New dog doesn't hunt

h20fwlkillr · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:45 pm Post subject:

For every dog I've seen broke that way and worked, I've seen 5 that didn't. It is so much easier and faster to work them into it than to "dive" in and create a gun shy dog. It is a loooonnnngggg and slow road to correcting a gun shy dog. Some softer dogs may never get over it. It becomes a phobia. Any loud noises will either shut them down or send them running. I've seen a guy that attempted to break a dog into gun fire by staking the dog while shooting over it's head. The dog freaked out, broke loose and was never seen again. The guy then proceeded to blame the dog for being too soft and the breeder for producing gun shy pups. Wouldn't even listen to the idea that he, in fact, was the one at fault. Almost all problems with a dog in training are created by the trainer. One must be quite careful w/ the methods used and ALWAYS be able to read the dog. What works for one dog will not always work for the next.

ferragus · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:33 pm Post subject:

Ok guy's and gal's it's been a month now and the improvement has been slow but I've been working with her playing with her retrieval dummy in the field she's definately had her prey drive kick started and can't get enough chasing anything, altho she's still pretty dumb, just last saturday she was 3 feet from a pair of dove in the bush I could see them,they could see her,were moving around and making all kinds of noise (mating habit I presume) and she just kept running back to me,like the noise actually scared her. But I chucked her retrieval dummy nearby and she inadvertantly flushed the birds which was my intent and then the chase was on. Now being in new orleans the literature I have been able to find at the local libraries and barnes and nobles is extremely limited on training bird/gun dogs, is there one in particular preferably a field training for dummies kinda breakdown for a first time trainer? I ordered scent rags and bottles of scent and the floppy necked dove rabbit pheasant and duck decoy's from cabela's and I'm just assuming that it's kinda easy to jump start her nose but as usual I'm probably dead wrong
lol

DanniGirl · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 12:43 am Post subject:

A great book for beginners is Joan Bailey's; How To Help Gun Dogs Train Themselves. Wink

h20fwlkillr · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:15 am Post subject:

Rags, scents and dummies are great tools for retrieving and tracking, but that's about it. Birds, birds and more birds are what is needed.

There is a very good chance your dog never winded the dove. They would have to have been out quite aways and the wind just right for the scent cone to be on ground level. She sounds like she is very unware of what she is supposed to do. Needs lots and lots of bird contact. Make sure to always work her into the wind. She needs to smell the bird, not see it. Seeing a little at first is ok, but too much leads to sight pointing and ignoring the nose.

Here is a link to a great book on training from one of the best trainers in the country
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Way-Train-Your-Gun/dp/0679507507

joe2mill · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:12 am Post subject:

suggestion for supplies, http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/subcategory/subcategory-index.jsp.1_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20712&returnPage=&rid=&returnQueryString=&navAction=push&navCount=0&parentId=cat20712&id=cat20864&cmCat=MainCatcat603205-cat600042

here you can buy pheasant and quail wings and extra scent. I bought the pheasant wings and the pheasant scent. Good thing i bought the scent because the wings smell like plastic so if you decide to get this stuff just a couple of drops of the scent on the bottom side of the wing works great. Good luck, if you keep the pressure of the training up on the pup he will be just fine. I also agree, it can take some time getting their instinct going.

h20fwlkillr · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:06 pm Post subject:

DanniGirl · Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 3:25 pm Post subject: