Kudos from a new guy!

[mark_sd]

Hello everybody... I'm new to the board and live in San Diego.
I found this site by accident and really enjoy how it is set up and the great tidbits that everybody shares! I do not have a dog as of yet, but am looking and Chessies and Brittanys (anybody out there hunt with them? Sorry Vislaguy! )
This will be my first hunting dog, and I plan on training using the methods outlined by Richard Wolters. (Opinions?)

Just wanted to say great job everybody!

Cheers
Mark.

[Casper]

Welcome, you will find many great things hear at GDF.

Wolters method is a fine start for a young dog but is a little out dated but still good info. What I mean is there are so many professionals out there right now that have a similar way of training but have refined them so much to make it easier for you and most importantly pup to learn. If you have some friends that have trained a dog using another method borrow the info they used to get their pup to be so succesfull. Get together with a local club and view other peoples dogs. You will be able to see a good dog from those that were trained by someone that didnt know what they were doing. There will also be people willing to help you through rough spots. Many of those rough spots can be worked out on GDF. JMO

Good luck and again welcome

[Birdhunter1]

I read the Woleters book when I trained my first Brittany, done all the rst of them the same way, have had great results and some great dogs.
The one I have now will practically do what I am thinking he should do, the big thing is discipline and field time, that will develop a relationshi[ where the dog will learn to hunt with you and for you not you hunt for him or him hunting by himself!

I like Brittany's, they are awesome dogs. Mine all came out of the my oldest somehow, he is the father of one, and the grandfather of two one was out of a male pup of his and one was out of a female pup of his that we had till the day she died after we took 9 puppies out of her by emergency C-section.,

Plus with a bobbed tail they have less of a wind drag co-efficient and they can run faster.
Welcome to the board!

[TAK]

Greatings!
Dog choice is a big one. It sounds as if you have two of the best from Pointing world and Retriever world.
I am a pointing dog man so you can guess my vote........
I started out with a Brit and then had 3 before I had GSP's.
What ever way.... Choose great lines then look at price. Choose someone that is willing to help and go the extra mile for you!

As far as the Woltons you have me..... There ar more ways to train dogs than you can name states!

[Greg Jennings]

Wolter's "Water Dog", IMHO, isn't bad for retrievers, but the "Gun Dog" stinks up the joint.

Janet's "Training for Silent Hunting" and the "Perfect Start" are good options.

Also, search the archives here and you'll find some good material.

Best,

[llewgor]

Welcome mark-sd
Which breed to get? Will you be doing alot of duck hunting or mostly upland? If you going duck hunting most of the time Chessie would work there, but if your upland hunting east of San Diego that's hot and hard on the Chessie, maybe better for the Brittany. However if your hunter both (and don't let anyone on this site know I said this ) a versatile dog might work out better for you.

Also I agree with Greg, I have Silent Hunting and Perfect Start training videos and they both get you off to a good start.

[mark_sd]

Thanks for the welcome and all of the great input everybody. I will search the archives to see what wisdom I can come up with. I think I'll also check out the silent hunting and perfect start videos. Hmmm.... versatile dog?... I googled on the term and found the NAVHDA website...Wow-- more reading

Thanks -
Mark.

[Casper]

Another video to look for is "the Silent Command System" by Rick and Ron Smith and "the Bill West Method".

Most training videos and books follow the same guidelines they just have different ways of going about it. You will also find that everyone has differing opinions on different methods. Once you find one that you as a trainer can do all that is required stick with it and dont give up. Realize this is an effort that will take app. 2 yrs. to get a good gun dog. Pup may hunt for you at a younger age but you wont be able to expect much because of its youth. If a book or video says you will have a finished gun dog by so many days, months, or years is a bunch of :bs: for a fist timer. It will take several dogs before you get one "right". A pro can accomplish such a task but they also have the facilities, equipment, and know how.

If you go to the I.S.E. (international sportmans expo) in I think Jan. there will be several pros there that you will be able to ask questions and see some good dogs. One that come to mind is Dobbs Dogs. He also has a retriever training book that was written for Tri Tronics and is very detailed and very similar to Walters with more info.

[llewgor]

http://www.sportsexpos.com/
Mark-sd here's their schedule.
casper do you go to the one in sacramento?

[Casper]

I try and go every year but didnt make last year. I am going to try and make it this year maybe we will meat up.

[llewgor]

casper
sounds good, let's work it out just before then. I usually like to see the schedule of the dog trainers, however I missed most of that last year because I was chasing my grandkids around. With them and my dogs it comes down to who's training who.