Gun Dog Forum

Hi all,
My Gsp pup is now 5.5 months old. She is very birdy, and shows great desire to find birds when I bring her to the local park reserve. She has pointed probably around 50 wild pheasants out there. She has progressively held her points longer and longer. She has held probably 10 of those birds until I was able to flush them. On the other birds she will start creeping, and then run until she gets another strong scent. Problem is, this usually results in the birds flushing. This is most likely due to the birds running from her.
I do not say anything to her during this process.
I have been firing off a .209 primer pistol every other time or so when the bird is in the air. She has shown no fear of this at all.

My question is whether or not she is ready to go to a game farm and have a few birds killed over her?
Must she hold the bird until I flush it before shooting a bird, or is it enough to hold it until I get within ten or so feet?

Thanks everyone!

Jon

I would keep doing as you have. If it looks like the dog is getting a little frustrated/bored with the game maybe set one to shoot. Make her do it right and shoot that one.
Sounds like she is a nice youngster and on the right track. Keep her in birds!

By "make her do it right," do you mean to hold her back with a checkcord after she establishes her point? Or do you mean to just wait until she gets it right and then shoot one?

Thanks for the kind words about my pup. She seems to be very good at finding birds, she is awesome at tracking the running birds through the weeds/brush. She is just getting a bit carried away sometimes, and overuns them, causing them to flush. I can see her thinking though every time. I'm sure she'll get the idea sooner or later! I may take her out on thursday to find some wild birds. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Jon

I would shoot a few birds for this pup if it pointed them. Even if it did bust them before you were able to flush them yourself. Then I would start staunching the pup up and then after staunch only shoot birds that were handled correctly.

I agree completely with Tak's comments. She is already showing an interest in birds, so she needs to know they get downed only when she does it right. And she does need to get to find and "play" with it.

Ezzy