Unsteady Gsp Pup.

[mark williams 7,551]

Hi Guys,

I have posted over my dog before and been given good advice. He is a 15 month old gsp with a prey drive that goes off the scale, he just wants to hunt 24/7.

I have walked him mostly on long leads in the fields/ canal towpaths etc to try and stop him chasing game.If a covey of Partridge get up, or a Hare runs, he wants to give chase. On a long lead and to the stop whistle he will stop and sit every time (reluctantly), if he is free running a stop whistle will not work on him with fleeing game.

Now don`t get me wrong lads, he has had many a training session in game free areas and still does but as soon as a scent is picked up hunting mode kicks in big style. I can`t lock him up for being so keen on, even in a town centre he wants a mouthful of pigeon.

I am training him on feathered dummies, rabbit skin dummies and ordinary dummies with a view to progressing to cold game later on.

His retrieving is good for a pup but depending on his mood he will be defiant on a feathered dummy running around me and even strip the dummy of feathers.I understand he is still very much a child yet.

 

I`ll leave it at that for now, thanks for any advice.

Edited August 20, 2015 by mark williams

[3175darren 1,100]

Try and get him pointing, it sounds like hes not, and just going straight into pursuit, they are hard dogs bloody fast thinkers you have to lift your game to match, learn his body language and try to be one step in front of what he is thinking, get a pigeon in a wire cage and long line him up to it on the wind,when he gets close you should see his near side ear flicking, as he starts to look back at you to back him up, he should start to stiffen up,the very start of a point, with your flat hand run it from his ears right down his back,and quietly praise him, if you do this right he will start to point, then the next stage move him on to drop to flush,keep him away from anything that will over excite him,raise them quiet and they will be quiet,very good dogs and you are right hes still young yet, but keep the basics going in,try and get him switched onto hand signals, rather than the whistle that way he will be looking for direction all the time, a lot of time you see people with the whistles, and its like casey jones coming around the corner, and they are over signaling, the dogs just switch off they must get tinnitus, don't throw your dummies when you use them, drop them unseen,the chase of the dummy has caused a lot of problems with dogs, when they have been sent at the wrong time or too much, keep your training to one lesson at a time, don't be tempted to push him too hard,

[stroller 341]

get him to a dog trainer for £30 an hour its worth it

[mark williams 7,551]

get him to a dog trainer for £30 an hour its worth it

Could you recommend anyone Stroller , we are near Warrington/ Wigan and thank you.

[Casso 1,261]

Success for a dog is getting the prey item in its mouth , he needs to find sucess by been steady ,

 

If he tried high tailing after game without sucess , I would keep him on a long long line let him hunt away, when he shows signs of game steady him with line , making your way up to him on a tight line , stroke him and praise him softly

 

You probably need a helper for this but the game needs to be put up and shot with the dog rooted in that spot , the game needs to be brought back and given to the dog

The principle is in time the penny drops with the dog that doing less is more, the less I do the more sucess I achieve but it plays into how animals operate , they won't waste energy if a task can be secured by conserving energy

He only tears after prey because that's is how he feels is the best use of his energy

 

If we take it that the goal of any mutt is to attain prey in its mouth , it's just showing him the best way for him to achieve this

[stroller 341]

Mark I have asked the question on the hpr groups on facebook, so hopefully I will have a contact for you soon.

[stroller 341]

Right Mark there is no one on your doorstep but you have the option of training with the GSP North West club I train occasionally with the Yorkshire group and they are brilliant so you can FB them and there is a guy in Preston Called Geoff Saint who does one to one again FB or google him.

 

I had to put the miles and time into finding trainers over here in the North East its just the way it is im afraid. Good luck

[jessdale 416]

Too much too soon I'm afraid. Back to basics, one step at a time. You posted that the dog did this and that, but need more work on it's retrieving, when it was only 14 weeks old !!!. Now its older the wheels are falling off.

[wyeman 1,109]

Too much too soon I'm afraid. Back to basics, one step at a time. You posted that the dog did this and that, but need more work on it's retrieving, when it was only 14 weeks old !!!. Now its older the wheels are falling off.

 

 

 

It needs basic obedience training.

 

Any Gundog trainer or indeed general Dog trainer will assist. If you do not get the obedience side right, the dog will become a liability and at the end of the day, it's not the dogs fault!

[mark williams 7,551]

He is at a pro( general gun dog) trainers tomorrow , a very big "thank you" Stroller, very much appreciated.

Had him out as usual this morning on the long line and on a few occasions wood pigeon clattered out of the trees, - he stayed rooted and sat if i stop whistled him, and watched them leave,( no reluctance).

No game was about but he hunted very well and non stop.

This afternoon on, his short lead, we saw some young pheasants feeding just 15 yds away, on crops as we were on the pavement of one of our local country lanes. He stood on point and wanted to go in after them, i did as suggested to me and stroked his back, calmly and gently saying whoe lad, good boy - and still stroking him the pheasants disappeared into the crops. We carried on with the walk.

Casso i really do understand where your coming from if i had shot a flighted bird in that situation and then given it to him - he would be bound to "click".

He is totally obedient on long line, every day stuff and away from game.

I`ll put all this info to the pro trainer and see what he thinks.

As to "the wheels are falling off" - i don`t think so .

Back to basics - most definately, and as regular as.

 

 

Thank you all for any positive help.

Edited August 22, 2015 by mark williams

[Shamo 319]

Mark just a tip which may help....WHEN SPEAKING TO THE TRAINER, BE TOTALLY HONEST WITH WHAT YOU HAVE DONE WITH THE DOG AND HOW YOU HAVE GONE ABOUT IT, EVEN IF IT MAKES YOU LOOK A C^NT. You might as well stay Home if you are not.

[mark williams 7,551]

Yes mate i know that and thank you.

[pjmc 90]

Good read lads.im kind of in the same boat as mark on a few things with a gwp at 16mnths old.she has a serious nose and is a class hunter to watch but she will point but only for meaby 20 or 30 seconds and flush what's there and run after it but I can stop her on the whistle and she will walk of in the opposite way with me.but she's not just a keen retriever for me.i had a warm duck for her today and she wuldnt lift it ontill I threw it for her and she thought it was just all play.

[mark williams 7,551]

Well, here we go -

Took Kaiser my male GSP to the pro` trainer Sunday morning and went through the niggles and above all re-enforcing the stop whistle.

Trainer asked what do i do when he doesn`t stop to the whistle, - here`s my truthful answer

1, Go out to him and whatever the distance take him back to the whistled spot and i blow single peeps in to him holding his cheeks or collar every time.

 

Is that it ? He said.

The dog knows that`s all that will happen and can accept that easily. Do as you are already doing but then walk round him palm up, single peeps for a good 5 mins and the dog sat.

He said, in these words, imagine how thoroughly "pissed off" that dog becomes if he gets this EVERY SINGLE TIME he ignores that stop whistle and you PERSIST in reacting to him in this way and then multiply this by two weeks worth of walks (as a figure of speech).

After a while that dog will soon realize, "feck this, i`m stopping to that whistle" and the praise that comes with it.

He took my dog walking loose down the field, with my dog happily running about him and gently threw a tennis ball over his bows when the dog was not expecting it.Kaiser`s reaction was to chase, trainer gave single "peep" ! dog ignored, trainer in an angry voice Ayyyyyeeeeee, got the ball before the shocked dog, peeped once, dog sat, 5 min`s walking around the dog,palm up,single peeps, dog sat throughout.

The trainer did this three or four times and that was the end of Kaiser ignoring the whistle and he ignored that ball when peeped.

We went onto a small amount of retrieving and Kaiser excelled.

Kaiser was given two retrieves on cold game and excelled again and with a very soft, gentle mouth.

Trainer was very happy with where Kaiser is at the moment and told me to stick hard and fast with all blown stop whistle commands for whatever reason but piss the dog off with palm up, walk round him, single peeps for 5 mins and if he persists 10 minutes and if he persists - HOME end of your walk ! He will soon learn !

Right ! I`ll take him out,- wish me luck !

 

p.s. I was told to keep the "cold game" retrieves to just once or twice a week and allow just one or two retrieves only as the dog will start to refuse dummies otherwise. Plus wait until at least 2 to 21/2 years old before hunting with the gun.

Edited August 24, 2015 by mark williams

[jessdale 416]

Who is the professional trainer?. What is the significance of "palm up"?