Quick Question- Hunting Age

[Hunt1Fish2]

My uncle said that I could bring my dog hunting as early as 6 to 7 months. Is that true? When do you guys start bringing your dogs out? Thanks, Devin.

[Brittguy]

just be sure he has had proper conditioning to gunfire .

[Hunt1Fish2]

Okay, thanks. I've fired over him with a .22 and a .410 and he did great. I'll keep using those for a couple weeks until I feel he is ready for the bigger gauges.

[RayGubernat]

Continue to condition the dog to gunfire.

When you do actually go hunting, for the first dozen outings or so, I would limit the shooting to one gunner and that gunner should try for clean kills with one shot. Oh and opening day is NOT the day to bring out a new puppy,unless you are intending to ruin it.

I have seen fairly well conditioned pups get totally screwed up due to a barrage of shots by three or four hunters on opening day. Don't do it. Let the good 'ol boys mess up someone else's dog.

There are many dogs that are just fine with gunfire right away... even lots of it. In fact most probably are. However it comes down to whether or not your dog is one of those and whether or not you want to take that chance.

FWIW I had a pointer that I started hunting over at about 9 months old and he did just fine. He was about as mentally tough as they come. They don't make them like that anymore. Believe me.

I had another pointer that was over a year old when it got spooked by being in a closed car a hundred or so yards from two of us shooting clays. Took me a whole year and a HUGE amount of aggravation to get her past that bit of stupidity.

I would proceed with caution and watch your dog. Read its reactions. it will tell you where its head is at, if you pay attention.

Always remember, it is your dog and that makes it both your responsibility and your choice. If someone wants you to let them do something around your dog that might screw it up...are they going to take it home and have to deal with it?? Are they going to buy you another one?? look around you and think about that before you pull your dog out of the box.


Your dog...your call...every time.

RayG

[4dabirds]

The dog is simply not ready to hunt until it has been through a training program that establishes associations to to what is expected as far as bird handling . Allowing the dog to hunt at this stage is giving the dog repetitions of improper bird handling that will have to be corrected later on only adding more pressure on the dog while training. Proper conditioning to the gun is not acclimation to gun fire, it is a way of creating an association with gun fire that makes the sound of the gun a cue for birds." Guns =birds". without this association the dog can always be caught off guard by gun fire in the prescence of the bird and have a negative association with birds later on . If the positive association with birds is not created first you may create a dog that will avoid birds to avoid the gun fire . Check out this site .http://www.georgehickox.com/about_georg ... icles.html

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

There are 2 schools of thought here on the subject 4dabirds has 1 I have another along with a few others especially if you have wild birds.Both work if handled right,I'm just not a control freak.

[RayGubernat]

There are 2 schools of thought here on the subject 4dabirds has 1 I have another along with a few others especially if you have wild birds.Both work if handled right,I'm just not a control freak.

I can honestly say I have never had a dog that avoided gunfire. Quite the opposite actually. The dogs tend to go to the gunfire. Gunfire = birds and birds = FUN. If one of my dogs gets a little long, rather than hollering or using the e-collar, I will sometimes send a round or two downrange. The SOB that is MIA generally shows up in fairly short order. I am convinced they knew if the gun went off there was a bird around that gun somewhere. I tend to think they had a pretty good idea that if two shots went off, I had probably missed also, so there was more fun to be had.

I used to hunt with 2 dogs fairly frequently in the days before telemetry, and one of them would occasionlly get out of pocket while I was concentrating on the other. Almost without fail, if I would gather up the dog I had and then just let it loose, it would lead me to the other dog, whose beeper was sounding off in point mode(hawk scream). I couldn't hear the danged thing, but the dog not only could hear it, they knew what it meant.

Like many, many things in dog training, it ain't what you do it, because we all do many of the same things, but it is HOW you do it.

RayG

[3Britts]

I would be careful about taking a dog that young out with too many hunters firing overhead. Too many can set any training back. Good luck and good hunting.

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

I think that's one thing we all agree on only 1 gun at a time in the field the first yr & only one shot at a time,if you miss move on.

[Hunt1Fish2]

I would be careful about taking a dog that young out with too many hunters firing overhead. Too many can set any training back. Good luck and good hunting.

That's exactly what I was planning on doing his first year even/if he is ready.

[DonF]

Gertie met me over near French Glenn with her pup this past winter, she was 5 mos if I remember right. We took Gertie, her dog, Squirt and Bodie and turned them loose and took cameras rather than guns. I would be very carefull about hunting over a dog that young with no training. If who ever has the gun fires at the wrong time, you could train a flusher. I never take a dog that young into the field to hunt, never. I usually start formal training right at one year and then hunt them that year. I like late summer of fall pup's, help's keep me in line.

But there's guy's that never do any formal training, they just take the dog hunting and it seem's to work for them. I have no idea what they are willing to put up with with the dog.

[4dabirds]

Ray a proper introduction to the gun guarantees that guns = birds in a controlled environment. And vonzepp its not about being a control freak it is about guaranteeing the outcome. If one dog in a thousand will become gun shy it is worth the effort to spend a couple of training sessions doing proper introduction to birds and guns to make sure you do not hit that lottery with your dog.

[RayGubernat]

Ray a proper introduction to the gun guarantees that guns = birds in a controlled environment. And vonzepp its not about being a control freak it is about guaranteeing the outcome. If one dog in a thousand will become gun shy it is worth the effort to spend a couple of training sessions doing proper introduction to birds and guns to make sure you do not hit that lottery with your dog.

4dabirds -

I agree, but it seemed wise to be a bit more descriptive to someone who might not be as far along on the training curve as others.

FWIW, I do a whole lot more than a couple training seesions doing a proper gun intro. I screwed up one dog(as I said) through my stupidity, and it was a major PIA to get that dog through it. I don't ever want to have to do that again.

BTW, I am pretty sure that most folks would have walked away from that dog, but I ain't built that way. I made the mess and I was raised to clean up my own messes. Of course it kinda helped that Cindy was Warhoop Jake bred, top and bottom. Tough stuff.
RayG

[hustonmc]

I've killed more birds over 5 month old dogs then many have over 5 yr old dogs. But I'm not a liberal tree hugging hippie either so I may be a little old school. I want my dogs to learn why he hunts and how to hunt before I do any formal training the next spring and summer. Makes the whole process a breeze. Of course they have properly been introduced to gun fire and know their name, that's about all they need. They are bird dogs, let them be such.

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

4dabirds no where did I say you should take a dog hunting & start shooting over it the first time it is in the field.Once it has been conditioned to gunfire there is no reason a 5 or 6mo old pup can't go hunting if the owner understands only to shoot birds that have been pointed by the pup & holds long enough to be flushed & shoot only once.I would not reccomend taking the pup with more then one gun in the field his first yr I don't care how much training & control you have trained.
The fact is probably the majority of hunting dogs are not trained any farther along then what I just described above.If they point & hold till the handler flushes it is better then most hunting dogs in the field & anything after that is only required of a handler that wants more.There are very few totaly broke hunting dogs though I see a few more every yr.I know old Field trialers that don't break their own hunting dogs, simple as that.

[DogNewbie]

If I remember correctly you have a new lab, right? I'd take the pup out as often as possible this fall. With enough bird contact he'll slowly start to figure out where your shooting range is and will learn to stay within that range. But at this point I think you just want him to build drive and have fun so make sure he's conditioned to the gun and let him run around.

[rinker]

I think that it just depends on your definition of "hunting". If this means you and three of your buddies with 12 gauge semi-autos, intent on limiting out, then I think it is probably a bad idea. If your plan is to expose the pup to riding in the car, contacts with wild birds, while keeping your expectations pretty low, then I think it is a great idea.

[ezzy333]

I agree with those who say take him. That's the best training the pup will ever have. I do know there is a limit to how much shooting but I have never had problem with two or three hunters that limit their shooting to a shot apiece once the pup has been shot over before going out. And I start the pups gun training with my 20 or 12 guage hunting gun. I am yet to have a pup have a problem with the guns. I like to have a pup have a year in the field before starting any serious field training so it has a basis of knowing why it is in the field and a little about where you find birds, how to hunt them and how they react when pointed or pressured. Once this has happened you have a platform to build off of and the pup will have at least an inkling as to whaqt we are trying to accomplish.

Ezzy

[JIM K]

going by months of age is hard,at least for me.
toby was 9 months old and i still felt young on learning to hunt.
i did shoot over him and i had a live grouse to do it.
after that he learned when i shot,he saw bird.
but he was not good at hunting until about 3yrs old.

[Hunt1Fish2]

Thanks for the tips. Also, to answer what my definiton of "hunting" is, it's just shooting one gun with one shot at a time until he is old enough for more guns going of at one time. I also have training question. I'm training him primarily for waterfowl but I love to hunt upland birds also. Should I wait until he is older to starton the upland bird training after he is accustomed to retrieving from the water or should I work on it at the same time?? thanks, devin.

[DogNewbie]

Thanks for the tips. Also, to answer what my definiton of "hunting" is, it's just shooting one gun with one shot at a time until he is old enough for more guns going of at one time. I also have training question. I'm training him primarily for waterfowl but I love to hunt upland birds also. Should I wait until he is older to starton the upland bird training after he is accustomed to retrieving from the water or should I work on it at the same time?? thanks, devin.

I think you are actually safer taking the pup upland hunting before waterfowling. You need a dog that is able to sit still for extended periods of time with lots of birds flying around you. If you do take him waterfowling I'd tie him up in the blind so he can't even budge. Once the shooting is done you could let him retrieve. Personally, I wouldn't take him waterfowling at all this first year because I'd be worried about gun shyness. He may be comfortably with a 12ga in the field shot once, but its much more intense when the gun is fired in a blind that echos loudly. It can really freak a dog out if it's not prepared.

[4dabirds]

4dabirds no where did I say you should take a dog hunting & start shooting over it the first time it is in the field.Once it has been conditioned to gunfire there is no reason a 5 or 6mo old pup can't go hunting if the owner understands only to shoot birds that have been pointed by the pup & holds long enough to be flushed & shoot only once.I would not reccomend taking the pup with more then one gun in the field his first yr I don't care how much training & control you have trained.
The fact is probably the majority of hunting dogs are not trained any farther along then what I just described above.If they point & hold till the handler flushes it is better then most hunting dogs in the field & anything after that is only required of a handler that wants more.There are very few totaly broke hunting dogs though I see a few more every yr.I know old Field trialers that don't break their own hunting dogs, simple as that.

Maybe I confused you I do not think I said that any where as well.