Gun Dog Forum

Hi guys, im new to the board and I have a new GSP. This is my first gun dog I have personally owned. I have hunted upland birds quite a few times but I have never owned and trained my own dog to do it. Now this summer I have the time and better finances to be able to do it. Im just looking for so tips in my training along the way.

I have had him for a couple weeks now and he is 12 weeks old now. He answers to his name and will come to me when I say "Come" 75+% of the time. He also sits with me either saying "Sit" Or by me holding my hand up in the hand command I plan on using for that. I also picked up some Pheasant wings the other day and introduced him to them, and he went CRAZY! He loves them! I have only showed him them once and allowed him to hold them in his mouth for a bit then I praised him and told him "drop" at which he dropped it to.

Now I have read quite a few threads on here already and I read to not to allow them to have them a lot, which I will not. My question is though, when he got them he had to interest in returning it to me, he just pounced on it and tossed it around a bit, I read that this is a good sign because he shows a lot of interest, but what should I do when he does that? Allow him to chew on them for a little while or take them from him? Thats about the extent of what I can do with him right now, we live far north and there is still about 3 feet of snow on the ground but its quickly melting so in a few weeks we will be able to run around in out fields.

I know I need to let the pup be a pup and thats what im doing, he shows major interest in the wings so im sure this is a good sign.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new pup. You need to have goals for your training program. What are you wanting to accomplish with your dog, test, trial just hunt. You need a good training system. Take you're time and have loss of patience. You might want to consider joining a NAVHDA chapter, it wool give you people to train with and ask questions. Good luck and happy hunting

welcome
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Welcome to the board. Sounds like you want to hunt your GSP. Are there any local kennels that may be able to train him? Thats what I plan on doing myself.

It can be very rewarding training your own gun dog. If you are lacking the knowledge on how to do this then finding a Navhda group or other trainers in your area is a great place for some help and hands on training.
Personally I do not like wings, I feel they tend to get a young pup to excited. One you do not want him chewing on it and as a young pup I hate to take a retrieve from him if he does not want to bring it to me.
I would continue to work on some of the basic commands, come or here, sit, walking on a leash, and maybe even whoa. On verbal commands I like to work on just one at a time until the pup has learned that command.

Good luck with your new pup and enjoy!

Get a training program to use on your pup. At this point, he is still a young pup and keep things fun and short to keep his interest. Also, you can use a live pigeon/quail with clipped wings now - it helps to keep his birdy drive going.

Enjoy your journey with your new partner.

Thanks guys. I live in Northern Michigan so I don't know of any good hunting dog clubs around here. I have done a few searches but they all seem to be way down state, around 4 hours from me. If you know of any please let me know. Also I have some good friends that have trained dogs that are willing to help me. I posted an add on Craigslist for birds like one of you suggested in another thread so we will see if I get any hits there

I'll do what has been suggested though. I'll keep with my regular sit, come, and walking on a lease and teaching woah a little bit. Whenever he stops by himself I say "whoah" then praise him. s that a good approach? I have bought the "training pointing dogs" DVD made by Gundogs magazine. Lots of good info in it I found so far.

And yes, he will be used just for hunting for my own enjoyment and as a house dog. No competitions or anything.

Where in northern Michigan are you? In the northern lower peninsula our in the upper peninsula?

Northern lower. I just realized you are in MI too. I'm up near Mackinaw. Petoskey actually.

The northern Michigan NAVHDA chapter meets in Traverse City I think. You can also try on Michigan sportsmen forums and try the upland forum I believe there are several people on there that could tell you what is in your area better than I could. Good luck with your pup