Gun Dog Forum

Been 3 years since my last pup crossed the rainbow bridge. I still come here often and wanted to introduce Axe !

WOW!!

Nice looking pup.

I'd say you are about to have some fun.

Axe is a beautiful dog and is probably worth the wait...but 3 years is a looooooong time.

Enjoy.

RayG

Pretty Pup. Take lots of photos, it goes too fast

Congrats on the pup. Doesn’t look like he is lacking any in the leg department! Glad you got the picture posting function worked out, don’t be afraid to use it.

Thank you Everyone !

Ray G you are not kidding !
I have been wanting to get back into this since my last pup's passing but sometimes I may think to much. After years of harassment from my mentor & friends as well as some on here I saw what I deemed an opportunity and went for it. The little guy is very intelligent and has more puppy in him then I can ever remember having . Like past subjects I plan on following the pup's leed and let it come together in time. Within the first week I had him doing some impressive recalls 40-50 yrds out . Stop -Snap is head to look and come charging. No check cord yet but I am guessing pretty soon . Making him my bud !

Garrison - Thank's for the help with getting a picture posted ! Computers have never been one of my strong points

Congratulations great looking pup.

Thank You ChrisW74 !
Trying to figure the picture thing !

What are you doing to me? No.No.No..... I don't want another pup, but.................

do it Sharon

A little Axe update ~ A couple nights ago I was on the phone at dusk looking out the back when I saw a woodcock flutter to the ground & start feeding . Coooool !! I thought. Fast forward to last night -Weather has been bad as of late with snow,freezing rain ,pouring rain .After dinner we walked outside and the little guy is following doing puppy stuff

I no sooner start thinking about the night before and as I do this I hear wings off to my left between myself and the garage and another or possibly the same w/c from the night before flutters to the ground. How cool is that I thought . Here comes little guy - whats he going to do ? He stops by me spins toward me with his back to the w/c which is about 20 ft away at this point . He starts to take a dump My heart is racing as I would love for him to get a nose full of the bird. His little eyes are bugg'n and he's just a push'n

Now he's finished goes back to puppy stuff and I call him once he look's at me and I point to the w/c and he keeps eyes trained on me . Ugh puppies ! I then start making like I am using my nose and I see him start doing the same thing . Funny !! Still oblivious to the w/c which is feeding not 20 ft from us. I decide to head toward the w/c a couple steps and stop type routine. Ok it's working . Now little guy knows he smells something he may not have experienced before . But now he's heading the wrong direction.

Ut- spoke to soon now he's on a course right for the w/c . He gets within 5-10 ft of the bird and his heads comes up quick. The movement startles the w/c and he's gone . Axe had the - what the heck was that ? (Look going on ) You forget how much fun having a pup can be at times like that. I did the math Axe was 83 days old & just shy of twelve weeks I guess. I do have birds on hand but for now were doing puppy stuff . Soon ~ soon

Sharon wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 24, 2020 1:15 pm

What are you doing to me? No.No.No..... I don't want another pup, but.................

AXE is looking good Chris.

Mikey

Irishwhistler wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 29, 2020 3:38 pm

AXE is looking good Chris.

Mikey

Thank you Mike ! I will send you some short videos of our progress. I don’t know how to post them here or I would for all’s enjoyment !

Pups lookin sharp. On sharing videos I upload to YouTube and then copy and paste the link here. People can click on the link and it takes them to video. That way you can share across any media you want. For example I can copy and paste the same link via a text on my phone and often do

Thanks Chris. Looking forward to viewing the clips.

averageguy wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 30, 2020 6:36 am

Pups lookin sharp. On sharing videos I upload to YouTube and then copy and paste the link here. People can click on the link and it takes them to video. That way you can share across any media you want. For example I can copy and paste the same link via a text on my phone and often do

Average guy Thank you for the kind words on Axe. He is a fine specimen i'm not saying this because he's mine either At times watching him run he's starting to loose the puppy gait and watching him run at times is pretty cool . The most fun is as different things come on inside his little head. As far as posting video I think it's out of my wheel house I will look at it . Youtube sounds "big time" to ole man Chris

A little update on Axe. He is doing nicely . Crate train went with out a hitch and he lets me know when he has to go out . I have been working on recall pretty much since he arrived here. Nothing to heavy and he's doing well with that also . You folks that train pup's regularly how heavy would you get with un wanted puppy behavior ? I notice this more at the end of the day and it only started in the last week.

We head out after supper and he jumps at the back of my legs as if he's trying to be alfa I guess . Biting at my upper rear legs in a jumping motion . I have been turning to avoid this type behavior and he follows my turn I stop and give him a firm "No" but he continues . I haven't gotten overly heavy because I don't want to put fear into him. I feel there will be a time for fear but not while he's this young. It's puppy nonsense I realize but also realize it shouldn't go un-checked .

Any input would be appreciated .

When he does this behavior I guess one might say he is acting like a "little Punk"

Seems your "No" is not working. Without consequences that would be normal. Like a kid who has never been spanked. I find something that does work.

A pup jumping on you and biting is normal solicitation of play behavior and not necessarily an indication of trying to be Alpha at this stage of its development.

I have a riding crop with a wide plastic flapper tip on the end. It is effective without hurting the dog. I use it to give No meaning with consequences. With balance I am not instilling fear in my puppies but rather I am teaching them that No means No. I have never raised a dog which feared me, but they have all understood that No means stop what you doing now.

You can also use some redirection of the pups energy to a toy productively at times especially at the current age of your pup.

Down the road I make productive use of a well trained Down command as well. It is an excellent tool for establishing control of a dog in moments when their excitement level is starting to boil over. Your pup is too young for that at the moment in my view but is not too young to be teaching the command using PR methods. You can see me working with my pup on that command and others in video links I posted in my thread.

Lots of positive, moments of negative when warranted is how I teach puppies.

Max:
A puppy coming up behind you and biting your legs is an attempt at dominating you. In a normal pack situation the mother dog will not tolerate that behavior and will stop it immediately. If my puppies jump on me I push them down with my knee or foot. Once or twice and they stop doing it. The issue if they sneak up behind you is catching them at it. But any biting can not be tolerated. It will not automatically get better especially with a pup that sneaks up behind you. There is a huge difference in a puppy that is afraid of you and one that respects you. There are other signs you need to be aware of such as putting his feet on yours, rushing in or out ahead of you and leaning on you. This is easy in a young puppy but gets more difficult as the pup gets older.
My dogs never even consider jumping on me. My much bigger problem is keeping them from jumping on people who come to visit and encourage them to jump. I wish they wouldn't do that.
Did you have a Northwaters puppy awhile back. Enjoy......Cj

Thank You Average Guy,CJ & Mike (Irishwhistler) for adding. It's been 13 yrs since I had a puppy onboard and I could not remember how much is to much discipline with-out creating a negative. I have been on the correct course I feel after reading what you folks have added. The little pup is really coming along nicely but like any pup has his moments.

Cj to answer your question on previous pups my last two shorthairs were out of Hidden Hollow Lineage & this little guy is from Bruce Shaffer & I am very pleased with him. It's my belief that this little guy is going to start talking pretty soon A highly intelligent creature for sure.

Thanks. I guess I had you confused with somebody else on here.
Dogs are pretty much genetically wired to deal with discipline in order for pack survival. It needs to be quick, understood and over. That is how pack life works. Don't pick at him. Smart dogs learn both good and bad at the same rate. Give him more chances to learn good. Enjoy.....Cj

I wouldn't hesitate to put a little bit of fear into a pup that put his teeth on my skin. I think dogs need to know that disrespect results in a bad consequence, and if that means they have some fear of reprisal, so be it. Dogs shouldn't be fearful of its owners very presence, or of doing regular dog stuff, but dog teeth on people skin crosses the line.

I'd scruff that little sucker and tell him in no uncertain terms that behavior is unacceptable. His mother would give him teeth, so a scruffing isn't all that bad by comparison.

Same with jumping up on you. Scruff, set him down and away. I used to go with the knee to dog chest but after having seen a dog get flipped ( kind of a freak accident) resulting in a broken tail, I don't do that any more. If other people don't correct for my dog jumping on them, I do it. I claim visitors as mine, they do not belong to the dogs even if the visitors don't care. Dogs can't figure out that jumping on a strong young person is any different than jumping on old frail grandma, so they don't get to jump on anyone.

A once (maybe twice if the dog is persistent) and done harsher correction where the dog knows you mean business works better than many little nagging corrections that he's allowed to ignore.

Max and Axe............welcome back to the fold bud!

Thank You Bird Dog 67 !
You don't know how good it is to be back ! I never rush a moment just savor them



!

Bird Dog 67 wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 9:48 am

Max and Axe............welcome back to the fold bud!

Max, I like to suggest you redirect your pup when he gets unruly. Use a clicker and "charge" him. That means, get tiny chunks of chicken dogs, then one click followed by one treat in rapid succession. You will see that he assigns the click to getting a treat. Now, use treats and lure him into jumping on you with the treats by swinging them low and then up to your chest BUT he doesn't get any.
You will see him get frustrated and either whine, jump up more, drop his front end, stand and stare or even sit. Then, when he stands still or sits, click and treat!
You'll soon find you can't get him to jump up for love nor money!
As for the nipping, I deal with that diversely.

Featherfinder wrote: ↑

Fri May 22, 2020 6:22 am

Max, I like to suggest you redirect your pup when he gets unruly. Use a clicker and "charge" him. That means, get tiny chunks of chicken dogs, then one click followed by one treat in rapid succession. You will see that he assigns the click to getting a treat. Now, use treats and lure him into jumping on you with the treats by swinging them low and then up to your chest BUT he doesn't get any.
You will see him get frustrated and either whine, jump up more, drop his front end, stand and stare or even sit. Then, when he stands still or sits, click and treat!
You'll soon find you can't get him to jump up for love nor money!
As for the nipping, I deal with that diversely.

Thank You for the input .I got him to stop pretty much right away after confirmation from Mike( Dog whistler ) for one as well as reccommendation of others. As it turns out what I had been doing was correct but I wanted to know how much is not to much. Since things opened up a little I have been seeing more folks as of late and working them as subjects and I feel he will catch that as well.

Thank's Featherfinder ! input appreciated !

My pleasure Max.
Enjoy...they age too quickly!

Just past 7 months

Max2 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:25 am

Just past 7 months

CHRIS,
WOW !!! That AXE is growing like a weed. He has really stretched out. Looking good buddy .

Cheers,
Mikey

Irishwhistler wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 16, 2020 5:51 am

Max2 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:25 am

Just past 7 months

CHRIS,
WOW !!! That AXE is growing like a weed. He has really stretched out. Looking good buddy .

Cheers,
Mikey

Mike he sure is growing ! He has such a personality. Crack's me up all the time. Bruce had done a write up on his sire & dam and I remeber him saying that Axe's dad had a nickname of "punk" - I think Axe is a chip off the old block !
Lot of fun to be around ! Likes to push the envelope - Bold would be an understatement !

Max2 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:31 pm

Irishwhistler wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 16, 2020 5:51 am

Max2 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:25 am

Just past 7 months

CHRIS,
WOW !!! That AXE is growing like a weed. He has really stretched out. Looking good buddy .

Cheers,
Mikey

Mike he sure is growing ! He has such a personality. Crack's me up all the time. Bruce had done a write up on his sire & dam and I remeber him saying that Axe's dad had a nickname of "punk" - I think Axe is a chip off the old block !
Lot of fun to be around ! Likes to push the envelope - Bold would be an understatement !

Chris,

I personally love seeing the quality of "boldness" in a pup. I wish ye continuing success and joy with ye bold lad AXE.

Cheers,
Mike

Irishwhistler wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 17, 2020 10:10 pm

Max2 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:31 pm

Irishwhistler wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 16, 2020 5:51 am

CHRIS,
WOW !!! That AXE is growing like a weed. He has really stretched out. Looking good buddy .

Cheers,
Mikey

Mike he sure is growing ! He has such a personality. Crack's me up all the time. Bruce had done a write up on his sire & dam and I remeber him saying that Axe's dad had a nickname of "punk" - I think Axe is a chip off the old block !
Lot of fun to be around ! Likes to push the envelope - Bold would be an understatement !

Chris,

I personally love seeing the quality of "boldness" in a pup. I wish ye continuing success and joy with ye bold lad AXE.

Cheers,
Mike

Mike you have helped me with this pup more then you will ever know. I really appreciate your input. Another very knowledgable dog man made the same comment to me. I am by no means a dog trainer but do my best. I just would like to say I appreciate your input as well as everyone else who has added. I take it all in !
Thank's !

Max2 wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 4:57 am

Irishwhistler wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 17, 2020 10:10 pm

Max2 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 16, 2020 8:31 pm

Mike he sure is growing ! He has such a personality. Crack's me up all the time. Bruce had done a write up on his sire & dam and I remeber him saying that Axe's dad had a nickname of "punk" - I think Axe is a chip off the old block !
Lot of fun to be around ! Likes to push the envelope - Bold would be an understatement !

Chris,

I personally love seeing the quality of "boldness" in a pup. I wish ye continuing success and joy with ye bold lad AXE.

Cheers,
Mike

Mike you have helped me with this pup more then you will ever know. I really appreciate your input. Another very knowledgable dog man made the same comment to me. I am by no means a dog trainer but do my best. I just would like to say I appreciate your input as well as everyone else who has added. I take it all in !
Thank's !

Aye Chris,
Glad to know Mate and even happier to know that AXE is thriving under ye care. Keep up the good work lad.

Slainte,
THE DOG WHISTLER

Looking the part but still lots of puppy in there ! A good one all around!

Aye Chris,

Ye lad AXE just gets more handsome by the day. Ye had him out yet?

Mike

Beautiful dog.

Average Guy & Mike thank's for the kind words on Axe !
Mike to answer your question we have been play'n in the woods and Axe is hav'n fun ! We have had some real nice points on the local woodcock but mostly prior to the season . That said it's all about having fun ! Past dogs I have pressured and pushed along but with Axe I have been taking a different approach. That being by letting a lot of the inner self come out
puppyhood.

I will say this about Axe he is a character ! I laugh with joy when the puppy side comes out and get such enjoyment at watching when the "all business" side shows up . Kind of like watching Superman the movie when Superman starts to find his inner strengths and is like wooo where did that come from ? Pure pleasure to see ! I am in no rush with this pup and plan on working with him to the best of my ability. Because Axe is bigger in size he could pass for an adult if you saw him work a woodcock . He zip's in there all low to the ground and deliberate and comes to point !

Puppy side - he might be throwing a toy into the air and monkey "bleep"'n around when a bird flying catch's his eye or woodies flush off our pond and everything stops with play as he is all in on what just took place. Following with his eyes ,jump'n around to watch.

Keep up the good work Chris.

Mike

Looking good! Those grouse and woodcock better watch out

bonasa wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 15, 2020 8:59 am

Looking good! Those grouse and woodcock better watch out

Bonasa - Thank you for the kind words on Axe . I sometimes feel awkward to say this as I am just the guy who bought the little pain in the "bleep " That said the real credit goes to the folks who made this little guy a possibility . If I had the training ability to bring this little guy to his fullest potential I think he would be a force to be reckoned with . I plan on doing my best and that is all I can do . Dog's are just plain fun and you always know where you stand with them !

I'm just a simple foot hunter in upstate NY

Max2 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 28, 2020 5:04 am

I'm just a simple foot hunter in upstate NY
[/quote]

Me too, there are worse places to be. Good luck

Little Axe is doing well folks ! He's in house training mode ! Not to be confused with house breaking mode It's deer season here in NY or at least the tail end of it. So it's a lot of couch time We get out a lot but not in the woods !! Soon though Axe is my first all white (or mostly) and he's been liv'n up to his birth name of "Frost" ! With snow on the ground and all the ticking - He blends !

I took Axe to a preserve a couple weeks ago and worked with him while my friend gunned . Axe went on point and I went in for the flush. Bird got up and one shot rang out and the bird went down. Axe retrieved to my hand ! His first pheasant ! First pheasant he ever pointed also .

Isn't that great! You've got a winner; story gives me a thrill and I wasn't even there.

This thread is incredibly fun to scroll through!

Congrats on the fantastic pup!

Nicely done!

Sharon wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 12:50 pm

Isn't that great! You've got a winner; story gives me a thrill and I wasn't even there.

I know what you mean about the thrill felt . I feel that so often when others post about their pup's ! Thank You !

mnaj_springer wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:06 pm

This thread is incredibly fun to scroll through!

mnaj_springer wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:06 pm

This thread is incredibly fun to scroll through!

Congrats on the fantastic pup!

Thank You so much for saying so !

Garrison wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:40 pm

Nicely done!

Thank's !

I always enjoy when you folks post up your stories of the enjoyment these creatures bestow on us !

Axe has been a super dog so far and we have hit our share of obstacles for sure but we never let it get us down . At 4 months old Axe was hit by a car and when I scooped him from the roadway and rushed him to the emergency vet I remember thinking oh my gosh ! This little guy's life has not even begun and it's over ! His rear foot was shreded and he had injury's I didn't even see as he looked in ruff shape. We worked through this tragedy and to watch him run today you would never know .

Next we like everyone else is faced with covid- How am I going to socialize this pup ?? Low and behold I found a play group to bring him to that was dominated by other GSP's primarily. All about his age . Little guy fit right in ! Didin't skip a beat and loved the group ! Once a week for perhaps 6-8 weeks or so ?

My first 2 shorthairs I pushed heck out of them to bring them along but Axe I have let be a puppy and I am really glad I have because at almost a year old I think I am in the same place as far as where he is at . Except he doesn't have the number of birds croaked under his belt. But that doesn't really concern me. He had a couple beautiful point's on grouse & woodcock this past season that I just couldn't hold up my end.

For those who have enjoyed following Axe here’s a favorite from a couple weeks ago. Snowing heavy , smiling pup & an ole timer

mnaj_springer wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:06 pm

This thread is incredibly fun to scroll through!

Congrats on the fantastic pup!

My thoughts exactly! Nice progression with the pup and really makes me miss Irishwhistler (Mike).