Gun Dog Forum

Hi all!
I had posted a few months back about how our family was presented with the opportunity to adopt a young Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer. Before adding him to our crew, we did our research on the breed, contacted the breeder who bred him, as well as the breeder/trainer for his mother (who personally knew and could attest to both the breeder and lineage of his father - father was imported from Europe so I didn't actually contact them). He has great genes and comes from established, proven breeders for these unique pups.

Needless to say, we adopted him and he's a wonderfully sweet, high-energy, smart-as-a-whip, year-old pup.

We got him in early July and have been working with him since. When we brought him home, he had little experience in the field. We started from scratch, establishing recall and obedience, and just working with him to totally recognize us as his people. His previous owner had purchased him with the intention to hunt and then had a health situation that derailed his ability to do that (which is why he ended up with us!)

Short story: He's never been introduced to birds til now.
I also worry that his past experience with an e-collar might have made him "collar shy" (he seems to get very skittish when he has one on).

Yesterday evening, we introduced him to live quail. He wasn't afraid of them at all, but just not very intrigued.
He'd sniff it, lick it, and follow it a bit, but no dramatic interest.
As a contrast, when we brought our two other dogs out for a chance (they're established hunters and LOVE IT)...they absolutely go nuts when they see one, smell one, hear one...you name it...and since they were puppies, they've always had that drive. We were fortunate and drive was never an issue for us.

I was curious what you'd recommend here to stir up his interest?
He's an excellent retriever (he'd retrieve a dummy all day long...it's his favorite thing), he's not gun shy, and he points the "bleep" out of our cats in the house (lol)...but obviously we'd love for him to be interested in the birds as I know hunting is absolutely what he's built to do.

thoughts for drumming up his enthusiasm for birds?
I attached a picture since he's a more unique pup! ...Loves water, too hahaha

Have zero experience with that breed, but a puppy is a puppy and a bird dog is a bird dog.

Many continental breeds are expected to seek multiple types of game, both feather and fur. That can mean that they may have a less intense initial response to gamebirds than your typical American bred pointer, setter or GSP. American bred bird dogs, including many continental breeds have been selectively bred for quite some time to focus on gamebirds more than fur, so a direct european import that has been bred with a high level of interest in fur may exhibit different behavior.

You may want to "develop" the dog's response to the situation first...before you bring actual birds into the equation, especially if the dog seems hesitant or unsure of its response to the bird. That exposure and training can serve to both give the dog confidence and to develop the "desire" to stand tall and proud, which stroking and styling and repetitions can absolutely bring out.

First things first, I would do some heel/whoa drills, and/or some barrel/placeboard/bench work to introduce the concept of standing still and "assuming the position", via stroking and styling the dog.

Once some of that is done, you will begin to see(hopefully) that the dog will kind of "get in a zone" with stroking and styling. At that point, if you have access to a pigeon or two, I suggest that you bring the youngster in to the scent cone of a gamebird, while on a lead and see what kind of response you get. If there is any recognition of the scent, stop the dog, style it up and then take a pigeon out of your gamebag, hold it by the legs and make it flutter and beat its wings. If the dog breaks...GREAT. Let the bird fly. If the dog stand tall, with intensity...EVEN BETTER. Let the bird fly. In either case, go to the dog and let them know that you are pleased, both verbally and by stroking.

Put the dog away after each single contact,for at least twenty minutes and let it think about what just happened. If yo have done it right, I guarantee the next time you do the drill, the dog will WANT to do it more and more.

Step by step, build that confidence,build that trust and build that desire. Be patient, be persistent, be firm but gentle and your dog will give yo everything it has to give.

Rinse and repeat.

Ray is undoubtedly giving you good advice, but here is an ad that was run on Gun Dog Central last year. I certainly don't want to deter you from doing your best with this dog, but when you're dealing with oddball European breeds, realize that it is a very small gene pool. The likelihood of selecting out dogs that do not have strong bird hunting instincts is far less than with a more popular breed in America with a cadre of serious dedicated breeders. Do the best you can, but don't expect more of the dog than what it has to give.

SLOVAKIAN ROUGH HAIRED POINTER TO REHOME

I have a 15 month intact female SRHP import from Slovakia. I have over 6000 dollars in training over her has been broke to wing, shot retrieve. Honestly all of these are very weak. She just doesn’t have the intensity or drive I would like. She is NAVHDA registered. High energy dog and great with my children and with people and other dogs. She is slick hair gray and white with no furnishings. Again just doesn’t have that drive I am looking for in a hunting partner.

https://gundogcentral.com/hunting-dogs- ... home/65068