The only pup in the litter

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Trekmoor
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The only pup in the litter

Post by Trekmoor » Sat Jan 05, 2013 4:22 am

Two days ago I bought a brittany pup from some very strong French work breeding. This was a repeat mating,some of the pups from the previous mating are beginning to do well in trials here and on the continent.
This pup (a ten weeks old bitch) is very bold in new surroundings and is very bold around people but since she was an "only" pup she has had no socialisation with other puppies and does not understand their play signals etc. She is fine with adult dogs but will snap at a pup that tries to play with her.

So far I have tried her with a cocker pup that is one week older than her. She bullied that pup and I removed it. Then I tried with a lab pup that is 3 weeks older than her and considerably larger. She fails to recognise this very friendly pups play signals and will attack her if the lab pup bounces up towards her.

Any ideas ? I've never had an "only" pup before.

Other than that she is very promising, she will go 100 yards from me out on an open grassy field but recalls very easily. She seems to like retrieving too and will do 30-40 feet retrieves out in the courtyard with my gloves or with a small bird.
This is her out in the courtyard and retrieving my rolled up gloves.

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Bill T.
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rkappes
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by rkappes » Sat Jan 05, 2013 6:26 am

She's a dandy lookin' pup! If you don't mind me asking, what line/kennel is she from?

Trekmoor
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Trekmoor » Sat Jan 05, 2013 8:47 am

I'd tell you if I could but I left the pup at a friends kennels yesterday to give her a chance of socialising with his young pups.... I forgot to bring her pedigree home with me and I cannot remember all those fancy French names ! :oops: I will get back to you ...if I remember ! My memory nowadays is shockingly bad. :roll: :oops:

Bill T.
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Ghosted3
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Ghosted3 » Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:28 pm

Sometimes when I see these pictures it almost makes me want to own 1 of every kind of bird dog lol.
As for the problem I think you did the correct thing by letting her stay with some friends dogs, she is probably going to need a lot of supervised dog socialization for a decent amount of time.

Corry

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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Trekmoor » Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:37 am

I thought I'd give an update on my Brittany pup. She is now very happy to play with other pups near to her own age and she is kenneled with 2 lab pups a week or two younger than her but a bit bigger with no problems.
I took her out of the courtyard and kennel area for the first time yesterday to begin assessing her before doing any real training. I always like to form some idea of a pups probable levels of body and mental sensitivity before training commences.

This little devil is as bold as brass and very little worries her. She saw her very first "water" in the form of a puddle on short grass and went straight to retrieve the length of soft plastic pipe I tossed in for her.

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I tried her with a fresh shot partridge as a retrieve and she really loved that !

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She saw hens in a pen for the first time and charged the pen. One of the hens ran towards her and flapped it's wings at her. She jumped back a couple of feet but at once recovered her courage and her curiousity and went back to the pens wires to stick her nose through.

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She wind scented the pigeon loft and headed straight for it but, to begin with, she failed to see the pigeons a few feet above her head. When she finally did see them, she sat underneath them maybe hoping one of them would fall into her jaws ! :lol:

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I took her to a bit of cover where a few rabbits live and she was fascinated, perhaps by the rabbit scent but perhaps by the scent of a pheasant that hangs about there. Wanting to know if she would still retrieve with game scent up her nose from all around her ,I threw a partridge about 25 feet into some cover bordering a narrow little pond. She was very quickly out there and bringing it back . As yet she is not retrieving to hand but I have all summer to work on that. She seems to have what I want already bred into her. The only thing she will not do that every other young pup I've trained so far would do, is that she has little interest in a "wing on a string." It just fails to fascinate her. I doubt very much that she will lack in pointing instinct however ,having seen her interest in the hens and pigeons.
In short I like what I see in this pup, she is now about 14 weeks old.

The partridge found and retrieved from light cover.

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Bill T.

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Karen
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Karen » Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:08 am

She is absolutely adorable! Best of luck with her!

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Double Shot Banks
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Double Shot Banks » Mon Jan 28, 2013 7:50 am

Personal advice, dont make the same mistake i did and dont OVER retrieve train her, i did this with my lab because he was good at it and then he got bored and wouldnt bring the bumper back, he runs away, so until he is older and we ff train him he thinks its a game
Good luck
Isaac and Banks
PS Beautiful pup!

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cohanzick creek
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by cohanzick creek » Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:22 am

cute pup
cc

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RoostersMom
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by RoostersMom » Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:26 am

Wow,

She is a real cutie-pie. And I don't usually go for those dogs with excess hair. She looks like the type of pup I'd pick from a litter though - all jaws and heart!

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HDAU
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by HDAU » Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:45 am

Great looking pup! Please keep us posted with her development.

Trekmoor
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Trekmoor » Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:10 am

Thanks folks. :D

I don't use F.F. or check-cords or e-collars. I have never needed to but I did join this forum to learn more about e-collar use just in case I need it now that my legs aren't as fast over the ground as they used to be. I usually work with what the breeder gave the pup because I am basically lazy ! :lol: My motto is "Breed for the best...train for the rest" so I like to see a very "natural" pup as it saves me an awful lot of training .

Retrieving ..... I made the mistake with my very first Brittany nearly 30 years ago of noting at an early age that she would retrieve game so I put retrieving onto the back burner and concentrated on hunting. This resulted in her refusing to retrieve dummies from the time she was about 6 months old. It is difficult to train a pup to field trial standards using only fresh shot game as retrieves and as I never train F.F. to any dog I sweated cobs getting that pup to retrieve to the standard I wanted.
I now prefer pups to be very keen retrievers and ,if I have to, I will not allow them to hunt until they will retrieve fairly well whenever required to. Retrieving, I find, helps to build a bond between me and a pup and I can regain a pups focus on me if I have to by using a retrieve as a reward. I don't claim to have trained many brittanies but every brittany I have encountered so far was born with a love of hunting .....but maybe not of retrieving ?

I will, if I remember, my memory is poor, post further updates from time to time. This pup already has her own "diary" on a couple of British fora for some forum members are keen to see if I finally fall off my perch and pop my clogs while trying to train her ! :lol:

Thanks again
Bill T.

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Sharon
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Sharon » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:49 am

Now that was a great way to start my day. (I know it's noon.) Your post gave me many a smile. Nothing does that more than a bold pup. :)

marysburg
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by marysburg » Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:06 am

Wow, what a pup. With talent like that, you two are going to have a wonderful summer. She is pretty easy on the eye as well. Lucky you, I'm green with envy.

Trekmoor
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Trekmoor » Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:58 pm

I thought I'd give an update on the brittany pup. She has now been out twice with me into the woods and she has a "drive" when working cover, even nasty cover that many a spaniel pup could do with some of. She saw a little stream in the woods and ,after a moment thinking about it, she went in to investigate this "new thing." That water was mainly snow melt and it was bitterly cold so I got her out again before she decided that water wasn't for her.

She is quite a pup !

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Bill T.

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fourtrax
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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by fourtrax » Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:30 pm

Don't be alarmed if she does not point right away.
With that much drive & being bird crazy she may want to Chase awhile.
Some Bretons mature slower than others. I have one like her & he did not point till 8 mos. of age.

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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Trekmoor » Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:30 am

Thanks Fourtrax, pointing is the only thing I haven't seen her do yet but I'm pretty sure it will come in time. Her dam points and her sire points so there is no reason why she should not.
Her enjoyment of the woods and fields now far outweighs her retrieving instincts, she will retrieve outdoors but only sometimes and the dummy is always dropped before she reaches me. She then turns around and returns to the cover. Inside the house is now the only place where she will ....sometimes .... retrieve to hand.
I usually try to keep hunting and retrieving ongoing at the same time but I may have to concentrate on retrieving and on obedience training for a while. I haven't even taught her to sit to voice yet !

Bill T.

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Re: The only pup in the litter

Post by Ruffshooter » Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:06 am

She is a great looking pup with all of what one could want. Congratulations.

As far as her manner toward other dogs, It may mellow some but I think it will be in her forever.
The one in My Avatar "C" was an is still like that more with strange dogs. But she has her moments in the house as well.
I think having her every day with the other pups and adult dogs the manners will be corrected some but she probably will always have that edge. She just needs to get used to being in the pack with numbers and learn the language so to speak. IMO

"C" is fine with all dogs so long as they do not crowd her, she is fine with her housemates 90% of the time. She does not mess with Stella the least dominant but food stealer (EB) and does not mess with Mercy (GSP)the Matriac of the family and only occasionally with Buster (EB). Ruby and "C" See play and irratate each other constantly and it only gets out of hand once in while. It happened this weekend. "C" put Ruby (GSP) on the ground. Don't know what happened but I have had to separate the two a few times. Usually only happens when the wife and daughter are on their own and I hear about it later.

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