GSPDave

Bloody hell, that sounds like a manic combination.

Agree with adamb on this, Ive seen plenty of them over the years and the Wirehairs do seem to be the better breed, also agree they are very soft if you shout at them they seem to clamp up. Will add that there doesnt seem to be a huge amount of good lines out there, as with all HPR's I think they suffer because of there looks due to the show/pet people as they are a fine looking dog. Just my opinion.

Got box set for Xmas and they are first class, he has puppys doing the puppy training and 10mth old dogs doing what you would expect at that age, so sometimes things go wrong which is good to see, also to see how he gets round the problem, so many DVD's have older dogs doing the basic's and its perfect everytime so you only see one way to train.

Best to have a helper with this, out of sight of the dog set the rabbit up so that it will shoot across in front of you as you walk towards it, ie from left to right its best if the helper can hide in a hedge or something so the dog cant see them, keep the dog on the lead walking at heel, as you get within 10/15ft of it the helper should let the rabbit go, blow the stop whistle and make sure the dog sits, over time get closer and closer untill the rabbit is going right under the dogs nose, then start all over again with the dog at heel off lead. Dont over do it as the dog soon works out whats

My mate has one says its good, but he said he needs to rig something up to stop feathers flying all over the place.

Yeh, I skin my Pheasant's as well, pluck everything else tho.

I know a couple of people up Yorkshire way who have them, Ive been on the Moors with them a few times. Talking to them I dont think they are the easiest things to train, you say one of the reasons you want a Korthals is that they will work close in, any HPR will work in close, I expect mine to go 200+yrd either side of me on the Moors one day, then no more than 20/30yrds the next if Im in the woods.

HILL'S!! make's me glad I live in flat old Suffolk, mind you walking across a ploughed field gets the heart pumping

BARF for me as well, there are so many places that deliver now, works out cheaper as too.

The Michael Brander books are worth a look, as for DVD's I think it would have to be Tommy Brechney's Basic and Advanced HPR Training, by Paul French Videos, the books you can pick up off ebay for next to nothing.

1: I think they get use to the style of blowing the whistle as much as the pitch, we all blow different ie speed between pips, length of single blast. 2: No cant see the point, if its trained correctley you should'nt need it. 3: Loads, mine have a habit of dangling in the dog sh#t as I bend down to pick it up, hence I now always carry 2. 4: Yes!! see above, would'nt you? 5: No, if I get a new whistle I bite hard on it to get teeth marks in it so it fits better in my mouth. 6: No sorry. Cheers

I know of a few keepers around here that have them and they are first class dogs, as for the first time trainer I guess they are easier than a Springer and a bit harder than a Lab

^^^^^^^^^ Agree with this, been through it a few times, you will soon suss out when it needs to go outside.

I have started doing this though at the moment he treats it as a game and starts barking and jumping up at me every time i turn and blow the 2 pips on the whistle, he gets very excited, and the more i try to stop it the worse he gets, any ideas how to keep him calm whilst trying to teach him to hunt? I've left the retrieving for the time being! He's still a young puppy don't forget, and thinks your playing even tho your trying to calm him down, this can be really frustrating and make's it hard to keep your cool in this situation but you must. I would seriously consider going back to

I would consentrate on the basic's first, get that stop whistle working at distance say about 50-70yds that should do for now (this will need building up to 200yrds over time) and untill your dog stops and sit's everytime and I don't mean stops and slowly puts it's bum on the ground it's bum hit's the ground in a flash I wouldn't move on to hunting as you will need it if you are going to start hunting. For hunting wait for a day with a good breeze, stand with the wind in your face, walk at a brisk pace to the left or right so the wind is on the side of your face calling the dog as the dog