First Dog First post

richfire · Post by **richfire** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:45 pm

I have a 11 week old male that I picked up last night. I have never had a GSP or had a dog to train. What are the steps I need to train this to be a great bird dog? Thanks for your help

Post by **Greg Jennings** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:27 pm

Welcome to GunDogForum and welcome to the wonderful world of pointing dogs and, specifically, GSPs.

The first thing to do with your pup is to keep them safe from dogs and wild animals that might have an infectious disease till your pup's vaccinations are in effect. Talk to your vet about that.

The next thing that you can be doing is socializing your pup with humans and dogs (remember, your pup should be vaccinated before being around other dogs).

Take your pup on walks of increasing length along the edges of grassy fields so that he can learn about his world. It'll do wonders for his development.

This is somewhat controversial, so talk to some other folks and form your own opinion.... If your breeder didn't do it, let your pup maul a weak quail. After than, use pigeons to get him firmly introduced to birds.

Another controversial point: at that point, *I* don't do any more formal training till the dog is 8-14 months old, depending on what the goal is and the dog's maturation. There is a lot that can go wrong and not much that can go right. Don't ignore the dog, just do other things. I really liked taking mine on the aforementioned walks.

You might pick up the "Perfect Start" DVD or "Training for Silent Hunting: No Whistles, No Whoas" by our own Janet. Both will help you get your pup on a great start.

Best regards,

Post by **grant** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:31 pm

Here's some info:

http://www.gundogforum.com/index.php?page=gdfarticle5

tfbirddog2 · Post by **tfbirddog2** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:56 pm

Congrats on a new pup.The best part of this expirence is growing together and learning about birddogs and hunting with birddogs. Just my opinion don't listen to everybody listen to yourself and the pup.What I mean is read alot and watch alot of films. Format your training to you and your pup choose what you like and try it open up your training to all styles.As far as reading goes I recomend "The Ulitimate Guide to Birddog Training" by Jerome B. Robinson I learned alot from it.First think of how you like to hunt and train for your aproach to hunting.Go simple first get the walking on the leash, come here, sit, stay, heel, wing work with WHOA!.Just don't forget have fun,lots of rewards(treats), keep it simple for both of you, and this will all pay off.Good luck!!

Casper · Post by **Casper** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 9:37 pm

As Greg mentioned " the perfect start" is a fine video to help understand how to go about training. I have not seen the other video but am sure it is just as good.
Scroll through this forum and read all you can, but your best option would be to take things slow and keep it fun. Everyone on this forum will be willing to help you in anyway just ask!

llewgor · Post by **llewgor** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 1:50 pm

richfire
How are you doing with your pup?