westksbowhunter
Well-known member
My concern would be gun introduction
I would let him find and flush and chase birds before I shot over him
Get him bird crazy with lots of encouragement and atta boys so he’s actively seeking pheasants
Then when he’s fired up chasing one he flushed shoot it for him so he sees it fall just one shot no boom boom boom
If you miss let it fly off and just do the attaboys and go find another bird
Once he connects the boom with a bird falling you will be on your way
Also forget trying to teach quartering just follow him
Around and catch up to him when he gets birdy
Well I wouldn't shoot over him until I did a proper gun introduction. And yes teach him to quarter. That goes hand in hand with bird introduction and gun introduction, if you know what you are doing. I do bird intro at 8 weeks and it continues through running marks and teaching quartering once gun dog training starts. Then when teaching quartering you have your helpers toss a bird and fire a gun. Pretty soon you have a hard quartering, birdy dog, who is used to the gun. It is all broken down into phases when you follow a solid program. Each phase flows into the next and when hunting season approaches you have a trained dog ready to hit the field. The dog is very birdy, has basic obedience down, is collar conditioned, force fetched, and quarters like an olympic skier. Trial and error is not training, it is teaching bad habits.