Bailey is gonna be a hunter...

[jabba]

I saw her stalking a sparrow in the garden last evening. She did not know I was watching. She pointed it perfect... paw up and all. When the bird would move... she would move. The resume her point. Eventually she tried to actually catch it... and of course it got away and then she pointed it while it was on the fence until it finally flew away.

GREAT training for a little budding bird dog right there. All I need to do is get her whoa broke, get her on a bird, get her to whoa, flush the bird and then shoot it, and it'll not take her very long to figure out that if she waits for me... she'll get the bird. If not... she won't.

Damn it. She's only 10 weeks old. It too soon. It's too soon. I can't WAIT!!!!!


Jabba

[Bill]

Thats awsome Jabba. Molly being a pointing lab will do the same thing every now and then. But more often than not she just goes after it. I'm not sure at this point that I'm good enough with dogs to figure out if she is pointing it or just waiting for the bird to look the other way before she rushes in. Guess I'm going to leave that for Donnie to decide.

[deputydon]

;)Sounds like everyone is having fun!!!!!! ;D ;D

[jabba]

bill said:

Molly being a pointing lab will do the same thing every now and then. But more often than not she just goes after it. I'm not sure at this point that I'm good enough with dogs to figure out if she is pointing it or just waiting for the bird to look the other way before she rushes in. )

That's really all pointing is Bill... is a pause in the stalk. It's up to us to help them learn that if they pause till we get there... they actually get the bird (sometimes :.

Jabba

[donnie]

I am of the belief that any dog that shows prey drive can be taught to point. As Jabba said it is only a hesitation before the pounce that we gradually increase through training the whoa command. We will see what we get next month! If you prefferr for her to point I will do all I can to instill that reaction into her, But it will cost you at least double! Make out two checks one to myself and one to DD to stave off any copyright infringement suits. Leave them blank and after I talk to Don I'll fill in the amounts and get back to ya!

[deputydon]

donnie said:

I am of the belief that any dog that shows prey drive can be taught to point. As Jabba said it is only a hesitation before the pounce that we gradually increase through training the whoa command. We will see what we get next month! If you prefferr for her to point I will do all I can to instill that reaction into her, But it will cost you at least double! Make out two checks one to myself and one to DD to stave off any copyright infringement suits. Leave them blank and after I talk to Don I'll fill in the amounts and get back to ya!

8-)This time I'll leave it up to you Donnie..... ;D

[Bill]

I thought that was part of the warranty on her. You mean its an extra.

One thing I would like to have her do is to hold till I can get there. My uncles DAMM Lab use to run so far ahead that the birds were getting up 400 yds away and you couldn't get close enough to shoot. I always figured that if the dang dog would only hold when it found the bird that I might have a chance to get to it in time. Some Britneys I have hunted over did the same thing.
But hunting with Donnie's Will dog was always awsome. He very seldom got further than 40 yds away and always was thinking it seemed on how to get you to the bird before it flew.

[donnie]

Finding and flushing birds is only half of the equasion, It does me no good to have a dog on the ground if he's flushin birds 200 yards ahead of me. This is why I am so thorough when it comes to obediance! Also why the bird bill is so high! If properly trained the dog should sit at the flush. through repetition he/she learns that chasing birds outta range results in no retrieve. And remember we have already gotten that dog to the point that retrieving is everything......so.....the pup learns that in order to get what he/she wants he has to let us hunt as well, we form a partnership that leads to the dog getting what he/she wants. Which incidentally is what we want. We by start giving the dog some room to explore things, Bill you should already be giving Molly the chance to get out away from you occasionally. Let her walk and quarter ahead of ya. When she gets too far ahead you just call her back in, when she comes in send her out again letting her know that she's a good girl. Take a dummie along with you. As you walk along drop it in the grass behind you (don't let her see it fall) then double back so she can "find" it. Get really excited by this! Let her know that this IS a big deal. Soon she will be looking for ways to make you happy. (findin birds) When she returns the "found" dummie to you give her a free bee! (sp) This is the reward. (remember early on in your training I said NO FOOD TREATS!) She is working for the reward which is a retrieve which is also why we dont give her a steady diet of uncontrolled retrieves. You will want to start walkin in a field in a more or less zig zag pattern so she becomes used to covering ground while searching never let her get farther away than you have time to kill a flushing bird. Give consideration to the fact that the bird is travelling away from you and you'll find that you probably want her at 30 yards or less if she's a flusher. I don't think you can give a pointer too much ground contrary to the beliefes of some. A good pointer should hold that bird til I get around to getting there. I should never have to hurry for fear the dog will break point.
For right now opperate under the assumption that Molly is gonna be a flusher. It is easier to let her have range later than to try to get it back after she has become accustomed to ranging at 100 yards.
Above all have fun with this. Make it a good time for her!

[Bill]

Something I have begun to do is work her on a long leash. 40' long. I let her range back and forth on the end of it as I walk along. What I am trying to do by doing this is to teach her to keep close but still give her some latitude to roam. That don't happen on the short leash. To much control. Lately she has become a real pain in the butt while walking so I tried to add something new to get rid of the boredome.

[deputydon]

Donnie I'm not an expert but I totally agree w/ ya on rangeing pointers. My Lisa (German Wire Haired Pointer ) selom gets more than 30 yards ahead of me and I like it that way. Before I get cat calls ect. from the rest of you Pointer guys let me explain that Lisa and I grew up together in the "hay days" of CRP 7' to 8' tall CRP that made it hard to keep track of your dog and I couldn't afford one of those fancy beep when your dog don't move collars. Now we don't have alot of CRP but I still like to hunt w/ her this way AND love to watch her work in her sunset years...... I'm gonna miss her when that time comes.

[Bill]

I think I figured out the reason for her insaitable hunger for chewing lately. God she chews everything. Acts like she is starving or constantly has to have something to chew on or she goes beserk. I got to looking at her teeth and she has a bunch missing and looks like a bunch comming in. Duh, about like a kid thats teething. The chew on anything they can find too.
I let Molly get too close to a tree she begins to chew on the branches if she can get them into her mouth. No wonder she has become a pain to work with on her sit,come, stay, heel, commands.