Well, my boyfriend is going out to ID for a couple weeks next month, and taking the pups with him. FINALLY, the dogs will get a chance to get on some wild birds.
He's going to take them hunting with his buddy and his buddy's viszlas. Now, Fletcher has a lot more training into him, by virtue of his being a year older than Biscuit. He retrieves 99% reliably, won't retrieve if told to stay and not released, will retrieve when told to, he's decently steady on point (but if he creeps, he takes correction and will stop), and he gets the difference between working on birds and chasing a tennis ball or dummy. Biscuit is only 8 months old. She is intense and rock solid on point, but as soon as she has whatever it is in her mouth, she tends to kind of drift off and forget about the whole concept of bringing it back. We're working on it, and I am going to begin a moderate, altered FF with her. No pressure, just going to tie a rope between two trees, clip her to it with enough slack to pick up the dummy, and have her do retrieves that way. As it is, she's only reliable without distractions, so I'm hoping this way she'll learn to ignore outdoor distractions while she's retrieving.
Biscuit has no whoa training or training to retrieve on command (i.e. she busts out and goes after the dummy every time, and has not been taught to hold back on command). Both dogs back naturally.
Should Biscuit go out in the field with them, or is she just going to mess up the other dogs? And any last-minute training tips to polish up the commands they already know before they get out there? What commands do you feel are most important and need to be polished before he takes them out "real" hunting? They don't need to be perfect, it's just for fun and it's more for them anyway, but we still want it to go as smoothly as possible.
Last-minute suggestions
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doublea
If it were me I would send them both and hunt each young dog separate. IMHO to do otherwise you may end up with one dog hunting and finding birds and the other dog following and backing but not hunting. Or worse yet both dogs will take off playing and neither will hunt. I always say--never hunt a young untrained dog with a trained or "broke" dog. The untrained dog will chase birds in front of the broke dog or will play bump and run with the older dog. The same is true of two young dogs at the same time--first one will do it then both will do it. Just like kids--they will play follow the leader. This by the way is a good way to ruin a friendship or invite gun play if you get my drift.
Send both dogs--the experience they can get on wild birds is the important thing right now. As to important commands they need to know--"Here" is a good one. Make sure the pups know it and are consistent in obeying it. Nothing worse than loosing a dog when your a 1000 miles from home. Other than that remember you got young inexperienced dogs--don't expect to shoot a limit over them or demand perfection from them. Have fun, train them when you can and shoot what they give you an opportunity too. Big thing here--explain to those you are with what level of training your pups have--might be a good idea to hunt them by yourselves. No hard feelings this way, especially if the pups mess up a few birds--and they just might!
Good luck!!!
Send both dogs--the experience they can get on wild birds is the important thing right now. As to important commands they need to know--"Here" is a good one. Make sure the pups know it and are consistent in obeying it. Nothing worse than loosing a dog when your a 1000 miles from home. Other than that remember you got young inexperienced dogs--don't expect to shoot a limit over them or demand perfection from them. Have fun, train them when you can and shoot what they give you an opportunity too. Big thing here--explain to those you are with what level of training your pups have--might be a good idea to hunt them by yourselves. No hard feelings this way, especially if the pups mess up a few birds--and they just might!
Good luck!!!
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Colleen
Thanks.
They're both great about "Come" in the field. Both dogs seem to know that they cannot ignore "Come" in the field the way they sometimes do when they want a few extra outside minutes in the morning... :roll:
I should mention, too, that this is a lifelong buddy of my boyfriend, who has trained, adult V's. But one of them even still likes to play keep away with birds. So he won't be taking out two new dogs with two perfect pros. The idea is that it'll be a fun outing for the guys, and a chance to let the dogs find some birds. Period. No trying to get bird limits, no whining, no pressure. Plus, both guys are lifelong hunters and both value their dogs over any bird. Of course I'm concerned with safety if anyone is using a gun over our dog, but I trust his friend to use his head.
I was thinking it might be a better idea to let Fletcher run with the V's, I think he will actually learn a lot from working with them. I wouldn't call Fletcher broke, but he's well on his way, and he's mature and cooperative. But I think you are right on about taking Biscuit out by herself. That way, there's just no pressure on her from anyone or any other dogs, just good wild bird exposure.
Thanks for the reply. I won't be with them, unfortunately, I have a conference that conflicts. But I can't wait to hear how it goes, and I'll be sure to post about it (I'm sure we'll have more issues to work out, too!)
They're both great about "Come" in the field. Both dogs seem to know that they cannot ignore "Come" in the field the way they sometimes do when they want a few extra outside minutes in the morning... :roll:
I should mention, too, that this is a lifelong buddy of my boyfriend, who has trained, adult V's. But one of them even still likes to play keep away with birds. So he won't be taking out two new dogs with two perfect pros. The idea is that it'll be a fun outing for the guys, and a chance to let the dogs find some birds. Period. No trying to get bird limits, no whining, no pressure. Plus, both guys are lifelong hunters and both value their dogs over any bird. Of course I'm concerned with safety if anyone is using a gun over our dog, but I trust his friend to use his head.
I was thinking it might be a better idea to let Fletcher run with the V's, I think he will actually learn a lot from working with them. I wouldn't call Fletcher broke, but he's well on his way, and he's mature and cooperative. But I think you are right on about taking Biscuit out by herself. That way, there's just no pressure on her from anyone or any other dogs, just good wild bird exposure.
Thanks for the reply. I won't be with them, unfortunately, I have a conference that conflicts. But I can't wait to hear how it goes, and I'll be sure to post about it (I'm sure we'll have more issues to work out, too!)