New From SE WI with a New Dog

L

Livnoutdoors6.8

New member
I heard through the grape vine that an acquaintance of mine moved to Florida. He left his dog with his mother thinking he would be able to bring the dog down later. I guess he wasnt able to, so I saw on facebook that he told his mom to send the dog to the shelter. I grabbed my phone as fast as I could and told him he better not! IMO, he didnt really deserve the dog, got him to be more of a chick magnet, and never worked with him to his fullest potential. To be honest, I was always jealous that he had such a good pooch and never did anything with him. I told him that me and the wife will talk to his mom and go meet the dog, and if all goes well we will take him home. The more me and my lady talk about it, the more we like the idea, so I called him and said that we definitely will take him. I had a chat with his mom, and she asked the basic screening questions like if we have a big enough yard, will you have enough time for him, etc. She was satisfied and we set it up to take him home. Fast forward 1.5 weeks, He's adjusted perfectly and is a great companion. He fetches very well, returning the dummy to my side and dropping it at my feet.

A little about the dog:
His name is Scout. He's a 2.5 year old Weimaraner/ Labrador mix. He has a really good foundation of basic obedience training and is very well mannered (but spirited!) I plan to work with him and get him in the field for pheasants a little this year and refine his skills in the off season for the following seasons. Here's a pic of the guy.

scoutgz.jpg


Stay tuned for a thread about our first trip to the fields!
 
I encourage you to not let him drop the bumper or anything he retrieves to you. If he brings a live pheasant back to you and drops it at your feet, you won't be able to catch it and he will have to pick it up again. Always make him deliver to hand. Just some tips from a guy who is learning about dog handling myself.
 
Thanks for the tip! Maybe I'm being counter productive in my "playtime/training" When he brings it right back to me he stands in front of me with it in his mouth and drops it as soon as I say "Drop it" Many times he'll bring it right to my hand and I can grab it out of his mouth easily. Sometimes he's too excited for the next throw and won't stand still for me to grab it. That's definitely something we'll work on!
 
Sounds like he has got it! i have 2 golden retrievers and i was doing some guiding last fall. We shot over 1,000 birds over my two dogs last year alone. My youngest was so intent on picking every bird up that she would sometimes spit them at me and take off after another downed bird. That is a problem when they are alive! Went back to the yard work and threw more dummies and made her finish each retrieve before moving to the next one. They always need a little reinforcement and tweaking, it just takes time. Good luck with your pup. Thanks for saving him.
 
I'm in western racine county in Union Grove. Most my time with the new dog will be chasing the birds out at bong. We overdid it with two days in a row, so he's gotta rest a while. Unfortunately no birds flushed yet, not sure he knows thats what we're looking for when we go out. haha
 
has he had any training with birds?
I keep a couple of whole birds in the freezer and take them out from time to time to keep the blood pumping in my dogs. They love it
Im headed out somewhere on Sunday. Undecided where..Possibly....
wait, I cant give that location away!:D:D
 
No, no training with birds. Strong prey drive and good instincts. I just got him earlier this month. I plan to get some formal training going in the off season next year, but I wanted to introduce him to the field. He works a field pretty well for such little formal training.
 
whats your intention? Training as a pointer or retriever?
How far out is he ranging?
(Im no expert, just trying to help)
 
Flusher/ retriever but I wouldnt be all to disappointed if he decided to start pointing haha! He works zig zag patterns out to about 30 yards and loops back to me at times. If he ever gets a little too far, i just give him a "Here" call and he comes back in.
 
If you go to Bong you should go down 142 to Rice Farms and buy a couple of hens to get his nose working. Youre right, he probably doesnt really know why hes out there yet.
And get a whistle.
Again, Im not trying to be a know it all.
 
Any idea what they charge for a bird? That was actually something I was planning on doing, just didnt know of a source. I have a buddy with some farm land that I can use to plant em.
 
Its been a while since Ive been there - like $14 a bird. Chukars are a little less. I have a bird crate if you want to borrow it
I assume you know how to dizzy a bird??:D:D
 
Yeah I've been watching and reading a lot on it. This may be a dumb question, but will using a chuckar have the same effect as if I bought pheasants. I'm thinking scent and appearance wise. Maybe I'm over thinking it
 
Chukars work equally as well as pheasants. Some guys use them on younger or more inexperienced dogs. Not quite as intimidating as a rooster.

Dogs hunt with their nose not their eyes so it doesnt matter what they look like.
 
Livnoutdoors6.8 said:
I'm in western racine county in Union Grove. Most my time with the new dog will be chasing the birds out at bong. We overdid it with two days in a row, so he's gotta rest a while. Unfortunately no birds flushed yet, not sure he knows thats what we're looking for when we go out. haha
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I was born and raised in Racine, and spent lots of time in Kansasville on Eagle Lake in summer where my family still has a house.

I used to go to the Racine County Fair every year and volunteer to bartend for the VFW out there.

I don't live in SE WI anymore (recent change) but man I wish you were around when I was because we could have hit up some fields together.'

Either way, welcome to the forum!
 
Welcome to the forum!

I have a two year old lab/weim female and if she is any indication, yours will turn out great. It took a while for her to realize what we were doing, but after having a few birds shot around her it clicked. The last day of the season last year, out of the blue, she started pointing.

Scout will pick it up, he just needs birds in front of him. Has he been introduced to gunfire yet?

There are a whole lot of good people on here that have a lot of great knowledge to share.
 
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