I am working an English Pointer I am really fond of. He just turned 2 years old and I acquired him as a young adult dog. He was given to me because the original owner knows that we are hunters and knew the dog was birdy, but does not have the desire to work the dog himself. Since then, I've been trying to gear him up to be my own personal gun dog. .. but I need some advice. Here is what I know:
The dog's pedigree is 1/2 Italian import and 1/2 NZ import. Apparently the Italian side (sire) of the pedigree is strong for hunting and field trailing. The other is all beauty.
He has desire for birds and he will stand for ages if you let him. He even points inanimate objects that 'look' like birds. He is mostly unconcerned by everything I do with him. Stores, kennels, dog shows... nothing seems to phase him. He is submissive when necessary, and does not ever argue with my other males.
Last year we started working him on quail / pigeons and a starter pistol, and it went really well. That season we took him out with my already 'seasoned' male. He kept up fine, but just seemed to be running around. He wasn't hunting, but I expected that. He just had no idea why he was there, but he was having fun. My husband is an excellent shot, and assured me that if 1 shot didn't bring down the bird, he wouldn't shoot it. So we made the mistake last year of thinking he was bold enough to hunt him. My seasoned male pointed, I brought my dog over to watch the flush - the chase ensued, and my husband let out a single shot bringing down the bird. That shot rattled him a bit and knocked him off the chase.
Afterwards we continued on and continued to hunt. We found more birds, and my husband fired more shots. By lunch time he was trying to crawl up my backside. I took him home and figured he was gun shy. My husband said he is a dud.
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
I haven't given up though. I continue to work him at home and at the hunt club. Anytime I got the dogs all excited to go for a run back in the woods, I'd open the pen run and fire the blank pistol as they ran off. If I had them out in the woods with the ATV, I'd randomly fire my gun while he was out of eyesight.. I worked him again and again with the blank pistol and eventually signed him up for 4 Junior hunt tests. The first day was awesome, he was one of the only dogs to qualify in Junior, and I was so proud. No reaction to the pistol. The remaining 3 tests did not quite go as well. The next run my fellow bracemate had a whistle that he was really hammering on, and I don't use one.. so my dog got upset about it. I picked him up and put him away. The other 2 tests he did well on, but was bumbling around and didn't point a bird until my time was up.. by then it was too late to qualify and he was giving me trouble catching him.
At this point I decided to quell my husband's bantering about the dog by taking him to a friend and having a clear evaluation done with gun fire. The result was great. Multiple shots (4 or 5 in a row), shots fired right on top of him.. No effect.. It was suggested that the dog may have too much stand, but he certainly wasn't gun shy. I am entered in a Junior Test next week, so I want to be sure he's ready to do this. Any tips?
I think he has bonded with me much more now than before. There is more trust. Additionally, he is a mature male now and no longer a pup. Is there any hope?