Hello

[gmac]

Hello. My name is Graham and the puppy in my avatar is Floyd. He's a 5 month old Wire-haired Pointing Griffon. I've had beagles and a lab in the past but Floyd is my first pointer. We chose a griffon for a couple reasons, not the least of which is the "hypo-allergenic" nature of the breed since I have two people in the family with dog allergies. My hope is train him for field trials and hunting but I work in agriculture so usually hunting season and work season overlap too much and I don't get to hunt as much as I'd like. I figure field trials will be a good way to keep him active as well as give me a chance to learn more about training pointers.

On a personal note, I've got 4 boys (14, 12, 10, , all of which will likely start hunting in a few years which is another reason we got a pup. We have a couple acres and access to hundreds more so room to run isn't a problem which is good for both Floyd and the boys.

So far we've been working on basic obedience (sit, stay, come etc) and have just started "Whoa" and "Hold". I picked up a few pigeons from a neighbour but I' haven't really introduced him to the birds yet. I can tell you though, he knows they are there and he really wants to get into the garage and get those pigeons so I'm taking that as a good sign.

I'm sure I'll be asking you far too many questions (I'll try to use Search first) so Thank You in advance for your help.

[birdshot]

Welcome to you and Floyd. It is always fun to see a pup develop into a hunting dog. Your pup has an intelligent look as he scans the lake. I bet he turns out to be a good marker.