Gareth Posted December 11, 2010 Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 Hi all, I've just got a new puppy, he's called Jack and is 8 weeks old. He is a cross between a Springer (mum) and Labrador (dad). I'll get some pics up of him shortly! A bit about me: I've just started to get into shooting, I was introduced by a friend and now have my gun safe and am waiting on my licence. About the dog: So far he's just doing puppy things, biting us and pretty much anything else he can see, which we are trying to correct but understand it wont happen overnight. I've just started with the 8 week obedience training which has been stickied in this section, hopefully he will come on pretty quickly from there. On top of normal home life, I'd really like for the dog to be able to come shooting with me/us when he has been trained properly. Even better than that, it would be brilliant if he had a role to play, such as retrieving downed game for us. I'm very new to all of this, so was wondering what your top advice to me would be? Are there things that I should do/avoid doing at home so he is not ruined for his shooting role? Is there anything special I should do other than teaching him to fetch and drop on command? Thanks for any advice, Gareth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg31 Posted December 11, 2010 Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 take it slow and let him be a pup first.i would'nt bother serious training until 6/8 month's and what ever you do, don't let him see game until he's atleast 14/15 months and fully trained Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune82 Posted December 11, 2010 Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 Let him be a pup until about six months old. Do very basic stuff like house training, sit, stay etc up until that point. Make every training session a game which is fun for him. Get him bringing you a rolled up sock in the house to start the retrieving game! A big no no is to not play any tug of war games with him. Also when he is a bit older and you let him off the lead keep him close by ie dont let him run wild, have him doing something for you like finding a dummy or hunting out cover. The sort of training you will do regarding gun dog training will depend on the sort of shooting you do. If its mainly driven then steadyness, being able to sit still for long periods, and retrieving. If you are a rough shooter then it will be quartering and flushing game as well as retrieving you need to work on. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampire Posted December 11, 2010 Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 Be consistant and calm,praise him and always finish on a positive and NEVER end on a reprimand ,as for gun dog training,not a clue but that will change in the spring when i get my pup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Posted December 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2010 (edited) Thanks for all of the replies, they will definitely be taken into consideration! The last thing I want to do is rush, so your time-scales are very helpful to me. He must primarily be a home dog that is good with other people/kids/dogs. I've added some pictures of him to the pictures section, here. What do you think? One thing I am guilty of (so far) is a little bit of tug of war with some of his toys. Why is that a big no no? Is it a general dog thing or specifically to do with the shooting side of things? Something that I forgot to mention, his parents were specifically bread by the owner to get his pick of the litter as his new gun dog. This was just a coincidence though, and not the reason that we decided to take him home. Thanks for your advice, and any more is very welcome! Gareth Edited December 11, 2010 by Gareth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted December 12, 2010 Report Share Posted December 12, 2010 Tug of war games can make your dog hard mouthed and also not want to bring things to you as they will want to fight over them rather than bring them and give them to you. Take it real slow mate, let him settle in then maybe look for a puppy obedience class near you, good socialising and basic training for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampire Posted December 12, 2010 Report Share Posted December 12, 2010 Losing a tug of war game creates a dominance issue,so YOU should NEVER lose and you say when its over,i would imagine that you are creating problems for a dog you want to later train to retreive and present Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Posted December 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2010 Thanks for all the replies everyone, much appreciated I'm currently teaching him 'sit' and 'here' and he seems to be catching on really quickly. For 'sit' he seems to have grasped that he has to sit before he gets the treat, so there's not pulling on the lead or anything now. Mostly he does it as soon as he knows I've got a treat. Is this normal, only been doing it 3 days now? I've also cut out the tug of war games. Is it worth teaching him 'drop it' now or is it still a bit early for him? I want him to learn fast but I don't want to overload him. Think I might be a bit over eager because it's all new to me. I've not been doing any more or for any longer than the basic 8 week guide has suggested. Regards, Gareth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted December 14, 2010 Report Share Posted December 14, 2010 Thanks for all the replies everyone, much appreciated I'm currently teaching him 'sit' and 'here' and he seems to be catching on really quickly. For 'sit' he seems to have grasped that he has to sit before he gets the treat, so there's not pulling on the lead or anything now. Mostly he does it as soon as he knows I've got a treat. Is this normal, only been doing it 3 days now? I've also cut out the tug of war games. Is it worth teaching him 'drop it' now or is it still a bit early for him? I want him to learn fast but I don't want to overload him. Think I might be a bit over eager because it's all new to me. I've not been doing any more or for any longer than the basic 8 week guide has suggested. Regards, Gareth Dont get ahead of yourself mate. Trust me I and ALOT of other people have done the same thing rushing ahead and created alot of problems! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 8 week old pup? CHILL OUT. 4 basics: 1. Don't keep repeating commands he doesn't understand, he will only learn to ignore you. 2. Take everything he lifts from him gently, after encouraging him to come to you, and don't rush to take ANYTHING from him. 3. No tug of war! 4. Do not chase him. Be nothing but fun and affection for him whilst discouraging unwanted behaviour, do that for 8 - 10 weeks and post again to say how it's going. Easy easy, as said, 6 month minimum before a dog understands trigger/reaction/correction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Posted December 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 Thanks again for all of your advice! As I said it looks live I've been a bit too eager, at least I've not acted on it. What are your ideas for trying to stop him from biting us? I've heard to squeal like another hurt puppy would and then ignore. I've heard hit him on the nose and ignore. I've even heard a few people say bite him back, but that doesn't sit right with me. What do you normally do? Thanks again for your help and advice! Gareth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 take it slow and let him be a pup first.i would'nt bother serious training until 6/8 month's and what ever you do, don't let him see game until he's atleast 14/15 months and fully trained I take it that is badly worded, how can a dog be described as fully trained if it aint even seen any game? Any dog i owned would see game daily from puppy hood there aint nothing i can do about that due to location of my home and kennel, but dont you mean ensure you have the other parts of the training well sorted before you move on to steadyness training and free running hunting etc? But sure let it be a puppy your way off the serious stuff- have some fun and gain its total trust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegleg31 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 what i meant was don't take him beating/shooting until he's 100% right but you're absolutely right i could of worded it better.training him with fresh/live game should'nt be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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