Puppies!

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Willie T
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Puppies!

Post by Willie T » Tue Feb 01, 2022 7:05 pm

My new one is 4 1/2 months old. Cross Timbers Diesel. I call him “Moon”. Been running him a good bit on wild birds. Already figured out he has to get out and hunt to find birds. I love to see the point pull a pup under and hold it down! He is still a baby but when seasons close, this little guy will know he is a bird dog.
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DonF
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Re: Puppies!

Post by DonF » Tue Feb 01, 2022 7:38 pm

Nice looking pup!

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Garrison
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Garrison » Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:58 am

Well, there goes the Texas Woodcock population!

Garrison

Willie T
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Willie T » Wed Feb 02, 2022 11:12 am

Garrison wrote:
Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:58 am
Well, there goes the Texas Woodcock population!

Garrison
LOL. I like the little hellion. For upland birds I mostly hunt bob white, scaled quail, and Pheasant. Also chase sharpies and Huns a couple weeks each year. I make time for woodcock as well but it is only a short month and a half of season.
Willie

Willie T
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Willie T » Tue Apr 05, 2022 9:46 am

The pup is a bit of a wild child but coming along
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Working on some stuff with pigeons in the back yard. 6 months old now. My pup is not wearing an ecollar and is intense with me out front. Things are progressing without leaving fingerprints.
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Moon knows he is a bird dog. The point here is all natural. The pup has not been whoa’d into it and was allowed to chase. Only use of a check cord was obedience sessions in the yard. Pup was ran on wild birds starting at around 3.5 months. No check cord has been used on bird work with this puppy.
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Garrison
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Garrison » Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:18 am

Looking good Willie! Genetics + Brains + Proper Exposure = ^^^

Garrison

Willie T
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Willie T » Thu Apr 07, 2022 1:03 pm

Garrison wrote:
Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:18 am
Looking good Willie! Genetics + Brains + Proper Exposure = ^^^

Garrison
Thank you Garrison. I like him but he has a long way to go. Wild birds are all I hunt. My long game is a bird savvy dog that relocates on it’s own on runners that points first scent and is staunch when the birds hold and hunts for the gun and is a serviceable retriever.
While he was figuring out he could find them, he put a lot of birds in the air as a puppy. Having watched several young dogs develop and assimilate how to handle wild birds, I have formed the opinion that learning what it takes to put a bird in the air is invaluable to a pup as it figures out the dance to work wild birds to get them pointed and keep them out of the air. Birds here are pairing up to nest now so we have switched to pigeons for a while. As pointed out in other threads, there is more than one way to approach bird work and what you train. I do my own thing to hopefully end up with what I like but it takes time and patience. Right now if my pup turns and takes one step into the scent cone towards the planted bird, I launch it. As he chases I move on without a word. The futility of approaching the bird is really sinking in and reinforcing what the wild birds have taught him. He has shown me he will back naturally so that looks like backing will be easy with this one. This fall I will hunt him at that level and only shoot upland birds when he gets it right for him.
After I am satisfied with his work on pigeons we will start refining his retrieve away from pointing. First steady to wing shot and fall. Then marking drills till he can mark multiple birds and honor another dog when it is sent for the retrieve. (I hate to see a dog rodeo at a down bird). Water work will also need to be incorporated into what he is learning. Depending on how he progresses, we may also start some basic handling before fall but we have a lot of ground to cover to get there. We will hunt his first waterfowl and dove season with those basics.
Mixed in at some point this summer will be a NA test.
After a season of hunting wild birds we will link the steady to wing shot and fall to the back of the point and build on the retrieving foundation to train handling on blind retrieves and picking up crippled birds first.
Hopefully by the end of his second season it will be clear what to focus on to start getting close to becoming a finished wild bird dog and perhaps a UT test if he has progressed enough to give me the confidence to run him.

Exciting times for me as I continue to get to know the new pup.
Willie

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Garrison
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Garrison » Thu Apr 07, 2022 2:46 pm

Sounds like it is coming along nicely. I try to take much of the same approach, but haven’t put much effort into retrieving yet. He picks them up if he sees them and hunts dead when asked, but I plan to tighten it up over summer. I usually hunt him alone and found he got a bit possessive with other dogs around and crunched a few this season.

He is a natural backer from day one like yours. It’s really nice that he will back a dog, but he will do it from a lonnnnng ways off. It can at times be real pain in the butt. If he has visual contact, he doesn’t like to break off unless I go make him, maybe too much yard work on my part. The problem is, he naturally backs dogs, cows, coyotes, antelope, deer etc., anything on four legs that isn’t presently moving seems to be fair game.🤣 What a joy when there is a standoff on the other side of the canyon and you have to gain or drop a bunch of elevation. 🤦🏻‍♂️ It seems to be working itself out the more we get through those situations.

Garrison

Willie T
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Willie T » Thu Apr 07, 2022 5:57 pm

Garrison wrote:
Thu Apr 07, 2022 2:46 pm
Sounds like it is coming along nicely. I try to take much of the same approach, but haven’t put much effort into retrieving yet. He picks them up if he sees them and hunts dead when asked, but I plan to tighten it up over summer. I usually hunt him alone and found he got a bit possessive with other dogs around and crunched a few this season.

He is a natural backer from day one like yours. It’s really nice that he will back a dog, but he will do it from a lonnnnng ways off. It can at times be real pain in the butt. If he has visual contact, he doesn’t like to break off unless I go make him, maybe too much yard work on my part. The problem is, he naturally backs dogs, cows, coyotes, antelope, deer etc., anything on four legs that isn’t presently moving seems to be fair game.🤣 What a joy when there is a standoff on the other side of the canyon and you have to gain or drop a bunch of elevation. 🤦🏻‍♂️ It seems to be working itself out the more we get through those situations.

Garrison
Made me smile 😃. It could be worse. At least it is not a vendetta for porkys…..

Willie T
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Willie T » Fri Jul 29, 2022 11:35 am

Moon is coming along. This point is a homer. Head up in the wind spotted up from distance. There is still work to be done but I like the way he runs. The flat tail has not changed from the first bird he pointed and I’m digging it. Not many Pudelpointers on this forum so here you go.
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Garrison
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Garrison » Sat Jul 30, 2022 7:22 am

Looking good! Going to be a fun fall.

Garrison

Willie T
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Re: Puppies!

Post by Willie T » Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:08 am

I have been shooting some for him now. The flat tail has not changed. I think we have gone as far as we can with pigeons for now.
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We are circling back to more water work in all this heat. Fall and wild bird season can’t get here soon enough for the real education to start.
Willie T
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