Training an older rescue springer

Kismet

Kismet

UPH Guru
Mick and I are getting along pretty well. Quiet dog. I've guessed he was a yard dog, never hunted, and kept outside year-round.

He's now a house dog with pastures and a stream to romp in, has activated his game drive, knows we are interested in pheasants and the occasional duck, bounces in excitement when sees me with a shotgun or the training collar (somebody must have had a heavy hand with one on him...he runs to me even at the lowest levels :( ), and has accommodated to my lifestyle out here in the country.

We got four birds together last season. Two wild, and two released at state hunting area. He retrieved three, and went and sat by the other.

We're working (slowly) on "hup" commands. In house, he's very good, in an open pasture, pretty good, but I'm not looking forward to trying to stop him when he is tracking a pheasant scent in season.

All the books I've seen start with puppy training. Mick's between 4 or 5 years old. I've modified things a bit, working slowly with him, insisting on obedience when he gets the command, but now that I've got his prey drive kicked in, I sure would like any and all suggestions on how to do it right the first time with him.

I figure the collar's out, and will shoot some pigeons to work dead birds around here. Not sure I'll be able to trap any to have live birds for field work.

As it stands, I'm just reinforcing through repetition and praise.

Thanks.
 
The dog sounds great for an older rescue -- actually for any dog. You're doing a great job bringing him along. Since he's so responsive to the e-collar, I think you have an opportunity to use the vibration or beep button to fine tune your control and make him whoa real well. Best of luck, thanks for rescuing an animal in need, and have a great spring and summer training and hanging out with your good dog -- to be followed by a fun hunting season for both of you.
 
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I think experience will finish the job now. But it sure sounds to me like your 99% of the way there, having dodged the bullet on all the nasty hangups sometimes associated with older rescue dogs with dubious experience. Fixing problems is no fun, what you have is the best part! I call call it funtime, build experience without the fear of making mistakes, let the dog progress at his own pace, he'll tell you when he's ready for more. One day you wake up and realize he finished himself.
 
Thank you.

No magic trick? damn.

Micktrainingspanielsbook4.jpg
 
I wouldn't try calling him off moving birds till he has that solid. Let him go for the first 30 or so so he develops that skill and confidence. Pigeons you should be able to get them live in the barn your shooting em out of at night with a fish net. Other wise reinforce a comand with vibrate or low level that you wish to use later for calling off the birds. Say Wo or something. Doo it in the yard as he runs out or something not related to the birds. Then when he is ready use the comand hard and see what happens, if you need to nick him then then so be it. But if the comand is solid, he should respond quickly. The thing is to just get him turned off, hup, and you catch up to carry on. Or a fly away so he doesn't chase for a mile when you stand amongst a bunch of birds running off.
 
I believe from your other thread it sounded like he's retrieving dead birds OK for you? If so, then once you've trapped some pigeons as FCSpringer suggested, you can start him out with some "clip wing" birds. That means you make the wing feathers uneven so the bird can't fly, either by taping one wing, using a rubber band or pulling some feathers out. Then, go place the birds out in a field, get the dog and run him through it, working on your quartering. Once he's doing that, you can dizzy the pigeons and plant them in the field, and let him flush and chase.

As it relates to calling him off running birds, I'd say that you might just want to work on being able to keep him relatively close while quartering, so that it's a lot less likely that he'll chase a bird out of gun range. Being able to stop your dog on a running bird is one of the very last things you probably need to worry about.
 
Thank you. The foster care folks from the Brittany Rescue had clipped him close when I picked him up. The organization is volunteers, some of whom attempt to take in any spaniel-type from Animal Control shelters. They were pretty sure he was a Brit.

This is what he has developed into, complete with obeying the "hup" command (pretty often :) )

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Mick5-17nearcrik3-4shot.jpg
 
Kismet said:
Thank you. The foster care folks from the Brittany Rescue had clipped him close when I picked him up. The organization is volunteers, some of whom attempt to take in any spaniel-type from Animal Control shelters. They were pretty sure he was a Brit.

This is what he has developed into, complete with obeying the "hup" command (pretty often :) )

100_0285.jpg


Mick5-17nearcrik3-4shot.jpg
Click to expand...

Looks like an undocked Brittany. Nice dog. Can an older dog be docked should you want to?
 
Britchaser

Everything about him screams Field bred Springer: coat, gait, disposition, bidability, birdiness-but-absolutely-no pointing instinct. Those things, plus the compliment of a professional on-line here, saying he looks like part of his ESS breeding. :)

ABR folks were just wrong, but they saved him from the Animal Control fate.


But there are a bunch of long-eared sporting dogs which ((from pictures online) resemble both the Brit and the ESS field dogs.

As far as older docking goes, if you could find a vet to do it, sure it could be done. But I wouldn't consider it.

I like the flag and I'm the one who takes burdock and cockle burrs out.

Thanks.
 
Some Rescued Dogs Will Hunt - Another Rescue Hunter

I too have a rescue dog, Gus the Brittany, who came from the Nat'l Brittany Rescue and Adoption Newtwork (NBRAN). He was nine months old when I got him in '07. His back story was that his masters were apartment dwellers and had to give him up. No known hunting or field training. The NBRAN foster master had some chukars and access to a farm where were able to put Gus on them to see what his instincts were. They were all there and I said "I'll take him!" when he retrieved to hand the first down chukar. It only got better from there.

UPDATE: Now have another rescue Brit who is a fantastic hunter and pet. Got her in 2017 at seven months from foster masters in Omaha. She was in the American Brittany Rescue network. Gus lived to a ripe age before dying of natural causes. I awarded him a Violet Heart for being hunt wounded which cost him an eye but didn't slow him a single step.
 
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