Gun Dog Forum

Hey guys, Im proud to say I am picking up a pure bred brittany spaniel on saturday. A lady I met got her in august and they said they realized they dont have the time they thought for the pup, and cant take care of him like he needs to be. He is 4 months old.

I have a few question....

He is on purina pro plan puppy food. I know certain dogs need to eat certain types of food. Should I keep feeding him this brand? Also how should we be feeding him? twice a day?

She said he has been to the vet when they got him, im guessing just for a routine checkup. He is not neuterd, and the vet said to do that in a few more months when he is more mature... Anything else to take care of while we are there?

He knows his basic commands like sit and stay, and is potty trained. I want to really work with him in pointing, and staying with me while hunting. Im planning on taking him out with me in the field for doves. Try and get him use to the gun shots. Any comments?

This is my 1st dog since I was little. My dad had a brittany and he passed when I was about 6 or 7. I love dogs, and always wanted one but when i was living with my parents i couldnt have one due to my moms alergies. Now since im out on my own, and have a family, think this would be a good idea. Also this dog loves children, and I have a 6 year old.

Im doing all kinds of research on britts, and the right way to train them. I dont want to go train crazy with him, just want him to stay close, and be a good pointer in the field. Maybe even retrieve ducks when im out duck hunting.

Also wanted to ask about names.... He has a name, and knows it (what the owner told me), is it a bad idea to name him what we want? Or keep his name the same? I dont want to confuse him. I figured maybe since he is only 4 months old he will adapt easily to the name change.

Price... She told me they paid over $800 for him, and she originally told me $450 to a good home. Asked me all kinds of questions about my yard, what kind of house we own, and just a general idea of me and my family. I know she loves this dog, and really wants him to go to a perfect home. Getting to talk to her and then she told me we sound perfect for him, and told her about me being a hunter. She said "He would love that!!!!" and then after talking we agreed to pay $250 cash, and she is giving us his pen, leashes, toys, collars, bowls, and everything else they have for him. I think this is a great deal, and would have paid more for him, but didnt have the money right here and now. Im glad she worked with me on price!!

Anything else I should be looking into? Im doing research everyday and glad I am finally getting my hunting buddy!! Im excited!!!!

Pro Plan is a great feed, but there are some that will do the job just as well for cheaper prices, it mainly comes down to how much you want to spend and what is available in your area. You can go to the Purina website or it will have it on the bag of food for how much and how often to feed the pup, it will have a chart that goes by age and weight. For the vet, I would double check with the previous owner and see if she has documents of what shots the pup has had and make sure everything is up to date. Getting him fixed is up to you, unless that is something you and the owner agreed upon, there is nothing wrong with keeping an intact male. For keeping him close train him for heel. Get a good training book like http://www.ahdc.org/ahdcsite/storeitems.php the Orange Book to break down the correct way to introduce a dog to a gun so you dont end up creating a gun shy dog. As far as worried about "train crazy", the best thing to do especially while they are young is to do two 10-15 minute sessions a day (when the pup is hungry so you can use his food as incentive instead of treats) and that is plenty of time to get the pup learning whatever it is you want it to learn. Congrats on the great deal and on the new pup, make sure you post some pics when you get him home. For the duck part, I personally do not know how well a brit does as a water dog so I will wait for someone with more knowledge to chime in on that one. Hope I helped

Corry

Purina dog chow has been good for me for a long time now. Lower cost and bigger bag.
I would feed him a cup twice a day. But after a hard hunt a little more is always good to boost his energy back up.
Work on come, heel, and whoa. Once he masters them three you can get him to do anything.
Like ghosted3 said read up on introduction to gunfire. Once they're gunshy its a battle to break it. And sometimes not possible.

Congrats on your new pup.

Oh yea one other thing. His name
You can call him what ever you want. It doesn't make a difference. Just don't teach him that his name is to come to you. Use the command come, here or whatever your going to use for recalling him instead of his name.

At 4 months old, he's due for a rabies shot if he hasn't had one yet, and possibly to start a lyme series, depending on where you live and if you chose to do that vaccine. He should have had his puppy shots by now, but make sure he got at least a 5 way sometime between 12-16 weeks of age.

As for neutering, vets push and push to neuter. I do NOT Neuter males until they're at least 18 months old, but truth be told, I don't see any benefit to doing it at all. If you search the forum, you'll find article after article that points to health issues related to neutering.

Pro Plan is a good food and for a pup, you want to feed twice a day. We transitioned our pups to once a day when they were around 10 months old.

A name....they learn names quickly. Call him whatever you want.

Good luck with him!!

Purina is very good food. Bag has directions but that is just a guide. I let them eat what they want unless I see that they eat like me then I back it off some.
Do not bring the dog dove hunting. You need to do proper introduction to the gun or risk creating a gun shy dog.
Brittanies make decent duck dogs. Just need to introduce them to water early, do not force the issue, just give them reasons to be in the water, do not make much fuss about it. I have two that I duck hunt with. The larger one Buster is good in cold weather duck hunts as well.
Do not neuter the dog till at least 18 months to 2 years old. Let him grow properly and develop a true Brittany male physique.
I would not neuter unless he is a piss pig.
Name, What ever you want. Personally, I would keep the name simple and short.
Training: Teach here or come, and a release command. Let the dog learn from it environment, let the pup explore run chase use its nose, introduce birds etc. Do not speak to the dog to much let it figure things out. Books, Paul longs book old school but relevant. NAVHDA green book good info. Join NAVHDA.
Vet: bring him in, get her vet records and give to your vet.

Thanks guys!! 3 more days and I get to pick him up. We are starting to doggy proof the house. I am a bass tournament fisherman and have alot of expesnive fishing equipment in the basement im starting to put away for the year.... up high. Last thing I want is for him to start chewing on my $200 rods. lol. Other then that im making sure all my lures are put into boxes and also up high, and everything small that could be a choking hazard put away.

Pro Plan is a good feed. You will be looking at about 2 1/2 cups split into two feedings. I add about 1/4 can of Pedigree chicken on top of that @ both feedings as well. Some days they will finish it all and others they will not... that is normal for growth.

Get him to the vet to get his rabies shot and a general checkup. Have the vet do a fecal for worms and prescribe heartworm preventative.

Don;t let the vet talk you into neutering early... look up some of the old threads here about the negative side effects that early neutering can cause... Do some research and reading before committing to neutering.

He will get used to anything you want to call him, just use your chosen name and praise him profusely when he responds... it won;t take long.

Please post some pics!! We love to see puppies!!!! And maybe some pedigree information would be good...

I would say that Karen, Ruff and Fireside covered the essentials.
Have fun with your dog.
I would add that you should see if there is a good bird dog club nearby, they can be a big help when traing your brittany.

He knows his basic commands like sit and stay, and is potty trained. I want to really work with him in pointing, and staying with me while hunting. Im planning on taking him out with me in the field for doves. Try and get him use to the gun shots. Any comments?

I didn't see anybody commenting on this, but this would be one of the very worst ways to introduce him to gun fire. You could very well ruin that dog before you ever get started. I am not going to go into details because there have been many threads on this subject. Just research gun intro on this forum and you will find plenty of good advise.

Charlie

Thank you everyone. Some good advice.