Gun Dog Forum

I sure wish I knew everything. Must be nice.

Well, within the cross country ski category there are multiple types of skis - skates, back country, and cross country. Within those groups there are skis that you wax and others that have metal edges. The diameter can vary hugely. I'm interested in why people chose specific types and how they've wo...

He is actually a fantastic retriever, loves it, and shows no hesitation. We did it at the front end so we almost never ever have to give any electricity now. The give command is what we are using now that he is retrieving birds when hunting - we never use the collar for drop it when hunting.

Our breeder is known for excellent hunting and NAVDA dogs, and our guy is very healthy - well muscled, trim, tireless, and shiny coat. The breeder started him on adult food from Costco and recommended that when we got him at 8 weeks we not change food as so much else is changing. He has turned out g...

A comment and a question. Firstly, we have a gun dog vet, and she and her colleague were HUGELY aggressive about making sure we didn't run out dogs until at least 18 months. Repetitive motion on the joints (jogging, skijoring, wearing a pack) has ruined many good dogs' joints and the damage is not r...

We helped mediate this problem by starting ours on a collar at 6 months, and when he got gophers or things like that we lit him up and shouted "Drop it!". We have also been working on give now so that the bird comes to hand. But, getting him to drop anything at any time (not aways the desired end re...

We use Kirkland Signature Dog Food Chicken & Rice. It is cheap at Costco, and we were actually recommended it by our breeder. Even though it isn't puppy food he did just fine, and the breeder told us not to change it as he was started on it. He looks great and the vet said he is a perfect weight. 54...

Our guy at 10 months, out having fun with us.

We got our guy from No-Mars in Idaho. He's a great looking dog (EVERYBODY on the street or trails stops to talk about him), and has got great drive. Was hunting his first season at 10 months and MVP dog on pheasant hunts by the end of the season. He is also tough as nails - nothing like it. http://w...

My husband's biggest deal breaker when we started getting our GSP on birds was this: only wild. He scents the ground and air, and is fast enough that if the bird is planted or pen raised, he'll catch it. As we never want him to think that he can catch the bird, that was a serious issue. Getting him ...

We were dragging wings in the snow starting at about 4 months. It was a game - 1 person would hold him on the side of the house (or stay inside) and the other would create a trail with a reward at the end. They don't have a huge attention span at that age, so we didn't do more than 3 rounds at a tim...

Our dog "randomly pukes" once a month or so, but if we get to the bottom of it usually there was a little poop eating or carcass play during our time out (he ranges, so we don't have eyes on every second). Occasionally he got into something we didn't know about (I had the pleasure of watching a barb...

When we got our 8 week old GSP it was December 15th that year (we're also in Montana), and had to get him potty trained pretty quick as we live in a rental. He was actually pretty good about not wanting to make a mess inside. Walking 45 min-1hr a day was harder as he hadn't gotten his hair yet, but ...

We found the tips in the Gowdey book about GSPs really useful. That said, it was really rough going with our male GSP until he was about 6 months old, and then he really began to shine. We have both made time to take him out on long walks and adventures independently so that he understands and respe...

We have a male who hunted to negative degrees for pheasant up until Christmas. He was getting frostbite on his scrotum and the vet recommended a layer of udder butter on it before taking him out. As for the eyes, since Montana is pretty dry, we spend some time with him each night where we clean out ...

Live in Montana and have a 16 month old German Shorthaired Pointer male out of No-Mars in Idaho. We have him along with everything we do (hiking, hunting trips by canoe, snowshoeing...), and he has been performing well with mountain grouse, pheasants, geese & ducks (those last two mostly when it's w...

We are training our first GSP (he's 16 months now), and we found Gowdey's book to be HUGELY useful: http://www.rakuten.com/prod/the-german-shorthaired-pointer-a-hunter-s-guide/210777581.html?listingId=207263119&s_kwcid= We started him on the collar at 6 months, but really mostly for correction ("lea...

We have a great GSP from No-Mars in Idaho. He's a great looking dog, and also has drive and is very intelligent. Ranges about the middle. Loves pheasant but doesn't range out as far as a Pointer would. He has a huge amount of drive for grouse, pheasant, geese (he retrieves Greater Canada cripples), ...