Dog stays too close..

Post Reply
CatawbaGWP
Rank: Just A Pup
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 7:26 pm

Dog stays too close..

Post by CatawbaGWP » Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:46 pm

Hey guys, need some help. Got a drahthaar pup last dec and he'll be a year old in October. Have introduced him to some birds but no serious training yet, have just been letting him run around w my GWP and explore.. The problem is that he stays right by my side a majority of the time. He'll run a short ways with my older dog them turn around and come back. After getting some birds and using a launcher w him this past weekend it was almost impossible to get him off my hip. Anybody have any insight in what I can do/stop doing that may be encouraging this?

Thanks

User avatar
gonehuntin'
GDF Junkie
Posts: 4867
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:38 pm
Location: NE WI.

Re: Dog stays too close..

Post by gonehuntin' » Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:43 pm

We need more information, but my first thought is, why have you waited so long to train him?

Have you been working obedience with him?

Do you let him wander and explore away from you without calling him in?

Does the older dog kick heck out of him in the field or home?

diplomat019
Rank: Senior Hunter
Posts: 150
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2013 9:04 pm
Location: New York

Re: Dog stays too close..

Post by diplomat019 » Tue Aug 26, 2014 9:45 pm

try just walking into the woods/field and sitting down. let him just get bored with standing by you and venture out to build up his confidence.

vartz04
Rank: Junior Hunter
Posts: 98
Joined: Tue May 22, 2012 9:30 am
Location: Kendall County, IL

Re: Dog stays too close..

Post by vartz04 » Wed Aug 27, 2014 5:30 am

My weimaraner wouldn't go more than 50' away from me. Then I read the best idea on here. Go out into the wild, bring your dog, and keep your mouth shut. Literally don't say anything unless you're dog is in real danger of getting hurt(running out on a road, eyeballing a porcupine ect)

The dog will keep checking back in but if you shut up he will keep venturing out. Walking slow helps too because the dog gets bored

CatawbaGWP
Rank: Just A Pup
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 7:26 pm

Re: Dog stays too close..

Post by CatawbaGWP » Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:32 pm

Thanks for the advice guys.. Yea should've been more specific. I've done quite a bit of yard work/obedience training with him and he's been introduced to birds and gunfire, but am just getting started with the serious bird work with launchers and all. My access to birds usually starts around sept so that's where we're at. The rest of the time has been spent just running and being a puppy. But think this is great advice, I think he gets all his confidence from either me or my other dog and I need to take him out by himself more. Also they get along well, just play wrestle around together but my puppy usually has the upper hand as he's bigger already (gonna be huge)

Thanks for all the help!!

RayGubernat
GDF Junkie
Posts: 3307
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:47 am
Location: Central DE

Re: Dog stays too close..

Post by RayGubernat » Thu Aug 28, 2014 12:19 pm

Experience and running the dog by itself should take care of the problem for the most part.

If you have access to pigeons or good flying quail and a remote launcher, there is something you can try.

Plant a bird in a remote launcher about 100 yards out into a field, in a logical spot.

Go back and cut your dog loose. Hunt you way to the launcher and when the dog smells the bird, pop the launcher.

Wait about an hour or so, reload the launcher in the exact same place and go back and do it again. if need be, hunt your way to the launcher and again, when the dog smells the bird, launch.

I would suspect that after one or two sessions, your dog will be heading out for that launcher\ as soon as it is released to hunt.

Once that happens, you can start to move the launcher right, left and farther back, perhaps 20-30 yards away from the original location. The dog should head out to the original launcher location and then start hunting around. Encourage this and in fairly short order, you should have the dog hunting out in front of you with confidence.

With my field trial dogs, I give a certain whistle blast when I cut them loose. Every single time. They learn to associate that whistle blast with haulin' butt. During a run, if I want the dog to get moving on, I will hit that blast on my whistle and the dog automatically kicks into warp drive.

You could install something similar for extending the dog's range with a voice command or mouth whistle. Every time you release the dog, overlay the command. This way, when in the field, if the dog is pottering or uncertain, or you just want it to reach out to the next objective without waiting for you, your command to getup and get on will give the dog the direction it needs.

FWIW, having a dog that wants to be with you is not the worst kind of problem to have. Not at all. I have to hold on to my lunatic dogs with both hands sometimes just to keep them in the same zip code. There are definitely times when I wish I had your problem. :lol: :lol:

RayG

JKP
Rank: 5X Champion
Posts: 968
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:14 pm

Re: Dog stays too close..

Post by JKP » Thu Aug 28, 2014 4:52 pm

Too little data...

There are some DD that are from lines that are bred to hunt close....under the gun....in many parts of Germany there are too many roads. RayG's dogs would be road kill or hog bait running as he describes...we are blessed in this country to have wide open spaces/

I'd be interested to see a pedigree before I make any suggestions.

RayGubernat
GDF Junkie
Posts: 3307
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 11:47 am
Location: Central DE

Re: Dog stays too close..

Post by RayGubernat » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:16 am

CatawbaGWP -

You can ALWAYS encourage a dog to venture out and if you do it correctly, the dog\'s search pattern will expand to some degree. Conversely, you can ALWAYS put the clamps on a dog and keep it in, to some degree.

You cannot expect a dog bred to maintain close contact with its hunter/handler to go out there and bust the horizon. Conversely, you cannot expect a dog that is bred to bust the horizon, to hunt under your feet.

The reality is somewhere in between.

It is somewhat irrelevant what the breed or the breeding is. The breed or the breeding will of course put a limit on what you can accomplish with any individual dog. Buti have found that the more obedience and discipline you put on a dog, the more you regiment and control its every move... the closer it will likely tend to stick. The more you encourage it and allow it to search and seek independently, the more it will strike out on its own and the more ground it will cover to the left, right and forward of the hunter.

RayG

Post Reply