Help with my GSP

[DustinK]

This is my first post besides introducing myself and I will try not to make it too long but I need some help with my 18 month old GSP.

First and foremost, why I got the GSP- I had a friend that I did a ton of duck hunting with that had a couple labs that were great that he had trained himself. We did preserve hunts a few times a year for pheasant and quail and wanted to do more quail hunting on wild birds. We decided that since he already had the labs for duck hunting, that I would buy a GSP for quail and pheasant hunting and we would be all set and that he would also help me teach the GSP to retrieve ducks.

I did a ton of research on breeders, got references, called 28 different people that had bought dogs from the breeder I chose. I then went to the breeder and played witht he different pups on 3 occasions before I finally picked the one I wanted. I told the breeder I was a complete beginner and inexperienced gundog owner and that I would like to pay him to train my new dog as he came very highly recommended.

The breeder told me that when he was finished that he would be trained to come, heel, kennel, whoa, honor other dogs points, retreive to hand, and be gun conditioned.

Here is my issue- My friend with the labs got transfered out of state the same week I picked up the new dog so I now have a GSP but no duck dog. I have taken the dog out quail hunting 3 times and we got on birds twice. He has a ton of drive, points and hold but breaks when the bird does( trainer said he was not trained to be steady) and retrieves well.

However, the basic obedience lacks a ton. A whoa's sometimes, he sets sometimes, he kennels sometimes, he never heels. He also runs around crazy when I let him out and its difficult to keep him close to me. He is not an inside dog and I keep him in my fenced back yard which is pretty good sized.

When we walk out I cannot keep him from jumping all over us and knocking by daughter and sometimes my wife down and he destroys absolutely evrything. I take him out for a run every morning and night but he still gets bored and destructive.

My family has become close to this dog, I think he has potential to be great, I am pretty happy with the trainer( I realize my expectations may have been a little high when I gout him). My main problem is I am inexperienced and need help on how to reinforce the basic commands and then work into the hunting commands.

Also, is it possible for him to be a duck dog? There is no way possible I could take him to the duck blind witht me right now. Will he settle down a little bit as he gets older?

Sorry for the long post but i owe this dog way more than what he is getting right now and I want to do this right. I am willing to purchase whatever training equipment or DVD's are necassary.

Thanks,

Dustin

[Hoosierdaddy]

So if i understand this right you paid a trainer to train this dog,and the dog is completely out of control.The first place i would start is the trainer.A dog this wild at 18 months either was not trained properly,or not trained at all.
Training a dog takes a ton of time and patience.This dog should not be hunted until you get him under control,because you are going to end up with a road killed pooch at best.The first place to start is the dog needs to know who is the boss,you will get nowhere until that happens. That should have been started the day you brought him home.

If this were me,i would take this dog to obedience training as soon as possible.Hunting should be the last thing on your mind right now.Good Luck

[campgsp]

How long was he at the trainer? A month?
I would start all over with basic obedience. Come, heel, woah. Get these three packed down entirely before moving on to birds.
Get an ecollar and learn to use it properly. Use only after dog knows what a command means.
Start your training using a check cord. Longer the better.
Get involved with a local navhda chapter these folks are water dog people as well as field. Go to local training days. They will set you on the right path.
Don't be afraid to get down on the dog. But not overboard. Make him know you are the boss. The old suitcase handle does its charm.
when he jumps on you knee him in the chest hard. And tell him down. A few accounts of this he will learn.

Good luck.

[Hattrick]

You need a pinch collar, a check cord and a ecollar. Get this stuff join a local NAHVDA chapter and get help. You can do all this urself. Be firm with the dog remember this during corrections the sweet is so vary sweet the bitter is so vary bitter. Keep things simple and straight forward for the dog. The first thing i would do is heel with the pinch collar and get his attention that you are in charge. Good luck

[Cajun Casey]

Shorthairs don't have to be bored to be destructive. I'vd seen them chew and dig in their sleep. You have a big, undisciplined puppy. First. make sure he knows his name. Some dogs think their name is STOPITYOUSOB. Second, get control of the jumping. I would put a table or bench he can easily jump up on in your yard and feed him there. Reinforce the "place" with food rewards. If you have to toss something, like a tennis ball, out the door to distract him while you enter the yard, do it. Once you have him going to his place and standing still for you, you can move on.

As far as heel, get a piggin' string and search for "WonderLead."

Good luck.

[DustinK]

Thanks for all the replies and help. The main problems occur when the dog is in the fenced in yard. When I walk outside he just goes crazy and doesn't listen to anything and jumps all over us.

If I get him out in the field behind my house he actually whoa's and comes pretty well although it's not always 100%. If I could get him to not jump all over everyone when we first walk out the back door and listen to me in the back yard like he does in the field, I would actually be very happy with where he is at.

He is great at finding birds, pointing them and retrieving to hand but then again, thats when we are in the field. The only real issue I have when we are hunting is him ranging too far.

And of course, at some point i would like him to be a serviceable duck dog and the idea of him sitting still for more than 30 seconds seems far fetched

[stlgsp]

From what I am reading the dog went to a trainer for field work not basic obedience or manors. Sounds like he is craving attention but has had no training on how to control himself. Find an obedience class and take the dog yourself, you will both learn a lot.

[Hoosierdaddy]

Well there have been several replies telling you that you have an out of control dog,that needs obedience training.Yet your focus is on what the dog will do sometimes in the field or in a duck blind.
You are setting yourself up for failure with this dog if you dont get him under control.The absolute first thing with a pup should be obedience.In other words you need to start all over with this dog if you want a hunting companion you can trust and other people and family members want to be around.You can go out and spend $1000 on e-collars, pinchcollars,check-cords and stuff but you need to know how to use them first.

That is why it has been suggested you take the dog to a pro that both you and the dog can learn the basics on obedience.At this point in time that is where your time and money would be wisely spent.

[hoppingsp]

First off I can only offer advice for the jumping problem, as i too have a 10 month old gsp that would greet me with overwhelming joy. what we did in my household is when we first came home from work or were away from the dog for a period of time and she came jumping up on us was to simply turn our backs and ignore her all together to try to let her settle down a min. at first it took a few min, like about 5 for her to settle down, we were twirling all over the place but, after she did we would pet her and all that, if when we did reach down to pet her and she jumped up on us again, simply ignore and turn your back, we used the word down also to associate her getting down if we had to push her down which we did do first few days to try to get her to understand what we wanted. it can be frustrating the first week of this or 2, but we had great success with this, now when we come home she simply runs up to us, of course happy to see us, and simply sits down nodding her head, licking lips, or breathing heavy or whatever and waits to be petted. we never told her to sit, we just let her start doing it on her own, when she gave us desired behavior we gave her hers. now when we come home she runs up to us without jumping and i will pet her for a good min. or so, and most of the time now when we come home she runs up to us and sits waiting for her praise. it took a couple of weeks of this and no matter what be consistent, do NOT pet her if she even lifts feet off floor. it was kinda frustrating in the beginning but worked well for us. Keep in mind you have a very energetic breed, lots of exercise required or so i read in the "manual". if you have an atv, build you a roading harness and run the heck out of her, not literally but she/he can go for a while, you will know when you have accomplished the mission of tiring her out, or if you like to run go for a nice mile long jog to warm up. you will build muscle in the dog, and increase hunting stamina for sure. my dog runs wide open for 20 min straight before hunting, beats all i have ever seen, just a loaded rocket, wish i had that much energy. anyway this may also help with digging, if you tire her out she will not be as bored and may not have the energy to dig. just a thought. mine digs up the yard, i just am not home daily to run her but i bet this would also help. the jumping thing i know worked for us, i could not have her knocking down my youngster.