What to do?

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hotrod13
Rank: Junior Hunter
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What to do?

Post by hotrod13 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:24 pm

Well I know I am very new to bird dog training, but I have got myself in a great (or difficult) situation. I know many of you train dogs for field trials, I just want a good hunting dog.

Here is my situation I received a dog from this forum that is exactly for what I was wanting, she hunts great, points and retrieves, and in my eyes which are just for what I want she is perfect. (Thanks Andy!). I just hunt pheasants, I took her out this last weekend, she pointed, scented and did a great job in my eyes. Did what was expected, hunted hard, and was totally awesome. I did not shoot the birds over her because it is out of season for pheasants for Kansas. My problem occurs with that I have a 5 month old GSP that is just wild as heck, wanting to run (of course always wanting to be with the other dog for attention, the older dog does growl and puts her in her place).

The 5 month old scents birds, follows it up and points and flushes the bird ( I have not taught her anything different yet, due to her age and not wanting her to get messed up). She is not gunshy (have shot over her at least a 100 times) and she loves to hunt. The only command I have taught her is "here".

My situation arises is when I hunt them together, the young pup just dog piles the other dog on point, I have hunted them by themselves the older dog does great, but with the youngster in the mix she is somewhat distraught.

I want them to hunt and run together without this tension ( I do know the pup is young and out of control), I have been running them by theirselves and they do fine on commands and hunting and enjoy them both.

My 2 questions are:

Should I keep them together hunting this summer to get used to each other and learn commands or teach them apart (which is what I am doing) and hopefully get them together in the future when the young dog is not so hyper.

If the young dog gets less hyper do to age, will she learn from following, watching and learning from the older dog?

Thanks,

Rod

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bwjohn
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Re: What to do?

Post by bwjohn » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:39 pm

i think the younger dog will grow out of it, when he/she gets more serious about birds. for now I would run them separate.

brandon

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Birddog3412
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Re: What to do?

Post by Birddog3412 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:46 pm

bwjohn wrote:i think the younger dog will grow out of it, when he/she gets more serious about birds. for now I would run them separate.

brandon
I agree just being a pup. What I would worry about is her stealing point, the older dog may evetually start breaking point after getting run over so many times.

I would train them apart, you dont want the young dog to always hunt with the old one. You want them both hunting on there own.

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birddogger
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Re: What to do?

Post by birddogger » Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:50 pm

I agree with both of the above posters. I would hunt them seperately at this point.

Charlie
If you think you can or if you think you can't, you are right either way

vzkennels

Re: What to do?

Post by vzkennels » Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:55 pm

Yes I would hunt them seperate & untill the young dog learns to Back.

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jbogacki76
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Re: What to do?

Post by jbogacki76 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:17 pm

She's a pup, i would do what everyone is saying. Keep them seperate until she goes through the grab a** game (phrase taken from Lvrgsp). Most dogs do it, but they will eventually learn to hunt and explore on their own. It just takes time, enjoy the puppy days because they will be gone fast........

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jakethebirddog
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Re: What to do?

Post by jakethebirddog » Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:38 pm

I agree with everyone else. I have the same problem with my vizsla. He is only interested in playing with the other dogs, and chasing tail. However, he does awesome when he gets his head in the game and hunts by himself.

I would hunt them separately for the first year. This will give the pup experience, and confidence in herself so she will know when to get in the game and won't only want to mess with the other dog. I would also train her by herself and really work on obedience so she knows that NO means NO and HERE means HERE.

It sounds like you have a great dog there; and don't worry, most, if not all pups go through this.

Good luck

Tony

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smokinsam
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Re: What to do?

Post by smokinsam » Sun Feb 14, 2010 8:05 pm

I also agree to hunt them seperate.
I might even wait until the pup is a couple months older to continue training.

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