Forums46
Topics537,992
Posts9,731,487
Members87,053
|
Most Online25,604 Feb 12th, 2024
|
|
|
What Age?
#5730581
05/05/15 11:31 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 866
Catch Dog
OP
Tracker
|
OP
Tracker
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 866 |
What age should you send a pup to the trainer for some pointing training?
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5730629
05/05/15 11:52 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
Great question. That guy who is looking for a trainer for his 7 months V is a little early in my opinion..
To me it depends on the month your pup was born. Seven months would not be too young if it were August. I like to put mine through the breaking process starting in August with yard work and progressing through October, where they will be ready for the he field when quail season starts.
I'd say that June pups should just be socialized and hunted, the first season. That should put them at the trainer at 14 months. A lot depends on the pup and what you are willing to do before you send them off.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5730858
05/06/15 01:28 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 4,367
kindall
Extreme Tracker
|
Extreme Tracker
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 4,367 |
I guess I feel differently. I don't even want my next pup to come home until its started on birds.
Shopping with your husband is like hunting with the game warden. Experience is what you get, when you didn't get what you wanted.
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5731275
05/06/15 01:19 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
Delmar Smith wrote his book before wide spread use of the variable e-collar. He wrote that you should take them off birds and don't put them back in the field until they are completely broke, which does not make good sense. I think what he meant to write was that you should whoa break them completely before you put them back on birds.
It's my opinion that you should collar condition and whoa break them completely before you put them on birds, except for puppy training on hunting wild birds.
Think about it. Whoa means stop and stay there until released. That's a broke pup within hearing or e-collar range.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: bill oxner]
#5732250
05/06/15 11:41 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 21
Wilsonandleo
Light Foot
|
Light Foot
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 21 |
6 weeks to 6 months pups are sponges that leak. By 6 months the leaks subside and they start retaining with an attention span of more than three seconds. Your post is extremely broad. Do you lab on doing any training yourself or rely solely on a trainer?
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Wilsonandleo]
#5732259
05/06/15 11:45 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
6 weeks to 6 months pups are sponges that leak. By 6 months the leaks subside and they start retaining with an attention span of more than three seconds. Your post is extremely broad. Do you lab on doing any training yourself or rely solely on a trainer? Hey Jason, what are you smoking?
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5732273
05/06/15 11:56 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 21
Wilsonandleo
Light Foot
|
Light Foot
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 21 |
That's not legal in Tx yet Bill.
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5732342
05/07/15 12:37 AM
|
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,879
blanked
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,879 |
Letting pups chase birds builds there desire to hunt and find birds. Teach pup to come and get pup used to the gun fire. Then take pup hunting. Wild birds will teach pup to hunt and point. That's part of the breeding and you can't teach this
After a solid year of pointing and shooting birds for pup then worry about the formal training
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5732379
05/07/15 12:57 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,722
tigger
THF Trophy Hunter
|
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,722 |
Bill does what I do so it must be right.
Tigger If it isn't white it is not a birddog.
KC Lying is lying. Don't bitch about one doing it and condone another. That's called hypocrisy. _________________
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: blanked]
#5732431
05/07/15 01:33 AM
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
Letting pups chase birds builds there desire to hunt and find birds. Teach pup to come and get pup used to the gun fire. Then take pup hunting. Wild birds will teach pup to hunt and point. That's part of the breeding and you can't teach this
After a solid year of pointing and shooting birds for pup then worry about the formal training So when would you start the breaking process or formal training with a November or December pup?
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5732694
05/07/15 09:01 AM
|
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,879
blanked
Pro Tracker
|
Pro Tracker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,879 |
I don't worry about age. I pay more attention to bringing out pups breeding to hunt and point first. If the bird numbers are low first hunting season and pup didn't get in much bird contact I wait another year until he does before formal training begins
The pup I just got was only 3 months old when we hunted New Mexico in January. I just took her for walks in blue quail habitat without a gun letting her free run
Last edited by blanked; 05/07/15 09:31 AM.
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5732768
05/07/15 12:02 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
My Honky Tonk Attitude pup Cookie was a January pup. I was working my two older dogs two to three times a week on Johnny house birds in September, so I decided to give her a try. I did 6 weeks of yard training, then put her on pen raised birds for six weeks. She went on to point and hold 50 coveys of wild quail her first season and bumped only one.
Here again, a lot depends on the pup.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: bill oxner]
#5732858
05/07/15 01:10 PM
|
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,594
First_Chance
Veteran Tracker
|
Veteran Tracker
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,594 |
I typically try to get my pups that have been whelped in Jan-Mar time frame. I start almost immediately 12-16 weeks on socialization & obedience and maybe introduction to water, CC and some basic retrieving, etc. i.e. "Yardwork" through the first 6-8 months, during the latter part of this time I also introduce to the e-collar. Around 8 months, I will introduce to gunfire over live birds (pigeons) and work on the pup's handling in the field in some controlled situations.
My goal is always to have handling control on the pup so that he can hunt on live birds his first year and not range too far or run off, be introduced to gunfire, and know something about what happens when he doesn't whoa on a bird. From that point, the birds themselves will train the dog and typically I finish the first year with a decent hunting pup, still making mistakes, but learning and progressing nicely.
The second year, Mar-Oct... if I thought it was necessary, I would consider a trainer... So my short answer on when I think sending a pup to training would be, is about a year old.
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: Catch Dog]
#5732893
05/07/15 01:33 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
I was real fortunate with Cracker. She was a September pup and was not yet hunting by the end of the season. I had access to a quick 3 to six coveys across the road. I started taking her out with my two older dogs and found that she was a natural backer. I found out another thing She occasionally liked to make a loop on her own. I never broke her of that, even with the e-collar.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
|
|
|
Re: What Age?
[Re: First_Chance]
#5732942
05/07/15 02:04 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
|
THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
I typically try to get my pups that have been whelped in Jan-Mar time frame. I start almost immediately 12-16 weeks on socialization & obedience and maybe introduction to water, CC and some basic retrieving, etc. i.e. "Yardwork" through the first 6-8 months, during the latter part of this time I also introduce to the e-collar. Around 8 months, I will introduce to gunfire over live birds (pigeons) and work on the pup's handling in the field in some controlled situations.
My goal is always to have handling control on the pup so that he can hunt on live birds his first year and not range too far or run off, be introduced to gunfire, and know something about what happens when he doesn't whoa on a bird. From that point, the birds themselves will train the dog and typically I finish the first year with a decent hunting pup, still making mistakes, but learning and progressing nicely.
The second year, Mar-Oct... if I thought it was necessary, I would consider a trainer... So my short answer on when I think sending a pup to training would be, is about a year old. BINGO! I was running on about training my own, but you actually answered the question about when to send the pup to a trainer, with a reply that could save money. It might not have to ever go to the trainer.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
|
|
|
Moderated by bigbob_ftw, CCBIRDDOGMAN, Chickenman, Derek, DeRico, Duck_Hunter, hetman, jeh7mmmag, JustWingem, kmon11, kry226, kwrhuntinglab, Payne, pertnear, rifleman, sig226fan (Rguns.com), TreeBass, txcornhusker
|