Advice...we welcomed our new family member

rstallings1979 · Jun 12, 2017

Ollie (Henry's Sir Oliver) to our home on May 19th at almost 8 weeks old. He is a full blooded Brittney and my hopes are to train him for bird hunting. IN any case I have read a few books and some articles as well and I seem to get some conflicting information. I do not want to use a shock collar as I feel he has good natural instincts. His bloodline is deep with trial and great hunting dog parents. Can someone give me a timeline on how aggressive I should train. I have him sitting, shaking, coming, walking on a leash next to me, and retrieving balls to some degree and returning them to me. He is such a quick learner.

He is a puppy of course. He gets distracted easily and tries to chew sticks etc. I am also crate training him as he is technically my son Henry's puppy and he loves his company inside our home.

I have let him chase the wing on the string and he naturally points the wing as you can see in the picture below. I do not want to throw too much at him of course. Should I even introduce him to a bird or a bird wing at this point?

Thanks for the guidance.

drahthaar · Jun 14, 2017

Where are you located? this group would be a great resource to help train and understand how slow to take it.

drahthaar · Jun 14, 2017

forgot the link

http://midsouthnavhda.com/training-in-georgia.html

GLS · Jun 14, 2017

Pretty Brittany pup. The wing is fine. Don't rush, let him be a puppy. They do have a lot of instinct, but the instinct needs a little fine tuning. I, too, feared using the e-collar. Turned out my fears were unfounded. My older Britt was introduced to the e-collar after she was a year old and she got the drill in 5 minutes. A little goes a long way. Too much and you can ruin a dog. Trick is learning what to do and not to do.
Get some help, but it's too early now to push the dog. George Hickox's videos would be good to watch. Let him be a puppy for the first year. Learn how to correctly introduce him to gunfire which is a gradual process. Don't bozo it by shooting a 12 gauge over his head the first time he hears a gun. It's not just him that needs to learn what to do. Read a book or two and as advised, contact the folks at the link furnished. Just take your time with him and be patient.

king killer delete · Jun 14, 2017

nice pup. With Brits you get more with sugar than you do with salt.

GLS · Jun 14, 2017

My 6 year old Britt was harder to train than the 3 year old. Probably because she was my first pointing dog. I had a trainer help me with 3 sessions on teaching her "whoa" with live birds. We had her steady to wing and shot, but I didn't enforce that with her and she no longer is, and for the type of hunting that I do, it doesn't matter to me. Willa was taught "whoa" on a leash by me during daily walks. Backing and honoring she learned by hunting with Abby. Both come to the whistle and both retrieve naturally. I didn't use the e-collar in the recommended sequence by Hickox- "whoa" first, then "come". I put her on the e-collar after she ignored the whistle in area saturated with released birds. She went from bird to bird ignoring me. When I finally caught her, the trainer said "you want to put the collar on?" In less than five minutes she learned who was boss when the whistle blew. Now all it takes is the tone. I started Willa earlier on the e-collar, but only after exposing her to birds when she was 9 months. The e-collar is for their protection and not discipline. When I blow the whistle, it is often for their own good, not mine. Gil

Killinstuff · Jun 14, 2017

Take him to the field and let him run. Don't worry about birds or hunting. He will point grasshoppers and such and chase things. That's what they do. As for whoa (I use stay) I start at the food bowl. I think they learn stay in just a few feedings where on birds, birds are really cool to pup and it takes more time and controlling.

As for the shock collar, you won't know til the dog is older. Brits are real soft (the ones I've owned and hunted with compared to my GSP's, setter and pointer. Relax guys!) I've reached out and touched my Brits when needed and they figure it out pretty quick. You won't hurt them with a shock collar..........unless you really want to. Guys that really want to fry their dog need get fried their self.

rstallings1979 · Jun 14, 2017

Located in South Ga. A nice drive from the farm. Looks like a great place to take him next year.

GLS · Jun 15, 2017

Britts are all over the spectrum of softness. Abby is fairly hard; with Willa, a stern lecture pastes her ears back. They all want to please. As to the OP's new pup, now is the time to do a lot of picking him up and getting used to your handling him. Pick him up, turn him on his back, handle him until he eventually gets used to it. Keep him in the crate when family is not with him. He will chew the dickens out of anything he finds. Keep your shoes on dressers or in a closet with the door closed. You've been warned. Gil

rstallings1979 · Jun 15, 2017

GLS...I have already had to order a chew proof dog bed for the crate. There are cotton balls all over the room. I changed by 10 month olds diaper and dropped it on the floor. Three minutes later it was ripped to shreds and spread across the room. Luckily it was just a pee pee diaper. When can I expect him to chill out with the chewing?

GLS · Jun 15, 2017

Well, Willa, 3 years this past May, was caught by my wife chewing out the polyester filling of a comforter last night and I took Abby (6) to the vet yesterday morning to have her checked out for chewing up a plastic top to ice cream that she has been spitting up at 4 a.m. the past 4 mornings. Chewing lessens, but never ends.

PS: Good luck with the "chew-proof" dog bed. My daughter's dog ate them for lunch. About the only chew proof things in my house other than the cast iron cookware and a few rocks are the Kongs. To keep the dogs from whining and raising Cain when I left the house turkey hunting, I'd stuff the Kongs with peanut butter and put them in the freezer the night before. In the morning when I'd get up to go, when they saw the Kongs in my hand, they'd sprint to their crates drooling in anticipation....

across the river · Jun 16, 2017

As has already been mentioned, an e-collar used properly is a very valuable, useful, and appropriate training tool. If used correctly there is absolutely no reason to fear using it once the dog gets to the age and stage you will likely need it.

brlewis · Jun 17, 2017

Where you get her from?

pine nut · Jun 17, 2017

GLS said:
My 6 year old Britt was harder to train than the 3 year old. Probably because she was my first pointing dog. I had a trainer help me with 3 sessions on teaching her "whoa" with live birds. We had her steady to wing and shot, but I didn't enforce that with her and she no longer is, and for the type of hunting that I do, it doesn't matter to me. Willa was taught "whoa" on a leash by me during daily walks. Backing and honoring she learned by hunting with Abby. Both come to the whistle and both retrieve naturally. I didn't use the e-collar in the recommended sequence by Hickox- "whoa" first, then "come". I put her on the e-collar after she ignored the whistle in area saturated with released birds. She went from bird to bird ignoring me. When I finally caught her, the trainer said "you want to put the collar on?" In less than five minutes she learned who was boss when the whistle blew. Now all it takes is the tone. I started Willa earlier on the e-collar, but only after exposing her to birds when she was 9 months. The e-collar is for their protection and not discipline. When I blow the whistle, it is often for their own good, not mine. Gil

I totally agree that the whistle is for their own good, and that is how I trained my Sadie. She doesn't always hear it in cover but when she does she is on the way. The down side is I can't watch football or basket ball games at home, because she gets too nervous with the whistle blowing. I just watch other stuff. :biggrin2:

mlandrum · Jun 17, 2017

Hey Nut, that's pretty funny right there!!! :rofl:

drawedback · Jun 17, 2017

Nice looking pup. I will second Gil's advise on getting the George Hickox videos. The first dogs I ever trained I followed his videos step for step and turned out with some really outstanding bird dogs. Since then I have read lots of books, and watched several videos, and taken little tidbits from each one and kinda spun it into my own custom training program. Good luck, and get ready for a wild and addictive ride.

smoothie · Jun 19, 2017

I'm in Valdosta if you need any help from people around here

rstallings1979 · Jan 22, 2018

Update...7 months later...we are making a bird

dog out of him. Here's a few pics of Ollie from the weekend. He is doing great. Its really a lot easier as he ages. Its almost like he is reading my mind sometimes and knows what I want him to do. He spent November at puppy camp with Eshod Farms and Kennel and was able to enjoy the entire month chasing birds. Since then I have been working him a bit here and there but with the bitter cold its been hard. This past weekend was perfect for us to really spend some time with him. My 4 year old loves watching him work the birds as much as I do.

GLS · Jan 23, 2018

It would be tough on our family to have one of our dogs go off for a month. What's his weight? Still chewing up the house?

Gil

rstallings1979 · Jan 23, 2018

I haven’t put him on the scales lately. Probably high 20s/low 30s. He’s still chewing here and there. Not quite as regular as he was. He has his moments. November was tough on the 4 year old. I was out of town a good bit that month anyway so I thought it would be a perfect time to get him on birds and around other dogs.

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