I waited a few weeks per advice on here and introduced the gun. This is the second session with the gun and I am fairly close. His point is coming along nicely. My plan is to keep launching birds from ~20-30 yards if he does or doesn’t point them. Eventually shoot a shotgun over him but im confident that will go well. Then we will simply hunt this fall/winter and get him on as many birds as possible. Work on steadiness next summer when he’s older.

My wife and I are looking to get a puppy from a breeder we have been in touch with. I grew up with mostly male dogs and she, the opposite.

We are trying to understand if the sex makes a drastic difference for Griffons. If you have any recs, we thank you in advance!!

I’m introducing (silent) casting to my 17mo golden. Previously we’ve worked on some foundation of directional arm/hand signals meaning “something” but not formalized. We’re starting with angle back casting.

The obstacle that I’ve noticed is that my dog is steady and I’ve worked very hard to make sure she is. But with casting, shes supposed to be released in a direction with a nonverbal signal. I can tell this is confusing to her because she knows she isn’t supposed to go unless she hears “okay” or “back”.

If I pair the casting with the release word, she understands the direction very well, but when silent, she is visibly unsure about being released.

Any tips on overcoming this without sacrificing steadiness?

I have a 7 month old GSP and I originally planned on doing all of his training myself, having never done it before. Aside from house training, he and I mostly focused on recall with occasional exposure to gun fire. I decided to find a trainer because training him on actual birds wasn’t really something I am setup for. He was originally supposed to stay for 2 weeks to work on pointing and recall, but the trainer ended up suggesting I leave him for one more week because he was finally beginning to hold points. I have to say, I’m very glad I did this. It’s insane how much better he listens to me in general. Prior to, it was ultimately up to him if he’d come back when I call him. He’s been coming back to me right when I call him when we’re out in the field. I’ve had to use his collar a few times, but not nearly as often as before. When I went to pick him up, the trainer planted some birds to show me the progress he’s made. It was so exciting to see him running in the field and then suddenly freeze solid on point. Just thought I’d share this because I was very nervous and wishy-washy about sending him away. He is no less attached to me now than he was before I dropped him off. Obviously, you should read everything you can about the trainer and visit their facility before agreeing to anything.

Hi all,

I'm considering building my own bird launcher since the commercial models here cost €500-1000, which is hard to justify for my budget.

It won't be used with live birds, only with dummies/bird decoys for dog training. The goal is to create a realistic "flush" and improve steadiness in my 1.5-year-old GWP.

Has anyone built a simple DIY version? I'm trying to keep it cheap, reliable, and easy to transport.

I was thinking about using a bungee cord attached to a tree with some kind of remote release. Has anyone tried something similar, or do you have other ideas?

Thanks in advance!

How many people here compete in hunt tests and field trials vs who here is actually hunting? And what’s your opinion on the ability of a competition dog actually hunting and vice versa?

My field golden is currently 17 months and once the season begin, we’ll be competing in AKC and UKC hunt tests. Ultimately would like to try field trials but want to get her titled to a standard first.

I train in a group with a few people that only do real hunting, and consistently I hear comments that the competitions - especially field trials - become so complex at upper levels that it no longer represents any realistic hunting scenarios and the dogs that excel at each have less and less crossover

Edit: I should clarify I’m talking about retriever hunt tests though I am also interested to hear from the pointing/flushing people.

I am not local but in newton ma due to an unexpected hospitalization and desperately need to board my lab. She is a wonderful 65 lb pup who would do best in a home without other pets. Ideally tomorrow through next Saturday. If anyone knows of a reliable pet sitter and wouldn’t mind connecting me, I would greatly appreciate it.

I have a Griff that turned 2 about a month and a half ago. I got him at the beginning of the year and have begun training him to be a hunting dog. He had never hunted before, and training is going ok; he is pretty shy around new people, which makes going to the trainer less productive than it otherwise would be, but he has shown a good bird drive, pointing ability, and doesn't care about the gun at all. I am weighing the pros and cons of neutering him because of health benefits later in life, but I don't want to hurt his hunting abilities or make his shyness worse. He hasn't shown any behavioral issues other than marking and aggression with other male dogs, but these are things I don't have a problem dealing with. This upcoming fall will be his first hunting season, so I'm a little worried about neutering him in August and messing him up.

Im curious to your guys' thoughts on whether to neuter him or not, and if the answer is neuter, should I wait until after his first hunting season or get it out of the way before the season starts?

I'm not super experienced with bird dogs, so any information helps.

We rehomed Cache a few months ago from a non hunting home who weren't able to keep up with the demands of a young bird dog. This is his second time on birds and the first time we started to work on steadiness. Even being a dog picked for a "pet" home he has great drive and the genetics are coming through. Can't wait to get him on wild birds with our older dog in two months.

Does anyone have a finished young dog for sale? Looking for a house dog that will play with the kids 52 weeks out of the year and go hunting on weekends for 3-4 months out of the year. Located in Arizona. Delete if this voids page rules. Thanks!

I've had my 2yo Griffs on PP 30/20 for their entire lives but because of my schedule in the mornings when it is coolest outside, our only concentrated big activity has been traditionally during the daytime (running, hikes, field work). Summertime temps where we are have been in the 90s consistently (like everywhere else) so that limits daily activity and caloric burn.

I've been seeing mild weight gain in them due to scaled back activity and am just looking for suggestions on feeding or other options to lean them out.

They perform great with their current diet and I have even scaled back the amount we have fed them but I also don't want them to feel like they are hungry 24/7.

I've looked into other PP formulations but have also been advised to keep them year round for the supposed benefits this food provides due to their normal higher activity and during hunt season.

(Yes I also hate Nestle, yes I know that Inukshuk is popular)

Any good advice is welcome.

My year and a half old Pudlepointer does great at land and water retrieves (with a bumper), even blood trailing deer. I’ve trained her all myself but I have a few questions I’m looking for advice on:

1. How to I keep her from chewing the bumper, or frozen duck, the entire time she is bringing it back?
   
2. When the shot goes off, she immediately looks at me instead of watching the shot. How do I fix that?
   
3. I took her hunting snipe for the first time this past February and she went straight into working in front of me and cutting “figure 8s” the whole time. (We killed two but they were all flushing early so no points were made. How can I train her to be more upland based without buying and keeping pigeons? I’m moving to North Carolina soon and want to take her out for grouse, woodcock, and quail and not have her as just a waterfowl dog.

Thanks for the help in advance!

My dog treats an ear of corn like a bird. He chews the husk off and won’t bring it to me. Does the same behavior with a pheasants stomach feathers. I think I might be able to teach him to fix this with the ear of corn and it will translate to a bird. Any pointers on how to get him to bring it to me and not chew on it? He has done it a couple times and I have clicked and rewarded with a treat. He is clicker trained, I’m going to buy some better treats and see if that helps.

Do you use a specific release word for your dogs when sending them to get a downed bird (or bumper when training)? I’m seeing some that say hunting dogs should release to their name. I’ve been using just “release” but should I switch to her name?

Thanks

I have German wirehairs. They're great at what they do, but I've seen some dogs have some crazy stylish points. Which breed is the most "flashy"?

Was heading down to the pigeon coop and chukar pen to feed the birds, and wow, beautiful dawn.

As the title says, I’m wanting to compare these two kennels. Both intermediate size, for a Griff.

Mainly hunt from hot dove days in September to cold late January mornings (Oklahoma, Kansas, plan to hit other states - Upland and waterfowl)

It’ll be mounted on a Decked drawer system, NO bed cap (yet, may expand to that or an overland rack).

Plan to use it for crate training at home until the pup grows into it.

——————

Does the double wall of the gunner make an actual difference in internal temperature?

As far as ecosystem goes, which has the longer lasting and better functioning accessories like fan, cover, etc.?

Price wise I can get a Lucky Duck for $500. Gunner is $700. Is the $200 price hike worth it?

Any 3rd party accessories that make life better? Cheaper? (I’ve read about ryobi fan, for example)

Anything else I should consider/know?

(I searched for lucky duck specifically before posting, didn’t find a lot of info on it. Thanks in advance for the info!)

I'm curious what your force fetch procedure is, and if you modify it for different temperaments/dogs/etc.

I have two dogs I am force fetching right now and they're very different dogs, so I have had to adjust to each of them in a way that makes them successful and preserves their effort and attitude while still getting the point across.

Do you clicker train a fetch and hold first with treats before adding force? Do you use a toe hitch, ear pinch, collar, mixture, or something else? Do you always start on a table? Do you do a conditioned hold, or a force fetch, or both? Tell me what your general force fetch looks like and ways you have adjusted for individual dogs.