I have a 5 month old GSP female.....she nows her name, come, no and fetches. So my question is what else should i be doing with her. i plan on trying to make her an all around dog. i would like her to point quail, fetch doves, flush ducks off of ponds and maybe even some blood tracking.
i don't want to overwhelm her so i'm taking it slow but i just want to make sure i'm not taking it to slow....

Thanks

She does not really know all those commands. To say that, she would obey all of them under any distraction without a shock collar etc. That said, keep at it and keep it fun. Hunt her, hunt her and hunt her some more. Do not keep drilling things that she shows she knows. Once she shows she knows a command, add distractions and build up. Sit or down would be nice and be able to do it for a few minutes with you out of sight. Has she been on birds before? Get some and shoot some over her. Get to a pond and work on retrieving. Hard to say where do to go when we do not know what all she has been doing.

yeah i'm going to start on sit and down.... live birds is what i was going to start doing so i guess i better get on it. she love to go down to the tank and play in the water, so i will try some fetching tonight see what she does...

the main reason i was asking is i wanted to make sure i wasnt going to slow or to fast with the training


Thanks
AY

If she is five months old right now, you will really want to get her out and hunt her this season. This means you will need to focus on basic obedience and CONTROL and get her in a state where you can begin to introduce her to gunfire, birds and a ecollar. You don’t really need to rush it (especially the gunfire and birds), but you always want to concentrate to the things that a bird dog doesn’t do naturally. They are bred to point and hold and most GSP’s will retrieve and she is going to “get it” about birds at some point, but you are always going to need to be able to “handle” your pup and get her to listen to you not only for you own sanity, but for her safety also.

I would suggest continuing with the “here” command. If she knows her name and come, then this should be an easy thing to cement.
You always want your dog to come to you when you call. Period. Nothing worse or more stressful than spending most of your hunting day hunting your dog!
Get her used to a check cord, this will help with “here”, “whoa” and intro to birds, etc.

I start my pups out walking them around the ‘hood on check cords and introducing them to the command “whoa” (make her stop) then “here” (reel her in to you and make her heel on your left) then a release command like “OK” or “release” and start walking again. Do this 20 or 30 times a walk and she get the basic commands down pretty quick and you can work into polishing them off after you introduce the ecollar at some point. Be sure and vary which command is given so she doesn’t start to anticipate. For instance, don't anyways whoa her before you give her the here command. Or don’t always tell her here after a whoa. But always use the commands and expect her to follow them. Be consistent and make sure the members of your family are also.

Giving her name before a command can help her along also. that way she is focused on you after she hears her name and can respond to the next command more readily.

once she is doing her commands consistenly (9 out of 10 times with or without distractions), then you can introduce the ecollar, but you should never put a collar on a dog that doesn't know the commands structure and what you expect of them first.

“Kennel” command if you haven’t already, or if she’s not crate trained… do it.

remember, 9.5 times out of 10, a bird dog with good genetics is going to hunt for you... and 9.5 times out of 10 a bird dog with good genetics that hasn't been properly obedience trained is going to run off on you!

How old is your pup, what are your goals?

see first post

thanks First Chance

she is crate and kennel trained. i have shot a few times around her, with a 22 and it doesn't seam to bother her....
holy crap i almost forgot about heel.....i really need to stat working on heel....i guess it really doesn't matter what side she heels on but i going with the right side.

lots of good info keep it coming

Thanks

from a hunting dog perspective, most guys will suggest that you heel your dog on the opposite side from which you mount or usually carry your shotgun. right handed?? left side heel.

Be sure and carry a lead or check cord with you if your taking her dove hunting this year. Some young dogs do great with the first and second birds shot, but then loose it and break when lots of birds are falling from multiple shooters.
Keep a close eye on her for any signs of gun shyness, and be prepared to pull her from the field if she shows any. A group of people shooting is a lot different than one person shooting to a young dog.

How did your kennel turn out? You can't teach a dog to point. They already know how. I can't add anything.

it works.....but know i'm moving so i'll have to take it down and put it back up at the new house.................

the reason i want her to heel on the right side is i hold my bird on my left hand.... i'll only be hunting ducks and maybe some quail with the bird and quail and doves with a gun

Thanks

My female GSP is almost 11 months old. Its funny watching them grow up. She went from clueless about hunting one day to pointing everything overnight. I haven't hunted her for real yet, but have shot birds with BB guns in the back yard. Now, if anyone says "bird" she gets all serious and stoked to go and find some birds.

Make sure they know come or here. That seems like the most important thing to me right now. If you can keep them under control, the rest will fall into place.

Something I began doing as a pup was snapping when I taught her to sit or down. It was completely on accident, but I really like it because when I am around other people, all I have to do is snap and she sits, snap again, and she lies down. Pretty cool deal.
This is "my" first dog, it has been fun. Only problem is that since I have been home for the summer, she has eaten 3 pairs of flip flops

took abby down to the tank on the 4th to play in the water and do some water fetching.....

Abby's a good looking pup!

get her snake broke

thanks....i think the ticked short hair is one of the best looking dogs...

yeah its on my list.... she already has the snake shots now i need to get her snake broke