The light bulb turned on!

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

My Griff, Oscar, turns 1 in a couple weeks, and over the last several days its as if the light bulb is finally turning on during training. He is consistently fetching his bumper to hand and responding to both single and double blast of the whistle. TBH, I was considering a professional trainer this summer to get him ready for the season, but given what I've been seeing this week I thing we'll be okay.

Anybody else see this sort of late bloomer behavior in their Griff or pointing dog? My Golden had all of this down pat at 6 months easy. Thoughts?

 

[JBrew]

Dogs are like people. Some learn faster than others. Good deal on him starting to catch on!

 

[KurtR]

Iota of story’s of late bloomers in the hunt test and field trial world. 1 is still a baby just getting to the fun stuff.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Glad to hear that, and will continue to work hard this summer/fall for his first full season. Can't wait!

 

[2Tundras]

I just buried my 4th dog with the new guy coming next spring. When the bulb goes on and then without warning goes dim is as unpredictable as the wind. Knox (gsp) turned on at 6 months, Auger (gsp) turned on the day he could walk, Knox (es) NEVER turned on and got fat and happy and Simon (es) turned on around 1 but remained and absolute meat head...dumb. God bless that dude...he just went in the ground.


You just need to keep plugging at it. But if by 2 you have nothing then I would go see a pro. And mind that they a lot will turn off multiple times over their lives.

 

[JD Jones]

1 year is not a late bloomer in my book. I also agree he will be good to go! I’m a fan of allowing the dog to develop at their pace. I’ve seen pressure zap a dogs style (and in extreme cases desire for game)for life all because handler wanted to pass a test or see their dog pointing steady to WSF the first fall. It’s no fun hunting over dogs who aren’t having fun.

I’m happy your pooch is developing and one last thought, if you can’t get him around wild birds often, still consider a pro. A training road trip for a few months in Dakota or the like will stoke even the faintest of fire

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Fast forward to now and I really like what I'm seeing from a casting and trailing perspective. He stops with a single whistle blast and comes back (eventually ) with a double whistle. So from a drive and desire perspective he's all good and I can barely keep him in the house.

Retrieving is still a struggle. He will usually fetch and bring it back but not to hand. He will sprint past me and stop 10' away and either lay on it or just drop it and go chase a bird or butterfly. This is something I plan to continue to work on in the house to increase reps and train him that bringing to hand will earn a reward. However, I'm all ears for recommendations.

TBH, I've never been a guy that looks for style points in a bird dog. I just need him to cast, trail, point, flush, and retrieve. Minus the pointing, my golden retriever was a superstar and checked all these boxes. I'm hoping I can get Oscar to this point at some point.

 

[KHNC]

My GSP turned one last week. Has she turned ON yet??? LOL This pic from an hour ago.

 

[JD Jones]

My quail hound drinking coffee with me right now

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

That's awesome and a very pretty dog... I pity those ears and the burs they probably snag. Before season I used to cut/shave all the stuff off my golden. He looked more like a red lab by the time I was done, lol! It was a much better evil than dealing with the burdock, cockleburs, and preacher's lice in his long hair.

 

[JD Jones]

Yea it can get matted pretty bad. I give her a nice trim in September and her hair is pretty thin so the furnishings are pretty easy to comb out if need be but yea. Ears get scissors pretty frequently and after December she’s looks pretty ragged

 

[TSAMP]

My PP pointed things as a pup but didnt point live birds until nearly 11 months old. It was weird but it clicked just late.

As far as retrieving he was fairly spotty. Admittedly I pushed it and should have quit several times while he was doing well but I'd always try just 1 more. It wasn't until I hunted him with other dogs, I realized how competitive he was. He was retrieving everyone's down birds, it seemed to click on that hunt. For a non FF dog he does good enough for the girls i date.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

For a non FF dog he does good enough for the girls i date.

That sounds good to me and I'm conflicted about FF. I want him to fetch because he wants to. I also think that he is so used to our routine and boundaries at home in the pasture that he may act differently next time I'm able to get him on some public for training. In Iowa bird dogs are banned from public areas during nesting season until like 8/15.

 

[KurtR]

That sounds good to me and I'm conflicted about FF. I want him to fetch because he wants to. I also think that he is so used to our routine and boundaries at home in the pasture that he may act differently next time I'm able to get him on some public for training. In Iowa bird dogs are banned from public areas during nesting season until like 8/15.

Ff is less about retrieving and more about learning pressure on pressure off. It’s the foundation that you can build on with every thing else.

To fix running past you have a check cord on him when he gets close step forward and tell him to heel and put him in position. A few times they learn really quick where and what to do. Where some gloves I learned the hard way haha.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Ff is less about retrieving and more about learning pressure on pressure off. It’s the foundation that you can build on with every thing else.

To fix running past you have a check cord on him when he gets close step forward and tell him to heel and put him in position. A few times they learn really quick where and what to do. Where some gloves I learned the hard way haha.

Thank you for the tip and I will try that

 

[TSAMP]

That sounds good to me and I'm conflicted about FF. I want him to fetch because he wants to. I also think that he is so used to our routine and boundaries at home in the pasture that he may act differently next time I'm able to get him on some public for training. In Iowa bird dogs are banned from public areas during nesting season until like 8/15.

July 15th. I'm in iowa as well. There are also designated training areas you can run year around.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

July 15th. I'm in iowa as well. There are also designated training areas you can run year around.

Oh sweet, that's right around the corner. I'll be able to get him out quite a bit in that case. The farm I manage for my wife's uncle is only 3 miles away and has roughly 60 acres of native grasses. I also have Dunbar Slough about 3 miles the other direction.

I've been seeing some broods already in the area and some of them are already flying pretty good.

Whereabouts are you in Iowa?

 

[TSAMP]

I'm in eastern Iowa. I'd be cautious still even with a pointer. Mines brought back live birds into August before. Even if they are decent flyers the thick grass this time a year slows them down a fair bit.

Definitely get out there and train though.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I'm in eastern Iowa. I'd be cautious still even with a pointer. Mines brought back live birds into August before. Even if they are decent flyers the thick grass this time a year slows them down a fair bit.

Definitely get out there and train though.

Hell yeah man and will do!

 

[wgonfan]

As a new trainer we tend to overthink things. I know with my first retriever I worried way to much if he was catching on or if I was ruining him - especially so when we took a step back during FF.

Don't forget to have fun!