New Gun Dog!

[NDGuy]

Lots of good stuff on here. My number 1 piece of advice is to not rush hardcore bird training.

#1 Should be to get the dog on birds on a fun & exciting environment. I didn't even carry my shotgun the first few times we went walking for roosters. Just let her sniff them out and find them.

 

[Kindo]

I'm currently wrapping up my first year with a pointer (Draht) and it's been a lot of fun. Was a lab guy since the day I was born but wanted to try something different. One of the best tools for our first year was using a "Wonder Lead" by Delmar Smith. I feel like that was the best tool for getting the dogs attention for working on basic obedience and healing work and by the time she was 8 months, my 6 year old daughter could walk her around the yard without being pulled all over!

Like others have said, expose yourself to all the different training styles you can and see what you and your pup like.

 

[Kootenay Hunter]

Sweet, I'll look into that wonder lead, thanks!

 

[Billinsd]

Excellent choice in a hunting dog.
GSPs are my favorite bird dogs!!!

Perfection kennel DVDs. http://www.perfectionkennel.com/

Excellent training method, very straight forward and very popular for pointing dogs. The Delmar Smith approach with the silent command is an excellent read. Many talk way too much to their dogs during training.

There are lots of different training methods that will work. Review a lot of them and stick with one. However, don't jump from one method to another with your dog, it will confuse both of you.

Hardest part of training for me is getting pigeons or birds to train with. Pointing dogs need lots and lots of birds for training. The problem with pen raised birds and pigeons is when they are poor flyers. You don't want a pointing dog catching birds when you are training him. The more wild birds you can get into the better.

Don't ever give a command you cannot enforce.

It's usually real tough to unreach a dog something like being guy shy or other issues if you don't expose and/or introduce your dog to things and train him correctly.

Be fair to your dog. Never get angry. You want your dog to be successful in each training, stop on a good note. Train in short time spans. Be consistent.

Many of these techniques are great for raising children too.

Bill

 

[Kootenay Hunter]

One more sleep and a loooong drive.....

 

[Blockcaver]

Exciting times With a new pup! Good
Luck and enjoy your GSP. Our Vizsla is a joy everyday.

 

[slick]

One more sleep and a loooong drive.....

Anxiously waiting for pictures. Safe travels

 

[BroodBuster]

Some excellent advice in this thread. Some subtle differences in technique and philosophy but everyone is pretty spot on.

Only thing I’d add is teach hand signals along with voice commands. This is helpful when hunting with other handlers and their dogs. This also can confuse smart wild birds and get them to hold instead of run run run. I also stay away from whistles. Multiple whistlers on the same field is a disaster for the poor pups having to deal with multiple commands from multiple places.

Much of the advice in this thread is so sound that it should be pinned in the Game Bird section.

 

[work765]

I have a 9 month old GSP. Smartest dog I’ve ever owned. And soooo much energy! Get ready to lose some Weight!


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[NJDiverDan]

Love our GSP. She's 6 years old now.


Puppy pic


How she likes life now:

 

[timberplains]

I am on month 11 with my GSP male. Had Weimeraners for years and decided to mix it up this time. I am getting some help from a local pro with the training but also doing a lot myself.

I would second the earlier recommendation on the Perfection Kennels training info. They are a little pricey but their Perfect Start and Perfect Finish videos are REALLY good. They are not super polished productions and show them demoing their training techniques on young untrained dogs, which makes it much more real world.

Biggest things I can recommend is lots of exercise every day to keep the edge off so he can focus on training. Second biggest thing is what others have said about taking them everywhere with you. Home Depot and Lowe’s are dog friendly and a great way to socialize them. Lots of car rides when running errands, walking in new areas, etc.

Good luck with your pup! A GSP with high prey drive can be a real handful!


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[Salmonchaser]

Good stuff above. I’ve had GSPs for about 50 years. Don’t go to hard, have fun but buy six months have here, whoa and heal down pat. Could save both your lives. Happy for you. I’m not certain yet but at 63 I may be running my last brace of shorthairs. I look forward to your updates.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Oh Ten Bears is wrong. Both my GSPS have gone hard at Grizzlies. Molly has gotten her teeth into a couple of them. She jumped on the back of a bear that had knocked our Golden down. They’re not all pussies

 

[Okhotnik]

I’ve been hunting with bird dogs over40 years

Get your dog on as many wild birds as possible the first few years. This is vey important. If your dog has good genetics it will learn.

The basic conditioning to gun fire is easy.


Start with live birds and a pellet gun, .22 rifle with reward training and after a few months a 20 gauge at a distance the eventually a shotgun

Some dogs take a few months others 6 to 10 months. Depends on dogs character. Get dome pigeons and work on prey instinct, drive and gradually work up from there to finish off dog. Developing prey instinct is very important.

Plus of course get the basic socializing Down at young age. Dog goes everywhere with me as a puppy. Whoa, curb, leave it, stay etc. And basic obedience behavior training down too.

A hunting dog ain’t happy if it ain’t exercised every day. Most behavior issues due to owner lack of training

Getting a hunting dog is a big commitment

 

[3sdad]

After almost 2 years with my first gsp, my thoughts are; Basic obedience. Recall is the probably the most important to me for a chukar dog. I used a lead early on to develop this. They can cover a lot of ground and vanish quickly. Especially my gsp at only 31 lbs. Heel didn't make the cut for me. Next, work on that natural retrieve your gsp should have. retrieving your own bird after investing in a versatile gun dog is a downer, and force fetch just takes time away from something else you could work on. Plus throwing a ball for 15 minutes is waaay more fun than taking a walk or run. Lastly, don't over work/pressure your dog and let your expectations exceed reality. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[huntineveryday]

There are a lot if different approaches to training, but from everything I read the common threads were:

-keep sessions short and end with the pup still excited.

-positive reinforcement works better than negative, and don't bring a collar into the equation until the dog is a little older AND collar conditioned

-lay a foundation of good obedience training the first 6-8 months, and let the pup have fun and discover thier instincts the first season.

My own addition would be to have your pup introduced to loud notices and guns BEFORE mid-June. Makes the fourth of July a lot easier if you live in town or travel around fireworks season.

Have fun and enjoy the pup!

 

[BackCountryMulies]

Great choice I love GSP's, You are getting this pup at a perfect time. He will be the perfect age come upland season.

A few things I have learned.
- Dont over train him. Come here, Fetch, and whoa is all he needs this first season and if hes not perfect at whoa he will be by the end of season if you hunt him enough.
- Let him be a pup this first season hes going to bust through birds and run like hell.
( id highly recommend a gps/training collar)
- If you have the will power do not shoot any wild up birds. Make him hold point and you flush then shoot
- Keep it fun
- No matter how frustrated you are with him busting coveys remember this is his first time on the job he will figure it out just give him the time to do so. I think in my setters head its a worse punishment for me not shooting birds that he busted than yelling at him
- wild birds will not teach dogs bad habits
The very best training you can do is exposure and time in the field no matter how good of a trainer someone is they can not teach a dog to hunt. You can only teach him the simple things he will teach you the rest.

I am currently hunting a high speed setter and will probably get a GSP when my setter is 3. IMO you can not go wrong with either for a companion and hunting dog.

1st pic: Beau @ 12 weeks unsure and un confident about the chuckar scent infront of him

2nd Pic: last day of our second season @ 1.5 years old and over 150 wild birds from multiple states and terrain under his belt he has become one of the best dogs I have ever hunted over. If you tell him to roll over hes going to look at you like an idiot but if you vibrate his collar from 300 yards and point in the direction you want him to move hes off like a bullet

3rd pic: Last day of our second trip to Nebraska. I hunted with 6 other guys all running labs and by the end of the trip the labs got let out of the kennel to go to the bathroom.

If I could only give you one piece of advise it would be to hunt him as much as possible and let him figure out how to hunt for you.

 

[JimCraig]

The 2 I had were incredible dogs, probably the most athletic dogs I've ever seen. Their predatory drive was amazing and every once in a while things "went red" and there was no stopping the killer instinct. I also found them to be so intelligent it almost scared me. I swear they could look into my soul and read my mind! They were very connective when it came to the relationship between them and my family. Our second (female) was an outside dog for probably 4 years, and we eventually decided it was time to bring her inside and it really was like she just knew the sanctity of her new home and she required zero house training. Never had single accident the rest of her life. Probably an anomaly, but I'll always love that breed.

 

[vitalzone]

yea, hunting birds with a dog is truly amazing fun, Hell, I drew a archery early bull elk tag in Arizona and Im more cincerned about getting my new pup ready for the quail season in early october

 

[Salmonchaser]

Getting on birds is huge. Basic obedience also. I’ve always believed if you can always recall your dog, keep them where you want, they will teach you how to hunt.