I'm Getting A Puppy!

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agilityHBIC
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I'm Getting A Puppy!

Post by agilityHBIC » Tue May 27, 2014 8:00 pm

Hi all! I just put my deposit down for my next French Brittany pp even though the breeding doesn't take place until next spring..whoops!
I haven't had a puppy in nine years and this will be my first actual field trialling dog (my current French girl is an agility/obedience dog). Any tips/books/DVDs you guys want to throw my way? Also any introductory stuff would be great.. I'm a total newbie! Thanks in advance :D

Trekmoor
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Re: I'm Getting A Puppy!

Post by Trekmoor » Wed May 28, 2014 4:15 am

Get the pup into gamey places as soon as possible. Most brittanies take very naturally to hunting and pointing. Retrieving can be another matter and with some pups, the more they enjoy hunting , the less they want to retrieve. If you intend training F.F. this may not be a problem but if you want the so called "natural retrieve" then try to ensure the pup enjoys a couple of retrieves from time to time.

I have found that with Brittany pups more than with any other breed of gundog , brits that do not like retrieving bumpers do like retrieving game.

My brit pup with pheasant runners almost as big as she is ! :lol:

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Have fun with your pup

Bill T.

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DonF
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Re: I'm Getting A Puppy!

Post by DonF » Wed May 28, 2014 9:15 am

Start retrieving not with a bumper but a tennis ball. Pup's will chase things that bounce around and roll off a bit if they don't get it picked up right. Capitalize on things the pup likes to do; ie chase thing's. Between now and when you get the pup home, read as much different stuff on training as you can. Read them all if you can. One bores you, dump it and move on to the next. Very important. Once you find a method you like, put everything else away and use only that method. Don't use a bit of this and a bit of that, one method and one only till you have it down very well. I would discourage you from getting Richard Wolter's book, Gun Dog I think it's called. Training with Mo get's a lot of high marks from people. I've never read it but plan on it. Delmer Smith's original book by Bill Tarrant. The updated version I understand has the new whoa training method using a e-collar around the waist. I have never done it and nobody has showed me it's better than the original method. In fact I have heard from different people that couldn't figure it out. Weather they are stupid of the method is to involved I haven't a clue but the original method works and works is fine with me. You'll find that even Wolter's book has it's follower's. Point being there's a lot of ways to get from here to there, just pick one and go with it to completion. If you have to ask on a site how this or that is done, stick to those that endorse the method your using, don't throw things in that sound cool but go in a direction you haven't chose. That will only confuse you when ou move on to something else and that training bit come's into play.

From now until your new pup is raised and trained, watch dogs and learn to read what they are doing. If you want timing to be right, and it needs to be, learn to recognize what the dog will most likely do next so you can head it off.

RickB
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Re: I'm Getting A Puppy!

Post by RickB » Wed May 28, 2014 11:02 am

I view dog training recipes kind of like broccoli. the nutrition is no good if you cannot keep it down. Likewise, with the dog training materials: it is no good if it doesn't make sense to you.

I see that you have agility experience. There is a guy named George Hickox. I think his methods would seem familiar to a person with a lot of agility experience. He actually does a lot of clicker stuff early on to teach behaviors. Take a look at his website to see if things make sense: http://www.georgehickox.com/.

Another guy who might resonate with an agility person would be Brad Higgins: http://higginsgundogs.com/. I think, though, that he does the training himself rather than selling books/videos.

This is not to say that others' materials are no good. They are very good and produce well trained dogs. You'll just need to shop a bit to find one that makes the best sense to you.

One final point: You don't need to hurry. Some folks don't start any formal training until the dog is 1 year old.


Rick

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agilityHBIC
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Re: I'm Getting A Puppy!

Post by agilityHBIC » Thu May 29, 2014 4:28 am

Thank you guys so much! :)

High Voltage
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Re: I'm Getting A Puppy!

Post by High Voltage » Thu May 29, 2014 11:07 am

One of the best things we did was to join NAVHDA, great group of people that help you to train your dog. Check out their website for a chapter near you http://www.navhda.org/

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birddogger
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Re: I'm Getting A Puppy!

Post by birddogger » Thu May 29, 2014 1:02 pm

High Voltage wrote:One of the best things we did was to join NAVHDA, great group of people that help you to train your dog. Check out their website for a chapter near you http://www.navhda.org/
+1

Charlie

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