a no "red ink" pedigree GSP pup

[Trekmoor]

About a week ago my daughter bought a 10 weeks old GSP pup. The pup was relatively cheap at £600 but this was a reflection of his pedigree which, although a 5 generation pedigree, has no "red ink" in it at all.

My daughter wants the pup as a pet and as a companion during her training runs for marathons. I saw both the sire and the dam of the pups and both of them have very good temperaments. I think my daughter will get her pet and running companion .

Since I will be looking after her pup for 2 -3 days per week while she is at work I decided to try to do some gundog training with the pup and was pleasantly surprised by just how much pointing instinct he has in him. I know that "wing on a string" means very little but it does serve as an indicator that a pup will at least sight point.
He pointed almost instantly when I produced the "wing" ..... a torn off bit of white poly bag. He even held his points when I teased the wing along the ground in front of him. He will have enough "point" in him for me to work with.

The retrieve instinct will need a bit of work though ! His idea of how to retrieve is to charge the retrieve object, jump hard down upon it and then to kill it very dead !

I will try to make this pup into a working gundog despite his very lacklustre pedigree. I'm curious to see just how much "work" he has got in him after many generations of "done nothing dogs" mated to "done nothing" bitches. I have a feeling that my biggest problem will be my own very poor mobility nowadays. I know what to do and I know how to do it, but physically, I am now a bit of a wreck !
If nothing else this pup will help me keep my self a bit more active ......what doesn't kill you , makes you stronger .... I hope !

I will let you know how we get on with the training .....just wish I had the pup for more than a couple of days per week.

Bill T.

[shags]

As long as you're babysitting the pup, you might as well do something with him. Better than stashing him in run or mud porch all day.

And there's a world of difference between "done nothing" and "got nothin'"

[Meller]

A lot of people buy well bread pups and train to hunt, but never campaign them; Thus you can get a very good pup without the red ink!

[cjhills]

I don't know how it works over there, but AKC only has AKC titles on the pedigree. Titles such as NAVHDA and NSTRA do not show up. I don't know if American Field titles do show up on AKC pedigrees or not.
Also it is getting very expensive to title a dog especially if you can't do it yourself so a lot of very good bird dogs have little or no red ink...........Cj

[Trekmoor]

Yep, I never have gone only by the red ink contained in a pedigree .....not where the GSP's in Britain are concerned anyway ! I have seen a few dogs made up into "red ink" F.T. champions that I would not give kennel space to. The judging here has improved I'm told but back when I was competing you almost had to have a face that fitted in order to win trials. Trials back then were too often judged on the "old school tie" system !

The first GSP I ever trained had a sire and a dam that had done nothing in trials but I had seen those dogs work and I liked what I saw. My pup did well in trials and tests ....and became a "red inker."

I will never trial or test this dog puppy, I cannot do the walking needed but maybe I can make him a gundog worth having.

Bill T.

[shags]

What's wrong with your daughter handling her dog in trials?

[polmaise]

My daughter wants the pup as a pet and as a companion during her training runs for marathons. I saw both the sire and the dam of the pups and both of them have very good temperaments. I think my daughter will get her pet and running companion .


I will let you know how we get on with the training .

Bill T.

I'm sure your daughter will be more than happy if it has a good re-call and doesn't pull on the lead when she takes it out in public places or doesn't Lunge at every strange dog it see's . I'm sure she will be even happier if it goes stride for stride next to her when she is running ,better still if it doesn't chew everything in the house or Jump up at strangers or friends when they enter the home .Barking or howling when left alone in the house would be a blessing I'm sure she would be grateful for .
Retrieving a dummy to hand may not be high on her agenda.
Sounds like good fun .

[Trekmoor]

You are correct Robert, my daughter does want those things, it is me that wants a bit more. I'd like the pup to be part of my picking-up team. My "main man" ,wee Charlie the cocker, has now done ten seasons as a picking up dog and although he is still very active he is now pretty much stone deaf....not that he ever listened to me anyway ! He is one of those dogs that just seems to know what to do and does it whether I like it or not ! He is still my favourite dog but I will want another picking up dog to replace him soon and I hope the GSP will be that dog.

Hi Shags, I wish my daughter was interested in trialing because she can still run for 26 miles ! She is happy for me to train and then work the dog on shoots but she has very little interest in doing that. I was once a pretty good runner myself but not no more I ain't ! It takes me all my time just to walk a hundred yards now and we don't have horseback trials.

Bill T.

[shags]

Who knows, Bill. Maybe once your daughter sees what her darling pupkins can do, she might change her mind

My SIL is a runner, too. Those people are nuts IMO...never seen one smiling on runs. They look tortured

[Trekmoor]

You are right....runners are nuts ! When I ran it was always to catch a dog or to get away from a gamekeeper !

Bill T.

[polmaise]

You are correct Robert, my daughter does want those things, it is me that wants a bit more. I'd like the pup to be part of my picking-up team. My "main man" ,wee Charlie the cocker, has now done ten seasons as a picking up dog and although he is still very active he is now pretty much stone deaf....not that he ever listened to me anyway ! He is one of those dogs that just seems to know what to do and does it whether I like it or not ! He is still my favourite dog but I will want another picking up dog to replace him soon and I hope the GSP will be that dog.
Bill T.

The years go by so quickly Bill .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uld8OUZ5ik0

[Trekmoor]

Yes ! That's Charlie, always the first to arrive at a party and the last to leave. He is still just as active Robert , the only difference now is that he is genuinely deaf ! He has been a good friend and a very good picking-up dog for me for 10 seasons now, we sort of respect each other's idiosyncrasies and just get on with the job.
As Keith Erlandson once said...."Cockers are full of character and it ain't all good !"

Bill T.