Gun Dog Forum

Garrison

So when y'all say only shoot birds that are properly handled, what measure of "perfection" should I hold her to? I guess you probably don't hold pups to the same standard that you'd hold a broke dog to, but besides her pointing the bird, what else should I be looking for? Unfortunately, due to comp...

Garrison

Nothing wrong with shooting birds for her. The problem that arises, is shooting birds that have not been handled properly. Many hunters (especially new) can quickly find themselves in it for the birds more than the dog as soon as they start flying. The excitement of the hunt and wanting to have some...

Garrison

I would invest in a couple sturdy outdoor kennels ASAP. Family life is hard enough. Having a safe place for the dogs to flip the off switch while home or away makes things much easier.

Garrison

Garrison

Are they out of hunting lines? A friend and I took on this GSP out of a NAVHDA breeding at 3 years old as a project. We didn’t have plans other than a bit of rehab and finding him a home, but he grew on us and we ended up sharing him until my friend moved to Idaho and forgot to take him :lol: . We d...

Garrison

Those are GREAT solutions to roading and free running a dog. YOU get exercise and so does the dog. I'm trying to talk myself into pulling the trigger on one but I'm still on my 21 speeds now. Nice garrison. I’ve spent a lot of time roading bird dogs on a mountain bike. 👍🏻 And alive to tell about it!

Garrison

Garrison the 2 I have left maybe not exactly pups but they can run AKC puppy stakes till they are 13 months old which is coming up this month on the 12th. 3 of them placed in their first Puppy stakes at about 9 mos of age going 1st,2nd,& 4th the male pup that was 4th won the puppy stake the followi...

Garrison

Vonzeppelinkennels wrote: ↑
Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:03 pm
I find it really odd that this post has almost 7000 views & still climbing when I have not sold a single pup from it. Weird !

Odd yes, good looking! August 2021, not exactly pups any more.

Garrison

Garrison

I have found selecting the breeder is much more important than selecting the litter, much less the pup. I don’t pay a breeder for my pup, I pay them for their knowledge and their life’s work. As important, if not more than the two dogs being bred, is the many many dogs which were by all means great ...

Garrison

Those are GREAT solutions to roading and free running a dog. YOU get exercise and so does the dog. I'm trying to talk myself into pulling the trigger on one but I'm still on my 21 speeds now. I don’t know if I could ever stomach paying what they are asking for them. More than my first three cars co...

Garrison

As part of a new hunting rifle purchase, my father in-law entered a raffle to win a “hunting” e-bike. He actually won the thing! Just took delivery of the new roading rig.

Garrison

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Garrison

Looking good! Going to be a fun fall.

Garrison

Garrison

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No boots required!

Garrison

The best thing you can do for your dog’s feet is condition them on gravel roads and have kennel material that toughens up their feet. They were born with feet that were made to be used. I rarely if ever use boots on my current dog, although I have had a dog that was unable to keep his feet together....

Garrison

My dog tried to jump out the window in excitement to get to me, believing there was a dummy to chase. At this point I am only seeing positive associations to the gun fire. ....I'm wondering why OP has gotten so many warnings. His pup obviously isn't afraid of gunfire. My Setter doesn't ignore gunfi...

Garrison

Here's an old post of mine I did on gun shyness. Breaking to a gun is exactly the same. A dog is very much like a person. Your fear of one thing can be so great, it outweighs your desire to do another thing. In this instance, your dog would love to retrieve, but something about that loud noise (gun...

Garrison

Is it better to spend some time working at a distance where there is no reaction, or should I keep working the distance down until there is a reaction? You are looking for the dog to have a positive association between a shot fired and a bird, it is very easy to get that association reversed. It is...

Garrison

“What she needs now is experience. Next time I see them, I'll start handing her off to the owner.” Next time? You posted the video on September 26, of 2020. There is ample opportunity here on the forum to discuss your “unique method of training” without dredging up old self-promotion videos. Plenty ...

Garrison

Or with the addition of Inreach, someone can get in to get you out. Yes! Although, knock on wood I haven’t needed it for that. The Inreach has worked out really nicely to text in reinforcements when we needed to get an animal packed out of a tough canyon or when needing to communicate with the fami...

Garrison

In my opinion any reaction at all to the gun is cause for concern, it necessitates slowing things down and reevaluating what you are doing. I would wait/want some hard flying birds, so distance isn’t dictated by arm strength, you don’t have to rely on someone else’s timing and they hold a dog’s atte...

Garrison

What if the dog runs away? Chases a deer? Goes after a bird or rabbit? You may not NEED one, but for me, it's the cheapest insurance I can buy. There's also YOU. I hunt a lot of big woods and with a GPS, I can get out. Or with the addition of Inreach, someone can get in to get you out. Yes! Althoug...

Garrison

What if the dog runs away? Chases a deer? Goes after a bird or rabbit? You may not NEED one, but for me, it's the cheapest insurance I can buy. There's also YOU. I hunt a lot of big woods and with a GPS, I can get out. Or with the addition of Inreach, someone can get in to get you out. If you just ...

Garrison

With all due respect... I believe was and apparently was mean a very similar thing. Higgins stated in the OP why he taught the dog, as an individual , to point. It was the system that worked best for his client who wanted to hunt both dogs as a team. It just doesn't seem like it would make sense fo...

Garrison

A GPS collar is not necessary until you can't find your dog , and then you wish you'd bought one. It's like trying to find your way around a new town or city. Sure you could pull out the paper map, or just open your cellphone and it will guide you exactly where you want to go 🤷 My world was pretty ...

Garrison

Thanks for the reply. I have read through the link you posted and it's reassured me more so thanks. I also take on board the comments with regards the food. Having researched the raw diet before I switched from the Hills kibble (https://www.hillspet.co.uk/dog-food/sp-canine-science-plan-adult-perfe...

Garrison

I like having a physical barrier to keep other animals out, as well as my dogs in, if unsupervised. A friend of ours who let their dogs wander around their property 24-7, had a dog killed by a couple pitbulls that were wandering the area a few months back. Another friend almost lost a dog to a big c...

Garrison

I ran my dogs for several years with my bike. Dogs were well trained to run beside, or in front me on a 6' leash. I only had one incident where I went down but didn't get hurt. That was until a couple of years ago when I had two accidents where I went down and the second one was quite bad. I ended ...

Garrison

Don't neglect yourself. The BEST thing you can do for that new pup is to buy a tested training program you like, develop a solid training program based on it, and FOLLOW YOUR PLAN. Really, other than environmental exposure, this year will be a non started. He'll only be 5-6 months old and not much ...

Garrison

Thank you all for your responses. I'm gonna plan on the dog not being ready to shoot birds over this year but will hopefully get it on lots of birds without a gun first and let the dog learn that way. Sounds like a solid plan, if you also mix in gonehuntin’s advice. I always make sure the first sea...

Garrison

I woke up this morning to some menacing sounding barking. The kind that requires you to get up and see exactly what the heck is going on. We have a 6’ wood fence with a 2x6” cap rail that backs up to a large native vegetation field we train on. When I looked through the window there was a coyote wal...

Garrison

We have been on COVID house arrest the past week. After the daily cabin fever somebody usually wants to take her buddy with her to the front yard while playing. I heard a little dog work taking place as I came through the garage man door, so stayed around the corner for a bit to listen. She was talk...

Garrison

I do it all the time. Unless you are a major klutz, it’s really no big deal after the dog figures out the program, which does not take long. Been at it more than a dozen years without incident, many times with multiple well muscled dogs. Although I have taken my fair share of spills trail riding alo...

Garrison

We could all come up with long lists of reasons why we can’t do anything but bubble wrap our dogs and not let them outside to be a dog and do dog stuff………It’s too hot mid day, it’s raining too much, we have too many rattle snakes, there are packs of coyotes howling in the back yard, there are fresh...

Garrison

slistoe wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 06, 2022 8:27 am
"Ready" would be a few days after you get him home. If you have lots of wild birds take him out for little walks where the birds are. The more birds the better doesn't mean only birds gunned over the dog.

^This^

Garrison

She is looking good, keep at it! Independence and boldness are a good thing. I foresee/looking forward to hearing about a really fun fall for you both this year.

Garrison

Garrison

We could all come up with long lists of reasons why we can’t do anything but bubble wrap our dogs and not let them outside to be a dog and do dog stuff………It’s too hot mid day, it’s raining too much, we have too many rattle snakes, there are packs of coyotes howling in the back yard, there are fresh ...

Garrison

Obviously getting a bit ahead of your skis on this, you don’t have the pup yet. If you want a decent bird dog, than “a first hunt” should be a non event. The dog should have been in the field many many times exposed to everything it is going to encounter prior. It sounds like you have wild birds, th...

Garrison

In my estimation, besides the obvious, “I won’t be leaving my coat and hoping my dog makes it back tomorrow” aspect of the GPS collar. The most important thing a GPS does for a dog owned by someone new to bird dogs, is teaches the handler to trust the dog and leave them be to hunt. The buttons on a ...

Garrison

Maybe a well started or finished dog would be a better fit for your situation. Your family won’t love the dog any less, and probably more when the trials and tribulations of bird dog puppies are in the rearview mirror.

Agree with the others, two pups is not a good idea.

Garrison

Garrison

I would be willing to bet it’s the thunder and not the move. I suggest you do what every school of psychology has proven to help mental well being in humans to a far greater extent than any drug available. Go get the dog some exercise, so it can focus its attention on something it loves to do. GSP’s...

Garrison

The proof is in the pudding. My dogs kept the same condition, eat less, and it's cheaper in my pocket. The dog is using more of what's in the kibble. To me the proof is in the pudding and what I am seeing is proof enough. You may be saving some money, but the proof actually lies in what has yet to ...

Garrison

I was feeding Pro Plan and had quiet alot of success with it however have since changed. When it hit $80/bag I stopped feeding the food and started feeding Inukshuk 26/16. Inukshuk vacuums the fats into the kibble which makes it 30% more dense than the PP so I found I feed alot less. Inukshuk when ...

Garrison

Remember when we didn’t need a chemistry degree to know what we were eating, when our population didn’t rank at the top of the list for chronic disease and obesity and there were only a few middle isles at the grocery store with dry and canned goods?

Thanks for sharing Sharon.

Garrison

Garrison

Garrison, I enjoyed your answer. Thank you. It didn’t say anything about my specific question regarding the tracking test creating bad habits, however :D There are lots of hunting dogs who are asked to track down a crippled bird and pick them up without establishing point again, who still have zero...

Garrison

Depends who’s training and who’s asking. I have hunted over some Prize 1 dogs and been to several training days and tests. NAVHDA is one of the best resources available for a beginning trainer/hunter. There is a lot of help and it’s a great way to learn about dogs. There is also a lot of training th...

Garrison

In general, I think what we feed our dogs gets far too much thought than it deserves. Your dog will be fine either way, but if you are getting good results, why switch? As Dakotazeb showed, it’s not a whole lot of savings if you are feeding one or two dogs. To answer your question, it has more to do...

Garrison

Interesting article to read someday when you are bored. :) https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-industry-exposed/ingredient-splitting/ Because items are listed in order of precooked weight it is also easy for them to say meat is the number one ingredient if you use raw meat instead of meat meal....

Garrison

Two questions:

1) What is your criteria for success?

2) Have you already finished reading the volumes that have been written on the subject under the health an nutrition tab? If you have, you’re good!

Garrison

Garrison

gonehuntin' wrote: ↑
Sat May 21, 2022 5:48 pm
Sorry Garrison. Yes, to the original post. I've never used barrels.

Garrison

You're going to make that house so hot, they won't sleep in it. If you have a wind baffle, you don't need a door. No heat either. I had a kennel in Idaho and designed dog houses like you're thinking of. Metal for sanitation. Insulated with 3/4" sides, top, bottom. Removable top. I filled it with ma...

Garrison

If you are going to use a barrel, which many do. This is the way to go. How cold is largely dependent on the dog’s coat, size and bedding. A well fed 40-50lb shorthair dog, housed in a barrel filled with plenty of dry grassy hay, with the K-9 kondo door and vent can handle freezing temps. A common p...

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