Gun Dog Forum

Oldbeek- Your 15 minutes with four birds over 65 acres with a judge watching is your idea of a good time but to me it is more like a nightmare. I prefer four hours over 65 acres with just me and the dog and four birds. That is what I meant when I said we are using dogs for some very different sports...

As a casual hunter in thick cover that is not a field trial level trainer, I cannot use an FT stock dog. Where I hunt, if a dog went out 300 yards and pointed and held,it would take me an hour to find him. I do not want to correct this issue with a gps. I want a pointer that will point and hold the ...

I am in the middle of this one now with 7 and 1 year old drahts. I started to hunt them separately with most of the time going with the pup. I found it was very hard to leave my old hunting buddy home. I decided that wasn't an option so I now run them together. I have had a few issues doing this. Th...

My impression of trainers that take a dog for 4-6 weeks to train is that they are mainly focused on developing the dog for field trialing. But what if you only want your dog for hunting preserves on the weekend. Are there any trainers that specialize in training a dog for the casual hunter. This tra...

I have a new pup to train this year and am considering my first recall pen for quail. I saw some plans for one that divides the pen in two sections so one side can be opened to let the birds out while the other keeps birds in the pen to recall them. That seemed to be a good design, if it works. If y...

Why would you pick a Brittany for you daughter? Will she be a hunter? Maybe you should let her pick the breed that she wants and will bond with. I have a DD that is a one man dog also. He spends every minute of the day within a few feet of me or watching me. He is nice with other people but only lis...

They were trained for personal hunting only and as house pets. So it was obedience training and recall. No trial or judging. They once called these dogs the type that could be used right out of the box. Meat dogs for the serious hunter. That's why I asked if you were all field trialers. I think that...

Shaggs, Finally, someone my own age. I think we are all talking past each other. I am not against ecollars. I have one and use it every day. I do not think clicker training will work on the modern dog. They require more training, have a lot more energy, are more independent (both bold and do what th...

As you can see, I am new to this forum and don't know any of the posters on here. I am ending my participation in this thread with one last question- Do you breed, train or run Field trial dogs?

gone hunting, How did you use a whip, gun or chain to train your dogs? It sounds impossible to me. Were they versatiles? Versatiles are the ones that were co operative enough then to train with a clicker. Did you own any in the sixties? They are also the ones that have changed the most. I never used...

I prefer the original model. I think you are making my point. Because they are more independent, bigger running, etc nowyou need an ecollar now to control them and train them. That was not the case 50 years ago.

You didn't train any field trial vdogs 45 years ago because there weren't any. There was no need to be brutal with a Vdog then.

Once upon a time, there were no ecollars and dogs got trained with positive reinforcement. There was no clicker but the principal was the same with positive enforcement working and punishment was counter productive. With the development of ecollars and trialing, the dogs have changed a lot and are a...

I have no problem with people crossing breeding breeds or selectively breeding for range as long as it is all done in the open and the dogs are identified as being modified from the original. Is there any FT venue that is truly open to all dogs including mixed breeds? There should be because cross b...

[quote="fuzznut"]There is a lot of diversity in the GWP here in the US. You can find everything from very close working dogs to horizon burners, to everything in between. I am not so sure all that diversity within a breed is a good thing. In the late 1980's, I was looking for a dog that hunted very ...

I would like to know if it is possible to pick a pup from a litter that is only 3-4 weeks old. It seems to me to be too early to tell much about its personality or coat. I have always picked mine at eight weeks or later and like to do a few things like wing on a string. Three weeks seems like it is ...

The hot news in my area was the breeding of a small munsterlander to a drahthaar. They were trying to get the sm trainability and co operation with the DD intensity and verstatility. The first litter did it and was a great success. There was a big demand for more puppies and they did a second breedi...

I think the most important thing is to get a dog with the amount of drive that matches your style of hunting. Don't buy any more than you need. It might be possible to train a 600 yard prairie burner to hunt woodcock in the Maine woods but who would want to. There you need a cautious, slow working, ...