My first gun dog

[billy86]

Getting my first gun dog this week 

any tips or recommendations for a good training book ?

are toys a good idea to give him or just a few chew toys for his teeth 

thanks 

[bruno22rf]

Welcome to the best friend you will ever have. Talk to anyone around you who has well behaved dogs, read and watch youtube clips, basic rules of thumb can be tweaked to suit most dogs temperament. Keep commands simple, don't let kids constantly call the dog, decide what reward you are going to use i.e. a ball or a treat. Never punish a dog more than a gentle tug on his ear and a growl sound. Someone will be along soon with a whole world more experience than me, enjoy. Don't overdo exercise or training a pup.

[billy86]

12 minutes ago, bruno22rf said:

Welcome to the best friend you will ever have. Talk to anyone around you who has well behaved dogs, read and watch youtube clips, basic rules of thumb can be tweaked to suit most dogs temperament. Keep commands simple, don't let kids constantly call the dog, decide what reward you are going to use i.e. a ball or a treat. Never punish a dog more than a gentle tug on his ear and a growl sound. Someone will be along soon with a whole world more experience than me, enjoy. Don't overdo exercise or training a pup.

Thanks bit worried off my 4 year old being a bit over the top 

which reward do thinks best treat or ball 

[WalkedUp]

When you say ball what do you mean? To chase it would be a big no no. Treats are good when puppies are small but generally once a dog is in a working mindset it will not want to lose focus by accepting treats etc. Imagine you are chatting away with a beautiful woman in a bar and someone offers you a hotdog....

The best reward is praise. 

Your four year old and the dog should not have much/any interaction for training. No throwing toys etc. Yes to cuddles and walks but no to retrieves. 

Antlers make good chews once they have their dog teeth. Choose chews that aren’t easily mistaken for items of value. 

[billy86]

23 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

When you say ball what do you mean? To chase it would be a big no no. Treats are good when puppies are small but generally once a dog is in a working mindset it will not want to lose focus by accepting treats etc. Imagine you are chatting away with a beautiful woman in a bar and someone offers you a hotdog....

The best reward is praise. 

Your four year old and the dog should not have much/any interaction for training. No throwing toys etc. Yes to cuddles and walks but no to retrieves. 

Antlers make good chews once they have their dog teeth. Choose chews that aren’t easily mistaken for items of value. 

Thanks for your help have you any recommendations for books 

[bigbird]

My biggest tip at this age is don’t let your child pick pup up as it can end up with a pup that won’t come right into you when called 

[billy86]

Thanks big bird all these tips will help 

[ditchman]

1 hour ago, bruno22rf said:

Welcome to the best friend you will ever have. Talk to anyone around you who has well behaved dogs, read and watch youtube clips, basic rules of thumb can be tweaked to suit most dogs temperament. Keep commands simple, don't let kids constantly call the dog, decide what reward you are going to use i.e. a ball or a treat. Never punish a dog more than a gentle tug on his ear and a growl sound. Someone will be along soon with a whole world more experience than me, enjoy. Don't overdo exercise or training a pup.

good advice from bruno.....

i will add 2 things

1. train your family...........it is your dog ...it is a tool you will be using it not them
2. everytime you feed your dog blow the recall whistle command

if you put bruno's advice and these 2 points together...and train yourself as well ...you will end up with something that is your friend and co-worker..

[WalkedUp]

Agree good points from Bruno, the first of yours is key. 

When my boys make an inventory of all the pets we have they don’t include my dogs as they don’t count them as pets. 

[clangerman]

patience patience patience if it’s not working stop find the reason why enjoy the pup 

[Dave at kelton]

Few things been said already but my advice is this.

decide what you want out of the dog at the end. Is it going to hunt and flush or largely sit by your side when you are in a hide or shooting. Basic obedience is the same but the end result determines how you develop the dog.

secondly it is not a race. The longer I train dogs, 45+ years now, the slower I go. I don’t expect my dogs to work on a shoot before two or later. For that reason I can relax and just develop the dog according to its character. If your first dog you will be keen to crack on but try to resist rushing. Then again I run a team so aren’t without an experienced dog at any time.

Thirdly, make it fun. You need to be the centre of the dogs world. All that is good in life comes from you, love, security, food, fun, etc. First six to eight months is play and learning by increments without knowing.

lastly when you have tough days don’t be down hearted, analyse where it went wrong and pick yourself up.

I recommend two old books now

Gundog sense and sensibility by wilson Stevens

Gundogs, their learning train by Joe Irving

On the subject of reward I use treats, never did, but do now. That brings me to the last book. Total recall by Pippa Mattinson. Absolute must and you can take the theory into almost everything you teach.

Good luck and enjoy

Edited May 16, 2021 by Dave at kelton

[Morkin]

Hello mate such a loverly time getting new pup and all the happy hours you spend with it, and as Bruno said it's the best friend you will ever have, As they say how ever it turns out it may bite you but never ever answers back . And as said before it's your dog so you train it ,I have seen real good dogs ruined by children or someone else trying to help ? . Happy days mate.

[billy86]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

good advice from bruno.....

i will add 2 things

1. train your family...........it is your dog ...it is a tool you will be using it not them
2. everytime you feed your dog blow the recall whistle command

if you put bruno's advice and these 2 points together...and train yourself as well ...you will end up with something that is your friend and co-worker..

Cheers ditchman 

1 hour ago, clangerman said:

patience patience patience if it’s not working stop find the reason why enjoy the pup 

👍🏻

[billy86]

25 minutes ago, Dave at kelton said:

Few things been said already but my advice is this.

decide what you want out of the dog at the end. Is it going to hunt and flush or largely sit by your side when you are in a hide or shooting. Basic obedience is the same but the end result determines how you develop the dog.

secondly it is not a race. The longer I train dogs, 45+ years now, the slower I go. I don’t expect my dogs to work on a shoot before two or later. For that reason I can relax and just develop the dog according to its character. If your first dog you will be keen to crack on but try to resist rushing. Then again I run a team so aren’t without an experienced dog at any time.

Thirdly, make it fun. You need to be the centre of the dogs world. All that is good in life comes from you, love, security, food, fun, etc. First six to eight months is play and learning by increments without knowing.

lastly when you have tough days don’t be down hearted, analyse where it went wrong and pick yourself up.

I recommend two old books now

Gundog sense and sensibility by wilson Stevens

Gundogs, their learning train by Joe Irving

On the subject of reward I use treats, never did, but do now. That brings me to the last book. Total recall by Pippa Mattinson. Absolute must and you can take the theory into almost everything you teach.

Good luck and enjoy

Thanks Dave for the info Going to be used for wildfowling and rough shooting 

22 minutes ago, Morkin said:

Hello mate such a loverly time getting new pup and all the happy hours you spend with it, and as Bruno said it's the best friend you will ever have, As they say how ever it turns out it may bite you but never ever answers back . And as said before it's your dog so you train it ,I have seen real good dogs ruined by children or someone else trying to help ? . Happy days mate.

Thanks mate looking forward to it just a bit anxious I don’t train it correctly 

[Dave at kelton]

32 minutes ago, billy86 said:

Thanks Dave for the info Going to be used for wildfowling and rough shooting 

Thanks mate looking forward to it just a bit anxious I don’t train it correctly 

Wildfowling means long spells of lying down with nothing to do, just like mine, so dog must learn patience in due course but would not worry about that until a year or so old. Don’t worry about getting things wrong because you will, just like the rest of us. You will though get most of it right and if the dogs does what you want of it that is enough.

[WalkedUp]

28 minutes ago, billy86 said:

Thanks mate looking forward to it just a bit anxious I don’t train it correctly 

You will never get a perfect dog, there will always be mistakes. But if you know what you want it to do and build a bond then you’ll have a great dog. 

[Lloyd90]

Easier to avoid mistakes in the first place than try to fix them later. 
 

Buy the Drakeshead DVD’s for a good guide on how to do stuff, easier to watch what someone means rather than read it and be sat wondering... 

 

Having a kennel for me is a game changer. You can still bring the dog in the house to socialise but avoid a lot of issues with kids, family and guests messing with your dog when not around. 

[Agriv8]

My advice I would give to myself after a year and a bit with my first gun dog ! All the advice above plus my bits

 

Don’t try to do too much too soon. Sit stay bed ! And NO 

It’s important to understand your dogs body language.

make everything fun.

Socialize your dog with other dogs 

write a list of commands you are going to use and all use the same ones !

realise that just like people your dog will have strength and weakness. 

Working dogs can be fantastic family pets.

a tired dog is a happy dog.

FINALLY this forum will likley have the answer to just about anything dog related. Good looking dog as well

atb Agriv8

[billy86]

On 16/05/2021 at 11:36, Morkin said:

Hello mate such a loverly time getting new pup and all the happy hours you spend with it, and as Bruno said it's the best friend you will ever have, As they say how ever it turns out it may bite you but never ever answers back . And as said before it's your dog so you train it ,I have seen real good dogs ruined by children or someone else trying to help ? . Happy days mate.

Thanks mate looking forward to it just a bit anxious I don’t train it correctly 

9 hours ago, Agriv8 said:

My advice I would give to myself after a year and a bit with my first gun dog ! All the advice above plus my bits

 

Don’t try to do too much too soon. Sit stay bed ! And NO 

It’s important to understand your dogs body language.

make everything fun.

Socialize your dog with other dogs 

write a list of commands you are going to use and all use the same ones !

realise that just like people your dog will have strength and weakness. 

Working dogs can be fantastic family pets.

a tired dog is a happy dog.

FINALLY this forum will likley have the answer to just about anything dog related. Good looking dog as well

atb Agriv8

Thanks for all the replies everyone 

got him home yesterday no crying or messing in kennel good start so far lol 

[mgsontour]

Well done, a day you will never forget young sir

[holloway]

Just bought the Total recall book as recommended by Dave at Kelton  and can't wait to give the techniques a go ,from the very first page it all seems to make sense .Very well written Thanks Dave.

[Dave at kelton]

1 hour ago, holloway said:

Just bought the Total recall book as recommended by Dave at Kelton  and can't wait to give the techniques a go ,from the very first page it all seems to make sense .Very well written Thanks Dave.

A pleasure even after 45+ years that made me think and I learned a few tricks from it. Good luck and take it easy.

[Dougy]

Something that we kept being told was let it be a pup, and avoid toys that squeak. 

 

Oh must add,

i had, what for us was a brill moment while out for bedtime walk yesterday evening, Buster our black lab was his "Play mode" (a command we use to give him free run to do what he wants) he picked up on a Hare scent and started to follow it, i had spotted it just before and watched it run off. I blew the stop whistle and amazing he sat straight down. 

Edited May 19, 2021 by Dougy

[billy86]

On 18/05/2021 at 07:11, mgsontour said:

Well done, a day you will never forget young sir

Thanks mate 

[marsh man]

A good tip mentioned by one of the above members was train it for what you are using for , all my dogs had spent most of their lives wild fowling , pigeon shooting and rough shooting , the basic training at an early age was sit and stay , as time wear on you can use a whistle when you raise your arm for the dog to sit , when you are happy with the sitting and staying progress like when you walk off a short distance, or walking around a large circle and although the dog follow you with his eyes the body stay where you told him to sit .

I start dummy work around the six month old period and when I was working for a living I used to take my pup up the playing field in the dark , I would start off with telling the dog to sit , chuck a dummy , walk him to heel for 40 / 50 yards , tell him to sit again and then send him back in the darkness for the dummy , I found by doing this type of training the dog think for its self without relying on the owner for directions , we have held a few gun dog trials on the estate and you would be surprised how many dogs relied on it's owner for instructions , even when the dead bird is in view the dog still needed help for directions , with wildfowling at night the dog need to think for its self as he won't get much help from his master if he can't see him , this is one of the reasons I trained my young dogs in the dark .

We all have our own ways of training a gun dog and if I am honest none of them would have been nowhere near field trial standard , but everyone I have had turned out excellent retrievers and good honest working dogs .

GOOD LUCK with your first gun dog .