training bushstalking GSPxVizsla

---have moved and edited part of the thread from Dog Photos here just not to mess up/hijack the original---


Woody, GSPxViszla, currently 9 months old (*May 2024), stalking apprentice.

Very strong hunting drive and hyperactive, just like myself :D

Looking for all advise and insight you guys have as this is my first dog in terms of hunting companions.

Training going well, still not quite onto "heel" but recall and other basic commands working great. Most of his commands have my made-up hand signals versions to which he listens without fail as well.

Stock proofed apart from sheep which needs some more work, he doesn't get the shakes now but still thinks they very interesting... Loves hares/rabbits and gets sidetracked with their scent unfortunately. I do hunt them with my .22 and took him couple times which was probably mistake as should have stayed on deer only to begin with. Now they off limits and for impulse control. He is also very keen on birds too but they off limits and I can somehow tell when he is after them. Possums are not a problem so far, he is keen but will "leave" immediately. I never allowed him even just to much around the dead ones.

Gun training finished (started with sound conditioning [check out Dogs Trust at Soundloud] when he was 9 weeks and than from .22 progressed to .270) and lots of paddock blood-tracking done. At the moment on 2m lead when in bush which is very challenging with the scrubby and windfall shit I normally stalk... He would otherwise just run in big circles so trying to discourage that...

Last weekend I shot first deer over him and he than found it (although after bit of a struggle).

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Originally Posted by Snoppernator

@Pete82 these guys are bred (gsp, vizsla, pointers) to work in big circles ahead, so provided you have a good way of keeping him in range, eventually with some time under his belt give him some room to move in front. You may want to run a garmin alpha device and TT25 collar for this (good home pet insurance), or a longer line. 2m is probably not long enough tbh. I'll let my guy range out 10-20 metres in front pretty regularly, he'll slow down once he's onto something. But that came with decent control on range first. Pretty stressful initially, but you get there.

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Awesome thanks for that @Snoppernator Line is actually 3.5m (just measured, but might still be too short?) and when I do let him off here and there he runs around quite noisily but does stick at 20m range. He is waaay too fast and makes terrible amount of noise, trying to cover lots of ground in frantic way. However if he loses sight of me than he immediately comes rushing back, again quite noisily. Often turns head back to make sure I am still there which is great, if called using hand signal he comes.

There is very little material to read about dedicated bush dogs so I wasn't sure how much I should let him run or not so figured best to start on short lead. When he is pulling on I stop or jerk him back (maybe mistake?) if he keeps pulling.

He has tendency to do low growl at strange things but doesn't bark, not sure how much that should be controlled?

Has hi-viz harness which is bit noisy (its for pig dogs) but I am quite happy with it so far. We only put that on when we after deer and he already understands what that piece of kit means and gets super excited when I put it on.

@Pete82 you may want to have a look at the Blueprint as a programme. Big emphasis on range control and preparing the dog for a successful first hunt. Jimmy Bissell wrote a really good 4 part series in NZ Hunter on training an indicating dog, which is brilliant. I think you can buy back issues on line. Well worth you getting.

Yeah I read about Blueprint but don't really like subscription services. What I prefer is not one person telling me what to do but whole lot of people with different experiences. Didn't know about articles from Jimmy Bissell so will try to sniff them out, that definitely sounds worth checking out thanks!

You can hire the blueprint for a couple of months instead of buying it, which is still very cheap for the amount of info available.