First Year Milestones

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Pastor Brown
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First Year Milestones

Post by Pastor Brown » Sat Jan 11, 2014 10:20 pm

I've read a million posts, with a million different points of view..

But could someone who has trained up more than one dog successfully, please give me a basic timeline of the first year of training a GSP pup?

I've trained up my older girl, but we got her when she was 2 1/2, & had no prior training.

I now have an 8 week old male GSP, & I'd really like some input from someone with more experience than myself.

we've had him for a week, & have him house trained (for the most part), & he is socializing pretty well.

what should be my goals, & roughly what age should I shoot for?

Thanks!

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SetterNut
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Re: First Year Milestones

Post by SetterNut » Sun Jan 12, 2014 8:39 am

The problem is that it is not so much a timeline as identifying when the dog is ready to move to the next step.

I have had some dogs that move along quickly, and other that took much longer.

The book "Training with Mo" does a good job of explaining the process and give some very general timelines for pups.

Hope that helps.
Steve

Kmack
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Re: First Year Milestones

Post by Kmack » Sun Jan 12, 2014 9:05 am

Bold and fearless pup regardless of the situation that wants to maintain contact with you to some degree.

RayGubernat
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Re: First Year Milestones

Post by RayGubernat » Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:28 pm

Milesones -

All of the following timelines are dependent on how much you mess with the dog.

come/here on lead...around 4 months
come/here off lead...about a month later.

come/here in the field with checkcord on...demand compliance from first outing and step on checkcord and bring dog back if necessary

I start introducing the dog into birdless fields when they are very young(4 months) and often select field that are a challenge for the pup to push through. That keeps them pretty close initially. As they get stronger and bigger I start to change directions on them and if they get too bold, I will hide or turn around and walk away. The dog should go with you in birdless fields pretty well by the time it is six to eight months old.

come/here in birdless field with checkcord off... same as above
come/here in the field with birds and checkcord on...Hold onto the checkcord.
come/here in the field with birds, with the checkcord off... NO COMMENT


Heel/whoa on lead...around 5/6 months
heel/whoa off lead..about 2 months later.

Into to birds(pigeons, clipwings, etc)... your call, probably around 4 months or so.

intro to birds in the field(pigeons in launchers) ..that depends a lot on whose method and, most importantly, where the dog's head is at.
I do an intro to birds in the field when the dog is fairly reliable to the heel/whoa in the yard. I will take the dog and checkcord it crosswind into one bird in a launcher. If the dog scents the bird and locks up, I will wait a few seconds(10-20) and then launch the bird and hang on to the checkcord. If the dog scents the bird and then goes to it, I will launch the bird and hold the checkcord.

I do not like for my dogs to chase. Just my preference. If you allow the dog to bump and chase, it will, very often...take longer to get from here to there. However, allowing a dog to bump and chase has the advantage of letting the birds teach the dog and for some folks that is how they wish to proceed.

How I proceed depends on the dog's reaction to the scent. I will go back to the yardwork if it does not at least hesitate and try again with one bird in about 2 weeks or so.

I have had a dog stand for the launch and flight of the bird as early as 8 months. Little SOB stood high and tight the very first time. Yeah, I was shocked. Most would stand(most of the time anyway) by the time they were 11-12 months oldand were pretty reliable by the time they were 14-16 months old. A few took longer but doing it the way I do, I expect a dog to stand by the time it is about 14 months old. If it does not...it is probably time to enlist the aid of a pro.

I hope these benchmarks and rough timelines are of some help. As others have said, it is more about where the dog is at the time than what the calendar says. What is going on inside the dog's head should ALWAYS trump the trainer's timeline. You gotta read the dog's body language.

RayG





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Sharon
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Re: First Year Milestones

Post by Sharon » Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:12 pm

"I do not like for my dogs to chase. Just my preference. If you allow the dog to bump and chase, it will, very often...take longer to get from here to there. However, allowing a dog to bump and chase has the advantage of letting the birds teach the dog and for some folks that is how they wish to proceed. " quote Ray

Thank you Ray. You should be a politician. :)
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett

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cmc274
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Re: First Year Milestones

Post by cmc274 » Sun Jan 12, 2014 5:47 pm

To get it to generally go with you , come back to you and to put it in as much game as possible. Once they start pointing them and holding until you get close, kill em a bunch of birds. I like em to knock and chase until their heart is content. Birds learn to be bird dogs by knocking and chasing, that just a fact.

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Pastor Brown
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Re: First Year Milestones

Post by Pastor Brown » Mon Jan 13, 2014 3:37 pm

Thanks, there's a lot of good advice here, & I appreciate it!

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Re: First Year Milestones

Post by polmaise » Mon Jan 13, 2014 3:48 pm

RayGubernat wrote: it is more about where the dog is at the time than what the calendar says. What is going on inside the dog's head should ALWAYS trump the trainer's timeline. You gotta read the dog's body language.
RayG
That should be the first milestone (imo)

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bonasa
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Re: First Year Milestones

Post by bonasa » Mon Jan 13, 2014 5:25 pm

Great post Ray. I like my dogs to have recall, stay to the front and stand for my flushing attempt by 12 months. I do a bit of hacking to keep them close for the first few birds, then they get it. If the pup is standing and I'm in his field of view that bird is going down. Thank the man for woodcock!

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