Thread: Advice for a novice and his friend

Originally Posted by GSP

I have a "silent" dog whistle, the large size. You can set the sound range on it so that you can hear it. Better than the normal whistles which are so noisy. You would have to train your dog to respond to it of course. Brittany can be pretty speedy.

I agree, I went away from the Acme ones because damn near everyone who hunts with me uses one... sometimes dogs didn't know which way was up with three handlers all blowing a whistle of the same tone. I use the silent whistle but tune it so I can hear it, but still quieter than the Acme's. very happy with them.

Originally Posted by sako75

Aren't vibration and shock two different things?????????????

EeeBees - could you not leave the dog at home (1 problem solved) and use the whistle to call the deer in? (2nd problem solved)

Eebees has never shot a deer!

Originally Posted by sako75

Aren't vibration and shock two different things?????????????

EeeBees - could you not leave the dog at home (1 problem solved) and use the whistle to call the deer in? (2nd problem solved)

@sako75, hehehehehe yes I guess you could actually..some of the spaniel whistles can be made to sound like a Jap yike...

Id be keen on getting a Brittany for the deer, but from what I have heard they like to hunt for themselves to much ( game flushing dogs ) think I will go with a tried and trusted Lab. Good luck with your dog, be keen to hear updates.

Originally Posted by Ruff

Eebees has never shot a deer!

There you go, those brownie coloured animals must have been Saler/Simmental crosses then...glad you have put me straight on that one...

@oneshot, the Brittany is not a flushing dog by definition...he is classified as a Hunt Point and Retrieve dog. He is not a spaniel. Some do not retrieve naturally but can be trained to do easily enough ...there is also the misconception that they do not like water...bollocks to that!! Most gundogs will self hunt...let me rephrase that...any breed of dog, even the cute little killing machine tghe Jack Russell will self hunt...and why are they self-hunting, because their human is not paying attention...they will bog off...I do not blame them... It is all about connection and control...and I feel for Penny's walker because if you are brave enough to take on a rehome dog, you will invariably be taking on what went before for the poor thing...perhaps even bad manners, isolation, lack of stimulation, etc etc...we all know how personal circumstances can change...tragically oftimes in a split second...and it is our beautiful dogs who invariably take the load in these instances.

Thanks for that, the ones I have seen in action love water. something to think about then for a deer dog. I like the look and nature of them.

The main problem with the Brittany as a deer dog is everyone seems to know some guy whos best friends cousins sister used to own one and it was no good, And many people have never taken them into the bush until they actually go hunting which is a huge mistake. Pennyswalker You need to leave your rifle at home get your dog into the environment you hunt in as often as you can when you can have it hell/recall/stop off the leash 100% of the time in the areas your going to be hunting then go back and try it. I think it would be very frustrating trying to use a remote control while hunting deer. I don't take a whistle in the bush you want it working of hand signals/body language with a bird sound for attention

I am completely biased so I really cannot comment on them (French Brittany)...except that they are opposites in one head sort of...very human orientated but obsessed with hunting...a very happy combination in my view. They are not everyone's cup of tea by a long shot.

Originally Posted by prattpoint

get your dog into the environment you hunt in as often as you can when you can have it hell/recall/stop off the leash 100% of the time in the areas your going to be hunting then go back and try it.

+1

Originally Posted by sako75

Aren't vibration and shock two different things?????????????

EeeBees - could you not leave the dog at home (1 problem solved) and use the whistle to call the deer in? (2nd problem solved)

My comment was a generalisation and not specifically aimed at EeeBees
I sure there would be no shortage of people that would take her out if asked


We had a Shepard cross Lab. A beautiful girl she was. A city girl.
She would walk beside me off the lead, if I said "fuk off" she would do just that, if I said upstairs she would go upstairs, she would sit beside me while feeding ducks at our feet that had waddled up the drive. All by tone of voice
We would play fight in front of her and she would go me every time
She was not perfect in a trainers eye but she was in ours
RIP my dear friend

Hello, I am willing to bounce training ideas with you. I will be at Forrester Park, North East Valley tomorrow, (Sunday) at the breed show. Gundogs are on at 8:30am to about 10:30am. Bring you Brit, I will see you, or look for a Wei person and ask for Lisa. Or message me and we can discuss difference ideas, you really should think about putting her into field trials, the busy Brits love it. Also join the Britney club, they will help you too.

lisa,i think you are getting your stars a little mixed,you did mean the brittany club?, not ms. spears? also on brittany self hunters,once you have a type(which in my experience are genetically predisposed to this behavior) and it has been allowed to cultivate this tendency, very difficult to control. an electric collar does the trick used intelligently because that gives you control at a distance. however if you are against this device for moral or philosophical reasons,then the alternative could well be a dog that is useless to hunt with.

Opps, very sorry Brittany fans to miss spell your breed, must have been too tired to notice at that time of the night. lol. I'm not against any type of training method, as long as there is no long term negative effects on the dog. All dogs are different so should be trained according to their temperament. I don't know much about dog training, but I'm always willing to help if I can.
Just as a oddball idea, how about training your Brittany for dog agility to help with distance control? There is 3 Brittany's doing agility in Dunedin at the moment, with agility you are asking the dog to work ahead of you through the course but they always have to watch your body to see which way to go therefore they become more focused on the owner so start working as a team this I feel would help with working out in the field. Just a thought.

ya right..............it is an oddball idea.

why not train it for what it was bred for and use the traditional methods to do so.

trying to push a square peg into a round hole is the biggest problem i see with britts and deer work.
they were bred to run and have been for a very long time, get them sorted on the upland first and then pull them in for heel work at middle age, it will be an easier transaction.