# Texas (Houston) Trainer



## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

All,
I've been reading the forums for quite some time since I got my V (Citori) last December. She's done well with her basic obedience and is e-collar conditioned. I sent her off in June for 6 weeks of bird training and it didn't seem to take too well with her. When working with me, I can get her excited and she has some drive to track and retrieve whatever I throw, but with the trainer I think she pouted for the first month or so she was out there and wouldn't do much of anything for him.

So, I'm looking to send her off again, possibly this December, and would like some recommendations on a trainer that might be better suited to work with a soft dog like a V. I'm looking for a versatile dog, one that will dove hunt, point pheasant/quail, and hunt waterfowl.

Also, after talking with my breeder, I think I may have sent her off too young...do you think she will respong better at 14 months of age?

Thanks for the help/advice.

Chris


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

How much drive does she have on birds?
Is she wanting to point and chase live pigeons or quail?
You might need to get her bolder and more sure of herself before you add rules to her hunting.
Maybe have James Collier evaluate her, he owns Collier Kennels.


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

When I have her off leash at the park she will stalk and chase all the birds, no matter what they are. I also took her out to the dove fields a number of times this year and once I shot a bird if I told her to find it she would go crazy looking for them with her tail wagging a million miles an hour.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Have you put out quail for her? If yes, how did she respond to them?
Plenty of dogs that don't have enough drive to hunt by our rules, will stalk song birds and squirrels.
I normally do some dog training in Waller. The field I use has corn 4 feet high right now. So unless the farmer disks it, it won't be good for training a young dog. I can let you know if I go to a field to work the dogs and we can put yours on some birds.
NSTRA has a trial next month in Katy. You can bring Citori out. I know there is a few trainers that run dogs there. It would give you a opportunity to meet them. After the trial we run the dogs to make sure we clean the fields of birds. Your more than welcome to run Citori on bird clean up.


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

The trainer put out live quial for her and she would sometimes get excited about finding them, sometimes not. Honestly, I think she was pretty depressed when she was away from home and it showed in her performance. Maybe I should try to get some quail around here and put them out for her...any ideas where I could buy a couple?

Is it the NSTRA event on 11/10? I would love to get out and meet some people.

Thanks for your help.

Chris


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Yes its November 10th & 11th.
Roadside Quail right out of Sealy has good flying quail, if your on that side of town. North of Houston in Spring I buy them from Billy Carter 713.449.4699
Top Flight in Columbus has fields and birds at a reasonable price.
Chris 
I think I know your dog. Justin Drake is my nephew. I wasn't there to see her doing field work but I always bring all the red dogs homemade treats when my dog is there. Justin would laugh because all the Vs start howling when I show up. I never pass up a chance to give them a treat and rub on them.


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

Haha, small world. I'm sure Citori greatly appreciated the treats during her time away from home.

He had two other Vizslas out there when she was there...one male and one female, both beautiful and supposedly great hunters. Not sure if Citori ever got to work with the female like we were hoping or not. Was one of those dogs yours?

Has Justin worked with your dogs? Thoughts? My girlfriend and I really liked him and have nothing but good things to say about him, just want to make sure I cover all bases before sending her back to the trainer and spending more of my hard earned money.

Here's a pic he sent me while she was out there with him...


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Yes my male Cash was there. He was there for force fetch, not fun for dog or owners. He has worked with Cash in the past too. Justin has the patients of a saint when it comes to working with dogs. That's one of the reasons I use him. Vs are soft and I don't want anyone putting to much pressure on one of them when they are learning. 
On top of that Cash is a problem child. Anyone else would have probably wanted to kill him, or send him home.
If you think she gets down and out staying away for training, you might see how far you can get working with her on your own at first.


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

Yep, I remember Cash, saw him many times while I was up there working with Citori...he's beautifully built, very muscular and lean. How old is he?

I asked Justin about forcing Citori and he obviously didn't want to at her young age citing Cash as his example of the difficulties involved with such a soft breed of dog. Sounds like he got through it fine in the end though, it's not something I look forward to at all.

I do work with Citori often, but unfortunately lack the knowledge and space to get much further than obedience and some fetching. Also, I'm lacking in the patience department, haha.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I know there is a training field that they let you keep a johnny house on for quail in Katy. Its the same place the NSTRA trial is held on. I believe its either $300 or $350 a year. It has a preserve licence on it, huge open fields and a pond.
Good books are: Training with Mo.
How to Help Gun Dogs Train Themselves 
Steadywithstyle is online and has good information.

As for as patiences. You have to keep your cool, or just say nothing and walk away.
Cash is 3 years old. I agree on not FF a young V. Cash hunts 7 months out of the year. I waited till I felt he was mature enough, and had enough bird contact to handle the pressure.


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

Wow, so you waited until Cash was almost 3 to force? How was he behaving before FF, and how does he behave now?

Thanks for all the help.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Cash would retrieve before he was force fetched. He had retrieved 100s of duck and his share of geese, dove,quail. His problem was he would decide part of the time that 5-10 feet from you was okay. I wanted a to hand retrieve.
He was also getting hard mouthed on dove. He retrieves to hand now and will mark and run doubles. I thought I had his hard mouth fixed but I guess not. My husband lets him get away with murder when I'm not on the hunt. Yesterday dove hunting, I could see were going to have to do some more work on it. I just need Justin to train my husband on how to work the dog. ;D


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Tex PIKE has one major problem - he likes to mouth the first bird - after that the bird is to hand - not happy but I can liVe with it - for the none dove hunters out there - it takes a great pointer to pick up a dove - a very soft bird and the pup gets a mouth full of feathers no matter how soft the mouth is - also sitting and marking is not what the pup wants to do - doves ducks geese and upland birds - the V is so Versatile that is the reason I have had one in my life for over 45 years


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

Well, I'm headed out of town for Thanksgiving and will be taking Citori back out to Justin for boarding and an evaluation to see if maybe she is ready to continue with her training. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will show some progress/maturity, I know she's been fetching much better for me at home than she was just a few months ago. I'll be interested to see how she reacts to live birds this go around.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I'm going to check out a field in the Waller/ Brookshire area. I'm hoping the goat weeds not waist high. If it looks good for running the dogs I will be out there at least one day a week doing bird work. It will be weekday mornings.
Your more than welcome to bring Citori out.


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

Wow, I appreciate the offer, wish I could get her out one morning. Unfortunately, due to work I am limited to weekends, and even those keep getting shortened due to Saturday work days. Hopefully in the spring when we slow down a bit I will have more time to get some field work done.


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

Well, I've had her back out at the trainer's since right before xmas...he said she was ready to start FF so that's where we are at. He started her on the table a week or so ago, hopefully we can go see her in 3-4 weeks, and pick her up late February or early March if all goes well.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I saw Citori on Wednesday, and she has gotten so tall since I last saw her. She is such a sweetheart and I had to go over and rub on her.


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## outlook8 (Oct 22, 2012)

Glad to hear she got some love, I'm sure this has been a tough couple of months for her. I talked to Justin yesterday and it sounds like I will be able to pick her up in just a couple weeks. Took a little bit longer than expected, but I'm not too surprised as Citori can be pretty stubborn at times!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I'm sure she gets loved on by Justin and Jennifer, but felt a little extra couldn't hurt.


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