Gun Dog Forum

Your pup is just a baby, it did exactly what good pups do. Does it come from hunting lines? Does it like birds? I imagine the answer is yes, so stop worrying. You have many, many months before this question could possibly become a concern, and honestly, it rarely if ever is warranted. The dog will ...

Put my 12 week old britt on planted pigeons today for the first time....we planted in light cover and brought the pup in into a crosswind, easy stuff. He finally scented the bird(s) about 15 feet out, and without even a flash point headed right into the bird. The birds were in a protected funnel and...

Borderline impossible.

sb

Here is a pic on the tailgate after a hunt in KS on a preserve. (Eckman's Hunting Preserve in Baldwin City. Good folks.)

Several months ago, I posted about needing help with a Springer who was fearful of pigeons. For those that don't recall: http://gundogforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=49004&p=453290&hilit=dog+afraid+of+birds#p453290 I never got her to a trainer but, I got some help last week from the Heart of Te...

Cool. I was not aware AT ALL of the Decatur and Houston. I would like to attend the next training day and will do my best to get there.

Thanks,

sb

mnaj wrote : "encourage growth and progress (the waterfowl community)" I am curious as to the cause of this growth. Some of it may be attributable to 'Duck Dynasty' but surely not all. I find water fowling to be labor intensive, equipment laden and sometimes less than stimulating (unless the birds a...

Well, after all this discussion I am certainly discouraged. It seems the flushing dog community is not only divided, but also a tiny minority of people interested in gun dogs; especially spaniels. And I don't mean just on this board. The field/show split in springers and cockers and the dearth of Am...

Going to give it some thought. Not sure if I want to go trialing....seems high pressure. Maybe I will just train and hunt my dogs and attend a trial or hunt test if it becomes convenient, which in Texas seems unlikely. I have been in contact with Buck from the Heart of Texas Spaniel Club and am look...

So, is there any point to getting a JH, SH or even MH in the spaniel world?

Or is that even still a thing?

I had NO idea that Hunt Tests were so poorly thought of in the spaniel world.

sb

Appreciate that. I will get in contact with those folks. Are spaniels just not popular enough to have widespread Hunt Tests? Or is it a regional thing? I may have to restructure my family vacations and travel to do any hunt tests, which would be doable, but less convenient than our retriever/pointer...

I am in Texas. Either I am very dense, or there are not any spaniel hunt tests any where close to me. Anyone out there have any ideas?

Thanks.

Just worked both dogs this morning. The spaniel (Kitty) found and flushed a quail with great enthusiasm. This is worlds better than she has been. I let her chase. She is not a confident dog. Once the quail was out of reach she returned to me. The Lab/shepherd mix found the quail, flushed and sat thr...

Dog is doing better if paying more attention to the bird cages is any indication.

Been doing a lot of yard training..."sit" mostly.

Here's a video from this PM:

https://youtu.be/ANBk5TLURg0

Going to see a trainer in a week with her, still.

sb

I think it may be time for outside intervention for this pup. Otherwise she is never going to make it into the field. I am trying to get her in with a pro trainer in Austin. I am pretty sure I have fouled up with this dog beyond my limited ability to fix. Which is frustrating, because I am not good ...

I will keep working her. This is a new experience for me, my previous dogs have been EASY in this regard...maybe not others, but lack of birdiness has not been an issue.

sb

Put out two quail yesterday. She found them, trapped one (they are not great flyers, these quail), then put it down to chase a yellow butterfly. Had to get the bird flapping and throw it to get her to look at it again.....?

Well, went back out with the spaniel this pm. No corridor, clip wing bird and I let her have her way for a while. Once she picked it up and ran to the kennel, I had her hooked. We did a handful of retrieves in the field with the clip wing, praising her up on each retrieve, letting her hold the bird ...

This was the third try. She was allowed to investigate the bird in the corridor without me saying or doing anything. The bird was sat down in the corridor, lock winged but ambulatory. The dog was brought to the corridor and turned loose. I used the same method I had used for retrieving dummies becau...

https://youtu.be/7VHk8aQ1kyg This is the third try (and best effort on the dog's part) to introduce birds. The other attempts include running away from the bird and ignoring the bird to chase a yellow butterfly. I didn't have birds before, did I wait too long? The dog is a bit over a year old. On a ...

A well bred Springer might be just the ticket for you. Right size, right temperament and fits your hunting and pet needs.

Just my 2 centavos.

sb

The bird introduction in the alley idea might be for me. Definitely going to give that some thought. I live in a neighborhood (for the first time in a decade) and have struggled with hunting dog stuff I had grown accustomed to taking for granted....like gun acclimation and bird planting and basic fi...

More.

Only hunted Dove this past season, and didn't even have my dog with me. Missed in something awful.

sb

Looking for bird dog trainers interested in upland bird dog training. I am in Brackettville with access to some property in Poteet, maybe Somerset, and maybe Rocksprings. Would like to train early mornings on the weekends. I have a few birds and know of a couple of places to buy quail for $6 a bird....

Short video of some very introductory retrieving with my spaniel. The clapping you hear off camera is my 7 year old applauding. This is my second spaniel, just found Hickox's training DVDs and decided I liked his upland stuff, so going to use that for this pup and my Lab/German Shepard mix. https://...

Hey,

Where in West Texas are you? I am in Brackettville. Not exactly West Texas, but definitely in sniffing distance.

sb

Another Texas newbie. I am way out in Brackettville. Bonus pts for anyone who knows where that is without Google. I am an owner of my second springer who is dire need of bird work. I just built a coop and filled it with pigeons, but would like to find people to train with. I have 30 acres in Poteet ...