. Toward's the end, he started venturing out again, but as soon as I shot, he came right back to me and would not look for anything. I know he was trained better than that, so I am very confused. Anybody have any advice as to what I can do to get him back on track? Is it something that I just have to continue to take him out and hope he will get better? Did I waste money on a bad dog?

tailcrackin

what did your trainer give you for $800.? Honestly, what was discussed? Jonesy

eeeeac

The trainerdiscussed the fact that too many guns may make the dog gunshy as he is only used to one gun. Told me to start slowly and then introduce more guns. All of the gunfire seemed to confuse the dog and then it's like he just quit. We also discussed the fact that the dog was having a hard time holding point on birds. We also discussed use of the whistle for quartering and bringing the dog back in. His basic point was that the dog now has the basics and that it is up to me to work with him alot so that we will learn each other. The dog had no problem holding point today for the hour that he did hunt. And during that first hour, when the guns went off, he was not phased. Do I think that it was worth it? For one hour the dog hunted like he did for me about 1 mos. ago when he demonstrated what the dog had learned over the 2 mos. We only talked for about 30 minutes prior to watching the dog work and taking him home. That is really about it.

tailcrackin

OK, First thing it is still a pup, and will be for a while so ALWAYS keep that in mind. Hopefully he is not to boogered up. Okay first ques. where are you from and who worked the dog? Next, the guns are the problem, but will be able to probably be worked out. What was the dogs temperment on birds prior?? What I mean is, was it wound up at time of finding birds? Or, when it got in bird area, was it a totally different dog, looking for the bird its smelling. Reason why is now we have got to back step and rework the bird, then rework the gun, if it is not excited bout the bird, makeit little harder, to get over the wall. Understand?? And when this is all said and done, Remember, 1 or 2 guys up to bird, 1 shotfrom him, 1 shot from you? Or you'll be starting over, if it comes out of it. This is gonna take some time, right now you have to rebuild confidence. Thinks if its right with you, everything is safe. Understand? We have to help over come all this, if you think, put yourself in Irag in the middle of the war, with little bit of training. Pretty Scary, thats what is in the dogs head also. I want you to understand this might fix overnight, it might take a month or two or three, i cannot say, and i am sorry. We'll take it one day at a time. Patience!! Remember that word!! And my thought is not to go back to the trainer, for 2 mo. work, you should be able to say here, and dog comes with no problem, and should have had lot more shots over. This is 1 thing alot of people and trainers forget, you won't kill every bird!! Make sense?? Thanks Jonesy

eeeeac

First, I want to thank you for your advice "tailcrackin." I am up in the Amarillo, TX area and the guy who trained the dog is from south of here. The day I went to watch the dog, he did everything right. He did not have any more training for a month, until I took the dog out this morning. I have plans to go out again tom, but with only one other hunter, and we will take turns on the birds as you have advised. The dogs temperment on birds, is hard to say, but I would say that it was looking for the bird it was smelling. It did not seem to be able to locate the bird or two we knocked down and we had to show him the birds once we found them. While we were walking, he was actively hunting and it seemed he would scare up the quail prior about 10 yds away and then we would unload around him. Should we follow him? Or should we be walking forward and make him work in the direction we want to go? Should we also allow him to point on the bird prior to shooting or shoot when the quail jump? I know wild quail don't like to sit very long. As you can tell, I am also just learning how to quail hunt. Thanks, Ed

tailcrackin

Okay, this is where i'd go, if it don't point, don't shoot, this will always be house rule, or it will never worry bout pointing, or holding point. I would be real easy with it all tom. o, what i mean is don't favor to the dog, if its under your feet, just keep walking. Understand. Lets see if it will try to go on its self. If teh dog gets birdy you or buddy go in and flush, you watch your dog. Have your bud shoot once, over come the greed of the hunt, and just shoot, this way you can read the dog. watch its response, it will be worse, or better, if worse, i would try easily talking to the dog, alright, pet and love and send on an next point, don't shoot, if it wants to bump and chase, let it. You want to keep the excitement on bird. It will come back, go on i know this is gonna upset your buddy, but you have a problem, that can occur to be real bad if not careful. Understand?? I have even scene dogs start blinking birds because they think its the bird making the noise. If dog does not seem to be as spooky, kill bird for it, but just be easy. the retrieve i sleast of our worries right now. you can take it to bird and if it wants get great, you can work it on retrieving in the house. but lets worry bout that lil bit later, i'll walk you through what and how, cool. If the dog gets bird and is carrying it, LET IT, neel down and praise it for what it did, it will probably hold head high and show off, let ti carry. Make sense?? let me know if you have ques. ? Don't be afraid to ask. Cool Jonesy

eeeeac

Thanks for the advice. I will let you know how it does tom.

Thanks,

Ed

eeeeac

Took my 10 mos. old GSP out today. It was just him and I. He did well and hunted the whole time. You could see him working very hard to find the covey, and he was always within feet of them when they flushed. He never really pointed on them but had led me right to them. As soon as they flushed, he would run behind me, I would shoot and then he would help me find the bird. He was also chewing on the birds. I think he is associating the birds with the bang, but it was a definite improvement over what I had reported yesterday. Praised him when he found the bird and brought it back and all. Think it was a boost to his confidence, now I just got to get him to associate the bang of the gun to having fun and looking for the bird. Agree? How do I go about doing that?

tailcrackin

You say he is running behind you when birds get up?? If not,Is it chasing after birds get up? Remember what i said e-mail or so ago, about dog assoc. bang to the birds?? It is something so small being done at the time that turns into something so drastic. Ok have you got access to any pigeons? Let me know and we'll get the booger worked out. Sounds like it won't be to awful bad. Jonesy

eeeeac

When the birds flush, he runs next to me instead of chasing the birds. He would hunt up to the point of the birds flushing. The ones I hit, he actively seeked out once I started after them. Once we found the dead birds he would point on them until I told him to get them. I will have access to pigeons and quail here shortly. I will be joining the local bird dog club here. Thanks, Ed