How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

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Francois P vd Walt
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How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by Francois P vd Walt » Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:16 am

You have done all the basics, steady to flush, shot drop etc. the pup goes on it.s first hunt. Does a good job points stays steady the bird gets shot, you send for the retrieve .... pup gets thete with speed and starts to pull feathers ?

You start calling with no result, what does one do now ? Bumpers, dummies with or without feathers pup retrieves but not the fresh bird !

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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by bb560m » Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:54 am

Francois P vd Walt wrote:You have done all the basics, steady to flush, shot drop etc. the pup goes on it.s first hunt. Does a good job points stays steady the bird gets shot, you send for the retrieve .... pup gets thete with speed and starts to pull feathers ?

You start calling with no result, what does one do now ? Bumpers, dummies with or without feathers pup retrieves but not the fresh bird !
Yard work - your dog doesn't know "here".

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bossman
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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by bossman » Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:04 pm

I think I might go back to some basic "here" training with a check cord. I'd then be throwing some frozen birds (with feathers),then some dead birds (if you have a place to buy game bird), keeping him on as check cord and working your commands. Once he is retrieving predictably, I would reinforce any failure to do so a low setting of an e-collar.Again, this may be dependant on the age and maturity of the dog. All just my opionion. Many more knowledgable people on the board. Good Luck.

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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by ultracarry » Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:07 pm

How old? Over 12 months and a gsp and that would be force fetch time. But. Then again I would practice retrieving way earlyer then stop to closure or solid pointing...

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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by bonasa » Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:17 pm

Francois P vd Walt wrote:Bumpers, dummies with or without feathers pup retrieves but not the fresh bird !
I would make sure the dog is reliable with all commands in the yard first. Your progression in retrieving bumpers then dummies then with feathers, work up to frozen birds, cold birds and fresh birds with the blank gun. Also make sure you retrieve some yourself to keep the dog steady and not anticipate making the retrieve on every bird.

Try to be 100% in the yard before going afield with anything you expect from your dog.

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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by DonF » Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:27 pm

Go to the yard and dump the dummies and dummies with wings. Get a few dead pigeons and freeze them. Use them for retrieving till pup is where you want it. Take the birds out of the freezer and let then thaw for 45min to an hour, the head will regain it elasticity and wwon't break off at the neck. The wings will get more pliable also and the feathers will fluff just a bit. Pup bidts down and it's hard. Then move on to fresh killed pigeons, in the yard, check cord on, bird no farther away than the length of the check cord.
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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by Sharon » Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:35 pm

The dog comes everytime he is called.

You can go "hunting" but leave the gun at home so you can concentrate on the dog.

Hunting with shooting is for the more mature , gun conditioned pup. jmo
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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by TRoberts » Sun Apr 01, 2012 10:20 pm

Keep hunting him....hunt with older dogs if you can. He will catch on. As everyone has said, continue the yard work especially "come","here" or whatever you you prefer for him to come to you and stay in control while you are doing retriever drills. Make it fun to retrieve to YOU! I wouldn't worry about too much the feather pulling as long as he will find the bird, he is young, one of the downed birds you will cripple and he will get fired up and bring it to you. Remember , not all pointing dogs like to retrieve.....sometimes it takes a year or so for them to work it out.

Just have fun and don't put too much pressure on him or yourself. :D
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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by adogslife » Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:54 am

Too much pressure.
A dog's first season is not about having finished dog work.

IMHO, your expectations are too high.

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Francois P vd Walt
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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by Francois P vd Walt » Mon Apr 02, 2012 11:17 am

adogslife wrote:Too much pressure.
A dog's first season is not about having finished dog work.

IMHO, your expectations are too high.

You might be right ! They all mature differently some do some things better at different ages ....
At 16mths I expected more in the yard retrieving was 90% even to hand no problem.

The high expectations come from trialing, that disease most of you know ! HA !

Let the dogs be and enjoy them as they develop !
Thanks for the support and advice, good to listen to other opinions !

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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by ultracarry » Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:38 pm

High expectations don't come from trialing.... It is a sport. You can be blind to the sport and say I causes problems out of being uneducated and blaming a persons own greed for the downfalls in dog training and ownership but that's up to you.

You Can't have expectations besides the unexpected. Some dogs are more advanced than others, can take training faster, want to learn, can adapt to pressure, and want to please. These dogs will be ready a lot faster even if you have to force break to retrieve. Others will never be ready because they don't have the tools in thier head to get it done. It's not the dogs fault, it just don't have the marbles.

Nice try though.
Francois P vd Walt wrote:
adogslife wrote:Too much pressure.
A dog's first season is not about having finished dog work.

IMHO, your expectations are too high.

You might be right ! They all mature differently some do some things better at different ages ....
At 16mths I expected more in the yard retrieving was 90% even to hand no problem.

The high expectations come from trialing, that disease most of you know ! HA !

Let the dogs be and enjoy them as they develop !
Thanks for the support and advice, good to listen to other opinions !

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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by Ralph Ford » Tue Apr 03, 2012 1:05 pm

Retrieving is overated. Give me a birdfinder, that is where the fun is!

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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by ezzy333 » Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:43 pm

A pup is ready to go hunt when it has been shot over and will search for birds. They are never too young but many are not trained or mature enough to know what it is doing. Then after you take them hunting then the training can get serious.

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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by bhulisa » Wed Apr 04, 2012 12:25 am

High expectations don't come from trialing.... It is a sport. You can be blind to the sport and say I causes problems out of being uneducated and blaming a persons own greed for the downfalls in dog training and ownership but that's up to you. Ultracarry
Retrieving is overated. Give me a birdfinder, that is where the fun is! Ralph Ford


Just to explain a bit about where Francois is coming from....he is an avid field trialler and has the "disease" to which he refers :D :D . He's not knocking trial dogs.

But over here is South Africa, if you want to win a Derby Stake, your dog had better be retreiving pretty well, and be nearly broke all the way through steady to fall. Wild bird trials, birds are shot on course, and if your bracemate has a find, your derby also has to stand through that without interfering or stealing the retreive (although some voice commands are allowed for the derby dog). You are toast if your dog doesn't retrieve nearly to hand, refuses to back, or breaks and steals another dogs' bird.

Retrieving is a necessity and these trials can be a tough game for a handler and young dog to get it all together! Personally, I think it's alot of pressure for many dogs, particularly those whose handlers want them competitive at a year or so of age....but that's the game here :wink:

Trudi

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Francois P vd Walt
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Re: How does one know your pup is ready for his first hunt ?

Post by Francois P vd Walt » Sat Apr 07, 2012 1:15 pm

Francois P vd Walt wrote:You have done all the basics, steady to flush, shot drop etc. the pup goes on it.s first hunt. Does a good job points stays steady the bird gets shot, you send for the retrieve .... pup gets thete with speed and starts to pull feathers ?

You start calling with no result, what does one do now ? Bumpers, dummies with or without feathers pup retrieves but not the fresh bird !
Just giving feedback !

Went out today wow ! All fell into place we had great finds, great retrieves ! Just I thought I was loosing this battle looking for advice, it all came together TODAY !

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