Starting my new dog

R

Reifer

New member
Well, my three year old resuce GWP gets in tomorrow with a bird intro starting on sunday. Here is kind of my plan for her. She is a three year old who was taken to a hunt test and showed interest in birds and was not effected by gunfire. My intentions are as slow or as fast as she wishes to run. She went up for adoption because the person who had her let her prey drive go unchecked and she killed his cats and brought them to him. I'm trying to get a gauge of where she is at and what needs to be trained

Step one: Intro to brids like a pup. Clip the wings and let her get excited about birds. Based on her action at the hunt test, she already has this down.

Step two: Plant some birds and watch how she works it. I'm not big on pointing birds as much as working in gun range.

Step three is to introduce her to a 22lr when a bird is released and follow the progression of firearms and distance. Her foster family said she has been introducced and has no issues other than when she smells birds she goes a little crazy.

Now I understand there may be other issues, and I may need to end up just spending the weekend letting her chase birds. I'm all good with that as well. I'm camping with the boys (wife deployed) and will be just as happy
with some cold beers and a fire and spending time with her.

Anything else I should consider?
 
Couple things to consider.
- Pointing is a key. If they point, range is not an issue.
- With a new pointing dog, you do not want to shoot birds that are not pointed, or you will just end up with a flushing dog. Then you will need to worry about range.
- When you are working a new dog on birds, keeping the dog on a check cord will give you some control. You can stop the dog. Also if you get a point you can use a soft tug to maintain the point when you see the dog loading up to move. If the dog has a lot of drive, you are going to need more control at the start.
-When you get the right behavior, love up on that dog.

Have fun and good luck.
 
I have 5 rescues I've rehabbed.... one thing to do first is bond well with the dog before you do any training.

I spend 3-4 weeks letting the dog get used to me (and attached to me) prior to starting any training.

Most german dogs are cat sharp, almost all my shorthairs have been.
 
You don't mention it, so I will throw this out there. First things first. Get to know your dog away from birds. Watch it work a field. Walk it in birdy looking country off the lead. Does it work with and for you? Can you call it in, get it to stop a minor misbehavior, work to your right or left on command with a whistle or better yet hand signal?

Work on obedience and team work. Become a good team just knocking around the woods and plains.

THEN once you know this dog you can put some birds out and both you and the dog will have a good understanding of how you work together.

Take your time. Develop that bond first and foremost. Then you will be ready to hunt together. You have 8-9 months to work with. Be patient.

And good luck. Glad to hear a fine hunting dog is getting a second chance.
 
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Sorry, just realized I hadn't read bobman's reply and that I was restating what he said.

So, I agree with him.:)
 
Yep, I would like to also state what as already been said, get to know the dog and let the dog get to know you before working at all with birds in the field. Clipped wings or not. I would think a grace period of letting the dog get a feel for it's new surroundings and such would go a long way in helping to form a good bond with you and what you expect from this pup, and what the pup expects from you.
 
I'm very happy for you! That's just...neat. An entirely new chapter of your life.

Everyone's got variations on introducing the hunt to a new, adult, dog. Most, done consistently, will work. Mine certainly is no better than others.

But, probably as you did with your GWP, I've always focused on being part of a dog's pack before doing anything that could be construed as training. The last two had me taking out a camping pad and sleeping bag and curling up for a nap in the room they were confined to during their early days. Invariably, they end up curled next to me on on the sleeping bag somewhere. (OK, so you can see I'm not for 'aggressive training methods.') :)

And, as you probably have done, I try to limit the options for a new dog to misbehave--whether it be house-breaking, chewing on stuff, barking, or marking. I don't want to be the guy who always is correcting the new dog. Of course, I WILL be, but in a few weeks, the dog will have accepted my behaviors and scents, noises and patterns, and then we can start on behavior modification with as little criticism/coercion/correction as possible.

Right or wrong, I figure the dog is anxious on some level and wants "normal" and consistent relationships with its new pack.

I envy you a bit. You have a new partner in your life. It's a wonderful thing.
 
cat sharp?
meaning cats are for chasing ,not kissing
I'm not a cat hater, seems to indicate a strong prey drive.
I"d work in the cap gun fairly early, the bonding scenario is a good plan too
 
Well, Bailey, got here on Saturday night. She was a day late, but after spending all night with her, I came to realize one thing. The person who had her before used to beat her. She had been introduced to gun fire and birds, but when I was working on my AR, she took off running. I left it on the floor and it didn't seem to bother her at all. By the end of the night I learned that everytime I picked something up, she would run and hide. I'm typically a set the rules first type of guy, but decided the rules...not on the couch, not up stairs, and other stuff needed to wait. Hell, she wouldn't even let me touch her the first few hours so I just let her be.

Against all your good advice, I was hoping getting her to let loose on some birds would bring her out of her shell, and it work wonderfully. Before the birds she just wanted to run away from me any chance she got, and now she she recalls and pays attention to me. I'm working on moving gentle petting to patting her. She's a good solid dog who is starting to trust me. She came crate trained but refused the crate until this morning. she is supposed to obienence trained but everytime I ask her to sit or lay, she fights it or hides from me.

I have to find a different word, because Whoa scares the crap out of her. She is such a great dog, I don't think I could give her up if she won't hunt. She's home and is getting happier everyday.
 
whoa and NO sound a lot alike and it sounds like the dork that abused her may have used NO a lot

just take it slow and it will be fine,


FWIW Kudos for helping her out..... its a darn shame what some heavy hand brutes do to dogs
 
she is supposed to obedience trained but everytime I ask her to sit or lay, she fights it or hides from me.
Click to expand...

Might be a case of a dog whose previous owner called to it, then punished it.

Try "hup" makes no difference to the dog.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.----great movie line, and maybe, not a bad motto for getting her to trust you.

Best wishes
 
Boy oh boy, do I hope this works out. My daughter has a rescue dog, her second, and with a year of her love and gentleness and kindness her dog is light years away from where he was when she got him.

Sounds like your dog is in the same shape.

Like probably most of us, I can put my fingers in my dog' ears, up his nose, down his throat. Whatever. He trusts me completely. And that is what you should strive for with your new dog. He should trust you completely, and right now he trusts no one. This may take some time, but I sure hope it all works out.

Best of luck, friend.
 
Well, she did good last night. I went through a bag of treats, but she will walk on the leash without laying down and refusing ot move. She still jumps up with the slightest sound. I don't know how to get her to trust me other than to trainer her and over time she will learn I'm not going to beat her, jerk the crap out of her leash, or just lock her outside. She loves her crate again and is starting to socialize with my boys. Having two boys makes it loud in the house and I just ignore her when she gets all submissive and praise her when she is excited or engaged. I know it seems kind of backwards to praise her to get her excited, but I don't know how else to bring her out of her shell.
 
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