Gun Dog Forum

Hello all, I'm new here. I have a 4mo Brittany that I'm looking to start introducing to gunfire and birds, but I don't live in an area where I can just go firing starter pistols all over the place (I don't have any land or know anybody personally who has enough to let me do that). Any ideas on types of places to look into? I'm in Virginia Beach, VA. I've looked into public lands here, and it seems like dog training is mostly limited to right before the season starts.

Look to see if there is a NAVHDA chapter close to you. They have training days, access to land & training birds, and people to mentor you in dog training. You can kind of pick & choose what you want to train your dog to do. They are a good bunch of people to learn from. Good luck with your new hunting buddy

arkanian86 wrote:Hello all, I'm new here. I have a 4mo Brittany that I'm looking to start introducing to gunfire and birds, but I don't live in an area where I can just go firing starter pistols all over the place (I don't have any land or know anybody personally who has enough to let me do that). Any ideas on types of places to look into? I'm in Virginia Beach, VA. I've looked into public lands here, and it seems like dog training is mostly limited to right before the season starts.

Your front room or the porch or the garden would be my first place to start .
The Gun and the smell of it along with the lifting and fitting of it to your shoulder and even the 'click' of the safety catch and the cocking and or reloading can be done at that age.
All without a bang

deseeker wrote:Look to see if there is a NAVHDA chapter close to you. They have training days, access to land & training birds, and people to mentor you in dog training. You can kind of pick & choose what you want to train your dog to do. They are a good bunch of people to learn from. Good luck with your new hunting buddy

Done- thanks for the advice!

polmaise wrote: Your front room or the porch or the garden would be my first place to start .
The Gun and the smell of it along with the lifting and fitting of it to your shoulder and even the 'click' of the safety catch and the cocking and or reloading can be done at that age.
All without a bang

Also good.

If you have no land , and know no one who has land you can use, and you can't use public land until Sept. then you are pretty much pooched. Any game farms near you?

Sharon wrote:If you have no land , and know no one who has land you can use, and you can't use public land until Sept. then you are pretty much pooched. Any game farms near you?

Exactly. I read another thread from a few years ago talking about hunting preserves being the next best option so I'm looking into that now.

First off...DO NOT be in a rush. There is absolutely no need to introduce the gun to a six month old dog...much less a four month old. therfe are much more important things to work on...like Here and whoa and kennel...all of which you can do very nicely in a small back yard.

Second...you can do a LOT with feral pigeons. I suspect you can obtain a fairly decent supply of feral pigeons in your area, if you are inventive.

I put out a catch crate in my yard, put feed in it and a "borrowed" bird. Within days I had all the feral pigeons I needed. They simply flew off the phone and power lines nearby into the yard and ate their way into the trap.

As far as starter pistols are concerned... you don't need to go there either. You can buy a child's cap pistol, the kind that use a plastic ring of "caps".

That is all you need, and if someone gets their shorts in a bunch over you discharging a child's cap pistol in your yard...DARE them to call the cops. If they do, it will be the last time they do.

As far as open ground, I do not know the regulations in VA, in detail, but I do understand that there are significant restrictions prior to Sept.1 on WMA's.

Soooo, you do need to find a club of some sort. Navhda would be a very good option if there was a chapter nearby. You could also look for AKC Brittany clubs in your area and see what you can work out. A local hunt club might be another option.

I lived in the 'burbs for a number of years. More often than not, I had an hour and a half ride to go somewhere that I could cut a dog loose. That meant weekends, pretty much. Finding places to run my dogs was always a challenge, but I got it done. You can too.

To get you started I went to the AKC site and looked for performance clubs in VA. I found two that would be worth checking into. One is a shorthair club and the other is a Vizsla club. The secretaries are Mary Durham and Grace Ann Lawson, respectively. They are two of the nicest folks you could ever want to meet and very knowledgeable.

Betcha either one or both will be able to give you some leads on where to get some training done.
Let your fingers do some walking.

There are two licensed preserves nearby to Virginia Beach. One is in Isle of Wight Cty and one is in Sussex Cty. I got their names off the VA fish and game website.



RayG

First off...DO NOT be in a rush. There is absolutely no need to introduce the gun to a six month old dog...much less a four month old. therfe are much more important things to work on...like Here and whoa and kennel...all of which you can do very nicely in a small back yard.

Check. Just trying to get my bases in a row for when I do start down that path. Really want to get him in front of birds more than anything right now.

As far as starter pistols are concerned... you don't need to go there either. You can buy a child's cap pistol, the kind that use a plastic ring of "caps".

That is all you need, and if someone gets their shorts in a bunch over you discharging a child's cap pistol in your yard...DARE them to call the cops. If they do, it will be the last time they do.

Great idea. Probably pretty comparable to a .22 right?

Soooo, you do need to find a club of some sort. Navhda would be a very good option if there was a chapter nearby. You could also look for AKC Brittany clubs in your area and see what you can work out. A local hunt club might be another option.

I guess I'm on the right track- I've reached out to the Brittany club here, the nearest chapter of NAVDHA (2 hours away but still) and those closest preserves you mentioned. I'll also get in touch with the GSP and Vizsla clubs, I didn't think of that. Thanks for all the help!

Another question for all reading- when can I trust my pup off leash? He reacts pretty well to recall, but I'm somewhat OCD/micromanaging type person so I'm nervous about letting him off leash in the woods/open ground...

The sooner the the better. Pups start their careers off leash and the only reason we use them is for control in dangerous situations or control when needed and that is normally not on the field.

arkanian86 wrote: Another question for all reading- when can I trust my pup off leash? He reacts pretty well to recall, but I'm somewhat OCD/micromanaging type person so I'm nervous about letting him off leash in the woods/open ground...

Day 1 .
After that ,it's what you allow that will give you what you have.
Reacting pretty well ,will soon become often.
Since you are a 'micromanaging type person' . the dog may learn to manage it'self to what it gets most pleasure from. This may not be 'You' .

Mine are all gun conditioned by 3 or 4 months. I've had them gun conditioned by 9 or 10 weeks. Before they hit that spooky age. I start with a cap gun and an older dog that will get excited. I never do the chasing birds thing. Yeah I know it's not the traditional but it always works for me. By 6 months thing are starting to freak them out then one has to be carefull.

Off leash. I start as soon as they get home. I change directions and never talk. They learn to turn and look really quick at that age

arkanian86 wrote:
"Another question for all reading- when can I trust my pup off leash? He reacts pretty well to recall, but I'm somewhat OCD/micromanaging type person so I'm nervous about letting him off leash in the woods/open ground..." quote

Day one. Pup won't go far until a few weeks/months later. Every new owner is nervous about letting pup off leash. The e collar I use has a locator feature which gives a new owner some peace about where their dog is. Don't keep calling the dog in for your own peace of mind. Let pup develop independence . The area you are using should be safe - not near a road.

Not sure how the original topic got to 'recall ' with a pup . but hey' ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA7IK0fHlbQ

go to NSTRA.com, while there read what we are all about,, select regions ,Virgina, Steve Whittington , 540-622-4541 Nstra is always looking for new members. NSTRA trials are very close to hunting. Our region has members that come out from LA, just to run their dogs on birds. The members are all pointing dog people and very friendly. The down side is the VA chapter season finishes in April. Call Steve, I am sure he can help you with a location.

oldbeek wrote:go to NSTRA.com, while there read what we are all about,, select regions ,Virgina, Steve Whittington , 540-622-4541 Nstra is always looking for new members. NSTRA trials are very close to hunting. Our region has members that come out from LA, just to run their dogs on birds. The members are all pointing dog people and very friendly. The down side is the VA chapter season finishes in April. Call Steve, I am sure he can help you with a location.

Done, I'll see what he has to say.

polmaise wrote:Not sure how the original topic got to 'recall ' with a pup . but hey' ...

I have too many questions...while I have people's attention I won't create a new thread!

Thanks everyone for your help----

find a trainer close as you can and tell them what you want to do most trainers are glad to help there might be a small fee but you can get some good tips as you go

it won't help with the birds, but there is most likely some sort of gun range somewhere around you. You don't take the pup to the range, you take the pup on a nice walk close enough to hear the guns, but not close enough for them to be loud. Take your time. Over many days get closer and closer. You don't make any sort of fuss at all. No soothing, no coddling, just your attitude that the noise isn't anything to get bothered about. Your pup will take his clue from you. "yeah, so what? It's a gun, I hear it"

A well bred pup should be born tolerant of loud noises, but still, it is worth taking the time to introduce gradually. This is one of the most important trait for a gun dog, that he doesn't fuss about loud noises. It's worth a little extra time. If the dog didn't need the extra time, you had a couple of nice walks and no loss. If the dog was uncertain, you can get him used to it.

I took my dog to a few nights of trap league when he was a pup to familiarize him with gun shots. Seemed to work pretty well.

Our Club (Central FL GSP Club) also runs training days.

You may want to see if there's a local AKC club that you can join.

Just an FYI...

GrizzlyA400 wrote:I took my dog to a few nights of trap league when he was a pup to familiarize him with gun shots. Seemed to work pretty well.

Occasionally a pup will handle this and be OK but normally it is a recipe for disaster. Dogs need to associate gunshots with something pleasant and not just loud noises that have no purpose.

ezzy333 wrote:

GrizzlyA400 wrote:I took my dog to a few nights of trap league when he was a pup to familiarize him with gun shots. Seemed to work pretty well.

Occasionally a pup will handle this and be OK but normally it is a recipe for disaster. Dogs need to associate gunshots with something pleasant and not just loud noises that have no purpose.

+1 I have always thought of it as risky as unprotected sex with a stranger! Trap and skeet ranges are no place for pups, period!

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm headed to the NAVHDA Chesapeake chapter training day tomorrow, going to put my pup on some pigeons and some .22 blanks and see how he likes it. It starts at 8 am and is 3 hours away, but it'll be worth it!

I am fortunate as we have a 'trap/skeet' club that is open to the public and it is not to far away, may 15-20 miles. They also have about a half to three quarter of a mile of open grass behind and to the left of the actual gun range. I have started all my dogs on 'gun fire conditioning' at this range. I do this by initially playing with the pup at the far end of this grassy area where the gun shots can barely be heard and not on a weekend when only 2-3 guys are shooting. As we progress to where the pup shows no reaction when playing , usually a week or two, I slowly move this training closer and closer to the gun range until we are standing in the parking lot working on lead. It usually goes fairly quickly and the dogs just ignore the gun shots. At the end I will actually heal the dog up to standing behind someone shooting skeet....if they are watching me and showing know fear I know they are ready to move on....

I also take the pup with me to local hunt tests where you can also stand at various distances from where the hunt test is being run. Of course the pup has to be quite and on lead at all times, but watching hunt tests with them when they are young does help prepare them for future testing...

Good luck