So got my first pointer about 2 weeks ago, 6 month old male pup. Plan is for him to be a family dog first, hunting second. I’m working on sit, stay, heel right now he slowly progressing. Now I’ve gotten some duck wings from a buddy and I’m working on him retrieving again he’s doing ok. Not really expecting a super star hunting dog but I’d really just want him to retrieve birds. I dove hunt allot and want to take a try at duck hunting next season. Any tips will be much appreciated or if anyone is around Fort Worth where I can watch your dog work would also be much appreciated.

On another note kids are super excited with him!

You’re doing it right by focusing on obedience, but one thing I would recommend is live birds. Make that dog bird crazy, it helped me further down the line more than I can express.

I will try that soon, he’s a little stubborn still. He has a real bad habit of moving the bumper allot in his mouth. Now I’m not sure if that’s cause he still a pup? He’s also shy, IF it’s just me and him he will fetch, sit, stay. BUT if anyone is around he just doesn’t care. Both me and him have allot to learn, any help would be much appreciated.

Why a pointer if you will be using him primarily for a retriever?

As far as moving the bumper around in it's mouth that's normal and can be worked on with force fetch/hold training. And when other people are around and the dog doesn't show interest it's because it's a pup and they have short attention spans and are easily distracted, not a big deal, but don't force the issue. Only break out the bumpers when you know he's interested and will have success. You wan't to always keep it short and leave the dog wanting more every time. So it's better to do less retrieves and keep the dog wanting more than to do more and make them bored.

Good luck.

We kicked around a few dog breeds just cause we wanted a family dog as well. We all liked the pointer and I got a great deal on “Rusty”

Age explains allot with the short attention span.

Agree pointers are not bred to sit still while you shoot ducks and doves.

Is that a pointer, or a GSP? Can’t see the tail.

He’s a GSP

Thank you for the advise we have been working with Rusty everyday for about 5-10 min. Heel, sit, stay, dove bumper thrown, Rusty, when he bring it back a simple drop and it’s in my hands. We still have allot of work ahead of us so any input will be much appreciated. If anyone trains and wouldn’t mind me and Rusty coming to watch that would be awesome!