Progress on 1st dog the good and bad

[setter50]

I've owned my English Setter now for 4 weeks and we have been working on the basic commands in the yard and we go out for big runs in the field now and then. The dog has very good bloodlines and is 13 weeks old. This is how I assess my progress with him so far. Please let me know your thoughts on what is typical for a 13 week old pup and some things that may not be.

The good....
I feel we have introduced the dog to a variety of differnet situations during our four weeks. He has been exposed to other dogs on numerous occations and even had an over night stay from a fox pup the other night in our garage. (No I didn't arrange this it was the pup who decided to spend the night without mom's permission) In social setting I'm please with the dogs temperment. My dog knows his name and in training sessions will do a good job with commands, out of training sessions we are still learning.

The bad.....
When we are in the field commands are quickly forgotten and I get the feeling the dog is testing his limits. Hiding the feather is not going well with point and the fact that the pup wants to eat the wings. Playing fetch also has not been as good as I hoped. My pups parents were natural retrievers and I have a feeling my dog with struggle with the retrieve based our progress so far. I feel the pointing will come along, but should his behaivor on the retrieve concern me?


Thanks and I look foward to any comments or advise.

[snips]

The bad.....
When we are in the field commands are quickly forgotten and I get the feeling the dog is testing his limits. Hiding the feather is not going well with point and the fact that the pup wants to eat the wings. Playing fetch also has not been as good as I hoped. My pups parents were natural retrievers and I have a feeling my dog with struggle with the retrieve based our progress so far. I feel the pointing will come along, but should his behaivor on the retrieve concern me?


At 13 weeks I would be worried if a pup did not test the limits...Matter of fact he would not be given any limits here at that age!:) Forget the feathers and wings before you do permanant damage and let him see a few live birds that fly well....Let him drag a lightweight CC so you can get him and have fun...

[ezzy333]

At 12 weeks if he comes when called most of the time, will lead when on a leash, is somewhat reliably housebroke, and has learned to spend some time in a crate comfortably you are probably doing well. At that age you shouldn't know if he minds when in the field since his job is to explore while you watch quietly and try to lead him in the direction you would like to go.

Good thing is you are only a few months away before you can start training for your career together in the field finding and handling birds.

Ezzy

[kninebirddog]

When playing retrieve Never intentionally toss something you want a pup to retrieve with out a way to bring the pup back to you..or you will instill bad habits

a pup that gets a bird and runs around with it I will not chase I will walk away or will walk on by and find something to play bait and switch with and when that pup is caught never take away what they have when the are first near you..or this will lead to more head dodges and keep away

you have a baby so if the pup wants to test something and explore ..don't command it to come to you if you can not follow through on the command Ie the check cord so a free run play a different game change direction see of the pup bends and goes with you in the same direction

stop and stand there just observe keep mouth shut see if the pup sees where you are at oh and if he comes by basically does a drive by right by you don't just reach out and grab him or this will cause him to not want to come all the way let him figure out why you are just standing kneeling or even just sitting there..let him come all the way to you on his own once he is happy to be with you then pick up and carry in or then leash and walk in

fun games don't force will go a long way in the future

[setter50]

Thanks for quick advise. Sounds like I need to back off my expectations for now. I do feel we have more positives than negitives. The crate training and socialization have all gone better than what I have expected. When we had our visit from the fox we were not aware of him until morning. It was the fox I heard barking in the garage, not my setter in the crate when I was making my morning coffee.

However, I was really worried about the eating the wings and I don't want to do anything in retrieving sessions that will reinforce this behavior.

Again you guys have helped me know what should be expected.

[4dabirds]

When playing retrieve Never intentionally toss something you want a pup to retrieve with out a way to bring the pup back to you..or you will instill bad habits

a pup that gets a bird and runs around with it I will not chase I will walk away or will walk on by and find something to play bait and switch with and when that pup is caught never take away what they have when the are first near you..or this will lead to more head dodges and keep away

you have a baby so if the pup wants to test something and explore ..don't command it to come to you if you can not follow through on the command Ie the check cord so a free run play a different game change direction see of the pup bends and goes with you in the same direction

stop and stand there just observe keep mouth shut see if the pup sees where you are at oh and if he comes by basically does a drive by right by you don't just reach out and grab him or this will cause him to not want to come all the way let him figure out why you are just standing kneeling or even just sitting there..let him come all the way to you on his own once he is happy to be with you then pick up and carry in or then leash and walk in

fun games don't force will go a long way in the future

+1 have fun

[birddogger]

You have gotten good advice here. I think you are expecting too much too soon, which is a common mistake.

Charlie

[ckirsch]

I have a pointer pup the same age, and my expectations are far below yours for a dog this young. Right now, all of my "training" consists of taking the dog for walks and trying to keep him out in front of me. I work on "come" a little bit every day, and I'll toss a dummy for him in my garage, then praise the heck out of him for bringing it back. No more than two retrieves at a time, as I want to keep him hungry for more, rather than getting bored with it. At this stage, all I'm hoping to teach the pup is that I am the source for good things (food, praise, walks, etc). Beyond that, we work a little on curing bad habits such as mouthing or chewing on me or my kids, or jumping up on us, along with house training. Lots of time later to start serious training. For the time being, just focus on having fun and getting your pup to worship you.

[Onk]

I have a pointer pup the same age, and my expectations are far below yours for a dog this young. Right now, all of my "training" consists of taking the dog for walks and trying to keep him out in front of me. I work on "come" a little bit every day, and I'll toss a dummy for him in my garage, then praise the heck out of him for bringing it back. No more than two retrieves at a time, as I want to keep him hungry for more, rather than getting bored with it. At this stage, all I'm hoping to teach the pup is that I am the source for good things (food, praise, walks, etc). Beyond that, we work a little on curing bad habits such as mouthing or chewing on me or my kids, or jumping up on us, along with house training. Lots of time later to start serious training. For the time being, just focus on having fun and getting your pup to worship you.

+1 My Brit is about the same age and with the advice I have got on this forum I have learned to take him out and let him explore and be a pup. We have almost mastered the walks on a leash, only once in awhile does he leg wrap me. We got kennel down and here down. As far as fetching we do it with a check cord and as soon as he is destracted by something else, usually by the second retrieve, we go back to exploring or play. The bond I'm building with my pup just thru the walks and play I , IMO, will pay off later in training and in the field.
ONK

[setter50]

Sounds like we a on par with our development. We will have fun and keep you guys posted.

thanks again, everyones advise and comments were helpful. Best forum and exchange of ideas I've come across!
setter50

[JoeFriday]

I've got a Llewellin the same exact age as your setter. Our weather has been horrible this spring, so we haven't had much opportunity for yard work. (To give you an idea of what it's been like, it was snowing yesterday, and we've had sleet at least once a week since I got my pup a month ago).

Kimber is a natural retriever, and will bring back just about anything I toss. I started playing the retrieve game by gently playing tug of war, then getting her to drop the toy (and she now knows 'drop' because of that). And then waving the toy around to get her fired up and tossing it about 5 feet. She would race over to get it so she could bring it back and play tug of war again. The trick is to not emphasize the tugging, but to do just enough of it to get the pup engaged and worked up.

She learned her name within 3-4 days, and will come reliably inside with either "here" or "come". Outside, she will be more hesitant to respond since she is much more interested in exploring, even if it's just in the yard. In that case, and when walking on a lead, I want to encourage her to explore so I haven't even thought about heel training. The more she pulls at the lead to check out something, the happier I am for now.

She's a pretty headstrong girl for a llewellin and not a 'soft' dog at all. I rarely have to use any harsh words or actions with her, but on the few occasions I have, she gets the point very quickly and shapes up without shutting down. Almost always she responds very quickly to a firm "no", but she definitely likes to test the limits. Something I don't mind because I didn't want a mindless dog. We're currently working on "whoa", implementing that when her food dish is filled, and before crossing streets during walks. So far she's picking up on it fairly well.

I never did the wing on a pole trick, but got her on some live quail at a NAVHDA event a week ago. She wasn't much for pointing, but it was so windy she wasn't able to sniff them out until she was almost standing on them. However, once she figured out what a bird is, she was totally into it and sniffed the next one out and retrieved it to hand. All in all, she's doing great and shows a lot of potential.

This is the first bird dog I've raised or trained, so I don't have personal experience to compare with. But I think getting the dog socialized and the very basic commands locked in is good enough for this age. Lots of people brag about shooting over their dog by 12 weeks and taking the dog out hunting at 4 months. But keep in mind that you plan to hunt with your dog for 5-8 years (or more). Don't worry if he seems to be coming along a little slow at the beginning. I figure that my dog's pointing will improve significantly with more bird experience and once her nose really kicks in around 6 months of age. If I can get her to whoa in the meantime, it'll all work itself out.

As for your pup's retrieving.... is there a particular toy that the dog really likes to play with? Using that might help fire up the retrieve instinct if you repeatedly take it from him and toss it in a playful manner. Just don't overdo it.. 3-4 times per session, and then let him have his reward of playtime with it for a while.

[setter50]

Joe,
We have a couple of toys he does like to play with, and he would rather play tug of war than retrieve. This was one of my reasons for concern, he seems to have a very hard mouth and the wing eating episode got me alarmed. I'm more at ease now that most on the board describe this a puppy behavior. As for everything else we have done, he does seem to be on track with development.

BTW Joe you have a great looking pup. I was online last night and had to show you pup off to everyone in the house. We've all love our setter and have become big fans of the breed. When i figure out photobucket I'll post ours. He is a lemon and white setter.

setter50

[JoeFriday]

BTW Joe you have a great looking pup. I was online last night and had to show you pup off to everyone in the house. We've all love our setter and have become big fans of the breed. When i figure out photobucket I'll post ours. He is a lemon and white setter.

Thanks! Kimber is definitely a beautiful girl and gets compliments every time we go walking. Her high tail might be part of that. I think a happy dog is beautiful no matter what he looks like.

You can upload an image of your pup as your avatar, the way I did, without having to mess with photobucket. And you can set up a pedigree like many members here do, and upload a pic directly to that. But any way you do it, I love setter pics!

[4dabirds]

http://www.georgehickox.com/ Check out this site there is some great info in the published article section on starting a puppy.