New family member

Started by Hunterbug, October 03, 2017, 05:43:43 AM

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SmokeyJoe

haha, trust you to spot the catastrophically erroneous letter!

Psychological ScOtoma - Much more palatable, even if its a trick cyclist's typical disfiguring of language. 'Mental blind spot' works just fine :D
"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think".

"I would rather be somebody's shot of whiskey, than everybody's cup of tea."

"Give a small man power, and he'll show you how small he is."

Guns-Pencils.png

SmokeyJoe

Quote from: Hunterbug;149192WOW! There is a lot of information there and good information. I don't need a trials dog, i.e. a Ferrari. More like a Mustang, i.e. a dog that I can trust to return when I call it, will fetch, point, and retrieve birds. And not be gun shy or yank your arm off when you try and take him for a walk. There is a place locally that does gun dog training. They do classes on Saturday mornings or even individual trainings as well as a month long training where they keep the dog and you come out to work with them.

I understand what you mean when you say you don't need a trials dog, but a reliable dog all the same. That place sounds ideal, the only advice I would give (depending on what they are like there) is to keep them focussed on what YOU want. Most trainers, clubs etc have a strong direction of their own, and new dogs tend to get caught up in the flow of the club's objectives for what THEY want to achieve with dogs, what THEY think owners "should" be doing with their dogs etcetera. I could be completely wrong of course, it's a crude generalisation but one worth mentioning as I notice it at almost every club I visit. Of course some (many!) owners really do need this type of guidance, but I don't think you do, and therefore you might need to firmly remind them not to go off on tangents training things you don't want or need. I hope you don't find this is necessary but just something to bear in mind so you spot it quickly if they do seem to be "pushing" you to doing things you don't ultimately want.

If they are good at it and happy to focus on the few important things you want to cover, I am sure you will not need to spend much money to get all the foundations done properly, but the real hard work (situational and accuracy training) to take the dog up to the level you want will be your job and I am sure you will enjoy it! More to the point, you will be armed with some good methods for doing it efficiently and effectively.
 
Most of the work will be done by you regardless of whether you use a trainer or not. I would equate this to building your own house. You will be getting a good slab of reinforced concrete laid by a team of pros just so you know everything you build on top is never going to collapse due to a hidden flaw left beneath in the foundations which can't be dug up and rectified later (without a huge amount of cost and effort!). The only difference is that laying a good slab of concrete is about 1000 times easier than laying good training foundations in a puppy!

The only other advice I would give is to make sure you can get on with the trainer. I wouldn't mind a bit of arrogance, if they are good then that might not be a bad thing, you want them to be sure of what they are doing after all. But you will need a good relationship with them and they need to be good listeners as well as good at explaining what they are doing and why (as this is ultimately what you are buying, the knowledge to take this further on your own), so suss all of that out before you commit, and hopefully that first conversation will make you feel great about the decision and dying to get started, it should!

Keep us posted, and have fun!
"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think".

"I would rather be somebody's shot of whiskey, than everybody's cup of tea."

"Give a small man power, and he'll show you how small he is."

Guns-Pencils.png

Hunterbug

Rebel is 6 weeks old now. We'll get him at 9 weeks. This is as close as he's gotten to a point so far.
Ask not what your government can do for you. Ask how your government can go away and get out of your life.
 
 
The unarmed man is is not only defenseless, he is also contemptible.
Niccolo Machiavelli

sakorick

It's a puppy point!!!!!:jumpingsmiley:
Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.

SmokeyJoe

"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think".

"I would rather be somebody's shot of whiskey, than everybody's cup of tea."

"Give a small man power, and he'll show you how small he is."

Guns-Pencils.png

Hunterbug

You can't see the feather in the corner that he's looking at.
Ask not what your government can do for you. Ask how your government can go away and get out of your life.
 
 
The unarmed man is is not only defenseless, he is also contemptible.
Niccolo Machiavelli

SmokeyJoe

Ha, I do now! Great looking pup. lovely thick coat too
"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think".

"I would rather be somebody's shot of whiskey, than everybody's cup of tea."

"Give a small man power, and he'll show you how small he is."

Guns-Pencils.png

gitano

Be nicer than necessary.

Jorge in Oz

Nice dog.

GSPs are popular dogs for seeking sambar deer here in Victoria Australia.

Congrats HB
"The Germans brought the best hunting rifle to the war. The Americans brought the best target rifle. The British brought the best battle rifle!"
 
"The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity." ― Leonard Ravenhill

gitano

I'm not sure about Colorado, but most states in the US prohibit the use of dogs IN ANY WAY when big game hunting. (A couple of southern, east coast states - Georgia and Alabama - USED to allow "coursing" big game with dogs but not now.) It's another of the STUPID and HYPOCRITICAL hunting rules in the US. LOTS of tongue-wagging about "ethics" and "lost game", but the sons of bachelors have a screaming temper tantrum if you even MENTION finding wounded game by using a dog. Boils my blood!

Paul
Be nicer than necessary.

Jorge in Oz

My mates Jack Russell cut down the time from anything to an hour to find the deer to about 10 to 15 minutes.

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"The Germans brought the best hunting rifle to the war. The Americans brought the best target rifle. The British brought the best battle rifle!"
 
"The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity." ― Leonard Ravenhill

SmokeyJoe

I can't comment any better than to simply quote your signature line: ""We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful." ~ C.S. Lewis."

Sadly the lawmakers also apply that concept to the wonderfully evolved functional tools which once were called "working dogs" and now are more often seen as appendages to fashion and image. How long before we DEvolve fully? Oh dear.
"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think".

"I would rather be somebody's shot of whiskey, than everybody's cup of tea."

"Give a small man power, and he'll show you how small he is."

Guns-Pencils.png

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