Gun Dog Forum

What part of PA are you in? I just FFed my GSP with smart fetch and worked out great. It took me about two months, but I took my time and did it right. I also worked in directional fetch with it too. Went pretty seamlessly.

I'm in Juniata County if this helps. PM me if you want to talk.

Heck, I wizard on our tree...its the only way it stays watered. Also keeps the pup from wizarding on it (an alpha male thing for him, he knows its my tree). Problem is, we have a fake tree :P No, seriously...im interested in this too, because my pup just started marking too. Any ideas other than get...

I agree that a time line is a waste and can screw up a dog by being rushed. However, for the novice trainer its nice to understand the evolution of how a dog should progress. Also, it requires the person training to understand that not every dog develops the same. You have to be able to step out sid...

and also gives you a "standardized" time line of where your pup might be at a given age. That is why I like this book, And this is why I frown as I and I think most real trainers will agree there is no such thing but trying to keep up with one is the quickest way to mess up your pup. Dogs progress ...

Not to steal your thread. He is a good pointer when I am alone. The problem was I didnt get him into enough locations to put the "hunting" into perspective for him. Also, he only ever was out with a gallery about two times and that was with 2-4 people including myself. The gallery at the test was ab...

I reccomend Retriever Training by Tom Dokken. Yes, I know its a Lab book :roll: , but it is really good for obediance and has some good tips. The tip on getting your dog to drink from a water bottle was a good one. Also, I was having trouble getting my pup to sit and overlay the e-collar. With in a ...

haha...just had a thought...something i forgot to post in the water part of the test... When I went to the water, I knew I had a problem of getting him into the water immediatly. They told me to toss the bumper into the water far enough for him to swim. So when i tossed the bumper I threw it like 4 ...

All in all, it was a good experiance. I spent most of the day dissapointed, but in the end I got excellent scores other than pointing. I currently have one remote trap and in the works for another. Ill just keep working him on birds and pop them at first scent and keep him from chasing. If I get int...

Results from this post: http://gundogforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=31503 Well its all overwith now. No prize for trigger. I was first to run and during the 20 min search with in the first 5 or so mins he hit on a bird with no point, just ran it flat. The fields were pretty wet at 7:30 am and ...

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well if you get too nervous you can think of something funny like how when sharon (a member on here) went to her first trial and the judges told her to "pick up her dog" ...ruth Sharon's been holding out on me!!!! Never heard that story. Good grief, that's funny. Luckily enough I heard about that e...

Ok , sound like his search is ok. Like i said he runs sort of aimlessly, but its his way of hunting/searching and almost 90% of the time in front. The one thing im wondering is what constitiutes a 3 in search (and since im hear also a 3 in water)? Other than if the judge got his coffee early enough ...

I over exaggerated (as usual), but what I was hoping to do was "hunt" with my dog having painters tape over my mouth and whistle stapled to my shirt. :lol: That is going to be my plan out of the gate, if the judges tell me to slow down so be it, untill told otherwise I will plead ignoance. Like I sa...

Hes pretty solid on the water work. Hesitates a little on the first retrieve, but i think i can overcome that by amping him up before i give it a short (5') toss into the water. Tracking is up in the air and depends on how he feels that day. I am hoping i can keep him exersised between the field por...

Im thinking if i motor along the field and quarter he will quater with me. I do this at home and did not do it over the weekend, thats why i think the guy made the comment about his search being so bad.

Trigger is running his NA test this weekend and was just wondering about the serch scoring portion. How hard are the dogs graded when it comes to searching? I havent worked on quartering to the whistle yet, he does kindof quarter but also does alot of milling around and mostly stays infront. He is i...

Good safety advice!

I don't get it?

This is my first hunting dog and 100% green to training/handling. I would like to know some words of wisdom/rules you give other people when you take them into the field to hunt over your dog. Since this is my first year hunting birds and also hunting with a dog, I want to spend the first few outing...

Im new to dog owning/training myself. My pup is a year old this month and here is what i did/expect: 1) Hes only 8 months old (roughly 4.6 years old in people years, do you expect a 5 year old to listen :roll: ) dont worry too much about it right now, hes still learning the world. 2) I put trigger o...

The only way Ive ever taught come is with a check cord and the command then reel the dog in. haha, well, I tried this but he decided it was actually fun to be dragged through the grass on his back...It's really my own fault for continuing to drag him through the grass when it first started, but it ...

Sounds like youre in the same situation as me. Trigger ranges around 50 yards in the field and generally stays in site, but when i tried the let the dog wonder away in teh yard it didnt work too well. When i tried to train after work he did the same thing, he was just so excited to be be outside wit...

So this morning I modified an exercise that someone had posted on the ecollar conditioning thread. I took my 30ft cc and simply wrapped it around the smooth metal bar of my chain link fence making it impossible for the pup to come to me (the fence is keeping him from being able to simply walk aroun...

why not take the dog afield to teach come......if you have to use an eyebolt to get him to leave you I would say the dog needs more time in the field building independence and confidence.....Just my take. Its not so much that I need him to leave, its a matter of convenience. I can go thru way more ...

I havent started quarter training with the whistle yet, only whoa and come. Like i said my pup is a year old next week (NAVHDA NA testing next weekend :| ) so i havent really started "training" him yet. Since your pup is still pretty young, i would reccomend getting Tom Dokkens Retriever Training (y...

Im in the same boat, new to dog training and doing it by myself. What i did was use an Eyebolt and hammered it into my clothes line post (wife didnt mind :P). Ran a 30' check cord thru it, put on my dogs harness (only use a harness of some type for this method), and stood 15' away from the post. Onl...

Turns out I shouldnt have worried about it...he made me a liar.

Not the most stylish point, but it was pretty warm here in PA today (85 degrees). I know thats kind of warm, but the NA Test is in mid-September and it probably wont be much better. Just trying to get him use to workin in the heat.

Ah, thats where I screwed up. Ive read about people not running thru tracks and the dog almost always went into search mode for the track. I ran quite a few scented bumper tracks then about three chukar tracks. Once he was on to tracking he just went into grab the planted chukar. Im pretty confident...

...forgot to add this...

I read somewhere that GSPs were not the greatest trackers, thats why I think I worked so hard on tracking.

New to this whole training game. Ive often wondered that question too. Ive never done any play sessions just cause I was worried I would screw something up (yea I feel about as much pressure as the dog sometimes :roll: )I also read somewhere not to use and "commands" during the play session.

Well, thats why I came here for help. I just joined NAVDHA and started going to chapter outings, but there are only two a month and only a few more until the NA Test. BTW, I am known for overdoing thing :oops: But like I said in the previous post the very last bird he was on was a quial and pointed ...

Long time reader, first time poster... Here's the situation, I have a 10 mo. GSP that I am working on for the NA Test in Sep 24. I’ve never trained a dog before in my life and am using George Hicox DVD as reference along with Dokkens Retriever Training book (I know I have a GSP, but it is a good boo...