Gotcha! So far only liquid accidents. Keeping our fingers crossed...
I will say that puppies make watching a football game a bit tough.
New dog journey...
- Thread starter 1_pointer
- Start date
I will say that puppies make watching a football game a bit tough.
bobbydean
Well-known member
Merry Christmas, Hank!
Took a couple days off over the boys' holiday break. Decided Hank needed to get out of surburbia for a bit, so him and my oldest headed down to our cabin in So. IN. Was hoping to get a few squirrels shot, but the weather and Rocky didn't cooperate, but we did have a good time and popped a lot of primers.
After 3 hours in the truck, both the boy and his dog were ready to stretch their legs!
A quick change of clothes and they went to check out the creek bottom across the field and to be out of dad's hair while he unpacked.
The next day while the boy was hanging with his cousin, I decided to take Hank for a long walk up through the woods. He quite enjoyed himself! Lots of new smells, sticks to carry, and deer poop to eat...
Unfortunately we didn't get any close encounters with game, but he did find out water was fun! The 1.5 hour walk, not really that far we just took our time, had him all tuckered. He did range farther than he has at home, but always kept me in sight. I purposefully did not call him to me, just made sure he saw me and headed where I wanted to go. He kept me in sight and I was glad to see he did not shy away from any situation and seemed to enjoy bowling through the tall grass and briars!
Like both my kids, "school" start this week...
After 3 hours in the truck, both the boy and his dog were ready to stretch their legs!
A quick change of clothes and they went to check out the creek bottom across the field and to be out of dad's hair while he unpacked.
The next day while the boy was hanging with his cousin, I decided to take Hank for a long walk up through the woods. He quite enjoyed himself! Lots of new smells, sticks to carry, and deer poop to eat...
Unfortunately we didn't get any close encounters with game, but he did find out water was fun! The 1.5 hour walk, not really that far we just took our time, had him all tuckered. He did range farther than he has at home, but always kept me in sight. I purposefully did not call him to me, just made sure he saw me and headed where I wanted to go. He kept me in sight and I was glad to see he did not shy away from any situation and seemed to enjoy bowling through the tall grass and briars!
Like both my kids, "school" start this week...
LCH
Well-known member
Good to see things are going well with the pup. You gonna try to get him to tree squirrels?
We had a few coonhounds when I was a kid that would run squirrels. Lots of fun.
We had a few coonhounds when I was a kid that would run squirrels. Lots of fun.
Great thread and great pictures. I started the new dog journey this year as well and have had a blast. Really wanted a pudlepointer but went for a GWP instead. Here are a few pictures from this year. The first picture was our first rooster. As you can tell he was pretty excited haha. Pretty awesome to shoot my first rooster over my first hunting dog. Pictures range from 7 to 9 months. Can't wait to see more of your updates...
Attachments
bobbydean
Well-known member
Can never have too many dog pictures. I am enjoying the journey.
Keep 'em coming.
Keep 'em coming.
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Fire_9- Congrats to the both of you! I just wish we had more wild birds here. Someday I hope to get Hank to Eastern MT for some roosters and sharptails.
LCH- I'm gonna try. I don't expect that to be his main task, but it'd be cool if he got it. Also going to see if he will track wounded deer. I have a young nephew that needs some help finding them...
LCH- I'm gonna try. I don't expect that to be his main task, but it'd be cool if he got it. Also going to see if he will track wounded deer. I have a young nephew that needs some help finding them...
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Off the chart cute pointer.
An update. The house messes are fewer and farther between, but not gone completely. Mostly if we don't see him at the door or if he gets too excited. All told, I'm pretty pleased with Hank's progress there.
This past week we started a couple new conditioning items. Starting to work on WHOA a bit. Mostly just going in and out of doors/kennel and while on walks. I have been periodically banging pots together, from a distance, when he eats. This week we moved up to a to cap gun! The boys think that is fun. The first couple of times he tucked his tail and looked at me, but now he just looks and then keeps on slopping food down. Yesterday, I tried it close to him while he was eating. No flinch! I plan to keep it up, but think we are well on to not, hopefully, being gun shy! Last new thing is some start to tracking. I drag a piece of hot dog across the driveway/garage floor with him not around and then bring him to the track. He smells the dog, but looks to me for it when I give him the command. He's used to getting food from us instead of following his nose. So far he's always found it, but I hope he gets better at using his nose/searching for it instead of looking to me for it. We'll keep after it, but any and all suggestions on starting tracking drills is greatly appreciated.
Though it was jumping the gun a bit, we've for awhile now been tossing toys for him to fetch. The last couple weeks he's turned the corner with this! He's always brought them back towards us, but wanted to play keep away or tug of war once he got back. Lately, he comes back closer and with a bit of petting and the GIVE command he's giving up the toy. Might take a couple of repeats, but he's giving up the toy pretty easily now. This was mostly done in the house as play and exercise, but we took the show outside this week. With more room to get away, the first time he tried to keep away, but a bit of ignoring him and in came when called. After that, he did great, bringing it to me and giving on command. Very pleased with this and will be getting some bumpers and bird scent to make it a bit more formal soon! One thing we need to work on is him coming straight to me instead of circling me with the toy to show off.
Though I have no real frame of reference, I think things are progressing quite well even though PPs are known as a bit of slow developers. He's fitting in great with the family and has everyone's heart at this point.
Like any athlete, a good stretch after a workout is needed!
This past week we started a couple new conditioning items. Starting to work on WHOA a bit. Mostly just going in and out of doors/kennel and while on walks. I have been periodically banging pots together, from a distance, when he eats. This week we moved up to a to cap gun! The boys think that is fun. The first couple of times he tucked his tail and looked at me, but now he just looks and then keeps on slopping food down. Yesterday, I tried it close to him while he was eating. No flinch! I plan to keep it up, but think we are well on to not, hopefully, being gun shy! Last new thing is some start to tracking. I drag a piece of hot dog across the driveway/garage floor with him not around and then bring him to the track. He smells the dog, but looks to me for it when I give him the command. He's used to getting food from us instead of following his nose. So far he's always found it, but I hope he gets better at using his nose/searching for it instead of looking to me for it. We'll keep after it, but any and all suggestions on starting tracking drills is greatly appreciated.
Though it was jumping the gun a bit, we've for awhile now been tossing toys for him to fetch. The last couple weeks he's turned the corner with this! He's always brought them back towards us, but wanted to play keep away or tug of war once he got back. Lately, he comes back closer and with a bit of petting and the GIVE command he's giving up the toy. Might take a couple of repeats, but he's giving up the toy pretty easily now. This was mostly done in the house as play and exercise, but we took the show outside this week. With more room to get away, the first time he tried to keep away, but a bit of ignoring him and in came when called. After that, he did great, bringing it to me and giving on command. Very pleased with this and will be getting some bumpers and bird scent to make it a bit more formal soon! One thing we need to work on is him coming straight to me instead of circling me with the toy to show off.
Though I have no real frame of reference, I think things are progressing quite well even though PPs are known as a bit of slow developers. He's fitting in great with the family and has everyone's heart at this point.
Like any athlete, a good stretch after a workout is needed!
putm2sleep
New member
ditto! nice work!!!!
ihuntelk
Member
Fun. ALMOST makes me want to go through it again. Thanks for helping pass the time until draws are out!
-Cade
-Cade
Hunting Wife
Well-known member
He's shaping up to be a very handsome dog!
Sounds like you've got a great start on the training! Have you introduced feathers/wings yet? We did nose training with wings, having given her feathers since the day she came home so she already associated feathers with fun, praise and hot dogs. It then just transitioned from her wings laying around the yard that she would "find" when we were outside doing stuff, to us gradually doing more elaborate hiding exercises. To this day, her favorite toy is a bumper with a wing zip-tied to it. That's a great toy too, btw, for gun training if you don't have any live pigeons or something equally exciting/distracting.
Keep up the posts!
Sounds like you've got a great start on the training! Have you introduced feathers/wings yet? We did nose training with wings, having given her feathers since the day she came home so she already associated feathers with fun, praise and hot dogs. It then just transitioned from her wings laying around the yard that she would "find" when we were outside doing stuff, to us gradually doing more elaborate hiding exercises. To this day, her favorite toy is a bumper with a wing zip-tied to it. That's a great toy too, btw, for gun training if you don't have any live pigeons or something equally exciting/distracting.
Keep up the posts!
Thanks! I have not introduced him to feathers/wings. Thanks for the suggestion. I saw they had some at Cabelas last weekend. I'll have to swing buy and get some + a couple of dummies. Right now all his retrieving drills are with his "ball" (dog safe football that my oldest bought him for Christmas). That said, he is definitely (and possibly unfortunately) used to hearing/seeing it land to go get it. That said, I did search it out Monday, when on a lark, I threw it over the house.
Hunting Wife
Well-known member
If you are able, try different kinds of wings too. It's funny, but they will definitely show preferences.For whatever reason, a lot of dogs don't initially like sharptails. Ours wasn't super keen on huns the first time we gave her wings from those. So learning those are also a source of rewards and praise helps. I think if they have been introduced to a variety of bird scents early on, they pick up the game faster when you decide to try hunting new species later with them. We hunted mountain quail for the first time this past fall (a first for all of us), and after her first whiff, the dog knew exactly what we were after. It was kind of cool.
The best advice we got for the actual bird part of training was to remember they are ALWAYS a good dog for finding birds. There can be no negative consequences where birds are involved. Which meant on a couple of occasions we had to grit our teeth and "praise" a less than desirable event because we were dumb and set her up for a bad scenario (who left that bag of wings thawing on the workbench, anyway???) There were several times we had to re-evaluate our method because we weren't teaching the right lesson on the first try. We just kept going back to rule #1 (Set them up to succeed), and then if we weren't getting the right outcome we had to find a way to set her up for the outcome we wanted. Not sure if that makes any sense at all, but you'll figure it out!
The best advice we got for the actual bird part of training was to remember they are ALWAYS a good dog for finding birds. There can be no negative consequences where birds are involved. Which meant on a couple of occasions we had to grit our teeth and "praise" a less than desirable event because we were dumb and set her up for a bad scenario (who left that bag of wings thawing on the workbench, anyway???) There were several times we had to re-evaluate our method because we weren't teaching the right lesson on the first try. We just kept going back to rule #1 (Set them up to succeed), and then if we weren't getting the right outcome we had to find a way to set her up for the outcome we wanted. Not sure if that makes any sense at all, but you'll figure it out!
Makes a lot of sense. Now I'm I'm one the hunt for some wings to buy. The local NAVHDA chapter has a monthly training day and one can purchase live birds from them for that. Hope to be able to make it to that next month. Might even try to come home with a few dead ones if folks don't want them...
Thanks for the advice. I've already figured out that I will be his biggest limiting factor.
Thanks for the advice. I've already figured out that I will be his biggest limiting factor.
So, Hank and I got a bit of "work" in this weekend. Bought him a couple of bumpers so he's using something other than a toy when we are "working". Thanks for the suggestion of fitting one with some wings. First time toss he wasn't quite sure what to do with that. He ended up picking it up by the non- wing covered part! He doesn't seem to mind now.
So yesterday, we got a few free hours so I took him and my 5yo over to a fish and game area for a walk around and to toss some bumpers. Going by myself would have probably been better from a training standpoint, but I couldn't say no and I'm tickled I didn't!
For the most part it was a new place for Hank and I wanted him to get into the grass, weeds, brush, etc and just have fun. Every so often I tossed a bumper for him. I did not have the newly purchased check cord on him and he did find and bring nearly all of them back to me...or at least close to me. We are far from retrieving to hand, but I did have to go after him a time or two to get the bumper from him. I think using the check cord on some short throws and getting more diligent with obedience work we can get over that low hurdle. Here's a not so good cell phone video of him retrieving a toss down off the pond's levee.
A couple of times I tossed the bumper out of his sight or line of sight. He would go looking for it and it was cool to see him turn into the wind to try to scent it (used quail sent). Couple of times it took some coaxing to get him to head in the correct direction, but he did find them! I could tell when he was smelling something by his body language and intensity. I wouldn't call it "birdy" just yet as I'm not sure it was birds or poop or rabbits he was excited to smell. But, I can't wait until I know and can call it that!
All in all it was a good day outside with a 5yo boy and a 5mo old pup. We brought home a 1/2 box of empty shotgun hulls that my son found. I think he liked finding those more than Easter eggs! Hope to have many more in the near future.
Since this is supposed to be a running post about my dog training here's my next week's to do list.
1. Keep tossing bumpers with wings
2. Keep reinforcing commands is pretty much knows (Come, Give, Kennel)
3. More work on getting Stay, Whoa, and start on Heel.
4. Work on my tone of voice and body language. I can be bit too much when correcting him.
Now for some pics from the day!
Super K and Hank at the start of the "hike" as K called it.
Super K figuring out how to navigate a wet spot.
Hank doing what dogs do...
Hank's carrying a stick and so will I! Gotta build those muscles for his last two wrestling tournaments.
Hank after his Mom required bath once we got home. Baths make him fluffy!!
He doesn't seem to mind now.So yesterday, we got a few free hours so I took him and my 5yo over to a fish and game area for a walk around and to toss some bumpers. Going by myself would have probably been better from a training standpoint, but I couldn't say no and I'm tickled I didn't!
For the most part it was a new place for Hank and I wanted him to get into the grass, weeds, brush, etc and just have fun. Every so often I tossed a bumper for him. I did not have the newly purchased check cord on him and he did find and bring nearly all of them back to me...or at least close to me. We are far from retrieving to hand, but I did have to go after him a time or two to get the bumper from him. I think using the check cord on some short throws and getting more diligent with obedience work we can get over that low hurdle. Here's a not so good cell phone video of him retrieving a toss down off the pond's levee.
A couple of times I tossed the bumper out of his sight or line of sight. He would go looking for it and it was cool to see him turn into the wind to try to scent it (used quail sent). Couple of times it took some coaxing to get him to head in the correct direction, but he did find them! I could tell when he was smelling something by his body language and intensity. I wouldn't call it "birdy" just yet as I'm not sure it was birds or poop or rabbits he was excited to smell.
But, I can't wait until I know and can call it that!All in all it was a good day outside with a 5yo boy and a 5mo old pup. We brought home a 1/2 box of empty shotgun hulls that my son found. I think he liked finding those more than Easter eggs! Hope to have many more in the near future.
Since this is supposed to be a running post about my dog training here's my next week's to do list.
1. Keep tossing bumpers with wings
2. Keep reinforcing commands is pretty much knows (Come, Give, Kennel)
3. More work on getting Stay, Whoa, and start on Heel.
4. Work on my tone of voice and body language. I can be bit too much when correcting him.
Now for some pics from the day!
Super K and Hank at the start of the "hike" as K called it.
Super K figuring out how to navigate a wet spot.
Hank doing what dogs do...
Hank's carrying a stick and so will I! Gotta build those muscles for his last two wrestling tournaments.
Hank after his Mom required bath once we got home. Baths make him fluffy!!
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Man he's a good looking pup. You might want to start having your boy go ahead at times and drag a pheasant skin through the grass so he can get used to working a track. I'd keep him on a leash or a check cord initially so that he doesn't go all willy-nilly on your. I think that teaching a pup to put his nose to the ground and work a track is one of the best things you can teach him early on.
Thanks for the tips. Don't have a pheasant skin but do have a canvas bumper and quail scent wax. That should work, right? We tried a blind track the day I got the stuff. He followed for a short bit but got distracted. I'll keep trying.
Funny you give an option on SIT. One of the books I've read advises not to teach WHOA until after the first hunting season. When I met with the local NAVHDA chapter the one member who trains dogs and is a NAVHDA judge stated he teaches that first! I guess they are kinda like kids in that they don't really come with an instruction book. Not sure about stay, but I think sit would be easy to teach this guy.
Thanks for the comments on his looks. Due to my lack of knowledge and access to birds I know he won't be as good a hunter as he could be. But he's going to look good doing what he does.
Funny you give an option on SIT. One of the books I've read advises not to teach WHOA until after the first hunting season. When I met with the local NAVHDA chapter the one member who trains dogs and is a NAVHDA judge stated he teaches that first! I guess they are kinda like kids in that they don't really come with an instruction book. Not sure about stay, but I think sit would be easy to teach this guy.
Thanks for the comments on his looks. Due to my lack of knowledge and access to birds I know he won't be as good a hunter as he could be. But he's going to look good doing what he does.
