Late to the game......

T

TheMorningRise

New member
We have a 15 month old GSP and due to work and other obligations, I really have not begun to get serious about her field work until recently.

I know I'm late with her!

This afternoon I took her out on a check cord and let her walk and trot through some tall grass, ditches and brush. She seemed to be very happy, but the attention span was that of a child. Too many smells and distractions I am sure.

My one main concern though was retrieving. When she was a pup, she loved to fetch and retrieve. She will still walk around with toys in her mouth, never putting them down. Which I encourage (the keeping of the toy in the mouth). However, today, she ran after the bumber once or twice and that was it. After that, she could careless.

What path do you more experienced folks recommend, with a dog of this age?
 
It's not fun, but force fetch is your answer. Do some reading, and I believe you can find the training on DVD to. Good luck
 
I rehomed a 1 yo britt. I let her in the house. Sit in a hallway. Throw a dummy and let her jump in my lap. I do not touch her until she's in my lap. I am somewhat surprised she never tries to run around me.
 
I would spend my time working her on birds just like a first year pup and not be concerned about retrieve training until that birdyness foundation is well established.

I've owned around 40 shorthairs from pup to old age in the last 45 years and everyone of them was easy to teach to retrieve and none needed force fetching.
Virtually everyone of them had a strong natural retrieve and needed very little additional work.

Mentally she's a pup and younger than her chronological age so treat her like a pup let her have a pup season and then after this fall you can decide what she needs.

one last comment shorthairs typically don't like or need a lot of retrieving drills,they aren't labs, do one or two dummy throws and then move on always stop when they want more. That keeps their desire up.

bird work and experience is what a pup needs most

good luck I am sure she will turn out fine.
 
I trained my vizsla who was 14 months when i started and he had a great first season. Same thing with you he hated retrieving bumpers but usually retrieved birds decently well.
 
I appreciate the replies and insight.

I'm looking forward to working with her and I already know she is a better dog than I'll ever be a handler!

Not rushing summer, but looking forward to Fall!
 
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