gsp a few questions

[liftboy1 0]

As recommended by mr tom brechney that a gsp should not be worked till 2 years old, just wondering of your thoughts on that. And also my 15 week old pup will bark when put in the kennel and will bark for say 5 mins, but if the neighbour is about in the garden my pup will bark . Its just starting to annoy me now to be honest as my neighbours have barbecues quite often. Would one of those remote bark deterant things work? Because the barking is driving me mental!

[ROB.BOB 21]

i got one of these boxes that get set off by barking and let off a ultra sonic squek kind of job, i put it in his kennel, worked very well, untill he learn't he could wine and not set it off, but i suppose it is less annoying than barking, i got it for around 25 bar, but its designed for the outdoor so no problems.

[liftboy1 0]

ye thats the one, the barking is getting mega annoying as the first few weeks is ok but its just so repetitive now.

[flak88 0]

As recommended by mr tom brechney that a gsp should not be worked till 2 years old, just wondering of your thoughts on that.

 

Since I have no idea who Mr Tom Brechney is I might be stirring things up a bit when stating that any 2 years old continental HPR could and should be fully trained and operational. Very roughly the first year in the dog's life is about raising and training, which includes giving the dog limited working experiences in a controlled environment. The second year is about honing the skills and getting the dog experienced in the field , so it will be worked during the first two years of his life, but it is obvious that you cannot expect top results before the dog is fully adult which is around the age of 2.

 

So it depends a bit on how you define "should not be worked" - doing nothing with your dog before he is 2 is total bullocks, but do not expect a good, sound working dog before the age of 2 seems a very fair quote.

[liftboy1 0]

flak 88, mr tom brechney is a scottish hpr trainer, and a keen shooter. He states what you said, that the dog should go through the motions, but reading an article in a british shooting magazine about a german wirehaired pointer, saying that the dog is 3 years old and still very immature. I just wanted some feedback as I understand the americans work them and train them very young.

[flak88 0]

German short- and wirehaired pointers in general mature quite early, mentally I mean. It is possible to have them ready for working at the age of 12 months, I have seen many examples. For a number of reasons however I prefer to stick to the 2-years rule of thumb as I honestly believe that the dog will last longer if it gets time to mature - and I mean that both physically and mentally.

 

The dogs that are not mature at an age of 3 are just not trained properly. I get those (and Weimaraners and Viszla's and Münsterlanders and some other breeds from group 7) at my training classes quite often, their attitude changes within a few weeks if treated as should be. A HPR is not a labrador and training and raising requires a different approch.

 

It is sometimes advocated to do absolutely nothing with a working dog before it comes running into adulthood, which i hope i need not explain is absolute carp but that's why I may have reacted a bit awkward, sorry for that. I will google around for Mr Tom Brechney it seems like we could be getting along quite well

[liftboy1 0]

To be honest, I have heard different approaches to regards of tom, look up paul french dvds. I have a friend who works vizslas and gsps with birds and he works them at 12 months, he says that they dont require as much training. But my gsp will be working on the gun, but he is my first gun-dog so I am a bit blue-eyed. But luckily I have received a lot of support from some of my friends who work hpr`s. Tom brechney believes in doin retrieving first and then work on pointing.