Gundog Training Forum

Stihl 090 wrote:Personally, I would not B takeing my novice dog on a 500bd. 50 bd yes. Good luck!
To shoot 500 aday they would put down, what 7k+ at a guess

500 birds to wood, not 500 per day

David wrote:I don't think there's to many in the UK who have the luxury of the birds when introducing shot. I do all mine at the local Clay shoot along with a dummy or ball to retrieve.

I'm not sure his dog is conditioned. I'm sure it will have been to a clay ground as he spends plenty of time at them. How close and how did the dog react is the question.

No problem with gunshot as david says she has been with me at clay shoots since she was 9months (we slowly introduced her from a distance) and close proximity as well, she also encounters shot on local walks as lots of pigeon shooting near us. She isn't bothered in the slightest about gunshot now although she wasn't impressed with fireworks last week but I think that was because she wasn't used to the noise and the visual in the home environment.

Strathcraig wrote:

Stihl 090 wrote:Personally, I would not B takeing my novice dog on a 500bd. 50 bd yes. Good luck!
To shoot 500 aday they would put down, what 7k+ at a guess

500 birds to wood, not 500 per day

this is correct I am sure my friend said they had put 500 down and shot 34 last shoot two weeks ago but admits that its a fun shoot and there not the best of shots. Not sure how much land but he mentioned five woods.

Don't overthink this. Just enjoy it. Assuming your dog is comfortable with shot in sure you will find the experience worthwhile.

Thanks Springfield I will try to just go with it.

All really helpful and encouraging replies from everyone thus far i am most grateful.

And don't be alarmed if you're 'training' goes out the window. In real terms you've done very little among game so it's bound to break down. She may surprise you but just enjoy the day however it goes. You're skipping a lot of training steps & many would compensate by coming down hard on the dog if things went not according to plan but that's not really fair on the dog. After saying that, on a 35 bird day there's less room for things to go badly wrong & if all the dogs are in the same boat as regards level of 'training' then you're not spoiling it for others.

Naj

Naj
I do not expect great things but will be happy if she stays reasonably close and checks in occasionally. I spose nobody can be certain how a dog will perform until its exposed to the shoot environment. Time will tell.

Well I invariably do have a pretty good idea of how a dog will perform because training on game just melds into shooting on game & most successful trainers follow this practice. But don't be put off by this, I was just pointing out what may be the outcome & that many who advocate chucking a dog in at the deep-end are happy to use harsh methods to make up for the inevitable shortfalls in training, or just don't mind & enjoy the day & being out with the dog, which is what I suggest you do.

Naj

"my dog just listened to me and didn't put a foot wrong the entire day on its first shoot" said no man ever.

only joking. Don't worry, just enjoy the day.

Springfield Pointers wrote:"my dog just listened to me and didn't put a foot wrong the entire day on its first shoot" said no man ever.

only joking. Don't worry, just enjoy the day.

Sorry to disagree Springfield, but I hear that quite a lot, on the second day out I learn their dog's name and hear a lot of words I do not understand