I have an English Pointer that is 9 months old. Hope t have him out for a little bit this year yet but not till he is ready. And possible help with getting him not gun shy.
I have an English Pointer that is 9 months old. Hope t have him out for a little bit this year yet but not till he is ready. And possible help with getting him not gun shy.
Your dog is plenty old to start the training process. The trick to gun breaking is to pay attention to the signals that the dog is sending you to know whether or not he/she is ready to move on to the next step. First of all I would like to let everyone know out there that NO DOG IS BORN GUN SHY!!!! You can start with a cap gun or blank pistol, like recommended, although I always just used my shotgun. (do not use a .22, the frequency is too high and could do more harm than good) They key is to make sure the dog is interested in something else other that what you are doing, and is a good distance off, I rarely shoot closer than 50 yds. the first time, which shouldn’t be any problem with an English Pointer. If the dog doesn’t pay any attention to the report then gradually move the dog in closer with each shot until you are shooting right over the dog. This will probably take a few training sessions, don’t go out the first day and fire a box of shells around your dog, spread it out into two or three sessions. Training dogs is a wonderful experience and will be enjoyable for you both. Even as a relatively experienced dog trainer I still subscribe to several hunting magazines looking for tips (my personal favorite is Pointing Dog Journal).
Hi There..
For most pheasant hunters, having a well-trained, purebred hunting dog is not only a must – it is a large part of the joy of the hunt. Naturally, there is much debate about which breed of dog is best in the field. English Setters can be excellent in heavy cover, but they can also be
high-strung and therefore sometimes difficult to handle.
The first hunt with a young dog is very important. Some hunters choose to make that first hunt at a pheasant preserve so that they are hunting pen-raised birds instead of wild birds that are hiding in chest-high cover. This can be a good method to use for that all-important first hunt because you know that there are birds in the area and you can continue to encourage your dog to work the field until he finds one. This reinforces his hunting behavior and confidence and gives him some experience. One disadvantage to this method is that if your dog continues to hunt the same area over and over, it inhibits his instinct to explore and find birds on his own. Also, a dog with a good nose will learn to track the pen-raised birds by the human scent around the release area rather than the scent of the bird itself.
For more information you can visit this site :
http://www.allhuntingsecret.com
Wow 9months is old for gun training. I started my lab at 6wks with a cap gun some distance from him when I tossed his dummy toy. He enjoyed chasing the dummy so much he didn’t pay any attention to the gun. Moved up to bigger guns slowly and he never flinched.
Contact the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association