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CliffBar7135

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A little over a year ago my fiancé brought home a dog, we are pretty sure he is an English pointer mix. He listens to me pretty well but still needs work. I made the same mistake most other guys do by saying not my dog it’s my girls dog, she has to train it… we’ll he’s pretty much my dog now. I was curious what your guys’ thoughts were on training and once he’s got the basics down, starting to train him as a bird dog, with never doing it before and I’d like to get into duck and pheasant hunting. Thanks for your time and input.
 
The two main things in my opinion are. Many people skip this one, some regret it. Gun conditioning! Start by throwing his favorite toy while banging on a metal pan with a spoon or something similar. Transition to a blank pistol. The point being to associate something good with the bang. Then its birds, birds and more birds. Has he shown any pointing instincts? Normally but not always a pup will show some pointing instinct. Don't sweat it if he doesn't. Pigeons are the easiest to find. You don't have to shoot everyone. The point being to bring out his prey drive and pointing instinct. There are many degrees of trained gun dogs, some highly trained some not. There are countless videos and books, but one thing for sure, you will never make him a bird dog without those two. If he doesn't point teach him to whoa when he smells birds or keep him close and let him flush. How about a picture?
 
Some basic obedience is needed. Here, heal and sit. In my opinion, it’s nice when you can use the “here” command without yelling at the dog. I’d invest in a GPS (with a tone option) training collar as you likely have a dog that likes to hunt way out in front of you. As mentioned above, It would be good to know how he reacts to a gun shot. I’d also try a preserve a couple of times, or plant your own birds as your state allows, to get an idea of how the dog is going to hunt. Good luck!
 
I can’t say I’ve really seen him point, but he definitely like to stand and stare out the door and windows of the house, and tree and squirrels in the yard. I picked up a garmin xc ecollar the other day to help with the training before I spend a ton on a gps collar. Here’s a picture, not the best but I will upload a better one when I get home laterB6C5FCA0-4C86-4820-815B-5BD6086262E5.jpeg
 
CliffBar7135 said:
I can’t say I’ve really seen him point, but he definitely like to stand and stare out the door and windows of the house, and tree and squirrels in the yard. I picked up a garmin xc ecollar the other day to help with the training before I spend a ton on a gps collar. Here’s a picture, not the best but I will upload a better one when I get home laterView attachment 4939
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I really really hope your just trolling and not serious…no experience..elecytic collar..
Related to goose maybe..or the same!!
 
birddude said:
Gun conditioning
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I would start on this right away after the basic obedience. Just like birddude stated, start with a cap gun or blanks or something not as loud. Then work your way up to real gun fire, slowly. Don't keep doing it if the dog responds negatively. Once you create a gun shy dog, you won't be able to fix that.

Might be better just sending the dog off to some professional training to be honest.
 
birddude nailed it, proper gun introduction is probably the most important thing. Perfection Kennels has a lot of great info about this on their Facebook videos and they have a gun acclimation video that goes into great detail how to do it well. Don’t rush that part of it and the rest will come with time.
 
gimruis said:
I would start on this right away after the basic obedience. Just like birddude stated, start with a cap gun or blanks or something not as loud. Then work your way up to real gun fire, slowly. Don't keep doing it if the dog responds negatively. Once you create a gun shy dog, you won't be able to fix that.

Might be better just sending the dog off to some professional training to be honest.
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I have not had a gun shy dog that I remember
I always banged a spoon in the metal food dish to make a loud noise when feeding when they were pups. Associated the noise with a reward
As they grew a started blowing a whistle when feeding to start them on a comeback call with
 
Yeah, I would say he's got some pointer in him. He looks a lot like the Texas Squire dogs of the 80's. Be careful with the juice, take him out somewhere a long way from a road and run him down multiple times before you use the collar to reign him in. Lots of dogs will run like the wind if they haven't been hunted. That doesn't mean it's his natural range. Keep us posted!!
 
Uh, this might seem simplistic, or even offensive, but don't show anger at the dog. Just quit whatever you're doing, and put him away for a while as you calm down.

As others have mentioned, use the spark on your collar as seldom as possible. Remember, the dog wants to please you. Most training is getting him to understand what you want him to do.

Laugh often, praise extravagantly, use treats in the early days; eventually he will want to do the jobs because it pleases you.

Best wishes.
 
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Thank you everyone for the advice. He already knows sit. We make our dogs sit before we feed them every time. So he’s not completely untrained. I took him out yesterday after I got off work and worked with him he seemed to pickup on stuff pretty quickly. Is there a certain duration of time I should be working with him each day?
 
Every interaction you and your family have with him is a form of training. Remember, the whole WORLD is new to him in a sense.

Don't wear him out; fifteen minutes a session is fine, several times a day

The deal for him is "this is play". It will be a while before you insist it is work. He wants to please you; make it as easy for him as you can.

It is going to be fun for you if you let it be.
 
CliffBar7135 said:
Thank you everyone for the advice. He already knows sit. We make our dogs sit before we feed them every time. So he’s not completely untrained. I took him out yesterday after I got off work and worked with him he seemed to pickup on stuff pretty quickly. Is there a certain duration of time I should be working with him each day?
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Keep them short, Like Kismet said, make it fun, don't take it too seriously for a while. You can do whatever training you're doing then play fetch, then to the water when it warms up, see if he swims. No biggie if he doesn't, but most dogs love it.
 
Hate to play devils advocate, but with a mixed background and lack of knowledge on the dog it might be far fetched to start training him as a bird dog right away. Shock collar is beyond what you need to start and you are getting ahead of yourself. If you want to see if he has potential see if you can get some fresh dead pigeons or get him around some caged game birds. Something to see if he even has the drive to be a bird dog before you invest too much effort and money.

I’ve seen alot of mixed breed rescues mix diagnosed on what they are and people end up disappointed when they don’t turn into a hunting dog. Most bird dogs start training as a pup as well. Not saying you can’t turn him into a bird dog, but maybe just back up a few steps and see if he has potential first. Start with baby steps.
I’m not trying to be harsh but there is a reason why good gun dog breeders put alot of time and effort into producing the pups that go out the door.
I would start with working on basic obedience and on leash control first, watch some videos on collar conditioning and using a shock collar properly before using it, it’s the responsible thing to do. Watch some videos on bird intro and see if he has the drive and interest, and move forward from there. Best of luck
 
The most common mistake I see newbies make with pups is teaching pup that the human voice
can be ignored as "background music"
I demonstrate this in the first 18 seconds of this video.
The remainder of the video is conditioning pup for a reliable whistle recall.
 
Here is a tip to work on this winter. Get yourself a 30 ft lead. Go to enclosed soccer field and work on simple quartering excercises. Start by calling his name and simply turn directions as you call his name. Progress to a whistle pairing with his name and do this couple of times per week. The goal is to be in control of him. use an intermittent recall back to you and reel him in to you on a simple here command. When he is quartering reliably. Let go of the Checoncord to see how he responds. I am talking about months to accomplish these simple task. If you go into a field setting leave the checkered on. If he likes to retrieve set it up so he comes back to you in a straight line. Again the long lead keeps you in control. Be patient and praise only. Since he is a pointing dog you want to work on whoa command, your goal is to make him plant his feet and not move or creep.
Once you have the whoa command which can be done both inside and outside you can introduce to some pigeon work with the long lead on. You can then use the wind and your control to get him in the scent zone. If necessart whoa him to the point. Set your program up and keep him in it. Enjoy the journey, if you need help reach out.
 
You do not say where you live. There are some excellent folks on this site. One of them might live in or visit your neighborhood, and would help you with some “hands on” advice. I would if you lived near me. Oregon, Ohio
 
captainshotgun said:
You do not say where you live. There are some excellent folks on this site. One of them might live in or visit your neighborhood, and would help you with some “hands on” advice. I would if you lived near me. Oregon, Ohio
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I’m about an hour north of Cincinnati, Ohio in the Middletown area
 
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