Thread: Advice for a novice and his friend

Thanks Roywild and Kawhia
We popped in up NEV briefly but had to get to work so didn't catch up.
I'm pretty limited in spare time and adding agility not really me at moment, like the of field work, more natural and interesting as Kawhia says . Just not sure where to start.
Re waiting to middle age seems like a good long term goal just want to make sure going the right direction to get there. That is training for both of us.
Penny has put us on to a couple of deers already ( me with her on lead and brother in law with bang stick) just no luck shooting any over her!
Problem is not getting out enough.
Will be doing some basic ( no riffle) in bush around dunedin ( after work stuff) over summer for practice and exercise for both of us!

Always happy to hear advice and ideas from others, much appreciated

Stew

I would be training heel with the philosophy that it is learning to take notice of the body position of the handler to get it tuned in to you, deer stalking I use my dog close in. Get dog tuned in to you and working off you and only then start moving into different settings and reinforcing training through expecting same results

Hi, no worries, if you want to have a chat with other Brit owners the agility ones will be at the Mosgiel A&P grounds next weekend, should be 4 entered. My dogs been indicating a lot up Swampy Summit, which is a nice walk to do after work but still gets them out in the wind, there was a stag 40 feet from the Summit track a few months back! Also the coastal forest has been getting my boy excited when walking there so another good easy place to get to for a walk and exposure after work. Hope you are a member of the Brit club, they I'm sure will offer any help they can. Happy Training.

Originally Posted by lophortyx

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.

What if you are against them for effectiveness reasons and can gain control at a distance without the need for a device that has so many negative side effects?

Originally Posted by Rotwild

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.

Wont work, most agility reward is treats, when the agility trained dog goes hunting it won't care about the treats!

Originally Posted by Penny's walker

Thanks Roywild and Kawhia
We popped in up NEV briefly but had to get to work so didn't catch up.
I'm pretty limited in spare time and adding agility not really me at moment, like the of field work, more natural and interesting as Kawhia says . Just not sure where to start.
Re waiting to middle age seems like a good long term goal just want to make sure going the right direction to get there. That is training for both of us.
Penny has put us on to a couple of deers already ( me with her on lead and brother in law with bang stick) just no luck shooting any over her!
Problem is not getting out enough.
Will be doing some basic ( no riffle) in bush around dunedin ( after work stuff) over summer for practice and exercise for both of us!

Always happy to hear advice and ideas from others, much appreciated

Stew

Proper control training is where you start and then get out onto deer. Get them onto game, lead or not, before you have proper control will end in disaster every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JUlowluY_k

Little clip of jet walking in the ruahines today seen 2 got 1 no action in the video, she is 15 months old only recently started hunting her, Only forum advice I took was from Ruff watched his heel video went to his website seen he recommended paul french videos and bought the only one I could find featuring a brittany. worked hard on getting the basic control before I started hunting her and it has paid off for me, don't use a leash or cord in the bush and don't have to talk at all hunted for 4 hours today and recalled her twice with a bellbird whistle sound when she stretched to about 10m, She seems happy to cruise with me stops when I do and speeds up or slows down as I do, She would take off at top speed if given a go on command, waiting till she was a year old was hard enough sure as hell couldn't wait till she was middle age to take her deer hunting

Brilliant work Pratty, jet is a brilliant dog your work has paid off.
Always appreciate your advise

Prattpoint, do you use skins or deer shanks to introduce them to the scent, or is it taught in the hunting environment? I know some Australian hunters who do.

I have a collection of tails in the freezer and play wheresit just hide them and have her find them not really necessary just fun for me as soon as I say wheresit she lifts her head and pumps her nose then sits when found also use dried deer skin for retrieving in new exiting places, ill do anything for success with brittany retrieves. The dummy that works at home doesn't always cut it at the river

If a dog isn't 100./' on recall and stop at home. It's a big ask for it to be down at the park . If it ain't a hundy at the park then you haven't got a shit show in the bush with game around. X 10 if it's Got some hunt in it.
It's straight forward if u think about it.
If u get a dog as a pup then it's a hell of a lot easier to get it right but the down side is if u don't get it right there isn't anyone else to blame haha. I trained my first dog and did everything wrong right from the get go and had a mongrel good for nothing hound.
Which taught me a lot.
The biggest thing it taught me was 99 percent of info out there for novice dog trainers is bs.
Sure some of it might work if have a lab and u want it to shit outside shake visitors hands once in a while and drag u down to the dog park choking itself half to death till it's safe to be let off for a scream around.
But to get bonAfide info on training a gundog was and is bloody hard.
The dog I have now I picked a good breeder. Had a training plan in place before I got the damn thing. And went at the pace that we progressed at. My dog ain't perfect but Is great to hunt with. On a good day I won't have to use a whistle at all or anything verbal. On a bad day I might have to stop him a few times and redirect him.
Getting a rehomed dog like u have is always going to be harder.
I would say best bet is to start from scratch , teach it what you want it to know and don't give it the opportunity to do anything other than what u want it to.
Don't worry bout deer skins and stuff. It's got a nose it will figure all that out quick smart.
U need it close u need it attentive to you and u need it to stop on command and u need it to not run off on u. All without a rope around its neck. And in a hunting situ. Then take it hunting.
I hope it works out for u.