GSP not pointing in the field

M

Madison COunty

New member
I have a 13 month old GSP. He will point birds when I plant them in the field (quail) but has not pointed a pheasant yet. Today we saw 25-30 birds. Most of them flushed ahead of us but I was wondering if I just need to keep taking him out and when he might point a wild bird. This was only his 4th or 5th trip out today and his first season. I love to watch him work the field but cant wait until he points a bird. :) Thanks!
 
Yep.

Just keep at it, he'll figure it out.

Curious, what training have you done thus far? At 13 months you should have got a good handle on obedience and especially the "Whoa" command. If not, you should get this down ASAP, but away from birds. I say this as you don't want any confusion when correcting on the Whoa command to be associated with the bird. The idea being, he will know he is being corrected as the direct result of him moving while on point and not the flush of the bird. Get this command down to where they fully understand and will consistently comply to it. Test the dog under tempting circumstances to see if their honest.

You can continue to work the dog on wild birds, but do not shoot anything that is not handled properly. In other words ignore birds that are not pointed initially. Personally, I would even refrain at this stage from shooting wild flushes which are no fault of the dog.
 
Whoa command

He went back to his breeder for 7 or 8 weeks this summer. He is good with the whoa command so that is not a problem for him. When we do training around home we plant quail and he points them and lets me flush them. He is just not getting the pheasants yet.


Called his breeder tonight and he says just to give him time and that I should bring out my dog and we can hunt with his dogs. His dogs are awesome but they hunt everyday and they are older.
 
Hunting a young dog with an older dog initially can be good. However, too much can lead to the pup depending on the older dog to find the birds. Much of it depends on how bold your pup is. I think it's just a matter of getting the dog on more wild birds and the light bulb will suddenly turn on.

By the way, I see your from Madison county IA. I used to hunt quite a bit just west of there with a farmer friend who lived near Greenfield. Haven't been down there in ages. Any CRP left down there these days? Boy!! back in the mid 80's to mid 90's bird hunting was pretty good.
 
He'll get it, just be patient and let it come. It can't be forced. A good place to hardwire a pointing dog is at a bird ranch.
 
Today

Went out today on public and saw 20+ birds. He was finding them but they would flush just a little bit ahead of him maybe 20 feet.

He was almost on top of one and then it flushed. He gets it, I just want to get him on as many birds as I can.
 
Madison COunty said:
Went out today on public and saw 20+ birds. He was finding them but they would flush just a little bit ahead of him maybe 20 feet.

He was almost on top of one and then it flushed. He gets it, I just want to get him on as many birds as I can.
Click to expand...

Is he pointing at all? Just make sure you don't shoot anything that is NOT pointed as tempting as it may be.
 
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