Brittany

[jasper65 6]

I have a Brittany which is now 13 months old, to be Honest its been scatty as hell but now seemed to have found some calm in itself so I now want to progress with its trainning, at first it pointed everything but has always bumped everything up after a few seconds without holding point, its also been a little rangey which I would like to cure and bring her in tighter, she knows all the basics and will WAIT and DROP but is still hell bent on running in on her points, any help would be gladly appreciated....

 

Cheers

 

Jasper

[pointer28 1]

Derry Argue has a video and it show's how to tackle this problem using planted "dizzied" pigeons and a long line on the dog.

 

I'm sure if there's anyone around you who trials "pure" pointers and setters rather than HPR's they'll help you with this in no time.

 

I think it's basically a case of over-eagerness in the dog and they just need to learn how close they can get.

 

Make sure you spend plenty of time on retrieving training as Brittany's need no encouragement to hunt but some of them aren't overly enthusiastic retrievers so it can need some work.

[kiwi 4]

yeah planted pigeons, or in a laucher and a long length of rope will sort it out in a few days, i use the word hold when mine are on point, it's the same command when i some put food down and they will not touch it til i snap my fingers.also watch how your britt is setting on point, if she is in the wrong position,like facing you pick her up while she is pointing and put her on the correct side, do not let her flush til she has been moved. all the britts i have seen have been first class retreivers.

[jasper65 6]

Cheers for the info lads , I speak to Derry Argue now and again and some of his advice and been invalueble! he gave me a couple of his Video's last year! one called "Bird Dog Basics" and the other "Game For Gundog Trainning" which consentrates mainly on the use of Bob White Quail as a trainning method! apparantly they give off a good game scent compared to Pigeons.

 

When I first spoke to him and told him what dog I was getting his first words was "You'll have your hands full for the first 15 months" he was right!! this dog is Hyper with a capital H, having said that it has a strong pointing instinct and seemed to point everything at first, even flies on the wall and its food dish ! I'll get her on the check cord soon and hopefully stop her from Bumping everything up, I'm hopeing alot of this was down to her still being a young dog but we'll see....

 

Cheers

 

Jasper

[jasper65 6]

Thats sound advice Nijinski much apreciated.

 

So far I have just been taking her out on her own without a Bird around the estates where I know there is plenty of game, she works well and like you say does range out a fair way which did bother me, but after reading your posts which makes sense its not much of a problem now as I can walk onto her anyway.

 

You're right! the main reason I wanted to bring her in close was due to her bumping things up, I figured if she keeps doing this and I'm closer it will allow me to negotiate a slip in time before she finally gets it up. on the Drop to flush side of things! I watched Derry's video's over and over again and this seems to be a paramount importance in his video's to install drop all his dogs from a earley age! I must confess I have lapsed on this side of the trainning and need to tack things up, one thing she does know is WAIT! she's will always wait on command but seems to still be head strong when I use this command while on point and still bumps them up.

 

Apart from the obviouse I'm pleased as punch with her, she's still a bit head strong and totally full of beans but could this still be her age? she's around the 14 month mark now.

 

All in all as you can understand I'm not really after making her retreive or become field trial standard! the perfect result for me is a dog that will Point and Flush and do a few things that its told time and again .

 

Cheers

 

Jasper

[jasper65 6]

Much apreciated Nijinski

 

sounds like good sound advice which I'll put into motion with her, the trouble is with me this time of the year is I'm flat out rearing and feeding chicks! thankfully its all slowing down now with chicks getting older so I can knuckle down with the Brittany a bit more....

 

She has been on a diet of Norfolk Gold Complete since about 15 weeks old, its supposed to be 21% Protein on the bag! do you think a change of diet could help a bit?

 

Cheers

 

Jasper