English Setter Maturity?

[rapid fire]

Hey, I have a 10 mo old female english setter that I've had since 9 weeks old. She is as sweet as they come but insanely wild. I have only put her on birds a few times and mostly wild birds. She handled them ok, but I've been waiting on her to mature some before really working her on launchers. I began working her on heel and whoa, using Perfection Kennel method, about 2 weeks ago. She just does not get it and I believe it is b/c she is still so immature. I know every dog is different, but when do English Setters usually get mature enough to do anything with?

[Tall Boy]

At her age everything is positive. You just want to start associating the commands with the desired behavior. When she's walking next to you say heel, when you stop her next to you say who. Once she's a little older you can start puttin pressure on her, make sure you exercise her before each session early on in her training. Setters do take longer to mature, and can be soft and hard headed at the same time.

[Ryman Gun Dog]

rapid fire,
There is not certain age that a Setter matures fully, each breed line has its own maturity rate, and each individual dog is different.
Many of the FT type Setters mature faster and by 8 month you can work with them, Ryman type dogs usually take a year or even two
before they reach full maturity. Individual dogs can surprise you and mature quicker or they can mature even more slowly than usual. Depending on just what you want to do with your Setter such as Ft or Cover Dog or serious Grouse hunting maturity is a big factor. The best way to know is thru experience, so if you have a trainer you trust,
it pays big dividens to get some advise. Have the trainer evaluate for you the actual maturity of the pup, also my advise is to get the pup into the habitat that you are going to hunt, as often as you can, as early as you can, play training never hurts even a very young dog.
RGD/Dave

Heston our Ryman Setter pup play training and pointing his 1st Grouse at 12 weeks of age at our mountain training facility.

[4dabirds]

Mature ? would you wait till your kid is in seventh grade to teach them how to read your wasting precious time with a eager pupil at a time in its life when it most responsive to learning. I would have that dog on a barrel at ten weeks old learning the meaning of whoa Not waiting around for some miracle to happen and teach it for me. Check out the George Hickox perfect beginnings D.v.d..

[rapid fire]

4dabirds, I have a GSP that I did train early and she was very receptive. This Setter is totally different and can take very little pressure before cowering down. I have no doubt that I could break out the launchers and have her holding her birds in a week and her take that well, but she is deffinitely showing me that she is too immature to take formal whoa type training.

[ezzy333]

Many a pup has been ruined by starting training too young. I wouldn't even thing of starting any kind of pressure training at that age. I don't even ask my kids to start working till they are 10 or 11 so they can do a fulltime job while they are young and recepive. :roll:

Ezzy

[4dabirds]

Many a pup has been ruined by starting training too young. I wouldn't even thing of starting any kind of pressure training at that age. I don't even ask my kids to start working till they are 10 or 11 so they can do a fulltime job while they are young and recepive. :roll:

Ezzy

I don't use any pressure in yard training. All positive reinforcement . The only time I use pressure is when the dog has learned a command and will respond 8 out of 10 times correctly. This allows me 6 months of training for wanted behaviors before i expect a dog to comply immediately to commands. When the dog is exposed to a learning environment at a young age the dog learns to learn with enthusiasm. I have found that clicker training when done correctly will set the wheels in motion for a dog in the learning to learn game. When using operant conditioning the dog first gives the behavior, the behavior is shaped, then the cue or command is given. If you are teaching a behavior to a dog and give the command in the beginning the dog has no idea what the word is. In fact the word is never necessary to the dog. When the dog is allowed to give the behavior on its own the dog will respond more enthusiastically because the dog is motivated to please itself . The dog gives you a behavior then you positively reinforce the behavior. The dog is not complying it is doing the behavior for the reward. Once the the behavior is shaped and consistent then and only then would you use a correction to guarantee compliance. Remember correction is only a part of training it should not be the method.

[snips]

I really think if she is not handling it well, I would wait..At her age I think I would start to get more serious towards the end of summer...

[ezzy333]

I don't think any of us put a pup in the kennel and forgets it. But we are not doing field training. I like to call it teaching manners, You teach a puppy to do the things you want it to do to be able to live comfortably in your household and home environment. Thos are things like leading, housebrakeing, coming, staying or waiting, and whatever you want to do with your pup. I hope it includes a lot of socializing and trips to the field to explore. But most anything that could be called field training can wait till the pup is nearing a year old to start and some aren't ready even then. They are pretty much just puppies for the first year of their life and become birddog puppies somewhere in the 6 months to 15 month time slot. do your bird dog training to early or with too much pressure and you will have problems that can be very harmful to the pups potential as a hunting dog.

Ezzy

[rapid fire]

Thanks y'all, she gets plenty of socialization and time in the field. I will be waiting on the formal training, as she obviously isn't ready for it yet. As far as general obedience, she knows to wait at doors and for food and she comes when called. She even goes in the kenel by herself sometimes.

[ezzy333]

Sounds like you are doing it well.

Ezzy