Lacks intensity

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:56 pm

My buddy recently purchased a 2 1/2 year old English Pointer. He is stylish and staunch on point. The problem is that he seems to lose interest very quickly. He does fine in a field with planted birds, but in a true hunting environment he has no entusiasm and seems unwilling to hunt, especially if he is with my experienced dog. Also, he seems to be a timid dog. He is in no way gun shy,infact the sound of gunfire perks him up for a while. Any advise on how to get this dog wanting to hunt would be appreciated.
Thanks

Post by **ezzy333** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:36 pm

Get him on birds.

Ezzy

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:48 pm

He has been on lots of birds already this season.

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:41 am

Have you hunted him by himself? Is he lacking enthusiasm just when he is with another dog?

I'm just wondering if he doesn't have his own confidence built up enough to hunt with other dogs. I have seen some dogs that do great solo but when they pair up they hang back and lose their drive. They tend to key off the other dog and don't trust themselves to find birds or feel intimidated by the other dogs.

Addict

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:02 am

Thanks for the reply Addict. You have pointed out what I have told my friend the problem might be. Actually he does a good job when hunted alone. Would your advise be to just keep hunting him with other dogs until he comes around?

Addict · Post by **Addict** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:32 am

I would keep hunting him solo for awhile.

I had this problem with my GWP a year ago. I hunted my GSP and GWP a lot together and they would do great together because they were good friends. If I went hunting with friends then she would hang back and acted timid. She would also snap at any dog that got close to her that she didn't know well. I corrected the snaping problem and I also hunted her alone this year. I can't believe the difference it made. The solo hunting lit a fire in her that she probably would have developed sooner had I done it when she was younger. Her ability inproved dramatically. She was a good dog before but now she is great imo. It could be she was just slower to mature but I don't know. She is almost three now and is a softer dog to train. She always had a very high prey drive. My oldest GSP was so bold that nothing bothered him.

I was new to pointing dogs and would never hunt young dogs together again. I am working my new GSP pup alone so that I don't create any problems with her. When she is further along in training I will start to let her hunt with the others.

Maybe some others have some ideas on this as well.

Addict

Post by **Greg Jennings** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:12 am

If the dog hunts well alone, but not well with other dogs, hunt the dog alone till it fully establishes its confidence.

In a development situation, always set your dog up to succeed.

Best regards, Greg J.