Banks is doing great. He's a great retriever, brings birds to the hand. His pointing is coming along, still some work to do if you're into style, but he has zero issues finding birds and holding.
He has no concerns with gun fire, he's way more interested in the birds than the shots. As of this...
Dogs can be pets and hunters. It really helps if you can be its person, tho. First nine months I just let them be puppies and learn all the basics at an easy pace. The only thing critical is don't scare them. You stand a chance of making a dog, that would not have been, gun shy if you catch it...
Well after much deliberation, I decided I needed to add more on my plate and buy a bird dog pup. Between the grouse and pheasant here in Wyo, being super close to Nebraska and within reasonable drive time to SD and KS, I went for it. Need to learn how to chase geese now.
We ended up with a...
Great looking pup!
I had very similar scenario 3 years ago...pup opportunity fell out of the sky in April and I picked up our lab after a 10hr round trip drive on zero notice. My first gun dog, 90% family dog, unexpectedly training her myself, etc. etc.
We trained and she hunted the first...
My wife’s dog has learned to use her nose. I started with go find where we hide the treat and she has to sniff it out. I have also had her on blood trails.
She is not in the gifted and talented class but with focus and training I could get her to find Timmy in the well.
I got a dog from Silver Buckle Kennel in Kalispell. He's perfect around the house and almost perfect in the field. I did exactly zero training. He is kinda ugly and my kids don't like that he's not soft to pet.
Side note, I picked up Rick and Ronnie Smith's training series on DVD when we got our first bird dog (shorthair) it helped a ton.
Dave is also pretty good about posting research data on his FB page.
I'll have to pick those up as well. Thank you.
I have a few acres of pasture ground that I do nothing with, so I'll plant it into CRP strips and use it as training. Hopefully I can make the training simple, quick, and fun for him out the back door.
Any tips on how to make the gun shots fun...
Over the Top Retrievers in Monticello MN did a great job with my dog. Scott has a nice set up. I think he might be down in TX training right now but believe he starts back up here in April. Shoot me a PM if you have any specific questions.
Found this on that breeders FB page, thanks! https://www.purinaproclub.com/choosing-a-good-bird-dog?fbclid=IwAR0EBUK1iWLgGUyzZaXUPb6uXKBitYENyAb5jsoIPC6e-7JLxuleGC0_bLA
My son and I took the dog and the shotguns for a walk this morning at the Cooke Canyon Hunt Club near Ellensburg Washington. We found six birds and brought down 5 of them! My son used his lightweight 28 gauge CZ double and steel 6's. I used the 1930's 12 gauge Remington 32 over & under with...
To start, I have only trained Labs for waterfowl hunting, we had Spaniols for pheasants when I was young. Really enjoying training and watching dogs work. I am really interested in training a tracking dog for mostly deer but plan to train for any type of recovery. Ive been watching training...
Just out of curiosity, can you train a dog to follow a scent if they seem to have zero natural ability?
We have a family dog who is two years old and is a shelter mutt (the story is that a border collie came in starving with a litter of mix'n'match puppies, and he was the runt of the puppies. He...
Sounds like a training problem to me. Raised two with my kids, great family dogs. Prototypical pheasant dog for the OP too, but they are truly versatile. Not ideal for very cold water work but they are stronger swimmers than labs at the same size.
Dogs have better noses than humans so they have the ability to use them for almost any scent. Training is best just after weening and Dad was known for his excellent tracking Beagles. Older dogs may take a little more time.
Border Collies are known for their brains and are very quick learners...
As others have already said, you need to decide what you’ll be hunting and what type of hunter you want, flusher or pointer. Other decisions come down to coat, do you want a short hair or long hair. If you’re hunting thickets with briars and such, long hairs can be a chore after the hunt, GSPs...