New Pup

[JLDemo]

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 Wirehaired Griffon, he's just 8 weeks old and he's been a rock star so far. Zero accidents in the house, kennel training has been a breeze, and he loves his quail wings. Borrowed a live chukar for a bit and he's pretty spun up about it. He sits and kennels very well, working on recall commands.

Going the versatile route I have a lot to learn, already joined the local NAVHDA chapter, bought the green book, and drop the pup off beginning of next year for professional training, 3 month program for the pup and myself to learn with him.

I'll do my best to train and introduce him to this versatile stuff, but all ears on any tips, lessons learned and so on. Really worried about introducing him to e-collar training and gun shots, want to do it correctly and never attempted it myself. Don't want to do anything to early.

Meet Banks;



His puppy points on both live and wings is pretty comical;




Nap time;

 

[golfer]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002ARR2W?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

We use this with our griff almost every time we are in the field. Much easier to get burrs, hounds toungue, etc outta thier coat.

Don’t rush into the e collar. I think we were at 7 months when we introduced it. I feel with this breed you don’t wanna raise your voice when correcting them just a bit stern does the trick. Be ready to have them always be at your side or position themselves so they can be apart of anything going on. Check out the George Costa book Tips and Tails. Goes into many things regarding training griffs.

 

[JLDemo]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002ARR2W?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

We use this with our griff almost every time we are in the field. Much easier to get burrs, hounds toungue, etc outta thier coat.

Don’t rush into the e collar. I think we were at 7 months when we introduced it. I feel with this breed you don’t wanna raise your voice when correcting them just a bit stern does the trick. Be ready to have them always be at your side or position themselves so they can be apart of anything going on. Check out the George Costa book Tips and Tails. Goes into many things regarding training griffs.

Thanks, I'll get the comb ordered.

How's your Griff in the field? This pup has made himself right at home pretty quick.

 

[golfer]

Thanks, I'll get the comb ordered.

How's your Griff in the field? This pup has made himself right at home pretty quick.

She’s done well. I didn’t do the NAVDA with her. But there’s no quit when it comes time to go into field. She is a great family dog as well. Only lost one flip flop when she was a pup. That was our fault though. Ours took to the kennel great and we are more than glad we crate trained her. She knows that’s her place and hers only.

 

[perma]

Tell pupper I said hello.

 

[Wild Bill]

Welcome to the griff club!
They're great dogs.
I'll second what Golfer said above about a good comb/brush. You'll probably end up with 2 or 3 different ones until you find the one that is right for the specific coat. They can greatly vary between dogs.
Again, Golfer nailed it with the e-collar. Absolutely no need to try and use that for many months. Same with gun fire. Don't rush it. Make sure when either collar or gun fire are introduced it is in a comfortable and fun environment for the dog.
Also, make sure to keep an eye on the dogs ears. My griff usually gets 1 or 2 ear infections a year. We now keep antibiotic cream on hand and apply it as soon as we see red irritation in the ear or notice the dog scratching a bunch. You'll know it when you see it. They've got a lot of furs in their ears that can trap moisture.
Grab some drying powder, and some ear cleanser as well to keep the moisture at bay.
- Ear Powder
- Cleanser

 

[JLDemo]

Welcome to the griff club!
They're great dogs.
I'll second what Golfer said above about a good comb/brush. You'll probably end up with 2 or 3 different ones until you find the one that is right for the specific coat. They can greatly vary between dogs.
Again, Golfer nailed it with the e-collar. Absolutely no need to try and use that for many months. Same with gun fire. Don't rush it. Make sure when either collar or gun fire are introduced it is in a comfortable and fun environment for the dog.
Also, make sure to keep an eye on the dogs ears. My griff usually gets 1 or 2 ear infections a year. We now keep antibiotic cream on hand and apply it as soon as we see red irritation in the ear or notice the dog scratching a bunch. You'll know it when you see it. They've got a lot of furs in their ears that can trap moisture.
Grab some drying powder, and some ear cleanser as well to keep the moisture at bay.
- Ear Powder
- Cleanser

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? I've read a ton on it but would rather hear first hand knowledge. Goal is to associate the sound of guns with falling birds, at least some of the time. He'll more than likely be frustrated with my shooting.

It's ironic that my three year old daughter calls him Piggy Banks. His cost is adding up lol

 

[Wild Bill]

Any tips on how to make the gun shots fun?

I guess I meant more introduce the gunfire while he's out having fun. Perfect situation would be as you said, you've got a buncha ground where you can run him. Over time I'm sure he'll think of that as his space where he can explore and do puppy things. I'd look to introduce the gun fire there, from a distance, while he's out chasing birds or running around. Start it out popping a couple rounds, one at a time, from a distance the first day. Next day maybe move a little closer. Keep going until he doesn't seem to notice the noise.
I've done it with a couple dogs and never had an issue. I think the fact that you're already looking into it and doing research says enough that you should be fine with whatever approach you take. Watch youtube videos, talk to other members in your NAVHDA club and you'll be good!

 

[Keep'er Movin]

I also got my first Griff in April. She has been everything I hoped she would be. George D'Costa's book has been a really great resource. He has two...you probably want to get his first one...Tips and Tales. I've also looked at a lot of the Standing Stone Kennel videos on Youtube. This has been my first pointer...we've had labs up to this point and I have really fallen in love with the breed.

 

[utah400elk]

Both my dogs are 3-8 years old but seeing these pictures…I can smell the puppy breath from here. Enjoy and beautiful pup.

 

[Keep'er Movin]

I started e-collar training at about 6.5 months but only used vibrate. I really worked on retrieving training, whoa training, and recall before I even thought about the e-collar. When those fundamentals were set, then I started with place training and heeling. At 5 months, Penny, our Griff, was introduced to live birds on a check cord. The only thing that took a bit with Penny was to get her steady on point. She liked to rush in and pounce on the birds. The check cord with a half hitch has been a life saver for steadiness on point. Take your gunfire training slowly. The more exposure to live birds you can get your dog on, the better. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Keep'er Movin]

Oh, one more thing...if/when you decide to use live birds for training, whether you plant birds or use launchers, it has been my experience that quail, although cheaper, are not great fliers which increases the chances your dog will catch the bird which will then in turn hinder steadiness and possible pointing. Pigeons have been really good birds...they put off good scent and fly well.

 

[JLDemo]

Oh, one more thing...if/when you decide to use live birds for training, whether you plant birds or use launchers, it has been my experience that quail, although cheaper, are not great fliers which increases the chances your dog will catch the bird which will then in turn hinder steadiness and possible pointing. Pigeons have been really good birds...they put off good scent and fly well.

I've read a few articles that pigeons are a good training bird. I'll take a look and see if any are available around here. I found some Chukar. The thing I'm really trying to nail down is fair expectations on timelines. When he should be doing this or that. Called the the guy I'm going to take for training and pretty much obedience is key right now. The other stuff will be natural and at his pace. Excited about it all though.

 

[Keep'er Movin]

I would use chukars before quail. If the chukars aren't real young birds, they should fly well. I agree that your obedience is the most important thing right now. I used a clicker when introducing all of the obedience cues, but there are lots of ways to go about it.

 

[JLDemo]

I would use chukars before quail. If the chukars aren't real young birds, they should fly well. I agree that your obedience is the most important thing right now. I used a clicker when introducing all of the obedience cues, but there are lots of ways to go about it.

Good point, chukar might be the route. He's already pouncing on dead birds.

 

[JLDemo]

Banks has already figured out that if the dog door is shut, he can sit on the rail and peak in the kitchen window for attention. He doesn't bark, just sits there until someone notices him and jumps down to scratch at the door. Shit head.

 

[Wild Bill]

They're all shit heads. Love it. Good lookin pup

 

[fleabagmatt]

It's a muppet party! We made it almost a year and a half before we decided two griffs were better than one.

George D'Costa's book has been a really great resource. He has two...you probably want to get his first one...Tips and Tales

George also did a series of podcasts "Tips and Tales Podcast" where he basically discusses each chapter of his book. It's a good listen.

 

[Keep'er Movin]

It's a muppet party! We made it almost a year and a half before we decided two griffs were better than one.

View attachment 340455


George also did a series of podcasts "Tips and Tales Podcast" where he basically discusses each chapter of his book. It's a good listen.

It's interesting to see how different the furnishings are between your two dogs. My pup will look just like her mom...very little furnishings on the head and a much more fine streamlined coat. Penny's siblings looked very similar to each other at 8 weeks and now look completely different from one another at 7 months.

Thanks for the heads up on the podcast. I will check that out. Wish it would cool down a bit. I would love to do some more bird work with Penny before opening pheasant but weekends here have been in the high 80's low 90's. Good luck to you and your dogs this season!

 

[JLDemo]

Absolutely thrilled with Banks so far. He can be a knucklehead sometimes but he's coming along. He's finding and trailing scent really well, once in a while he'll stop and lock on a point but mostly rushes right in. We'll work on that and get the whoa training down. Took him out to a local walk-in to initiate gun training this evening. Used the .22, he didn't flinch. Took a frozen rooster out too and after every shot my boy threw the rooster and Banks loved it, especially the treats after every shot. Finally found a local who will sell pigeons dirt cheap, picking up a few this week to train with. Supposedly live pigeons give a great scent for pups.

By the end of the second field he was looking up after every shot. Tonight he flushed a few sharpies, locked up on a meadowlark, mouse and pointed right where the grouse were previously hunkered. Pretty happy with him tonight but have a long way to go. He's great with recall commands and general commands but this whoa command is going to give me fits.