My 8 month old GSP....
 

and I havebeen phesant hunting 6 times this year and hasn't point one bird. I know it's not the lack of birds because the 2yr old Viszla we hunt with is finding them. This is my first dog...should I be concerned? thx

RE: My 8 month old GSP....
 

Hey no fear, just because it is a "hunting dog", does not mean that it know how to hunt. I am not being a smarty either, some dogs you can run with another dog and they will pick it up right off the bat, most don't or, let assume most don't. So then we got to back step, and build the foundation, for the birds, and the gun fire. Then when the foundation is building we start teaching it all, the handleing, the collar, the respect of the birds, all the things that make a nice and huntable bird dog. thanks Dave Jones..... Jonesy's Gun Dogs, Berea, Kentucky......859-985-2918...aka Jonesy, Thanks Jonesy

RE: My 8 month old GSP....
 

That dog is a baby............Let him be one.. Don't put pressure on the pup it is not worth it. Let him develope a love of the bird. Teach him his name and to come when called. If not you can create problems that will take some one like Jonesy to fix.......Why does every one have to have 9 month pup that will do it all? You would not give your 2 year old a 20 ga and expect them to kill birds would u? Just my thought [/align]Casey[/align]

RE: My 8 month old GSP....
 

I am sorry I mean teach those his first year....Let him mature mentaly......

RE: My 8 month old GSP....
 

I'm wondering if you got a show line dog. I saw an english setter the other day, medium size but stocky, kinda built like a lab and with a blocky head. Feathering was short like mine though. Sorta like a show E.Pointer I once saw. Didn't look athletic.

Anyhow, every dog is an individual. Some develop sooner some later. You'll will know when you should introduce birds. Your pup will start nosing more, stare at moving creatures, that sorta thing. Took my pup 5 months, her sister two months sooner, other littermates are just getting it (7-8 months). If there is that much variations in one litter then imagine the variations in differing breeds and differing dogs.

RE: My 8 month old GSP....
 

Im sure it will work out if you take your time and train. A few that I have knowngrew to a year old before slowing down enough to take noticeof any birds.

Good luck!

PS Someone did post the idea of show line bred sgp. Oh my god!!! Only in America!!!Was that for real?[:'(]

RE: My 8 month old GSP....
 

Hell yes, the breed is getting very popular. Anytime a breed gets noticed then out comes the show people, crossing this line and that line for conformation. There are two regulars at the dog park I go to and they have really have no drive per se; although one did go thru a screen door once to get to a squirril. Other than that, none. My pup would be chasing seagulls up and down the beach while the GSPs are playing with sticks.

Same with setters and pointers. I saw a show pointer the other day, big blocky dog; looked like a small pony. Show English setters look obscene. Tall, big headed, with feathering almost touching the ground.

The Irish setter here has basically gone by the way-side. They were once excellent hunters but show breeding has made them useless in the field. Thank God for die-hard breeders who kept the hunting lines but they are few and far between.

RE: My 8 month old GSP....
 

Oh dear! Thats just such a waste of centuries of hard breeding. I guess one should not be surpriced but still... A global ongoing battle this I belive. To much money in breeding. Lets just hope no GSP ever show up in a movie or with a celeb.

Herethe rules for becoming a show champion is such that you must have performed well onseveral hunting tests. You can not have a GSP that does not hunt become a champion.

As for the labs I hear of a antimovement with a new breed society that only alows hunting qualified dogs. It will lead to a new breed though.

Big dose of gratitude to serious breeders!!!

RE: My 8 month old GSP....
 

At 8 months, I wouldn't be too concerned. She is just a puppy and has a mentality, maturity and attention span of one. Let her have her first year to play and then work on the bird dog things when she is mature enough to take the training and the consequences of correction. Get her prey drive up and you can mold it into the dog you desire for the next 12 hunting seasons.