Need Some Help and/or Advice

M

Mo_GSP

New member
I'm wanting to train my GSP Steady to Wing and Shot. I watched a little video on gundogsonline, that George Hickox had. Impressive to say the least. So, I don't have any fancy training equipment. Just a check cord, shock collar, and what I consider a smart dog. Jake (my GSP) is about 18 months old, and never has been to a trainer. I had a little help from a guy last year, that has a game farm. Jake will whoa, back, fetch to hand, and hold a point long enough for me to get there and kick up the bird. As I said, he's never been to a trainer, so I think I really got lucky. All of it just came natural.

So, on to my question. How or what is the best way to train him to Steady to wing and shot? Hopefully someone has a way to train him without any birds. I don't have any of those either.

Thanks for any help or advice you can give me.
 
I don't think you can do it without birds.
If you don't have wild birds around, the cheapest way is to get pigeons.
 
Setternut is right, gotta have birds otherwise he has nothing to associate with as what you want him to do.
checkcord, launcher and a pigeon to start with.
 
Confirm. You must have birds to make a bird dog! Pigeons are easy to catch under a bridge. he are also easy to keep. I chicken wired a 6x10 dog kennel and tarped one end!
 
Is there anyone near you who could possibly mentor you along the way?

It's a process that takes a lot of repetition. With some dogs more, others less. A launcher would be well worth the investment, but it can be done by check cord and planting wing clipped pigeons as well, but will be more difficult. It basically has to do with popping a pigeon in a launcher when your dog has winded the bird but rides in on it without stopping or moves once he has stopped. With continuous repetition the dog learns that if he moves... game over, bird gone. Your dog will need to be very solid on the "Whoa" command before you start with birds.

From there you introduce the gun. Most people are satisfied with steady to wing for hunting, especially with Pheasants. Pheasants can be hard to recover if not anchored well, so you want the dog on them fairly quick. How finished of a dog you desire is of personal preference.

There are a number of good books and DVD's that can get you started on a step by step process. You mentioned one already with Hickox. If you like him stick with him.

Another highly regarded step by step DVD is the "Perfect Start/ Perfect Finish" series. Very thorough as it takes you through the entire process from the beginning to a finished dog (4 + hours of footage) with good visual aids used on screen. http://www.gundogsupply.com/pestpefisetd1.html
 
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There are several good training methods.
I like the book "Training with Mo", simple and effective.
 
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