Get the dog to use his nose more

gr_elliott · Post by **gr_elliott** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:28 am

took the pup out this weekend to find some wild birds. The area I was at did not hold many birds at all. I saw 2 adult quial and few young ones.

There was a light breeze and scenting conditions should have been good. Seems like my dog is more interisted in just running sometimes then looking for birds. The thing that really bothers me is that he actully flushed up 2 birds and never knew they were there, he never even saw them fly off. In his defence I guess he was upwind at the time.

Is there any sort of yard exercise I could do to get him to start using that nose more? I had read somewhere that you can take the skin off of some cooked chicken and drag it on the ground and get the dog following scent like that. Anyone think that would work?

He had a good bird intro and is birdy, just seems like sometimes his head is in the clouds, I would imagine that I have nothing to worry about, he is 8 months old at this point, still a young guy I guess (at least that is what I am telling myself right now

).

Post by **Ayres** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:39 am

gr_elliott wrote:I would imagine that I have nothing to worry about, he is 8 months old at this point, still a young guy I guess (at least that is what I am telling myself right now ).

I think you're spot on with that assessment. The only thing I know that cures the "head in the clouds" syndrome is more experience with birds. At this age if he flushes some more it's not the end of the world, as long as he's having an opportunity to go out see what's going on. Pretty soon he'll put two and two together and remember that going out to the field = birds.

djswizz · Post by **djswizz** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 12:01 pm

I agree with Ayres. I took Guinness out to ND for his first HUGE hunt on wild birds 1 week ago. Nothing could've been better for him. He finally realized that in order to actually get a STRONG point without the birds flushing many yards ahead or running that he's going to have to use his nose. He learned this in about 4 days of wild hunting. From then on, he pointed EVERYTHING! He was even making long 10-20 yd points. It was like I was watching a different dog. Guinness is 1.5 years old and I had no worries about the age. I knew that with experience and LOTS of birds over him that he would learn much more by himself - more than I could give him with just farm raised or training pigeons etc. Dogs are amazing and it's incredible what they learn on their own. We just need to give them the chances to do so.

TrueBlu Shorthairs · Post by **TrueBlu Shorthairs** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 12:32 pm

Unless you are gonna take the pup to Wal Mart to hunt skinless boneless Tyson chicken in the future and you want him to learn to run with his nose on the ground and bump most wild birds, I wouldn't suggest dragging anything on the ground.

Secondly, it seems scenting ought to be good these days her in beautiful Texas, but remember it's still hot to the dogs and everything is still greenish(lack of rain you know), lots of ragweed, pollen, dust, all kinds of crap to make it hard on the dogs. Give it 'til a good freeze and then get him into wild birds. He'll learn

gr_elliott · Post by **gr_elliott** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 12:57 pm

Unless you are gonna take the pup to Wal Mart to hunt skinless boneless Tyson chicken in the future

I was not drawn for this hunt, maybe next season

thanks for the input guys...

I wish I had people in my area that were into pointers and training, everyone around here loves the labs. Someone had posted up a guys name that lives in Hondo, I might have to make a trip south to knock on his door and talk dogs.

Watch out truBlue, I might be knocking on your door one day for some help training!!

snips · Post by **snips** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:50 pm

I know there is a NSTRA group around there. We have a friend, Doug Neyer, that does NSTRA and lives in the Austin area. You might look up the schedule and go to a trial and do some talking, never know what you might hook up with.

GSPaddict · Post by **GSPaddict** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:02 am

My 7 months GSP does the same, when I bring him on a hunt, he is playing sniffing around , playing with branches....completely useless

In my mind he is still a baby so I let him play. If I ever put down a grouse while with him I bet his instinct might kick in? At least he will know how they smell like.

gr_elliott · Post by **gr_elliott** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:25 am

thanks for the feedback everyone. I have looked for AKC stuff in my area, but there is only one event that I found. I have been trying to make it out to the NAVHDA chapter for their training days, but it always seems like I am always out of town when they get together. As luck would have it they are having one in 2 weeks that I could make, and it was cancelled.

Doug Neyer dog is a good looking dog! Came across a pic when looking at the NSTRA website. 2x NSTRA Ch. Gamble's Texas Rose

snips · Post by **snips** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:10 am

She is a littermate to Ricks Fritz. We hunt in ND with the most years she is probably in some of our ND pics on our website.

TrueBlu Shorthairs · Post by **TrueBlu Shorthairs** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:29 am

If you ever want to come up I'm about an hour north of D. There aren't too many shorthair folks in your area. I can put you in touch with several however if you want to e-mail me at blakeb@directsourcehamco.com. You might look into joining the Lone Star GSP club, LSGSPC.org, the Gulf Coast GSP Club, out of Houston, or the San Antonio GSP Club. Call Ronnie Sale at Free Flight Kennels, 254-463-9000. He's in Jonesboro, TX, rsaledogs.com. Ronnie is a great mentor, gives new folks "lessons" and is a great teacher. He ruined me by introducing me to trials!!!!
I personally blame Ronnie for my addiction.

gr_elliott · Post by **gr_elliott** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:43 am

TruBlue...email sent

Wagonmaster · Post by **Wagonmaster** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:00 pm

Besides which, Ronnie is just a very nice, patient, knowledgeable fella.

blanked · Post by **blanked** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:27 pm

i live in magnolia which is 2 hours from austin. i have a gsp that i have been working hard on steady to wing and shot. i am not going to start hunting until the last week of november so the weather is cooler.
the big question is where to find the birds in texas this year due to the drought. looks like i will be in west texas this year. email me
tipton1175@sbcglobal.net and i can give you some yard work ideas to solve your problem. i havent found the gsp club around here to be very helpful at all in the houston area.

kelly

gr_elliott · Post by **gr_elliott** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 8:28 pm

EMAIL SENT

TrueBlu Shorthairs · Post by **TrueBlu Shorthairs** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:58 am

Blanked, have you attended any events, hunting tests, trials, work days, fun days, etc.? Have you joined the club and attended any meetings? You do need to meet them half way. There are some excellent trainers in the Gulf Coast club and many who are thrilled to help new folks.

gr_elliott · Post by **gr_elliott** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:22 pm

TruBlue

I got a letter in the mail the other day from the gulf coast folks....are you a member or know these guys?

blanked · Post by **blanked** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 7:18 pm

tru blue
yes i used the gulf coast club snake breaking class. talked to 3 or 4 people each time and most of them dont even hunt. a couple will hunt
maybe 1 or 2 times a year only if conditions are just right. so another words i cant find any avid hunters. couldnt get any info on where to get pigeons,
places to hunt, nothing. maybe its because i am not a member they are less willing to help. but with answers like that i cant see an avid hunter wanting to become a member. just my 2 cents

TrueBlu Shorthairs · Post by **TrueBlu Shorthairs** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:01 am

Yep, many member of all of the local clubs are show folks, non hunters, pet people, and pure hunt test folks. Many don't hunt. Like I said, go to a hunting test of trial. Hunting test might be best as you can walk in the gallery, watch dogs, and it's more laid back. Yes, I know many of the Gulf Coast members, Moseley, Messer, Rosenberg, Cohen, Howard, etc. and know they are all good folks who are glad to help new prospective members. Might call Fred Cohen at Trail Blazin Innovations, at 281-530-3916 for some guidance on pigeons, supplies, etc.

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Get the dog to use his nose more

Get the dog to use his nose more

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