Gun Dog Forum

Put my 12 week old britt on planted pigeons today for the first time....we planted in light cover and brought the pup in into a crosswind, easy stuff. He finally scented the bird(s) about 15 feet out, and without even a flash point headed right into the bird. The birds were in a protected funnel and flushed cleanly.

Dog did the same thing both times. The birds/walks were a couple hours apart. Was not able to catch the pigeon nor chase very far, we made sure.

I was hoping for at least a 1 or 2 second point or pause....but he went in like a springer. Which is what I have been messing with the last few years.

Previously we have done scent training with treats/chicken skins and done basic puppy things (Larry Mueller book) and frequent walks in cover.

Looking for thoughts from those with a lot more experience.

sb

Your pup is just a baby, it did exactly what good pups do. Does it come from hunting lines? Does it like birds? I imagine the answer is yes, so stop worrying. You have many, many months before this question could possibly become a concern, and honestly, it rarely if ever is warranted. The dog will point birds when it is ready. It could be next week, it could be months down the road and either way it has no bearing on how good of a bird dog it will become. Right now you just want it figuring out that you are where the fun is, and it wants to be with you.

Garrison

Garrison wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 22, 2023 9:23 pm

Your pup is just a baby, it did exactly what good pups do. Does it come from hunting lines? Does it like birds? I imagine the answer is yes, so stop worrying. You have many, many months before this question could possibly become a concern, and honestly, it rarely if ever is warranted. The dog will point birds when it is ready. It could be next week, it could be months down the road and either way it has no bearing on how good of a bird dog it will become. Right now you just want it figuring out that you are where the fun is, and it wants to be with you.

Garrison

Appreciate it.

Yes from hunting stock and he loves birds...goes to visit the coop everyday on his walks.

So, I will stop the worrying.....or at least try to.

The dog is too young to effectively hunt over this season. How effective she points will not matter in practical terms for another 9 months. Other folks on this forum have vastly more experience than me, but right now I would be focusing on playing fetch in a hallway (5 times max per session to build interest), creating a bond, teaching basic manners and recall, and exposing to as many different environments as possible.

Everybody wants that picture perfect point out of a puppy, but in the long run it doesn't matter. I didn't introduce my current dog (gsp) to a pigeon until he was about 16 weeks old, and then I let him catch wing clipped pigeons for two weeks to build drive. After he was gung-ho about catching them, I started popping 209 primers while he was chasing. When he didn't notice the primers, I moved up to 0.22 blanks. I was confident that with my situation I could get him on enough birds soon thereafter that he would learn he couldn't catch them, and that is when he started scent pointing at ~ 4.5 months old. I never even bothered teaching him whoa because his point ended up being so strong.

If you want that perfect puppy point picture then do wing on a string. Once you take your pictures and put the wing on a string away for good.

The above posts are spot on. Your dog is just a baby. Way to early to put him on birds. Don't push so early. Concentrate on bonding with the dog and teaching obedience.

I always love to read or hear about the new recruits ! Sounds like your enjoying your new recruit ! For me I would be bonding and making the new pup my friend. Let a puppy be a puppy. After all their only young once ! Everything else will come. Thats all in the little package . Perhaps see if there are any class's for training in your area. Yes you can do it alone but being around others is a big help with laying foundation work and socialization. Just some conclusions I have come to !
Enjoy your new pup ! Always keep a cool head which can be the hardest thing to do at times. Always end training on a positive note.