Gun Dog Forum

birddogger2

The best part of this whole thing is that your dog will not attach any of the unpleasantness to you, but rather to the trainer. A dog pitching a fit because it is being REQUIRED to do something is not new and not a big deal. It happens all the time,especially when the dog has gotten its way by actin...

birddogger2

Jon - Welcome aboard. Life is an adventure and you have just added a little spice to your adventure. Good for you. Everyone does it a little different as far as training a bird dog is concerned. No matter because, more often than not, the genetics carry through and the dog does fine. It is absolutel...

birddogger2

averageguy - I am very pleased to see that you repeated and agreed with just about everything I tried to convey to the OP. Nice to be on the same page. I have no clue as to the makeup of the Texas area Navhdas. It is indeed fortunate that you have personal knowledge of the Dallas area chapter and th...

birddogger2

I live in the MW, from here West NAVHDA is increasingly made up of hard core wild bird hunters. My breed is GWPs. It is not by accident that my pups have all come from Idaho, Oregon and Montana. Point taken. Horses for courses. I would absolutely expect midwestern pointing dogs to cover more ground...

birddogger2

NAVHDA's handler-dominant show-ish concept attracts a certain clientele. I guess it depends on what you aspire for your GSP. I think Shags has you pointed in the right direction. NAVDHA attracts hard core wild bird hunters for the most part, especially in the States which have wild birds to hunt. I...

birddogger2

Shags -

You beat me to it.

There is also a NAVHDA chapter in Lindale, TX which appears to be reasonably close to Dallas/ Ft. Worth.

Good luck with your youngster.

RayG

birddogger2

Fonzie -

cJ nailed it.

Patience, persistence, insistence.

Be consistent with your training and do not settle for less than 100% reliable response and you both will be fine.

RayG

birddogger2

Tenderfoot- I tend not to look at COI numerticals because I feel their focus is somewhat misdirected. soooo, I went and looked this up: ......... Putting your dog’s COI result into perspective The COI calculator provides you with a percentage score; the lower the percentage, the lower the degree of ...

birddogger2

Sharon - I just now saw this. I don't know what to say except that it never gets easier to say goodbye to a loyal friend and companion. For what it is worth, I do believe that our friends who have preceded us in death will indeed be there waiting for us. I do know one thing. They give us everything ...

birddogger2

High on both ends. I LIKE it.

RayG

birddogger2

setterpoint - One setup I like for the situation you describe is a prong collar, checkcord and a tree or fencepost. I plant a bird nearby a tree or fencepost and bring the dog in on a loosely held checkcord. The checkcord is attached to the dog's flat collar, but before the run I also put on a prong...

birddogger2

veggie - As I mentioned, there are a whole bunch of ways to get from here to there with a bird dog. Most will work. The road you choose to travel on that journey will, to a large extent, determine the type of training methods you employ. The good news is that most well bred bird dogs are born with a...

birddogger2

Sorry I asked, shall never to that mistake again. You asked, and you were advised...correctly I might add... that what you were doing was not a good way to do things. You need to put your ego in your back pocket and deal with the situation in a constructive manner...for the sake of the dog. Your do...

birddogger2

Thank You All. RayG, Her Dam runs 54lbs on the low end during hunting season, Sire 65lbs. Hopefully she will be big enough to handle 14lb honkers, most importantly she is showing the attitude for it. AG - You got that right. It ain't about the size of the dog in the fight. It is about the size of t...

birddogger2

I do field events, so a combination unit with stim is not an option for me. Not permitted by the running rules. Sooo, two collars. I have an Astro 430(I think that is the number??) and I like it a lot. If I know the grounds I am training on and have a good idea of where the dog is... I find I can pr...

birddogger2

AG-

VERY nice looking youngster! I like the way she is put together and ...what a beautiful head!
Those paws look pretty oversize. I'd say she is going to be a nice sized specimen.

Have a ball with her. Thanks for sharing.

RayG

birddogger2

Welcome aboard.

Another perspective, additional knowledge and experience can only make this board a better place for folks to enjoy their dogs to the fullest.

RayG

birddogger2

averageguy - I WAS addressing the original post. There was no diatribe. My second post was, I thought, more of an explanation. When someone or some group wants to pass a law that restricts YOUR rights...it is my opinion that the BEST way to bring that to a halt is to immediately propose companion le...

birddogger2

Ray G, Wow that is some really ugly and wildly speculative bias you have against Law Enforcement there. You should consider getting some help with that. The Sportsman Alliance does an excellent job of keeping members informed of the never ceasing 24/7 attacks on our Sport, including our dogs. My pu...

birddogger2

Perhaps someone in MD should offer an amendment to that bill. My suggestion, for the sake of safety, would be to require that all law enforcement officers be required to store their duty weapon at the station house. I could be wrong, but I have the sense that far more gun violence is perpetrated by ...

birddogger2

Polmaise - I recognize that Brittanys and pointers have very different conformation and very different gaits. With pointers, a tail set that is too high out of the dog's back can and does influence the dog's gait, and usually not in a good way. I have seen it and seen the result in the diminished ab...

birddogger2

Your little guy is nice and square of body which is something folks look for in a Brittany. That was something my BIL was very concerned with and he was a pretty serious Brittany breeder at one time. There is tail set and there is tail carriage. Tail set is where the tail comes out of the back end, ...

birddogger2

Iherbert - A 10 wk. old puppy mauling a clipwing or wing locked pigeon, or killing a quail is not a huge deal, one way or another. I would however caution against doing it for no particular reason and I would also caution against doing it repeatedly...reason or not. If the youngster seems to lack dr...

birddogger2

Another thought on the dog breaking... If you have a remote release trap, you could pop a second bird if and when the dog makes a move at the flush or shot, and then hit the stim. If you do not have a remote release trap, you can toss a pigeon from where the dog cannot see and then do the correction...

birddogger2

Interesting Robert. I was invited to speak at a Southern Arizona Quail Forever meeting on dog training recently. What an honor! The president provided a complimentary intro then said, "If you put 10 dog trainers in a room, there is little they will agree upon". Hmm....? Might be true! So, rather th...

birddogger2

Polmaise- I think you may have just uncovered the root of the problems that I have with dogs. It does not take me an hour to coordinate a whistle and hand signal, but then I only have three degrees... and never lectured. My wife and some friends and family might well disagree with that last statemen...

birddogger2

Joe - YOU said your dog was green broke and standing its birds. That means the dog was trained to stand. YOU were told by several experienced trainers that a dog at that stage of training should not be allowed to continue to chase. YOU did not listen to that advice. YOU let the dog regress. YOU mess...

birddogger2

Joe - You obviously did not listen to the sound advice you were given previously by several posters. You are now reaping the rewards of ignoring much of that advice. Keep it up and your dog will soon be completely untrained. You are almost there. Congratulations. Sorry for being blunt, but it annoys...

birddogger2

Robert/Polmaise - cJ and have had and (quite probably) will continue to have differences of opinions on things. BUT... I absolutely could not agree with him more on his assessment of your post. Awesome stuff. Very insightful and well presented. I thank you sir, for your dissertation. My only wish, a...

birddogger2

Joe- That does not sound right. I would contact Garmin ASAP and talk to their tech support folks. They have been pretty good to deal with in my limited contacts with them. FWIW...I had a 320 that didn't work right from the get go and I kinda let it sit because it was my "spare". Now it is unrepairab...

birddogger2

It would seem that with all the science, information, breeding expertise, better care and health tests ,we would be breeding better dogs now than twelve years ago. Especially on the average. Not sure that we are......Cj cJ - I can only respond to that statement regarding pointers, and to a lesser e...

birddogger2

12 year old post. Most of them dogs are long were old then and are long gone now, or live in somebody's memory......Cj FWIW - A fair number of the dogs mentioned on previous posts have been collected and are still being bred, albeit very selectively. Also, the real reason to have these dogs in your...

birddogger2

What were the pros and cons with Funseekers Rebel? Depending on the person responding and what they are looking for in a dog: The pros are that Funseeker's Rebel had a whole lot of A Rambling Rebel in his pedigree. The cons are that Funseeker's Rebel had a whole lot of A Rambling Rebel in his pedig...

birddogger2

Hello, I have a question regarding training frequency. Aside from conditioning with roading, summer camps on wild birds, etc., how often per week do you train your young green broke pointing dogs? ..... I am currently retired. When I was working I trained my dogs daily, in fact twice a day...weathe...

birddogger2

Good grief Shags...tell me you're joking!?!?! "ANYTIME a bracemate stops your dog has to back." What a pile of hooey!!! This is a reflection of the host club not getting a qualified judge. The trial host should have been properly/courteously informed for future considerations. Featherfinder - Unfor...

birddogger2

walk- Been there. I started walking with my son and one of the dogs when he was 8. When he got tired, I would put him on my shoulders and walk some more. He allowed how it was pretty nice to be 8 feet tall. By the time he was 14 he was running track and could bury the "old man". I was, and still am ...

birddogger2

Easiest solution is to train her to come when called. Always. Then you can easily call her off a bird. The danger in doing what you are is that the dog may associate the nick of the collar with the bird and begin blinking birds. Only after the dog knows commands in the YARD should they be reinforce...

birddogger2

Robert - To answer your question( sort of), about the dog passing up on birds, I will say this in addition to what Shags said: The exact location of the birds on course is not known. It is common in planted bird trials to replace birds in the general area where they were originally "salted in", but ...

birddogger2

Robert - One of the things I look for in a dog is an unquenchable, insatiable, burning desire to find birds. A desire that will drive a dog to do whatever it takes, including to run itself into the ground in search of game. There are dogs that, If you cut their legs off at the first joint, would gla...

birddogger2

Max2 - Seems to me that you have a pretty vivid recollection of that last hunt, and I'll bet... a whole bunch more. Memories of our dogs doing what the did... are their ultimate gift to us. Those memories are ours...forever. I can remember , a clearly as if it were yesterday, a point, a retrieve, or...

birddogger2

Guys - On thing that HAS to be remembered is that a field trial is both a formal contest and a show...with written rules that must be adhered to and both written and unwritten standards of performance that are pursued by the participants and judged by independent arbiters. The handler has a fixed am...

birddogger2

Don't worry, with experience the dog will differentiate voices and learn to ignore the other guy. In the meantime, it helps if you separate yourself and your dog from Mr. Loudmouth as much as the course allows. IME most judges understand and don't demand that you guys hold hands and walk the yellow...

birddogger2

work - I am on board with everyone else regarding steady to wing and shot and fall. HOWEVER, your dog is still a baby in many respects, and still very much a work in progress. Tread lightly and go gently. Patience, persistence and insistence with a gentle, but firm hand. What you did with the dog in...

birddogger2

Bill and Robert - I want to relate something that might shed some light on the subject. I tproves that on occasion, things actually work out like they are supposed to and according to plan. One of the principal reasons to sing to a dog is so that the dog knows where the handler is and does not have ...

birddogger2

Robert - Not kidding here. Yes it is a game and yes it can be pretty phony sometimes, but a bird dog is a bird dog and the best of them will, like the proverbial cream...rise to the top. I have to say that a dog that is raised and trained on throw down birds will have an epiphany when confronted wit...

birddogger2

Does the game that is being hunted over there have ears ? Actually, in some cases the answer is"not really". Many trials, especially in populated areas, these days are conducted on game farm raised birds which are typically thrown into cover, more or less along the "line of march" of the trial. The...

birddogger2

So I have a Garmin 550 - do I use the highest lightning strike available to me? Thanks! Given the circumstances, I would not go immediately to the highest setting. You want to startle and frighten the dog...not turn it inside out. I actually prefer to use the e-collar for trashbreaking BEFORE the d...

birddogger2

bamanicksbd - It kinda depends on what kind of trial. I suspect you witnessed a local, amateur, American Field trial., probably horseback. They do tend to get a bit "boisterous". I think a fair number of handlers carry on because they think they are supposed to. Some few, I am sure, carry on in the ...

birddogger2

Did you mess up by letting her catch a bird? Of course you did. Is it the end of the earth?? NOPE. Folks with dogs with lower prey drive let their dogs catch birds all the time to fire them up. But then they have to do more work to get them steady. Sounds like low prey drive is NOT something you hav...

birddogger2

Novice - Keep in mind that your new dog will generate some of heat all on his own. If the house is sized correctly and buttoned up, I would say the dog should be fine during the day, especially if there is nest making materials, like long leaf hay, inside. The smaller the cubic footage that the dog ...

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