New guy

[Willimon1]

Hello, I am new to the forum. I have hunted behind German Shorthairs for close to twenty three years. When I was a kid we had dogs, but they weren’t obedient by any standard. They were hunting dogs. I am currently working with a three year old dog. She loads in the truck, kennels, comes when called, points and retrieves. I am working on whoa with a slip lead and I am getting promising results in a short amount of time. Is there anything I should be doing in conjunction with the slip lead? She is very sensitive to the collar and I am searching for a answer to introduce a reaction for her not listening to the command.

Thanks,
Charlie

[Meskousing]

The biggest thing you can do is to get with people that know what they are doing. I'm not a pointer/versatile guy, so I can't help you with a GSP at all. Except, to say, find a NAVHDA group and go there. They will teach you how to teach your dog.

[Willimon1]

Thanks for the response. I will look into finding one.

[birddogger2]

Willmon1 -

Welcome aboard.
Something you can do with a slip lead is a heel/whoa drill after the manner of Paul Long.

I prefer to use a waxed cotton lead like the Smith "wonder lead", because the waxed cotton has a "spring" to it which makes both the correction and reward almost instantaneous. However, if your timing is good, you can do the same thing. I actually use a "pigging string", which does the same thing and costs about 8 bucks.

The process is well described in his book "Training pointing Dogs", but has also been detailed on several boards.

There are other ways to ingrain the "stop and stand" response, like a heeling stick or a whoa post, but for any of it, I would suggest that you find someone in your area who trains pointing dogs to a competitive level and ask them to show you how. If it is a pro trainer, A couple of hours of their time might be the best money you could spend on your dog.

I have been to several different Navhda and other training groups. Not all are created equal and while most are quite good, I advise you to go and see for yourself, without your dog, before you decide if that is the way you want to go.

If you would care to let us know your general locale(state, county) perhaps someone could "point" you toward a good resource(sorry for the pun).

RayG

[Willimon1]

Ray, I am located in southwest Kansas

[DonF]

There are several way's of teaching whoa. The best one is the one that works for you. I use the orginal Delmar Smith whoa post, works great for me. Lady who's name escapes me now in the Dakotas, Gertie has used her, did a video using the barrel. Best video I ever saw on the barrel. Other's use the heel method and works for them. Thing to remember is that teaching whoa is after the command the dog must stop! Not pretty soon after, but right after. I think most people get in trouble with that. On the whoa post the command is never given if it can't be enforced right away. On the barrel, ah Sherri something in the Dakotas, Movement cause's the barrel to shake. On the heel, you have to stop with the dog and as in obedience where the dog must sit when you stop, simply make the dog stand still. From there you need to learn to leave the dog with the dog staying there. Little hint, when you leave the dog standing on heel, step away with your off foot. Dog on your left, step away with the right foot. Reason is you step with the left foot and you pull the dog with you. Withing I could remember Sherri's last name. Ex-wife of very well known setter trainer who's name I also forget. Getting old ain't for sissy's!

Find someone to show you different way's and choose the one that make's sense to you! Then it's all repetition!

[shags]

^^^ Ebert.