Gundog Training Forum

ESS wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:44 pmAnd ruin them to!

Nope not really. Game does wonders for a young dog.

It is your dog ESS and you should do what you think best. I personally did not shoot over any of my young dogs until I was 98% confident they would be steady to flush which means they were well over a year old. They do get dead birds and clip pigeons before that though. I just prefer to not let a pup learn to chase. Saying that many people do shoot over unsteady dogs and it seems to work out for them.
All about choices and expectations.
Good luck with your pup and don't worry about the mouth. 6 months old really is just a baby

ESS wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:44 pmAnd ruin them to!

Not likely.

ESS wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:44 pmAnd ruin them to!

Nah. Lack of game contact and inexperienced trainers are what cause these problems. You can’t dump the blame on game or dogs (or guns who can’t shoot, Judy ), I’m afraid, it’s all down to the handler.

Naj wrote: ↑Sat Nov 02, 2019 3:28 pm Lack of game contact and inexperienced trainers are what cause these problems.

Yep. Indeed.

Springfield Pointers wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:15 pm

ESS wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:16 pm I dont shoot personally but could arrange something but i dont want to yet as hes so young and not had anything like that yet?

Never too young. You'd be surprised what game exposure does to bird dogs. It'll fix a lot of stuff...

Agree mine gets better and better the more game contact she has, however i think only if you are able to manage and or manipulate the contact to your advantage.
(Based on somewhat limited experience of course)

chrokeva wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 11:05 pm It is your dog ESS and you should do what you think best. I personally did not shoot over any of my young dogs until I was 98% confident they would be steady to flush

Now you see i feel differently, i learned that steady to dummies etc doesnt mean steady to game so in future i will get a dog into game and steady on the job and in the context of the shoot or beating day...probably dogging in first which as i type is actually what i did with this one all be it with little real understanding at that time about the importance of context.

I do however acknowledge that i have misquoted you in the above because you are using clipped birds etc in order to aid the transition to game contact so i am in no way disagreeing with you per se

Im amazed tbh! So your all saying i should take my 6 month old cocker who all he knows is a tennis ball and a dummy who i havnt steadied up yet have some cold game or am i missing something!

ESS wrote: ↑Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:18 pm Im amazed tbh! So your all saying i should take my 6 month old cocker who all he knows is a tennis ball and a dummy who i havnt steadied up yet have some cold game or am i missing something!

My current pup had cold game retrieves younger than that. And she’s been on and around game since I got her at 8 weeks old. Shot her first snipe over her point a few weeks ago when 10 months and that was her first warm game retrieve. But all things are relative and how you progress with your pup depends upon what facilities and experience you have. I think the point some of us are making is not to worry about him rolling balls or dummies around in his mouth, he’ll handle game differently but if you put pressure on the delivery by giving it undue attention to a perceived issue then you’ll probably make things worse or create other problems.

Naj

Thanks for clarifying that, i guess experience helps alot, and knowing when a dog is ready. I think we will wrap this up here before i get any more confused. Thanks for the input