How young’s too young?

My experience has been Season #2 (dog is a year old) has been the most challenging. It is like a 16 year old person ... they have the basic skil set, but all of a sudden they think they know everything. Corralling that independent streak, but not destroying it is the goal.

It is also the age where my dogs have decided to chase a deer would be fun. For all but one ... it was a one and done event, but it always happened at one year of age.

Most of my Brittanys become darn good bird dogs and a true team player at an age of around 3 ... it only gets better. I find it amazing how good a 9 or 10 year old Brittany can be ... sure they have slowed down a bit, but they sure become proficient and finding and pinning birds ...
 
Purchase a GPS unit and collar (with e-correction or not >> your call). Yes - it is a great tool to keep track of your dog and worry less about becoming separated (lost) ... but where it shines is finding that dog on point in heavy cover ... grouse woods or tall thick prairie grass ... when you dog is on point. You do not want to be calling your dog to come here when they are locked on a bird. Your voice will either cause the bird to flush prematurely (out of range) or worse ... get your dog to break point.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Purchase a GPS unit and collar (with e-correction or not >> your call). Yes - it is a great tool to keep track of your dog and worry less about becoming separated (lost) ... but where it shines is finding that dog on point in heavy cover ... grouse woods or tall thick prairie grass ... when you dog is on point. You do not want to be calling your dog to come here when they are locked on a bird. Your voice will either cause the bird to flush prematurely (out of range) or worse ... get your dog to break point.
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all great suggestions, I appreciate your words of wisdom, my patience with pups apparently has grown, it was the first night with a new whining pup in the kennel, we let carry on until it gave up, instead of bringing it to bed. Exciting to hear the natural tendencies of these Britts would likely still point w/o a launcher and pigeons, especially with the looming Bill before congress.
 
Although gun shyness, is usually a man-made thing. There are dogs that were either born shy or shyness caused by littermates somehow. Those pups are much more prone to be gun shy. I'm always skeptical when I hear someone say that some previous owner must have abused a dog that is shy. One of my best friends bought a started Lewellen setter. The 1st time we took her out she went back to the truck. Next time we took her out with my young dog. She walked around slobbering and shaking. She came from someone he knows and trusts. He offered to take her back and refund him. But he and his wife were already attached. She is now a house dog. She is scared of people, cars, thunder and probably a lot of other stuff. Was it cause by some unknown trauma? I don't know. I will say this; 4th of July has caused more gun shyness than anything else by far. 1st fireworks I hear, blinds all get closed, TV or music gets turned up. Helps but my dogs still don't like it.
 
birddude said:
Although gun shyness, is usually a man-made thing. There are dogs that were either born shy or shyness caused by littermates somehow. Those pups are much more prone to be gun shy. I'm always skeptical when I hear someone say that some previous owner must have abused a dog that is shy. One of my best friends bought a started Lewellen setter. The 1st time we took her out she went back to the truck. Next time we took her out with my young dog. She walked around slobbering and shaking. She came from someone he knows and trusts. He offered to take her back and refund him. But he and his wife were already attached. She is now a house dog. She is scared of people, cars, thunder and probably a lot of other stuff. Was it cause by some unknown trauma? I don't know. I will say this; 4th of July has caused more gun shyness than anything else by far. 1st fireworks I hear, blinds all get closed, TV or music gets turned up. Helps but my dogs still don't like it.
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I hate fireworks.
 
westksbowhunter said:
That would be man-made too. Exposing them to relentless fireworks is another stupid thing man does.
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We take our dogs to eastern Washington to escape the fireworks because they are banned in natinal forests. Some people are not so fortunate and cant do that.
 
Red Ryder said:
We take our dogs to eastern Washington to escape the fireworks because they are banned in natinal forests. Some people are not so fortunate and cant do that.
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Yup… dog catchers busiest day of the year is 5th of July. I get why kids like them but I run for the hills every year.
 
I can't speak for Golden sHour but banging pots and pans when you feed a pup is a good way to get them used to sudden noioses. Also, my uncle use too shoot a cap gun when his puppy was about to fall asleep. Keep em on their toes and ready for actions what he said.
 
I guess I have a very different thought process on gun intro training. I want my dogs to associate gunfire with birds and retrieves. The first time they hear a primer pop off, a retrieve is associated. We scale up from there. No pots are harmed in the process.
As for noise aversion and all-around well-being, a dog that is properly socialized as a puppy and put into new environments, with some forethought, will be well-adapted and capable of handling a wide range of things.

As to the original post, teach your dog some basic obedience manners and do a solid intro to gunfire first. Then go have yourself a heck of a season.
 
molliesmaster said:
I guess I have a very different thought process on gun intro training. I want my dogs to associate gunfire with birds and retrieves. The first time they hear a primer pop off, a retrieve is associated. We scale up from there. No pots are harmed in the process.
As for noise aversion and all-around well-being, a dog that is properly socialized as a puppy and put into new environments, with some forethought, will be well-adapted and capable of handling a wide range of things.

As to the original post, teach your dog some basic obedience manners and do a solid intro to gunfire first. Then go have yourself a heck of a season.
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Exactly how I do it. I can believe that someone would try and startle a sleeping puppy.
 
molliesmaster said:
I guess I have a very different thought process on gun intro training. I want my dogs to associate gunfire with birds and retrieves. The first time they hear a primer pop off, a retrieve is associated. We scale up from there. No pots are harmed in the process.
As for noise aversion and all-around well-being, a dog that is properly socialized as a puppy and put into new environments, with some forethought, will be well-adapted and capable of handling a wide range of things.

As to the original post, teach your dog some basic obedience manners and do a solid intro to gunfire first. Then go have yourself a heck of a season.
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Manners……. That may be my biggest challenge lol. She is definitely the most wild pup I ever recall having. While I’m got a primer gun I will work with her later this summer when I get her on birds, gonna grab a cap gun for some back yard playing, while I have her chasing balls and chasing the pheasant wings. I’m not seeing the connection with trying to to startle her while feeding, I’m not attempting to shelled her from every day Loud noises.

We had her at our cabin this past weekend, had her inside with the Mrs and I was shooting a 22 outside and apparently she was a bit startled but not freaking out.
 
Skadergen said:
I’m not seeing the connection with trying to to startle her while feeding, I’m not attempting to shelled her from every day Loud noises.
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The idea there is that the loud noises are associated with something good, evoking a pavlovian response. In the dogs brain a loud noise means good things happen. I'm not necessarily against that if you have a dog that may be prone to startling and timidity, but it should be separate from gunfire conditioning.
 
GladHunter said:
The idea there is that the loud noises are associated with something good, evoking a pavlovian response. In the dogs brain a loud noise means good things happen. I'm not necessarily against that if you have a dog that may be prone to startling and timidity, but it should be separate from gunfire conditioning.
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You never try to startle a dog, that is a recipe for disaster. What you want to do is to condition the dog so that it associates good things with a loud noise such as feeding, retrieving, etc. I also start with a training pistol as they are feeding and I fire off the acorn crimp from 100 yds away. Each day I work just a little closer but I never fire off a round any closer than 50 yds. I do the same thing with retrieving. As the pup is running for the retireve I have a helper fire off a round from a 100 yds away and work my way in over the next month. It is important not to use a 22 blank or anything like that. I use the short acorn crimps. When the pup is 4 or 5 months old I progress to a shotgun.

But never test or try to startle a puppy. That isn't teaching or training.
 
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