Everyone has a plan till they get hit- New Jersey Brittany

[Cerilli]

Here goes:
I'm from Morris, New Jersey. got my Brittany in November, at probably too young an age- 6 weeks. I am new to gun dog training but like mostly everybody I thought I was completely prepared. Naturally I, probably, started too early. George was an absolute handful, I mean scary. He was actually extremely aggressive. I know that doesn't sound right but he genuinely bit everybody he met. Everybody besides me. He is well socialized and has really calmed down. as a baby most of my focus was on basic obedience. It seems he is finally calming down (yes he gets tons of excercise, I promise) so I began doing some retrieving and feather work as well as taking him for leash free walks in bird country. He actually finds pheasant feathers on a regular basis but has not yet seen a live bird. He retries dummies well and for a while, a month, retrieved wings pretty well too although it seems he never really WANTS to bring it back. Recently he has come into contact with very fresh meaty wings and immediately began chewing and eating them without any sense or desire to retrieve. I'm beginning to worry as I don't know how to handle this devouring. I take the wing away immediately and have him "hold" it but after a short time he just tries to eat/chew. I was planning on bringing him into contact with some love birds to huntbumpandchase hopefully develop a point.
I know this dog has incredible ability with a strong nose but I can't help but feel that I'm not doing him justice. I devote basically all of my time to him. I constantly see pictures of guys with there 5/6 months old holding birds and can't help but feel like I'm behind the 8 ball. He whoas as long as he is on a cord. The second he's off leash he is on the hunt. That's probably my own doing though, I'm working on it. I can't help but feel an ecollar will help but I'm trying my damdest to avoid it. Can anybody provide me with some assurance or advice. I'm really anxious to see him react to love birds and hopefully point, how should I go about this? Clip their wings? Just let them flush?

[Hoosierdaddy]

You are expecting way too much out of a puppy.By my count 6 months old.Forget retrieve for now.Basic ob. only.Run the snot out of that pup.What you think is plenty of excersize is probably not enough.A tired Brittany is a good Brittany.Puppies chew stuff,in fact they love to chew stuff.It has been said on this forum 1,000 times let a pup be a pup its first year. Crate train,no biting,leash training, and run ,run, and run that pup daily.
Many people get Brittanies and other hunting dogs expecting couch potatoes.You have a high strung breed that needs exercise,that thrives on exercise.They are great dogs and i have owned them for over 30 years.

[Timewise65]

Just to clarify............all puppies have shark teeth and bite the heck out of everyone....that is what puppies do! That has nothing to do with aggression!

[Trekmoor]

I do agree that you are expecting a bit much from a 6 months old puppy. Pups develop at their own rate so comparing your pup to those belonging to other people .....people who maybe have more live game around to hunt the pups on ......just isn't going to work too well.

I could show you a photograph of my (then) 5 months old brit pup pointing a wild pheasant she'd found and she never has been hunted on a check-cord ..... I very seldom ever use one for anything. What would the photograph prove though ? Nothing at all I.M.O. , I have access to wild birds and the pup is also of very different breeding to your pup .

I would not be using meaty bird wings as retrieve articles , that's a certainty ! Pups like meat and pups like bones so they chew them or eat them. "Don't do what doesn't work, do what does." is a favourite saying of mine's. Try using soft toys or homemade "sock" bumpers or even fairly lightweight shop bought bumpers as retrieves. If you want to tie bird wings onto one of those articles use only the very last joint of the wings ....not the meaty shoulder joint parts of wings. I'd tape over the bone ends of those wing ends too.

It's a funny thing with dogs but the more you run them the fitter they get . I would not run a pup on and on to tire it out. The pup will only either become fitter and more energetic or it will strain it's young bones or muscles a bit too much. Give a pup exercise, yes, but to tire it out a bit try to make some of that exercise , mental exercise......retrieving is pretty good for that purpose.

Bill T.

[setterpoint]

all you said is perfectly normal pup stuff you did well not to use shock coller the dog is way to young keep it fun just take the dog for walks and let it be a pup you can do basic stuff but keep it fun

[Cerilli]

Thank you all for replying so quickly.
It's great to have some assurance and agreement to slow down. I'll definitely lower my expectations. So many people have so many opinions.

He's a great dog. I promise you all he runs his heart out, he's a happy pup no doubt. He's either sleeping or running. I do ALOT of long boarding everyday, and he's next to me for every mile of it.
Thank you all again

[RayGubernat]

NJB -


There is absolutely no reason why you cannot or should not be doing obedience type yardwork with your youngster. I would be working on here and whoa and kennel commands. These three commands and behaviors are critical for a bird dog. The dog needs to come in when called, to stop when it needs to stop and to head out when it is instructed to head out. BEFORE you attempt to mess with birds or any of that, the pup should be well indoctrinated in these three behaviors. not perfect..by any menas but well schooled.

There is one very good way to do here command drills. Two persons, two check cords on the dog and the dog in the middle. Person one calls dog, dog comes or gets reeled in and dog gets a treat. Person 2 calls dog. dog comes or gets reeled in and dog gets a treat.

Rinse and repeat(as Shags would say), gradually replacing the edible treat with a pat and a "good dog", which is all the reward a dog should ever need.

There are two good ways to do whoa drills, a buddy stick and a Smith wonder lead. I use the wonder lead with the heel/whoa drills described in Paul Long's book. I do the drills about ten minutes in the morning and the same in the evening. I do this drill every single day from the time the pup is about 4 months old and do refreshers ever so often 'till the day the dog dies.
My dogs are kenneled outdoors so I use the kennel command to get the dog comfortable with heading away from me. They also kennel up, pretty much immediately, on command, until the day they die.

FWIW, when you are playing...play. When you are training ...train. if the dog does not listen when it is off lead...keep the darn lead on when you are training until the dog DOES listen with it off. Try to keep the training fun and short duration, but make sure the dog knows the difference between fun time and training. The dog needs the structure and the obedience may just save its life someday when it IS off lead.

A shock collar is nothing more than a very long checkcord. Before you put it on the dog...make sure it knows what to do when it is on the "short" checkcord or you will just confuse the dog.

Forget the birds and such for now. Work with your youngster and get it to respond to you. The rest will come if you do the groundwork now. You must build your house on a solid foundation or it will fall apart. The yardwork is the foundation.


RayG

[Cerilli]

I do agree that you are expecting a bit much from a 6 months old puppy. Pups develop at their own rate so comparing your pup to those belonging to other people .....people who maybe have more live game around to hunt the pups on ......just isn't going to work too well.

I could show you a photograph of my (then) 5 months old brit pup pointing a wild pheasant she'd found and she never has been hunted on a check-cord ..... I very seldom ever use one for anything. What would the photograph prove though ? Nothing at all I.M.O. , I have access to wild birds and the pup is also of very different breeding to your pup .


Bill T.

Thanks Trek, can you elaborate on what you mean by youe " pup is also of very different breeding" to mine?

[oldbeek]

My math has this dog closer to 5 months old. Slow down. X2 on Rays suggestions. I have seen dogs brought out to a trainer that didn't even know their names let alone come on command. Do your yard work first. Go slow. I used a short bristly paint roller as a fetch dummy. Light enough to be tossed around in the house also. Enjoy your puppy.

[Trekmoor]

[

Thanks Trek, can you elaborate on what you mean by youe " pup is also of very different breeding" to mine?

Only that as they were bred on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean their breeding is likely to be very different. The various behaviours and temperaments of pups will vary between any two litters and even within the same litter. As I have discovered several times when trying to replace an old favourite dog with a new pup .......... you never get the same dog twice.

Bill T.