GSP question

S

SDroosty

New member
Fellow hunters,
I am a new member to the site and just wanted to let you know how much i enjoy reading what everyone has to say, the stories, and most of the pictures. Seem to be a great bunch of guys and gals. I had a quick question was hoping some of you could help me out with. I love pheasant hunting, and i have always been a black lab guy just because that was my first pup. Recently a friend had a GSP that he could not justify keeping as he didnt get out in the field enough so i said i would adapt her. She comes from great blood lines i have all the papers and such and she just turned one at the beginning of Dec. This is my first pointer i have trained, so i wanted to ask a few of you who are more experienced with pointers what do i need to be doing or how do you work with your GSP. I have had Ruby out in the field numerous times this year and she is quite different from my labs. She tends to hunt farther out then my labs (maybe 20 yards) and she has A TON of energy. She has pointed a number of birds but she also false points quite a bit too. Is there a way to work with them in the pointing method? What do you guys do as your training your pups? I guess what im asking is is there anything i NEED to know with a GSP that i wouldnt have done with my labs. Thanks for any help, its much appreciated, and good luck the rest of the way :thumbsup:
 
Gsp

Just my 2 cents, but false points are common in some dogs and others never do it. Our GSP would false point several times each trip. I noticed through winter type hunts that every time he false pointed there were pheasant tracks, or bedding area in the snow somewhere very close to the point so he was always scenting birds even if they had moved on.

Difinitely a different type of dog than a lab. Your GSP will probably do more winding of the birds and will track them down like a preditor as opposed to just running though the field until they to stumple across a bird.

I think it is important to shoot birds a young pointer points even if it means going to a game farm for a while. Bring a friend to ensure that the birds are killed as they need to get used to the system of pointing and having the reward of a hunter dropping the bird. Other thing to note is that pheasants hate to fly and only do it as a last resort which give pointing dogs fits! A good flusher will have the bird in the air quickly, but many times as the GSP points and waits for your release the pheasant will run away into another property or super thick cattail slews and you will never get to see the bird. It is the price you pay for a stylish dog and the experience of tight exciting flushes.
 
bigeyes said:
Just my 2 cents, but false points are common in some dogs and others never do it. Our GSP would false point several times each trip. I noticed through winter type hunts that every time he false pointed there were pheasant tracks, or bedding area in the snow somewhere very close to the point so he was always scenting birds even if they had moved on.

Difinitely a different type of dog than a lab. Your GSP will probably do more winding of the birds and will track them down like a preditor as opposed to just running though the field until they to stumple across a bird.

I think it is important to shoot birds a young pointer points even if it means going to a game farm for a while. Bring a friend to ensure that the birds are killed as they need to get used to the system of pointing and having the reward of a hunter dropping the bird. Other thing to note is that pheasants hate to fly and only do it as a last resort which give pointing dogs fits! A good flusher will have the bird in the air quickly, but many times as the GSP points and waits for your release the pheasant will run away into another property or super thick cattail slews and you will never get to see the bird. It is the price you pay for a stylish dog and the experience of tight exciting flushes.
Click to expand...

apparently you have never hunted behind a first class lab. A first class lab hardly stumples across birds in a field. A first class lab quarters and stays within 30 yards or so. Maybe the labs you have seen bumble through a field, but that has hardly been my experience. I owned pointers for years, as has been said get him on birds he will figure it out.
 
sounds to me like you have a descent dog if he wasnt pointing at all thats what would bother me my year old ep loves to point mess with mice drives me freakn nuts but hes young he will grow out of it seen it lots. I wouldnt be surprised you think here we go again another point and a ditch parrot blows out.all hes doing is just scenting birds and doing a great job on running cagey long feathers
 
SDroosty said:
Fellow hunters,
I am a new member to the site and just wanted to let you know how much i enjoy reading what everyone has to say, the stories, and most of the pictures. Seem to be a great bunch of guys and gals. I had a quick question was hoping some of you could help me out with. I love pheasant hunting, and i have always been a black lab guy just because that was my first pup. Recently a friend had a GSP that he could not justify keeping as he didnt get out in the field enough so i said i would adapt her. She comes from great blood lines i have all the papers and such and she just turned one at the beginning of Dec. This is my first pointer i have trained, so i wanted to ask a few of you who are more experienced with pointers what do i need to be doing or how do you work with your GSP. I have had Ruby out in the field numerous times this year and she is quite different from my labs. She tends to hunt farther out then my labs (maybe 20 yards) and she has A TON of energy. She has pointed a number of birds but she also false points quite a bit too. Is there a way to work with them in the pointing method? What do you guys do as your training your pups? I guess what im asking is is there anything i NEED to know with a GSP that i wouldnt have done with my labs. Thanks for any help, its much appreciated, and good luck the rest of the way :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Hi SDroosty and welcome to the site. You might want to introduce yourself in the "Introductions" forum. You haven't stated how old your GSP is or how much hunting experience she has. The false pointing may improve with age and experience but to some degree you are going to get some of that with any pointer that has a good nose. They are scent pointing, which is good, it's just that the bird has moved on. Or it might have been a rabbit or even a mouse. Just keep working with her, sounds like you have yourself a good dog.
 
Thanks for the input guys. She just turned 1 and have had her out working with her in the field probably 15+ times. I have seen her point squirrels, rabbits, and any type of little bird which like you guys have said i think is just the making of a young dog. She is a very smart dog, knows all common commands, have her respond to the beep on the collar rather than yelling etc. Excited to keep working with her as i have only had her for a couple months. Thanks again for the advice
 
IMHO, there is no such thing as a false point...in the dogs eyes. As Dakotazeb said, it could be a mouse or whatever. I walked up on Taz one day and he was locked up on a horny toad. They point because they sense a scent. We call it false because we immediately want to be rewarded with a bird.
Get her on birds, and have PATIENCE...she'll be fine.
 
get a roll of duct tape, take about six inches of the roll and place it over your mouth - best training aid ever :D

first and most important, teach heel, come & whoa (stay)
secondly, sound condition the pup properly; don't want a "gun shy" dog
thirdly, birds, birds and more birds; this is the only way to make a bird dog
last but not least, make it fun and enjoy your time with the pup, they grow up quick

don't worry about the "false" points, the pup will figure it out with age

pointers aren't labs and labs aren't pointers; search the forum there are some excellent recommendations for books and DVDs
 
good advice don't do much more than keep the dog away from danger or so far out of range that you can't locate him and let the dog figure it out. He will.

You might also pay attention to the wind, really windy days give my dogs fits, I'm not talking about a nice breeze but wind. The wind blows the scent all around and they sometimes have a hard time figuring out where a bird is, I assume because the scent gets scattered so quickly.

As others have mentioned, a false point is likely a bird that snuck off while the dog was waiting for the dummy with the gun to get there, let the dog keep hunting the area and he will pick it up again. My dogs will often point and relocate on a runner but not always, roosters are pretty smart they can sneak off pretty quickly. Don't overlook the area you just walked to get there either, often times they will double back on you and go sit right where you just were. Sometimes my best hunting action is walking back to the truck over ground I started out in when I first arrived.
 
If I understood correctly your dog should learn to respect the flying birds. above all, to point at the bird, so that also keep a pointing.
But first, basic obedience will be okay, (come, heel, stay)
First, you can practice pointing with wing, then to practice point using a long rope knowning birds.
Then the the wild birds, e-collar to the neck, and if the dog goes after a bird. give your dog long-lasting low-power attack never give a attack when she pointing.
Very quickly she realizes that it is, running dog does not catch flying birds.
The GSP is always more energy than the lab's, and it must therefore apply for the birds from a distance GSP style hunt.
For example, my older dog's looking for birds in open field 200-400 yards of me, but young dogs 50-150yards.
If I hunt forest distance is short 50-150 older dogs.
 
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As stated, get your dog on birds. The best bird dog I ever had was a GSHP. We bought 60 pheasants and about 15 chukkars to use. I took her out very 2 or 3 days with a couple of birds. I could trust her to point and hold any bird, woodcock, grouse, and pheasant. And, she was a great retriever too. She would water retrieve ducks and geese. I used her mostly as a grouse dog, occasionally on pheasants here in Michigan, ie. not too many pheasants.

A pointer is bred to "point" the birds out to you. I have a young GSHP and the times she has had trouble was with a flock of birds, sharpies for instance. We hunt in North Dakota, so we don't see big bunches of pheasants.

Be patient, get your dog into birds. Have fun.
 
Being a GSP owner myself, I will agree with others have said. For a young dog of 1 year old it may be getting a bit of a late start in bird exposure but it's certainly not too late to begin.

Are you currently hunting with her? If you are then go ahead and shoot birds over her providing she is pointing them. Be disciplined to NOT shoot if she bumps birds or handles incorrectly as this will encourage bad habits.

If you haven't already I would suggest teaching the Whoa command and get that command down pat. This will be your most important command and the dog must know it well. As was previously stated, try to avoid too much verbal correspondence in the field and let the dog work naturally. Obviously you will need some verbal converse but keep it to a minimum. The sky is the limit on how far you want to take the training. Some want a completely finished dog that is steady to wing and shot others just want the dog to hold point till you can approach and flush the bird. Baby steps... baby steps...
 
Thanks guys. Yes she has all the commands down, whoa, heel etc. Just wanted to make sure she is getting everything she needs from me to be successful. Ultimately its about getting her on birds and she has been on quite a few this year. Just gonna keep working. Best of luck to all
 
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