My pup's first hunt

[hollohas]

Here is my 9 month old pup Kimber after her first hunt. We went to a hunt club called Steel Fork Pheasants east of Colorado Springs. Nice place.

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae191/sholloh/IMG-20101223-00109.jpg

We had 5 guys and 3 dogs. At first she was so excited to be around all those dogs and people she ran back and forth to the two furthest guys in our line. Once she realized that she was going to die of exhaustion she started hunting in front of me and the guys on either side of me.

After the other two dogs flushed a couple birds she made the connection that the sound of a gunshot meant it was time to look up and retrieve. She only flushed 3 birds but the first she flushed was a hen that didn't get enough altitude so Kimber just snatched it out of the air. Her nose needs some work, she was great at finding piles of feathers where coyotes had eaten a pheasant...makes me think the training I did with pheasant wings worked so good she didn't know to look for the live ones.

But she was a retrieving fool. She retrieved 6 of the 12 birds we got (only two were mine and she would have had more if I didn't make her honor the other dogs a few times). Her first retrieve was the first real bird she had ever had in her mouth and it took her a minute to figure out what to do with it. But the 5 after that she was the first to the bird, picked it up immediately, came directly back to me without stopping and without dropping the birds once. Brought them back to hand. I had her honor the other dogs a couple times which she did well unless the other dogs procrastinated too much. She didn't have much patience if they didn't pick the bird up quickly or played with it too much.

All in all I am very happy with her. Not too bad for my first dog, that came from a rescue and that only gets training in my small back yard in the burbs. Can't wait to get her out on some more birds. We'll have to hit up some of the walk-in access land this month to see how she does.

[XJ]

"...came from a rescue and that only gets training in my small back yard in the burbs"


That's amazing [Beer]

[patrick0685]

wow, im gunna be training my dog here soon, got any other tips

[hollohas]

I followed a lot of the techniques in Richard Wolters book Game Dog (http://www.amazon.com/Game-Dog-Retriever-Waterfowl-Training/dp/0525939423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295107808&sr=8-1). I also used a number of DVD's and online videos that some of the dog training supply companies produce.

Here are a few things I learned that seemed to work. Keep in mind I am a first time trainer so any tips I put here are worth what you paid for them.

I focused mostly on the obedience training and the beginning puppy stuff from the book. The book also covers lots of stuff for field trials, multiple retrieves, and some of the more hard core handling stuff using hand signals but I haven't been using most of that yet. I did however use the whistle training techniques.

Playing fetch a lot is key. And one thing I learned is to stop the game before the dog wants to stop. Stop when it is still super excited to play. Someone put it this way...it's like eating a very good cake. Eat one piece and you want more. Eat the whole thing and you won't want more for a year. I learned that the hard way after my dog started being disinterested in fetch. So I scaled it back and would only throw it for her 4-5 times then take it away when she was super excited. She learned to love it again.

Always make the dog bring the ball or whatever back to hand...always. Don't go pick it up off the ground if she drops it ten feet from you. If she won't come all the way back put her back on the long lead and make her come back. And if she drops it make her pick it up and then take it out of her mouth. I think doing this is what made Kimber retrieve so well.

As far as getting her ready for the gun, I started by making loud noises or banging things together while she was distracted while she ate. Then when she didn't notice that anymore I got a cap gun at Walgreens and shot it in the other room while she ate. Then moved into the room with her and then moved outside and shot it while she played fetch. When she was used to that I moved up to the .22 blanks and shot them out in the field while she played fetch. I shot it with her closer and closer to me as she got used to it until finally I could shoot it with her by my side. Finally moved up to the shotgun again shooting it with her playing fetch and moving her closer and closer to me. Pay close attention to your dog while doing all this. If she shows any signs of getting scared, move further away or don't use something so loud.

I got some pheasant wings from the previous season and kept them in the freezer. I would tie them to her toy when playing fetch. I would also leave her inside and drag the wing around the yard leaving a trail and I would let her out, make her find the trail and follow it until she found the wing in a bush where I hid it.

I followed the manufacture's tips when training with the e-collar.

One of my hunting buddy's that has trained a number of dogs kept telling me to work on getting her used to the gun, work on fetch and on her nose and everything else will come natural. Hunting Kimber with other experienced dogs seemed to help. It was clear she watched them and learned what they were doing. She started quartering pretty good by the end of the day just by what she learned while hunting. I also think going to a hunt club where we knew the field had birds in it helped tremendously. She was able to learn what it was all about very quickly. If I brought her to walk-in access or something where the birds are less dense I don't think she would have connected the dots so quickly.

That's all I can't think of. My dog is a family dog first and a hunting dog second so I'm not trying to turn her into a champion field trail dog. Just keep it fun for the dog. They have been bread for hundreds of years to hunt so lots of it will come natural you just have to make sure to praise the dog when they get it right so they know what you want from them.

[sniper7]

"...came from a rescue and that only gets training in my small back yard in the burbs"


That's amazing [Beer]


I saw that as well! talk about a 2nd chance in life!




great pictures. cool looking dog! I have had my English setters out a lot this year as well. they have done awesome! still working on fetching as they aren't much of a retriever breed without a lot of work. We are in the same boat training them in the burbs...and it doesn't help that it takes about 2 hours to get to any decent kind of pheasant hunting unless it is a preserve or ranch or something.

Makes me want to get out there again! Guess I will have to go next week!!!

[patrick0685]

thanks for the info, about when did you start the training?

[hollohas]

thanks for the info, about when did you start the training?

Basic obedience (sit, stay, come) and fetch started the second I got her home. She was about 3 months. At that point fetch was just a game and we didn't focus so much on her returning to me. I just wanted her to see that it was fun. She figured out on her own that it was much more fun if she brought it back to me so I would throw it again.

At about 14 weeks, after she started to understand sit, stay, come pretty good, I introduced the whistle for those commands. Doing it at meal time made it a game.

At about 4 months we started real retrieves with her on the long leash. I would throw it, she would go get it and if she didn't bring it back I would pull her back. After each short session she got a couple "fun" throws off the leash so she didn't forget it was fun. I also introduced heel.

At about 5 months I introduced the wings to our fetch games and we also worked on her releasing to retrieve on command. Not because I want to do that in the field but because it was good reinforcement that she had to do sit, stay, come even if we were having fun. The e-collar was also introduce very slowly at about 5 months. I also started hiding the wings for her to find.

At 6 months I started introducing loud noises during meal time. I took this slow and had worked up to the shotgun after about 2 months. I think most people do this faster but being my first dog I wanted to make absolutely sure I didn't make her gun shy. After all she was a rescue that came from doggie death row in Tennessee so I didn't know what she may have already been scared of.

If you get that book I mentioned you'll notice that I kept in the basic training order he recommends but I actually started later then he says you should. He starts his dogs as soon as they know their own name or at about 9 weeks. Fetch starts even sooner. From 9-12 weeks most of the training is fun focused but at 12 weeks he starts to make the dog do what it is told.

I highly recommend that book. My local Boarders even had it in stock.

[hollohas]

I saw that as well! talk about a 2nd chance in life!




great pictures. cool looking dog! I have had my English setters out a lot this year as well. they have done awesome! still working on fetching as they aren't much of a retriever breed without a lot of work. We are in the same boat training them in the burbs...and it doesn't help that it takes about 2 hours to get to any decent kind of pheasant hunting unless it is a preserve or ranch or something.

Makes me want to get out there again! Guess I will have to go next week!!!

Yeah, it sucks there's nothing close. And hunt clubs get expensive. Have fun if you get out this week!

[Mazin]

Wow very cool dog! I know we Adopted a black Lab afte rmy wife saw it get hit by car on the way home from work, Had tags but no owner would call me back so after $1,500 in med bill he is healthy and sprited. I have been starting this with him and he seems to be picking it up but he is abou 4yrs old now, I will be planting some birds in my brother in-laws field and see what he does. Hopefully you can teah a older dog new tricks. Good Idea about hiding the wings BTW.

[hollohas]

Wow very cool dog! I know we Adopted a black Lab afte rmy wife saw it get hit by car on the way home from work, Had tags but no owner would call me back so after $1,500 in med bill he is healthy and sprited. I have been starting this with him and he seems to be picking it up but he is abou 4yrs old now, I will be planting some birds in my brother in-laws field and see what he does. Hopefully you can teah a older dog new tricks. Good Idea about hiding the wings BTW.

Wow. That is awesome that you saved that dog. Those owners are dicks for not calling back and probably dropped the dog on the side of the road anyway. Good for you. I bet you have a best friend for life now. Even if he is older, I bet he'll be a good bird dog once he figures out chasing birds is just about the most fun a dog can have.

[Mazin]

Yea he is a good pup, very very loving and gets along with our 3 others very well, only problem is we have 3 smaller dogs and I think now the lab has the thought he is a lap dog too lol.

[patrick0685]

they arent?

[Mazin]

Lol no....they are lap full's. Nice to have a big dog again to play rough with though