Gun Dog Forum

My 12 week gsp goes to work with me every day. I have a 4-5 acre field next to my shop and at lunch we hit the field for 1/2-3/4 hour. I let her poke around and sniff stuff and do puppy things. There aren't any birds except for sparrows.
My question is she keeps stumbling into rabbits. Usually she gets within a couple feet before the rabbit jumps.
She doesn't seem to want to pursue them, but it does peak her curiosity.
Is there anything detrimental to her finding rabbits so frequently? I do not praise or say anything if a rabbit jumps. We just watch it run. I don't want to create any bad habits.

you are probably going to get a lot of people telling you that you are risking having him chase 'trash' and he shouldn't do that. but letting a pup be a pup isn't a bad thing, either.

DudeRN wrote:you are probably going to get a lot of people telling you that you are risking having him chase 'trash' and he shouldn't do that. but letting a pup be a pup isn't a bad thing, either.

Agree. If training a hunting dog, I want it to point whatever it finds and let me make the decision if it is what we want. Might discourage it if training strictly for trials.

I like that response, because I will take a rabbit if the dog jumps one.

At his stage in the pups life it is just building prey drive and having fun. I wouldn't worry about feathers or fur, you just want your pup to enjoy going to the field and exploring and chasing. There will be plenty of time later to establish controls.

how safe is that land (roads and such)?

There will come a day the dog will chase, and I think since it's all ground sent the dog can keep working it. Mine gave me a scare one day we where walking in our normal neighborhood spot and I turn my back to dump a bag of poo out of the corner of my eye I saw a jack lope off, 3 hours latter after calling out back up I get a call that the dog had made it's own way to the back yard.

Mind you since then I have done lots of training in that spot with pigeons and the small but stable population of wild birds so

is the land private enough to set up something like a quail recall box, or pigeon loft or close enough to your home for the p home? that field could be pretty valuable as a training location

me personally, I like to hunt with my dog. birds, rabbits, whatever. I know some people want just birds, but i would prefer my dog to be more into rabbits. do you want to hunt rabbit with your dog? if so then go for it. I know for my gsp the point he gives off with a bird is way different than anything else he points. i can just tell by looking at him if its a bird or something else. a barrel johnny house could be a good idea if its allowed. toss few quail and let him have some real fun. good luck with your pup!

It would be awesome if she turned into a multi game hunter! Ill just let her do her thing for now.

As far as safety, she doesnt wander far from me right now. But the field is not secure enough to let her chase anything. Right now it is just a place for her to stretch her legs at lunchtime. There is a prairie we stop at on the way home that is probably 400 acres that she can run in. Plus i have access to lots of private land that we will do formal training in.

I wouldn't worry about what your pup is doing around rabbits at all. I might try to make use of the pups present non-chase behaviour to encourage it not to chase fur as it grows older. I'd quietly and calmly praise the pup for not chasing.

Bill T.