in desperate need of advise LOL

[timduvall]

Hi everyone
Ill get right to it. I bought my first bird dog..a GSP pup last spring. Watched dvds from bob west and hickox along with numerous youtube clips. Tried to follow the techniques as well as I could. The first summer was spent learning kennel command and birds. At the end of summer she was gun broke and just bird crazy..so craqzy she would be about uncontrollable literally. I was hoping that over the winter she would mature a little and settle down but NO not all. Some advise I got was forget about the birds for a while till you get her more under control. She is wired like a spring...literally..and its makingv training very difficult I mean like totally out of breath trying to make her listen. Another thing that worries me is she isn't pointing..she's so bird crazy she just chases and chases she hasn't hit point yet and she is a year old...she loves birds but she just has so much energy she's alwqys just full steam

So..my main question..should I be worried..and has anyone else had a dog with so much adreline and what did you do? This is my first dog and I'm about at wits end.

Thanks

[Maurice]

Where are you located?

Mo

[ruffbritt4]

My 9 mo. Old britt is crazy the first 30 minutes in the field. After that he calms down. Maybe your dog just needs to be worn out a little before training

[S&J gsp]

First mistake West and Hickox are two totally different styles pick one and start from there. Maurice on the forum would be the one to talk to if you follow the West method

[timduvall]

Thanks for replies and PMs...I'm going to let her run a while before the next training session and see how it goes. Should I be concerned with the fact she isn't pointing yet or will that eventually come? She has no problems finding the planted birds and loves to do it..she just doesn't have a stop gear yet

I'm located in greensburg a little town about 10 min from the turnpike interchange at new stanton

Thanks again
Tim

[Ricky Ticky Shorthairs]

First mistake West and Hickox are two totally different styles pick one and start from there. Maurice on the forum would be the one to talk to if you follow the West method

He's talking about Bob West, not Bill West.

[S&J gsp]

I misread the post sorry

[DoubleBarrel GunDogs]

First mistake West and Hickox are two totally different styles pick one and start from there. Maurice on the forum would be the one to talk to if you follow the West method

I agree. You need to follow one program to see good results. With the Hickox program birds and guns are kept seperate from yard work. You should have had time to get kennel, here, heel and whoa commands in place by now. Once you get a conditioned response to the command it can be used in the field.

What specifically does the dog do when it comes in contact with a planted bird?

Nate

[Ricky Ticky Shorthairs]

I would second the advise of talking to Maurice. The Bill West method emphasizes stop and stand still, which sounds like your dog needs.

Doug

[yogi]

Find a bird dog trainer that can show you hands on training. Not only does the dog need training so does the handler. That was my case. misty pine in wexford would be a good start. Ask for Jeff

[timduvall]

Yogi
I actually found them this afternoon online and thought about getting with them. Thanks for the name reference. I'm going to call them tomorrow

Tim

[campgsp]

You want to see the dog pointing ability, take a fishing pole and attatch a wing on the line. Play around with the pup on it keeping it away when they chase it. In minutes the dog will point.
I don't recommend to much of this. Like two or three days at the most. You'll see the dog pointing.
I agree with the others follow one of those methods and stick to it. Let her run before the training to tire her out. If that fails time to put your foot down and some handling to show your incharge always works. Sounds as though she has the boldness to take it.

[S&J gsp]

I would bet that the dog has caught a few birds and thinks it don't need your help to get a bird. You need to find good flying birds and start from there. You probley did a lot of hunting on hunt clubs and most people are going to rush and try to shoot birds for young dog.

[wems2371]

...she's so bird crazy she just chases and chases she hasn't hit point yet and she is a year old...

My first thought is, how is she chasing if you're using a checkcord?

[whoadog]

Reading this post reminds me of so many I've read in the past. A whole summer spent on nothing but birds and the kennel command? While I love the fact that so much time has been spent with birds, the real problem is that so little time has been spent with obedience. I simply will not introduce birds until the pup will, at a minimum, recall reliably. So, this brings me to a thought and a question or two: I don't believe that obedience work in the yard will negatively affect desire in the field in even a very young dog as long as the commands are used thoughtfully and carefully. Is this not the common opinion among most trainers? If not, is discipline not introduced because it will "spoil the dog on birds"? Anybody have any thoughts.

[Hattrick]

I would suggest joining a local NAVHDA chapter so you can get hands on training. You will meet alot good people an experenced trainers that will help

[Trekmoor]

Find a bird dog trainer that can show you hands on training. Not only does the dog need training so does the handler.

+1....... If the handler is confused or uncertain the dog is likely to be the same.

Bill T.