Gun Dog Forum

bonasa

I've had a few grouse as cripples hide in a rockwall, only found when the dogs point dead after moving them up. I do recall when I was younger hunting without a dog and walkin up grouse. I shot a right to left crosser that dropped a leg flying away. Walked over and couldn't find anything. Up in the ...

bonasa

Your dog is at the right age to consider this as just another mental block for the dog to overcome before breaking. Seems brilliant to me :idea: Does OP want to break the dog? Or just have a staunch pointer until the flush. Agreed, should he only shoot points this year , next summer that dog would ...

bonasa

As a gundog the best tool is a shotgun. No need to whoa, when he points and stands to the flush, you knock them down.

bonasa

Neil,
I believe "he", is the individual that expressed contempt for a pointer in the pheasant fields.

bonasa

Good article. I suppose the title " why I send my dogs north" had a double entrande for some of our readers. The emotional response to " great photos, great tradition" was not the same. We know that was not your intention, pride and egos are hard to swallow for some people. Live your life and be hap...

bonasa

Lots of great advice already said, soak it up. Get this dog to stop to flush and understand what the correction means and then take your time getting to the point.

bonasa

Not a big deal, ignore the smelling the gamebag behavior. Otherwise the pup is finding birds and running good, checking in and hunting for you. Sounds good to me. Good luck hunting and keep the pup into birds.

bonasa

I don't like seeing deleted thread topics. Replies are nothing personal and could benefit not only the OP but who knows how many others. Gotta have thick skin with dog training, its about the dog. Like so many hobbies and sports, one must check their ego and feelings at the door, make a few mistakes...

bonasa

We would put them in backpacks around 6-9months depending on when they were born when we went hiking. Stopping as needed to tend to them. Bird hunting/training around 4 yrs, wearing eye and ear protection and firing blank guns, still need to carry them a lot of the time. At 7 they can do a lot, keep...

bonasa

When I come across old barbed wire in New England, I clip it. I do the same with porcupines, works for me and pays it forward to the next guy/gal and their dog. Active farms, the fence is more visable and the dogs negotiate it better. It's the old ones, rusty, that have a single strand 7-10" above t...

bonasa

Its time for a formal and proven training program where you should start with stopping and standing before progressing to stop to flush drills to take the chase away. It sounds like this dog showed ok potential in the natural ability department and not wanting to screw him up the owner didnt follow ...

bonasa

nyhusker95 wrote: Although this will be my first year grouse hunting so it will be a learning expierence for us both.

Partridge run or Daketown state forest, DEC releases pheasant in the fields and plenty of grouse to be found in addition to good flight woodcock. Both about 3 hours from Queens.

bonasa

Hey 33scout, Do you have a horse, ATV, or mountain bike to road the dog off of for 45min to an hour? That will get his pads and cardiovascular system in shape. Handle the dog a few times a week also if necessary. As to the bird work? Dont let the dog get away with anything you wouldnt tolerate durin...

bonasa

... she is not consistently steady to flush and I don't want her catching a bird. I want her steady on point... Stick with your check cording and popping the bird but dont let her smell it untill she will stand the flush of the bird. Then proceed to where you are now. Move on when you accomplish wh...

bonasa

... she is not consistently steady to flush and I don't want her catching a bird. I want her steady on point... Stick with your check cording and popping the bird but dont let her smell it untill she will stand the flush of the bird. Then proceed to where you are now. Move on when you accomplish wh...

bonasa

Now is a good time to begin a proven training program based on building off of a dog's known acceptable behaviors to facilitate learning in a positive consistent manner.

bonasa

Great photo! Sounds like you finished up strong. I miss dew on the ground, as I also miss seeing ripples on a pond, ground vegetation and buses without chains. Such is life in New England, heck its going to be possibly in the low 30's today before plummeting back to single digits,so we may get some ...

bonasa

Seven weeks old and already got 'em collar conditioned AND guiding. How many dogs do you have? It seems every couple months you are getting new dogs or inquiring to buy one.

bonasa

Sorry to hear that, by "real poor handle" of the birds I imagine she is trapping them now? Get that dog on a checkcord and standing to wild flush then pop the bird on first scent. Stand her up for several moments then heel her away and put her up for a few days. Add the shot once that is achieved an...

bonasa

Dog has been in training for 12 months. She is rock solid in the yard with hand tossed live pigeons in her face. She points on hand tossed clipped pigeons that can not fly. She will hold point on wild quail singles as they flush. ( Covey of 50 is above her pay grade. Those she will break and chase ...

bonasa

Anyone have a good quick way to teach dog to stay till command fetch after shot and bird drop? I am using the Delmar Smith method of holding the dog and having a shooter shoot the bird. Have gone through so many pigeons that she doesn't point the bird in the trap steady. ( Doesn't move but poor tai...

bonasa

It wasn't the OP's opinion. The original content of this thread was a piece copied and pasted to simply illicit an emotional response by the masses on this board. The title was controversial and thought provoking likely to cause a debate.Which it did. The 137 posts surely was a trolling victory by t...

bonasa

Is this a nature vs. nurture thread? Contempt for trials thread? Or simply a trolling thread? You decide, I certainly have!

bonasa

Sounds like you are interested in NAVDHA dogs. Join your local NAVDHA chapter and the national as well. Get to know people and their dogs, when a MH male/ MH bitch that you like are paired, drop a deposit. Your best option is take a road trip and stop by a few kennels to watch some dogs run that hav...

bonasa

Should be two sets of prongs, short ones and long ones. Also the collar should be high on the neck right below the ears. You should be able to get two fingers under the collar, no more and no less. That will ensure contact and reliable function. Watch the DVD if it came with it. If not I believe spo...

bonasa

Do a little "scouting" find a golf course, housing development, farm where there are deer close to the road and not too spooky. Stop the car and checkcord the dog near them, when he chases make the correction, by checking, turning and going the otherway. Do it again and again. Do all this with the e...

bonasa

Could it be the beginning if gunshyness? The dog refused to retrieve then when it had the opportunity in the yard it laid down? This being after the refusal, immediately after the gunshot. Anyway, what program that teaches FF are you using. How does the program go about transitioning from the table ...

bonasa

Is what is happening here that FF done correctly causes the bird to signal the release of pressure, therefore by definition the dog starts to be conditioned that picking up the bird is a positive? Sorry to be so literal, I am just slow on the uptake sometimes. :D There is actual or implied force th...

bonasa

Better flying birds and take the chase away. She must learn that her movements cause the birds to flush, and when that happens no bird will be shot... unless you have been doing that? Take your time getting to her on point , if she is going to circle and bust, let her. Don't shoot, keep her standing...

bonasa

You won't have any issues as long as your barrels are not Damascus and the choke isn't tighter than full.

bonasa

Neil, I have accomplished close ranging pointers by being silent and working them in areas inundated by birds, yes both natural and artificial. You are right , the well developed dog should hunt where the birds are, be it near or far. If you stifle their development by repeatedly running them in are...

bonasa

Im an advocate with just turning them loose, keeping them "out there" and going to them on point. However if I wanted to keep a pointing dog in close all the time like a flusher with a bunch of style, grace and minimal handling this is what I would do. First dont call your dog back. Second before an...

bonasa

I bought a new one, worked terrible. Bought another and returned the original. Still terrible functioning of losing GPS signal in fields and open woods. Sent it back and got an astro 320 and DC-40 . New England summer thickets, tight canopy, ravines , low ceilings with heavy snow has never been a pr...

bonasa

[quote="gsp1985gj"] I think they are essential if you want to have a big running pointing dog that you hunt in a variety of environments.
[\quote]

How so?

bonasa

It's not that hard. Find someone to show you how to use it. If not, find the dogs working level and overlay it to the checkcord commands and then treat it like a checkcord. By the time the dog is off the cord in training you will probably use it sparingly. Start low, the box actually does a good job...

bonasa

I will say it is harder to teach a single dog to pull in a harness. With more than one dog available, once they are hooked up together they get the idea rather quickly and all the sticky heeling behavior goes out the window.

bonasa

Jaggerbush wrote: Am I over thinking this?

Yes you are

Jaggerbush wrote: He did hold a point again later in the day.

All is right in the world

bonasa

Make friends with some of the farmers around there to free run your dog, additionally handling drills and/or to work your dog on wild birds later in the summer. Swimming, I do this with my pointers as they love to retrieve. A blank gun, dummies, and few dogs gets it done. Early morning roading eithe...

bonasa

Whew we're you lucky!

Lets see what happens , and dog training should never be in the same sentence!

bonasa

I start between 6 and 7 months, light duty until they are a year old.

bonasa

Skeet and cylinder along with 7/8 of RST copper 6's, the load does 1125fps and that combo should leave a well hit bird plenty palatable for the table and prompt retrieves without any hard mouth.

bonasa

Happy with CZ woodcock and bobwhite. Only issue is that I found all the triggers on CZ shotguns to be very stiff. My two stage American .223, not so much.

bonasa

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this the "6 year old recently acquired Llewelyn setter" you posted about a month ago?You just got this dog and now you want to breed to it? Is the breeder fine with it? Did they give you breeding rights and FDSB papers? Hard to believe they would include papers and ...

bonasa

Ruff, It's species specific to an extent, pointing each species a little different based on their scent cone. You have been given a wealth of knowledge. A bit of more advice would be to find a proven method and or a mentor to show you and explain it. My personal experience has been that a dog progre...

bonasa

First is he collar conditioned? If not i would do all this following training on a check cord and in the later stages have him drag the cord. I would stop hunting this dog and take the chase away. Plant some birds and have a friend flush them or use remote traps in grouse cover (not fields). When th...

bonasa

Does he stop when the grouse flushes or chase? I forget how old this dog is?

bonasa

Personal preference, however I enjoy seeing my dogs in the grouse/woodcock woods steady to wing and shot retrieving the birds that are in the thick stuff, across creeks or wing tipped...I'll pick up the easy marks that I see go down. Out of curiosity what is the advantage of breaking on the flush ve...

bonasa

A picture is worth a thousand words, ain't it Ezzy?

bonasa

???? Then I'd be finding the birds and calling the dog , instead of the other way around. :) I'll stick to letting the dog range out and find the birds. Agreed, a dog should find its own bird. The technique I described is just another way to handle a dog in the field, and the training it takes to g...

bonasa

For the rest of the season whenever you approach a point roll your whistle like a woodcock flushing or whistle like a bobwhite. During spring training when you want your dog to hunt close with intensity and bird finding determination, roll your whistle like a flushing woodcock or whistle like a bobw...

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