Shaqinwi
S.E. Wisconsin
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| 09/05/2008 12:11 PM |
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I have had a hunting dog but never a puppy so I would appreciate some input concerning his progress.
I have a 14 week old lab from strong PL lines and have been doing "the walk" with him daily for 4 weeks. 90% of the time he just follows right at my heal and when I stop to let him explore he pretty much just looks at me, cocks his head and gets a "am I supposed to be doing something" look on his face. He is still reluctant to leave the yard and the only thing he really shows any interest in is finding sticks to chew on.
Julie talks about a dog getting excited to go on the walk and about it venturing further away from you, learning how to use it's nose, exploring nature and it's world ... when will this happen .... mine only looks for sticks to chew LOL
So many times i read things like, "Duke started working as a guide dog with pheasants at 5 months". Shesh! I'm hoping mine will stop crapping in the house at 5 months!
If his progess is normal I am OK with it, I just want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong or should be doing something I'm not to get him to do more "hunting dog" like stuff.
We walk in varying thickness of cover in fields, sometimes in woods, sometimes along paths, sometimes beside a river. (no wild birds around) We play fetch 2 or 3 times and he likes that and will swim for a bumper when I throw it in the river.
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keskam
Pierce, Colorado
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| 09/05/2008 1:34 PM |
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| At 14 weeks old If it was my dog I would go and buy a few quail or chukar and let him get his first Taste of birds, At his age he really dont quite know yet what to do, but if you keep him by your side you are in fact teaching him that it is OK to be there. I do think that if you get him on some birds you will see a different dog!! Were do you live? even if you throw some dead birds it will bring out his prey drive. |
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TC
Apple Valley, Minnesota
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| 09/05/2008 1:48 PM |
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I've had a few people ask me about a puppy following behind them during the walk. It's to be expected when they're real young, but as they develop their "little explorer instinct", they start to get out away from you. Both of my dogs started behind me but withing a couple of weeks, they got out in front of me.
The problem that I usually hear is that a lot of people carry a bumper along for "the walk" - it sounds like you're also doing it? Throwing a few marks for a puppy is great and necessary, but NOT during "the walk" IMO. If you carry a bumper during the walk, the puppy is focused on the bumper, and naturally follows along behind you waiting for you to throw it. You want your puppy to learn about all that "stuff" in the world, not be distracted by a bumper.
The other thing that I did was try to change up where I went for "the walk". Different scenery every day if possible, or at least a different route if I went to the same area.
Maybe I'm way off base. Hopefully Julie will weigh in on this one. |
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Shaqinwi
S.E. Wisconsin
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| 09/05/2008 1:57 PM |
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Thanks for the suggestion. I have access to quail and chuckars and hopefully after tomorrow morning I will have some dead doves 
Reading Julie's book she seems to suggest that intro to birds is a kind of a step 2, to be done once the puppy is showing boldness and maturity in the field but it is VERY possible that I am misreading her. |
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2Blackdogs!
Kansas City Area - GO CHIEFS !!!
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| 09/05/2008 2:23 PM |
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| You want to be sure you are not talking to it and can try just stopping and not moving or talking to it-probably will get bored and start to roam away from you...heck at least it is not eating deer poop like mine was at that age!! Little stinker. But to be truthful by 14 weeks he was leaving the side a lot already, but maybe we started a little earlier too...it will come. |
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311Hemi
Mounds View, MN
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| 09/05/2008 2:52 PM |
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Troy, I'm pretty sure Julie says that throwing the bumper a few times while out on "the walk" is fine and recommended vs doing it in the yard. I will have to recheck that....but I just read it the other day since the new pup has come home.
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keskam
Pierce, Colorado
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| 09/05/2008 3:08 PM |
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| If you use doves freeze them first! They like to chew on them for some reason. I would use a duck if possible. |
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HR Rocky Mountain Rosco JH
APR HR Lady Satin of Black Forest JH
SHR Satin's Jumpin Jedi JH
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APR HR KB's Snakey Jake of Poudre River JH
SHR KB's It's Showtime of Bearpoint (Star)
SHR KB's Loaded To Go Allie
KB's Black Diamond Tessa |
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Julie
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| 09/05/2008 5:00 PM |
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Wow, you guys are good! Good answers and I agree with everybody. Wait, been watching too many conventions. Anyway, your problem is not unusual, so try and relax and for Heaven's Sake quit listening to everybody and their superstars. Just be in the world of your youngster and find all the good stuff. I think Kevin hit the nail on the head suggesting introducing little birds. I think it should be done when the pup can intellectualy grasp the concept and process the event, and I'd think at 14 weeks that might happen. If it doesn't you can't force it so take what you get, but if you really didn't care, you'd be surprised how good your dog may do.
As far as TC and Hemi, actually, if you can take your dog on a walk and it isn't bumper obsessed, then throwing on the walk can work. If you have an obsessor you can't because they can't wait for you hand to reach for the bumper and think of little else. So, use caution there.
Gee, Troy sounds like someone who should run for the board, doesn't he?????
Hope that helps!
Julie |
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Shaqinwi
S.E. Wisconsin
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| 09/06/2008 3:30 PM |
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That does help ... thank you all, Julie, I didn't know you frequented this place, thank you for the great book. (sorry for the running paragraph but for some reason it's posting without the spacing)
I'll try and do some quail. Unfortunately there are no dead doves to try.  Is it a bad omen when you get skunked your first time out in a season?
Let me throw something else here.
Last night I took him to a public hunting ground so I could start shooting over him (starter pistol) and he was a 100% different dog. He did everything you would expect a well bred hunting dog would do and showed no sign of the "just follow along and chew sticks" behavior. I don't mean he was a little different I mean A TOTAL DIFFERENT DOG ... so what's up with that?
This is a crazy theory but ... where we do "the walk" there is a large pack of coyote that frequent the area, we even spooked one last Wednesday. Is it possible that somewhere deep down in his puppy instinct the scent of the coyote makes him nervous?
It's impractical to do the daily walk in a public hunting area but I will try to get there more often now that I saw his behavior last night.
Thanks again ... gotta love forums
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2Blackdogs!
Kansas City Area - GO CHIEFS !!!
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| 09/06/2008 6:27 PM |
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| Ah- Maybe he smelled the tell tail sign of a bird at the hunting area ;) |
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Doc_E
N.E. WA state
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| 09/07/2008 7:54 AM |
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When I first got Casey (over 8 years ago) I would take him for "The Walk" and he was a bootlicker when we would go "out", but when we would turn around to go back, he would range out. I got ahold of Julie and she said not to worry, he was following our scent on the way back -- and that he would start ranging out as he got older -------- That's exactly what happened.
Now with our new puppy : He's a natural ranger. At 7 weeks of age, he's ranging out 60 yards already. Different pups do different things at different ages. Two pups from the same litter will learn different things at different times and rates.
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Doc E and Cujo Casey boy. |
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Shaqinwi
S.E. Wisconsin
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| 09/07/2008 6:32 PM |
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| So I took all of your advice and introduced him to some quail. He did so well with them I decided to shoot bird 3. He scented it, pointed (well, paused before he flushed ... you know) for 3 or 4 seconds, flushed it, I shot it at about 10 yards and he ran to it, picked it up and retrieved it to hand
All in all a good day. He loves the water so much I couldn't resist shooting one over a pond too. He loved it. I am happy. All is well. Thanks again for the advice. I kept 3 more birds to release where we do our walk so we'll see how he handles that.
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Trout Bum
Elbert County, CO
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| 09/08/2008 6:21 AM |
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Nice to hear the progress, sometimes it only takes and encounter or two with birds to bring out the predator.
Soon you're liable to have a whole new set of problems.  How do I get him to come back to me and stay closer to me? I turn him loose and he's like a desperado, takes off running like a mad man and won't listen to me. Take it as it comes and enjoy the ride with your little buddy.
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311Hemi
Mounds View, MN
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| 09/08/2008 11:32 AM |
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Posted By Doc_E on 09/07/2008 7:54 AM
When I first got Casey (over 8 years ago) I would take him for "The Walk" and he was a bootlicker when we would go "out", but when we would turn around to go back, he would range out. I got ahold of Julie and she said not to worry, he was following our scent on the way back -- and that he would start ranging out as he got older -------- That's exactly what happened.
Now with our new puppy : He's a natural ranger. At 7 weeks of age, he's ranging out 60 yards already. Different pups do different things at different ages. Two pups from the same litter will learn different things at different times and rates.
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Doc...your description of Casey fit Dexs to a T. 9 weeks old and is only ranging a little ways with no hesitation if we turn around and follow a path we had just taken.
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Shaqinwi
S.E. Wisconsin
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| 09/27/2008 6:00 AM |
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| Over the past 3 weeks Gunner (who is 17 weeks old now) has encountered quail 10 or more times. I have a number of them (quail) that have stayed where we do our walk and they come to my bird feeder too (which is right where he goes to the bathroom) so he is exposed to them quite often.
As time goes on his interest in them is fading. This morning he walked right by 3, they flushed and he just gave a quick glance in their direction and kept walking.
He a little less of a boot licker than he was 3 weeks ago but continues to pretty much do nothing on our walks ... maybe 10% of the time he will explore. 3 times he actually scented and flushed a covey of quail.
Is this typical behavior? Should I be doing something different?
Today I'm going to try and get him on some pheasant.
Thanks,
Mark (I'd sure like to know why I can't make paragraphs!! I use the enter key when I type but it doesn't post that way!)) |
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Doc_E
N.E. WA state
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| 09/27/2008 7:15 AM |
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Have you had Gunner on any visible wing-clip birds that he can chase and pick up?
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Doc E and Cujo Casey boy. |
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Shaqinwi
S.E. Wisconsin
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| 09/27/2008 7:30 AM |
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| 2nd quail was clipped and he caught it. Later he caught one that was too wet to fly fast enough. He hasn't caught one since .
The first week he showed possitive signs, even flash pointed once. Ever since he seems to loose interest a little more each outing. |
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Doc_E
N.E. WA state
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| 09/27/2008 8:04 AM |
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I'm talking about a hand thrown mark with a wing-clip, and not one that is hidden (like you would use got pointing).
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Doc E and Cujo Casey boy. |
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