C'mon and meet Tinker...

Kismet

Kismet

UPH Guru
she's been through a tough life.

She was whelped a year ago and left to roam in a backyard for 6 months, then bought by a city couple with 3 cats, big hearts, and ...er...good intentions. They sold her because she wants to kill their cats. She'll be a year old in a few days. She is slim. On the AKC papers, her sire is listed as "_______ Drahthaar's ____," so maybe both sire and dam are DD. (?)



Dunno if I can bring her breeding out, and tap into that DNA hunter that's there. She's a bit skittish, and I think the last two days were the first times she'd ever been let loose to just cavort in a field with another REAL hunting dog. Mick is a most congenial host, like most Springer Spaniels and tolerated her silliness. It was a joy to see Tinker bounce, range out, come back, bounce some more, and even though we've got 4 inches of crusty snow on the ground, she was being stopped and startled by scents like she'd never smelled them before.



She is intimidated by being in the car, and really...kind of seems like the city people, who were nice, just never worked on the blank spots in her background. I have an open invitation to return her (they said), but I'm going to do my best to let her grow into her potential and become the Versatile Hunting dog her breeding was meant to allow her to be. Doesn't appear to have had any commands rigorously enforced before. We're working on it.



The two dogs just had a great running, roaring, growling mock fight out in the yard. Mick is 10 or 11; what a champ he is with puppies. :)



Wish us luck. :)






(picture won't load tonight. I'll try again tomorrow. )
 
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Tink looks great, I'm sure she will come around with the guidance from you and Mick, best of luck and keep us posted.
 
Great looking pup Kis, good luck with her buddy.:thumbsup:
 
Very pretty dog! Where I come from a dog wanting to kill a cat is pretty normal...then again Im not from the city. At my house (which would never have cats), the cat would be the first to go. Keep us posted!
 
Kis: You could have the makings of another "not quite right" dog. :) Only a year old and the DNA is in there, waiting to come out. I'm normally not a fan of people bringing rescue dogs home, but most of them don't know what they're in for. I think this case will be successful because the pup will get what it needs, some training, discipline and plenty of exposure to the outdoors. Good luck!
 
Thank you for your good wishes.

I'll do my best. Right now, I'm just letting her get used to the rhythm of life around here, smelling what scents are to be smelled in the sub-zero temperature world this year, and making few demands, while all interaction is game playing or affection.

She seems a bit hand-shy, so discipline is quiet restraint, not physical at all. I don't know her past experiences. This is the "trust" period.

Every now and then, I let her scent a pheasant wing, then put it away again.

We have time.

Thanks again. :)
 
Yes hard telling what type of discipline she had received prior to coming home with you. She really looks good and I'm sure her natural instincts are just waiting to blossom for you. In my book she is already a keeper just for the fact she doesn't like cats!!!!!
 
Good looking pup! Have fun with her.
 
Second crik trip, with some of the mud drying up. Tinker was initially hesitant, but got into the spirit of it. With no strict discipline, I've got her retrieving a bit. She brought back 6 corncobs, although hasn't quite worked out the whole idea of the current of the water moving things away when she JUST put them down for a second. :)

Mick is tired of the whole puppy antics thing and now seeks quiet corners instead of a frolic.

We're adapting.
(Note to self: Don't adopt another dog in the middle of wet, muddy, goopy Spring in Wisconsin.)
 
she sure is a pretty girl as far as a girl with a beard can be :D
How big is Mick? He looks huge by comparison.
 
Mick is 22 inches at shoulder, length 23 ish, at 10-11 years old. Pretty standard, really.

Tinker is 21 high, Length 22.5 ish at one year.

Keep in mind, Mick is in full Winter coat, not having been clipped since October, and prefers to spend his time outside in almost all weather. He'd been washed and dried two days in a row, so his natural coat fluffiness gives him the appearance of greater dimension.

Tink's stud is named "drahthaar something,' and my (limited) experience is that liver and roan Drahts are more close-coated. I think they have a tendency to be more lean than GWPs, but don't have enough exposure to be certain. At a year, no way of knowing about coat, but she's sleek, as lean as a ballerina. Edit: Drahthaar my sweet patootie, she's a GWP and a fine boned beauty. Dunno what the stud owner was thinking when he started tossin names around. :) Honest to gawd, she floats when she trots around. It is just a joy to watch. And I still laugh when she starts bouncing up to my shoulder height, or races at Mick and jumps over him, spins, and jumps back over. I think I hear him sigh.

Here's a better comparison shot.
 

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Just under a month of life with Tinker.

Jury is still out. Still a sweetheart, but doesn't make connections that every other dog I've owned took to naturally.

I HATE the idea of a potentially solid bird dog being ignored in the first few months. I just looked up the correspondence I had with the previous owners. Here's a quote:

"We got the pup in October from a
breeder who had her outside since birth. She had no name
and no idea what a collar was. So we took her home and
started from the bottom."
Click to expand...

She may never develop up to her potential.

Like understanding the concept of looking where I'm pointing with my finger. I know dogs are one of the few creatures who "get" this, but on some occasions I'll point to an object on the floor which I have NOT thrown and tell her to fetch it. After a few times, I'll lean down and touch it and repeat fetch.

She will lean down...and gently put her mouth around my finger and lift it up a bit. :( If I throw the thing, she'll generally go for it.

Been shooting the occasional .22 into the hillside while the dogs are in the house. She seems very calm when I return. We've had absolute garbage weather, so our outside time has been limited, and I'll take a long time before I shoot when she is in any proximity to me. Not a concern.

She's retrieving a pheasant wing, hidden in another room, but she's just not using her nose very much...certainly never like all my bird dogs have.

Mick has lost his sense of humor about the house guest. He lets her cuddle up when they are in a room together, but has absolutely had it with the little puppy nibbles on his ears. I have to run interference for him when he's coming back into the house with Tinker waiting to greet him.

As it dries up outside, I'll take a pigeon and work on fetch with her.

She has been loving the romps in the crop fields, but has no concept that the ATV might run over her.

I actually expected faster development on some stuff.

She has moved up a couple of notches, and I can see some light, though. :)

We got time.
 
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Update: about 7 weeks in.

Some progress: great at retrieving dummies and frozen pigeons. Working by covering her eyes and pitching the pigeon out, then having her whoa, then fetch. She's learning scent cones and perseverance with the frozen birds.

Used the .22 a few times when she was in pursuit...no problem.

Loves the water and water retrieves.

In house, I'll toss retrieving objects in three different directions, then alternate with arm direction which order she should fetch each time. Does very well and has fun. Sometimes I use that as a reward for good behavior.

Common commands are as one might expect. Very good when undistracted; less so when there's something going on elsewhere. I have to put Mick outside when Tinker and I are training or else I'll see him sit, lie down, and stay in the next room as I give the commands to Tinker. :)

Car travel much better, but she's still a bit uncomfortable. Not going to be an issue, though.

Could use some help on separation anxiety when I leave her in the outside run, and leave the house with her in the crate.

What techniques have you folks used? Ultrasonic seems like it would affect Mick, as well, and I'm skeptical about it. Would prefer not to have a shock collar for barking. Her response indicates someone with a heavy hand used a hot collar on her to excess

I've gone through the "put her in and then leave and come back." No joy. Working on teaching her "speak" and then "quiet," which worked with other dogs, but she resists speaking.

It's early days yet, but the sooner the bad stuff is eliminated the better.

Have taken her out to an unhunted property and let her roam. She's tracking scent and air scenting. She bumped a hen pheasant and reared back as the bird flushed, then spent the next 5 minutes inhaling all the scent in the area where the bird was. Fun to watch. This is new stuff to her.

Working on changing direction and whistling to her with an arm gesture. Just casual early field work. Fine so far. She still veers in front of the ATV when we go for a run in a field. Worries me a bit.

Life is easier since it has been a dry Spring.

We got time. :)
 
Thanks for the update Kis.
 
First shoot and retrieve pigeon. Did fine. Using nose to seek and find, ranging into scent cone and narrowing down the bird. No reaction at 20 gauge firing.

Bounces like a golf ball in a bathroom. Spring loaded legs. I'm thinking of having her drug tested for amphetamines.:D

Better and better with ATV, loves the crik for retrieving. She's having fun these days.


We got time.
 
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He looks like a worker Kis. Have fun!:thumbsup:

Nick
 
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