JsmesB67

Let me start this question off with a little info. first. This is my first upland bird dog. My dog is 12 weeks old. I know it's very early in the training process. I'm just curious if the behavior my dog is exhibiting is normal. My son and I walk the pup in the woods and we keep him occupied while the other hides a pheasant wing after dragging it on the ground with a string. We then start walking again while the dog follows the scent trail. He always finds it no matter what. When he finds it he doesn't exhibit any pointing behavior, he just grabs it and we praise him as he gives it to us. Are we doing right by doing this? And is his behavior normal? Thanks in advance.
Jim B.

MA Jay

Everyone has their own opinions and styles to introducing new dogs to hunting. In my opinion playing with the wing and praising your very young pooch when he finds it, is not a bad thing. Just beware of games you play with a puppy which will be counter productive to behaviors you'll expect in an adult. Taking your pup out for walks and playing is a great start to bonding with your new buddy.

His beahvior is very normal for a young pup, they may be young, but they still have good noses. I would begin initial control/obedience training at this age, just keep your training sessions real short as they don't have long attention spans at this age.

JsmesB67

Thanks MA Jay! I was worried that I might be teaching him the name of the game is follow the scent and grab it when you find it. We only do this about 4-6 times during our walks. He's very responsive to short training sessions. Especially when there is treats involved. The same goes for my five year old son

drfatguy

What method are you using? Are you using a book or tape suggesting this? From my experience, a pointing dog needs to use body scent with the head up to find and point. If a dog is using foot scent, the dog will bump most birds and not know why. I would find a training system you like and follow it. Training dogs is just like teaching kids, one needs to know what they're doing or it can mess it up. Leave the pheasant wing home and let the pup just discover the world.

Dr Fatguy

JsmesB67

I haven't purchased a book or tape yet as I was primarily concentrating on obedience skills. I just did this pheasant wing thing on a recomendation from a friend. and something to do on our walks in the woods. The piece of woods I take him is full of deer but void of upland birds. The deer scent seems to peak his interest and that was starting to concern me a little so I thought this method would be a good distraction. Can you recommend a tape or book?

MA Jay

Vizsla training books

Here is a link to some of the books Amazon has through a kennel that specializes in Vizsla's, probably a good place to start. That being said, in my opinion don't sweat the puppy fun with a wing. You won't ruin your dog, and you playing and associating fun and your hapiness with bird scent is a very good thing. When you have read up on different programs, and decided on one, or a blend of a few you feel comfortable with then you may pull the wing game and replace with something else, but for a 12 week old pup .. let him have some fun with it.

If you haven't trainined a bird dog before, definitely read up. Also look up and attend a local field trial or some other field dog event. You'll pick up a lot of very good info. The most common thing I have found is new guys having great intentions confuse a young dog by not training in a "dog logical" order. If your pooch isn't doing what you would like him to do .. take a step back and look in the mirror and wonder for a second if it is possible you may be the one throwing off the mixed signals .. you'll save yourself a headache or two if you try this from time to time. I have hunted over and trained 2 different Vizla's. They are very good dogs, with big hearts and a willingness to hunt and please. In my experience they are a bit more sensitive than other types of hunting dogs and don't take well to strong negativity. They do respond very well to positive reinforcement. Good luck .. and please share some pics of the little guy.

JsmesB67

MaJay thanks for the tips and I'll pick out a book ASAP. Here's a pic of my two future hunting partners...

MA Jay

Now that is what I am talking about!!! Great picture.

Spending time training your hunting dog with your son, you can't get much better than that. It's something I thank my own father for all the time, because it is how I started 25 years ago. The passion for hunting birds over dogs never fades when it is learned at that age.

Good luck and keep us posted on the pups progress ..... and don't forget, it may be years before he hunts the way you read about or dream, but if you stick with it he'll become an awesome hunter as well as being a great family member.

Antler Eater

That photo is OUTSTANDING!!!

Looks to me like you will have your hands full training either of those pups.

RedDogRunner

don't give it another thought, keep doing what you're doing, my first two vizslas, I did the same thing with a dummy made of rooster feathers, all but the head and feet wrapped around a sock full of kitty litter type stuffing!
my kids would plant it in some bushes and I would work the two pups into the wind and like yours, they'd find it every time, they didn't go on their first point, which was in a hunting situatian until ten months old. That is to say, other than flash points at a wing on a string or maybe a tweety bird in the backyard!
try the wing on the string routine, tease the pup with it, don't let him catch it, until he locks up! should only take a couple of sessions before he does it!
here's a photo of my pups my girl whelped last August, they were about five weeks old in these photos.