10mo whizsla rescue wants to hunt

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LilCharlie
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10mo whizsla rescue wants to hunt

Post by LilCharlie » Tue Oct 19, 2021 9:34 pm

I've been combing the forum and the wider internet for info; I'm learning a lot, but why not simply ask and see what comes back?

I recently adopted what I believe to be a 10 month-old whippet/vizsla mix, and he is an exceptionally good boy.

I think with a little more confidence he'd be a great bird dog. I have never trained a bird dog however, and I'm a little overwhelmed. I'd like him to be able to flush and retrieve a grouse, and if he can tolerate the cold water, to retrieve a duck. I don't need to win any trophies, I just want my buddy to come hunting.

For background, here's some of the good, and the bad.

Good: he likes to sniff a trail!, he's good with "leave it" and learning fetch quickly along with all basic commands, he's fast and energetic, he has good recall but needs work, he's gentle, he's smart, he wants to chase birds.

Bad: I can only guess at his breeding, he's on the timid side but gaining confidence daily, when he's locked on a scent or there's other dogs around (he loves other dogs) his recall is spotty at best, he has not been exposed to water much yet (he came from inland Mexico, now lives in coastal Canada) but has conquered his fear of the rain after a few exposures.

Worst: he's not allowed around other dogs until the vet gives the all clear cause he's got oral papillomas that are contagious but not dangerous (think doggie cold sores) which could be a few months.

I picked up some Dokkens bird scent and want to start employing it, but I don't know if it's too early. I'd read to wait until your dog is a year old to start if they're timid.

So basically my question is should I dive in, get some books, and start now, or should I just keep drilling the basics for a while yet?

Any advice is appreciated! If it doesn't work out, he's still my best friend.

Thanks all!
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slistoe
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Re: 10mo whizsla rescue wants to hunt

Post by slistoe » Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:25 pm

Being you say he is a little timid and you want to use him for gunning birds, I would say the first thing to do would be get a starter pistol and find something that he is overwhelmingly excited about. Get him amped up with the activity and have someone fire the pistol at some distance to guage his reaction. You may need to work slowly at the acclimitization to the gun.

LilCharlie
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Re: 10mo whizsla rescue wants to hunt

Post by LilCharlie » Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:58 pm

Other than cold water (no meat on his bones) I am certain this will be the biggest hurdle.

He can conquer his fears if I'm there to guide him through, but the only person I enjoy being around (my gf) is not too enthused with my plans to make our sweet baby a hunting dog lol! Maybe I can rig up a remote firing system.

cjhills
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Re: 10mo whizsla rescue wants to hunt

Post by cjhills » Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:23 am

Lil Charlie
Here Is my take.
Ithink you should spend most of your time hanging out and learning to understand the dog.
Working on recall, ecollar intro if you plan to use one, like Slisto said distant gun intro, running in the fields woods and maybe a few pigeons. Hide the birds to get him to use his nose rather than sight. Just keep things fun and happy. Don't push hard. If you see anything that is intimidating to him go slowly and give him a chance to figure it out. Try building confidence, every thing is a learning experience for him. reward good and ignore bad. Try to make sure you know which is which. When you get a good repoire with him you will start to understand what he needs and how you can give him that.
Interesting breeding, I wonder if the pointing side will come out. He should certainly be able to cover ground. Sounds like fun to me.Enjoy the
ride.
If you have some place you could hunt pheasants,maybe ashooting preserve,almost any dog will work well for that. He might not point but he will
learn about bird scent........Cj

LilCharlie
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Re: 10mo whizsla rescue wants to hunt

Post by LilCharlie » Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:47 am

Now you're speaking my language.

More or less that was my plan - bond bond bond, and bond some more, slowly start adding more pieces of the puzzle.

Like I said, I am only guessing at the mix because he has characteristics of both and is a dead ringer for confirmed whizslas. He is lightning fast though, which may end up working against me, I dunno.

Thanks!

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