doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Off topic issue for those who hunt............

.

Totally spoiled pets and outstanding bird dogs. I spend lots of time with my dogs and we walk off leash daily.

My retriever is family - we are partners, he has furniture rights in the house and is my friend. If he doesnt like you, neither do I... - he also goes swimming in January and brings me ducks. We do UKC and AKC hunt tests year round.

Just about any well-behaved dog can be a huge help hunting. My last two "bird dogs" have been border collies and they are quite good at it. Yes, on furniture rights.

For 40 years plus all of my hunting dogs have been in the house.

As I type this my current setter and Lab are curled up at my feet. Through the years the dogs have either slept with the kids or on our bed. I imagine I have at least two more dogs in my future.

As long as you actually train them and expose them to as many birds as possible they should work out well. Positive repetition is important for both the dog hunting and the shooter.

I have had friends who tried to hunt their house dog, but had not put in The training for the field and that did not work well, poor dogs got blamed, but it was the master’s fault.

.

You really waited a long time to decide whether to train. Buy the "Green Book" published by the NAHDA organization. It is the simplest way to train and it is what I used on my Wirehair. It is a great book. I had two Springers before my Wirehair and they came with my wife and I didn't get to train them. They were all inside dogs. Come, whoa, go fetch, kennel, are the only commands you have to know. Everything else is "too much". Buy the book.

.

The "sit" command is not normally used with versatile dogs. The command "whoa" results in a stationary dog in the standing position. Whoa and stay are the same commands, "whoa" being preferred. Lay down is not neccesary. Check out the Green Book. The fewer commands, the better.

Jimmy, get your hands on "The Upland Shooting Life" by the late George Bird Evans. He definitely treated his English setters like members of the family, but they were well trained hunters.

There are a lot of good sources on training bird dogs. But the training varies significantly on the breed of dog you own. If you own a pointing dog, you should subscribe to the magazine "Pointing Dog Journal". They also publish a magazine called "The Retriever Journal". That one covers breeds like Labs and goldens. Dogs with which you can certainly hunt upland game successfully, even though their specialty is retrieving. But they will also find and flush birds for you. Most spaniels are bred to find and flush birds, the most popular ones being springers and cockers.

Whatever breed you have, you should take your dog to a trainer and have him work your dog on birds in a controlled situation. If your dog is out of good hunting bloodlines, that may be pretty much all you need to do. Observe the trainer and the commands he uses. You may want to start with a "started dog", a bit younger than the weim you owned. You can also take him to a trainer to evaluate just where he is as far as hunting goes, work on areas that need improvement. Then just take him hunting this fall. Good luck!

PS: I used to keep my bird dogs in kennels for the most part. As a result of a dog loving and understanding wife, they now spend most of their time in the house with us. It can work out just fine.