7 month old GSP

[Dieseldog8]

Hey guys I have a 7 month old gsp now I've let him be a pup for awhile but now its serious time haven't been working too much because of the heat or too serious just trying to let him be a pup. Now he will heel he's somewhat iffy on whoa havent really enforced it but knows the concept. What are some recommendations on what to work on now? I know he will be young but would love to take him hunting this fall I have a black lab thats and awesome flush dog also have a johnny house with unlimited supply of quail. Just kinda lead me through what I need to work on. Thanks yal!

[Sharon]

He won't be ready for full hunting responsibilities this fall. It would be great for him though to learn on wild birds that aren't shot. We just had a very good thread on "teaching your dog to whoa " that you might want to look at. Anything he needs to learn about birds he can learn in the next 3 months - "I can't catch a bird so I'll start pointing.".

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[Dieseldog8]

Hey Sharon he's actually doing good on wild birds or well birds from my johnny house actually just got back set out two birds and he pointed both. I didn't think he'd be ready for full responsibilities just gonna take him on a few hunts let him get his nose wet and learn the ropes. Just wondering if I missed anything that I def need to work on? My black lab learned best by watching other dogs hunt and I was gonna do the same for him. I messaged you awhile back about the whole sitting thing he will sit but I don't really use it much I keep him on the go most of the time. But he does good on heel and here and like I said iffy on whoa which havent drilled it in yet. Tell me if this is bad or not maybe taking him out every other day or one day skip two days then go again but place a couple of birds out keep him on a check cord and let him point and kick the bird up? WOuld that be ok? How long should I let him point before kicking the bird up and do I keep saying Whoa or just say nothing? I don't let him chase the bird because I want to get him steady to shot.

[Dieseldog8]

My 7 month old Crow on his first birds of the summer! So proud!

[Cajun Casey]

Is he gunbroke through 12 gauge yet? If not, I wouldn't worry too much about whoa.

[azwoodsman]

My seven month old has never seen a wild bird, but she will whoa, she will stand to flush, she will point and she is gun broke. she has been worked on hundreds of pigeons. Iam about half way through her force breaking right now..she will hunt this fall. She is going to make mistakes but we will work through them as they come up.

[cmc274]

As long he is solid with gun, ecollar intro'd to come when he is called and goes with you, take him hunting and try to kill the birds he handles reasonably well. The biggest thing he needs to learn is how to find and handle birds. Shooting them will help him close the loop on the process. Have a blast and don't worry about whoa or any type of correction on birds. Most importantly, nothing should be take too serious with a pup.

[Dieseldog8]

Yes he's gun broken up to a 12 gauge so no worries there. And I haven't really worked with a e collar with him yet just now getting him serious but will prob start within the next few weeks.

[RoostersMom]

I'd get the Perfect Start DVD and follow the steps there - then move on to Perfect Finish. It progresses through Steady to Wing and Shot totally. That said, I wouldn't be doing that until my dog had a full season under his/her belt. I'm a fan of them having a good season to just learn how to hunt on their own and find birds. I think 7 mos is too young to be too structured - but it took me about 5 dogs of my own to get to this point, I used to think you couldn't really take them hunting until they knew "whoa" and would retrieve to hand. I've changed my philosophy on that as I've gotten more comfortable with training my own dogs. Now, I just hunt as much as is possible and make sure the dog has a solid "here" command for the first year - then break them out the summer before their second year.

Good luck with your pup!