Thread: Couple questions for the more experienced

Hi all, I have a GSP x Lockley 6 month pup, I have a couple questions that id like some opinions on

1: My pup is doing real well with its obedience and tracking skills, is there an age people would recommend to hunt theyre pups, or at what point should i feel confident to start hunting her, currently i just dont see a reason to not get her out there, but always here people say dont hunt her to early, id just like to know why?

2: She seems to point her right paw occasionally when she gets close to the hide i have planted in the bush for her, but she doesnt always point, is this something that comes with time or do you think it might be because she is a x breed, either way it doesnt bother me but just interested to know

some guys take pups out when they are 6 months old. All i can stay is its a big step backwards if the pup isn't ready. remember its still growing so big jumps down banks, rock hoping can be hard on its joints. Nothing wrong with taking it for a walk through bit bush and couple creeks for a bit of experience . Make sure it is %110 under control, soild stop,sit and not dragging you around on its lead.
Some dogs don't lock up and point but you will learn how to read it when its onto a deer

I remember taking my foxy pup out hunting when she was about 6 months old, she started the day of fine and was loving life. Carried her out she had enough half way through the hunt. Lucky she was little so i sat her on my shoulders like a little pig and carried her out

Cheers, for the info. ok so its more a physical reason people may say dont hunt them to early, yea from what i have noticed so far as an indicator when she is close is she will pause then stretch riiiiiight out forwards with her nose in the air sniffing its quite a strange sight to watch, i might hunt her around 9 months, that way i can be more certain on her indication,

What @bigbear said. A dog's skeletal development doesn't slow down till about 9 months, so it's still growing and joints are very vulnerablek to sprains and strains and torn ligaments, etc. If possible, keep them in fairly easy terrain until they are a bit conditioned and toughened. Good luck.

Regards,
Ken

if you are going walkies...and dog is on a lead..and you take it easy...well why not????
loads of new sights n smells,if you happen upon an animal and can keep things calm it should be all good,if you get all hyped up it could turn to custard quickly...dog barks you growl dog gets the pip and associates deer with growling etc.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

dog barks you growl dog gets the pip and associates deer with growling etc.

Yea awkward, how would one deal with that, ignore the bark and calmly tell the dog to sit maybe?

Originally Posted by bigbear

some guys take pups out when they are 6 months old. All i can stay is its a big step backwards if the pup isn't ready. remember its still growing so big jumps down banks, rock hoping can be hard on its joints. Nothing wrong with taking it for a walk through bit bush and couple creeks for a bit of experience . Make sure it is %110 under control, soild stop,sit and not dragging you around on its lead.
Some dogs don't lock up and point but you will learn how to read it when its onto a deer

At my age I've only had thee dogs I can call my own [grew up with them though], they tend to live awhile, Two Labs and a Wirehair.
My hunting ground probably is different and my game probably different, however i had them out as soon as they could fit in my pack, if it was too tough I carried them, same if it was too steep.I found it was the best way to put a stop on after some training at home.
Labs, when the tail went up and the nose went out I had about 5 seconds to stop the chase.
The Wirehair, as he tended to stop as game presented when he was young it was a matter of encouraging this.

Young as you can I think,within reason, so long as you are aware of, young bones , tiredness causing lack of interest and dehydration, and.......
If your taking a young dog out, always have room in your pack.

Just my opinion, and experience.

How is the dog around gun shot? Does it hold when indicating? They are experience based learners, I.e once they have experienced the fun of chasing an animal they want to do it again. I loled to have it so dog indicates and holds, hears the bang (associates it with indication of success), and holds until released after bang where it gets rewarded with a retrieve, praise, getting to track and find, whatever your reward may be. Get this locked down in a controlled environment and you have good chance of success in real hunting situations and build from.there. when hunting its tempting to get the kill regardless of how dog works. Be mindful that the dog behaving appropriately needs to be priority to avoid ongoing/increased challenge later on

My first indicating dog I trained I had in the hills with me very young. I'd shot dozens of deer with her before she was a year old. I had no idea what I was doing and probably did most of it wrong, but still ended up with a good all-rounder. She was strong headed, hard to slow down, loud at times but was a very good indicator. Not enough focus on getting the basics solid meant that the early days were frustrating. Correcting those little issues was much more difficult than setting them up right in the first place.

My current pup is 8 months old. I haven't even taken her into the bush hunting yet. Shes been on a couple of bush walks, around the farm, beach and to the river for swims. She's not allowed out of the yard without a long lead on. The basics are like clockwork to her now. She's showing signs of being a good indicator, winding, nose work and pointing are really coming on now. It will be interesting to see how she develops into a hunter over the next year or so as I have gone from one extreme to the other.

Some good advice here already. My personal thoughts on it is take them hunting when you are confident in your control of the dog at all times. Take them too young when not trained and under control and you can end up with bad habits due to lack of control which will be harder work in the long run. Nothing beats experience hunting the real thing but they need to be ready to experience that in the correct way.