I have a new 3.5 month old Vizsla. I would like to get him trained for bird hunting. However, I have never hunted with a dog, so I'm not sure the right way to go about this. I have heard some say you should never send your dog off (away from you for an extended time) to get trained rather you should do training with the dog yourself with the trainer. The breeder I bought this dog from also told me training Vizslas are not the same as training other dogs.

If anyone has any suggestions, recommendations, etc, please pass them along. Thanks in advance.

Congrats on the new Red dog. We have one and love her. V's can be pretty sensitive, but they can also make great hunters, and the two are not mutually exclusive

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All bird dogs point. The breaking process teaches them to hold point. There are two ways to teach a dog to hold point, with dozens of variations. The first way is to let the birds train the pups. That generally involves launchers and pigeons, with some whoa breaking mixed in. It's very effective. I use the Delmar Smith method, substituting the e-collar for the bump under the chin. My dogs are completely whoa broke before I put them on birds. I use pen raised quail, because I can be done with them for the summer. I like to start in August, and finish in time for hunting season.

I start off on the whoa post. I introduce the e-collar the same day, that I introduce the whos post. Here's cracker on her first day with the whoa post;



I keep them on the whoa post only until I can get out in front of them, and then go to the yard for heel and whoa. Cracker tended to sit, so I had to start with the suitcase hitch. I go from the yard to longer walks. The pup has pretty well gotten it down after three weeks.



I then go from the walks to whoa in the field. Here's Cracker in the field in the field, before I put her on birds. This whole process has taken me around four weeks.



This is her first day on birds. I train alone, so I had to plant the bird, where I could wrap the CC around a bush. Notice the slack CC.



I kept her on the CC for three training days. She only went around on the bird one time. Here she is after 9 training flushes.




I started walking some of the birds out after a few days. Here you go;




A little side note. My birds were not recalling all that well, so I used Cookie to point them while I netted them;



A lot depends on the pup, and you have to adjust for each pup. Cracker has never taken out a single pointed bird or covey.

Thanks all for the advice. I take it that most of you see a benefit in training the dog yourself rather than sending it off for training.

Bill does it right.
I first teach manners, then whoa break, then to hunt for me and respond to voice, whistle, and collar and then introduce to gun while dog is running, playing and having fun, and then introduce to birds with dog on check cord. Patience, Patience, Patience, and no temper. If you start getting mad put pup up and comeback another day. Be firm and consistent.

I never, never, never, did I say never run a dog without an electric collar with a buzzer on it.

I agree.

I also think a versatile dog should be a puppy with obedience for the first year. Let the dog explore and get into every situation, let the dog learn. The first year, a puppy can do no wrong. Just teach obedience and let the dogs genes do the work. The second year you will fine tune your creation.

Others may not like this, so you may need to do more solo hunts the first year. It is all about the puppy the first year and not about getting a limit.


Your breeder was right, versatile dogs are not like other dogs. I don't know of any versatile dog trainers. You can wreck that dog by sending it to a breeder that doesn't work with versatile dogs.

There is nothing wrong with sending your dog to a trainer, it doesn't take away from your bond with the dog. Since its your first dog I would actually recommend it...that way you can learn how to train your dog without making all the rookie mistakes you no doubt would make doing it on your own. There is also nothing wrong with training the dog yourself if you have the knowledge, time and resources to do it and most of all patience.

I don't agree with the whole "don't train your dog for the first year, just let them be a dog" philosophy. A pup can learn a whole lot at a very young age and it doesn't have to be a bad experience for the dog. I start training my dogs from day one, by the time they are a year old they are ready to hunt but will still need work to be a "finished product".

Also "training a dog is training a dog". You train a versatile dog the same way you train any other dog. Just because the breeders and owners like to call them versatile doesn't mean their brains work differently than other dogs. The main thing you need to learn to train a dog is "how to read the dog".

If you do go with a trainer just make sure you do your homework and go with one who has experience with the breed. Just my two pennies.

I don't think anyone said not to train the first year. I did plenty of training, but was never hard on the pup around birds.

i dont do any formal training until pup turns 2. Formal meaning stop to flush, backing etc. let pup learn his natural breeding to hunt and point birds. Let him build his desire. Meaning keep your mouth shut except for praise

I like to start my breaking process the first August after they turn 9 months old. I don't do any training during the season.