# Does Your PUP HUNT ?



## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

After so many years with a V in my life the ?'s never change - just get more of them - how pretty - what breed - what colors can I get them in - most never ask what the pup needs 2 V happy - then we get the upland hunters ?'s - your pup on stack in the back seat - nose working - Does Your PUP Hunt ! YES - THANK GOD this neVer changes - 4 those that have gun dogs - the others that do - can spot a working dog accross a Kroger parking lot - LOL - TRUE !!!!!!!


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## Rudy (Oct 12, 2012)




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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

We just contacted the local hunting group to start training with our two dogs next year! 

Even if I never hunt, I think it will be fun for them to learn. I'm excited to see how Miles and Chase do. Miles shows a strong hunt instinct but he can be a little skittish (I'm wondering if he will put the bird in his mouth), and Chase is very bold (for sure will grab the bird) but a bit unfocused. Should be interesting.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

MM - this Saturday at Cedar Creek - training Day - buy some birds - then U get 2 walk the field with 4-5 UFTA national champions - they point out how 2 train U & the the pup - a small town in a small state - how does it get better than this - does not - this is PIKE's 2nd time - 1rst advice - run him 4 a few hours 2 burn the steam off - B4 event - that would take 2 days - generations of great pups & trainers - in 1 place !!!!!! this is what U find when U put the PUP in the FIELD !!!!!!


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

I was wondering if I should run them first! I will plan on taking them out on the trails prior to training. We are pretty excited for our boys!


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## solefald (May 16, 2013)

Not really, but I am taking Dre to a day session at Firestorm Bird Dogs this Saturday to start getting him ready for the Jr Hunter test! Will see how that goes, so far he hasn't shown much interest in birds.


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## Kafka (Jul 24, 2013)

MM-Great! NAVHDA?
Instead of running them, I would suggest to go early to the place of training instead so that they can get used to the new field and run off leash before the training starts.


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## Kafka (Jul 24, 2013)

solefald said:


> Not really, but I am taking Dre to a day session at Firestorm Bird Dogs this Saturday to start getting him ready for the Jr Hunter test! Will see how that goes, so far he hasn't shown much interest in birds.


That is fantastic! I had one session with Warren when Kafka was about 6months. He was great and very sweet with vizslas (I was there with three other v's). If it was closer by I would go there all the time.
Let us know how it went!


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Ka - that is running them early - with PIKE trials or wild birds - I run him B 4 - just takes some of the edge off - jumping out of his skin when he C's a long gun - just A fact of his life - ALWAYS takes the pre hunt dump B4 entering the field no matter how long I ran him B4 - LOL - that's PIKE


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## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

Firestorm... Yess, that is the place we contacted about training Fergy... we were so disappointed, he wouldn't see him till he is 1 yr. old... 
I am really interested to hear all about your adventures there!!!


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

Kafka said:


> MM-Great! NAVHDA?
> Instead of running them, I would suggest to go early to the place of training instead so that they can get used to the new field and run off leash before the training starts.


Yes I've been emailing with the president and we plan to go out next year!!


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## v-john (Jan 27, 2013)

MilesMom said:


> Kafka said:
> 
> 
> > MM-Great! NAVHDA?
> ...


That is great! Keep us posted. Remember, what may work for those guys may not work for your vizslas... Often times, people try to use their training methods and such on vizslas who are softer and it doesn't quite work out well. 
But for introductary stuff, it should be just fine. Most importantly, have fun and have fun with your dog!


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## solefald (May 16, 2013)

V-John said:


> Remember, what may work for those guys may not work for your vizslas... Often times, people try to use their training methods and such on vizslas who are softer and it doesn't quite work out well.


This. 

There were couple of moments at the NAVHDA that i didn't like. _At all_. I know these dudes have been training working dogs for years, but the whole rolling a 16 weeks old puppy (not mine) on his back and holding him down, while the pup is screaming bloody murder was really off-putting. ****, Dre who has never barked at anything but a door stop in his life, started barking at the guy!


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## Rudy (Oct 12, 2012)

We made a push a stack 

nearest road 33 miles

no cells no services 

no options but the Stack extreme elements 

scores 410 plus gross over 400 and these don't taste like Chickens ;D


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## charliecoyot (Nov 26, 2012)

Rudy said:


> We made a push a stack
> 
> nearest road 33 miles
> 
> ...


Rudy! What kind of beast is that?? Looks like an elk to me - but seems exceptionally large for that!

Oh, and yes - my pup hunts! Birds. And it is way to much fun to see her so excited - far more so in the field than anywhere else. And that's saying a lot!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

This pup has the drive to hunt and a owner that didn't give up on him.
http://youtu.be/lSEar5Ktkak


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## zigzag (Oct 4, 2011)

First dog I ever owned, a Vizsla ;D never fired a shotgun, never seen a pointing dog work. The journey has been amazing, I just used the pheasant tail from today's hunt to tie up pheasant tail Nymph! The learning curve is steep but so rewarding. I was fortunate enough to meet a pointing dog trainer and work hands on with my dog on a weekly basis from the age of 4 months on. I would have never got this far without the help I received from the great peps I meet along the way.


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## Kevin (Dec 29, 2012)

We try to!!! 

Hegy is only 13 month and with me being new to all this training, we are getting there slowly.

We should be the 'full finished off package' in like...errr.... 6 years!!! lol!  

Its great fun though and we both love it.


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## Kafka (Jul 24, 2013)

solefald said:


> V-John said:
> 
> 
> > Remember, what may work for those guys may not work for your vizslas... Often times, people try to use their training methods and such on vizslas who are softer and it doesn't quite work out well.
> ...


Exactly. Same experience here. Everyone was really friendly but their style of training is not for my soft v. They put her on a 'wonderleash', I've never seen her freak out that much: she slammed herself against a parked car next to us. It seems to be training based on fear and I am sure that works for some dogs really well, but I prefer a different method.
It is the easiest way to go somewhere to train and get birds though.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Kafka said:


> solefald said:
> 
> 
> > V-John said:
> ...


That's a broad statement. 
There are many people that don't train that way.
Anyone can make a dog do something out of fear. It takes a good trainer to make the dog think it was the dogs idea in the first place. The dogs work for them because they have respect, love, and want to please them.
As owners you need to pick who handles your dog. Just because a person is at a field event, it does not make them a good example. Watch and learn. You will see both what, and not what to do with a pup.


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## Kafka (Jul 24, 2013)

I understand that there are lots of different methods. I was just hoping to find someone to help me get started with hunting training that day. (I'm completely new to both hunting and training). I know it's not the organization or hunting training in general. I'm sorry if I offended someone, this was just meant to share my experience with the same navhda chapter. 
Right now I'm checking out different options and the navhda day was one of them and definitely a helpful experience.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Kaf - this has worked 4 me & my V's 1 BIRDS before GUNS 2 CHECK CORD before E-collar - a simple answer !!! but if U want a upland hunter - the answer is simple !!! BIRDS BIRDS & more BIRDS - U find these at trials & hunt tests - POINTER CLUBS - sportsmans clubs with gun dog divisions - or your backyard or a close field - on line you can find live quail 4 sale - the forum & training books & DVDS R a great help - at the end of the day the best help comes from a mentor that has pointers and trains the way you want your PUP trained !!


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

MilesMom said:


> We just contacted the local hunting group to start training with our two dogs next year!
> 
> Even if I never hunt, I think it will be fun for them to learn. I'm excited to see how Miles and Chase do. Miles shows a strong hunt instinct but he can be a little skittish (I'm wondering if he will put the bird in his mouth), and Chase is very bold (for sure will grab the bird) but a bit unfocused. Should be interesting.


Our puppy is our first puppy ever. So we first ordered all books we could possibly find from a local public as well as from the university library. I understood the idea was to expose your puppies to birds before they turned a year old age. So I contacted a local gun dog club (they were not overly excited to see non-hunters but accepted us anyway). Then we used every opportunity we could to join the group and expose our puppy to firing guns, sniffing of all kind of dead and alive birds, chasing of birds, caring a dead bird in his mouth. Nobody could say I was not committed: mosquitos were so bad this year and I don't react to them very well. I could not wear a dress all summer long without being asked if I was attached or something!

Everybody was skeptical when I said I was going to take a test with my puppy in a month and a half and I was asked several times if I wanted to have my money back. My answer was we are going to take the test and just going to have fun and see what is going to happen. My puppy was the only Vizsla taking the hunting aptitude evaluation test and he ended up receiving the highest score of the three-day test being evaluated by three judges. One of the judges who also judges NAVDHA said it would be a Prize I if my pup was taking the NAVDHA test on that day. My puppy even scored an extra score for holding his point on the running pheasant (and all this time I thought we were failing the test as my puppy was twisting his nose with the head up in the air when other breeds were really tracking with their noses to the ground)! 

After this experience, I am a believer of the importance of early exposure of a pup to birds. We are not sold on the idea of taking our puppy to the trainer. Most of the trainers take pups when they are at least a year so they could use harsh techniques such as breaking the dog by holding it down, pinching their ears, etc. Then if dogs happen to be on a sensitive side, they may just shut down. Such dogs are then pronounced as a pet rather than a hunting quality and the owner is left with a non-secure dog. Saying that I know some trainers are really good and the training works (my pups' brothers and grand parents completed their FDX and NAVDHA Prize I with their help; some grand parents were on the Hall of Fame.)

As we are non-hunters (I want to try and take other hunting tests in the future), the most important thing for us is to make us including the puppy happy. We will continue our commitment to use of positive reinforcement (we were not successful when we tried to follow some advices we found on this forum and used negative reinforcement anyways). I will keep everyone informed on how we are doing.


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## solefald (May 16, 2013)

Just got back from Firestorm couple of hours ago. It went great and Warren was awesome. I went there with another guy and his 10 months old, who has been to Warren 3 times before. That pup is _extremely_ prey driven and that was huge help for Dre to watch other dog work. Within minutes he had a bird in his mouth. He is more excited about moving birds and goes on to explore other things as soon as the bird stops moving, but it was his first time there, so that may have played a role. Still, he made a huge progress, or so i was told  Getting Chukars was more challenging. Those things are FAST.

100+ mile drive each way, but was totally worth it. I will probably go 3-4 or whatever number more times required before Junior Hunter test on December 14th.


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## Rudy (Oct 12, 2012)

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Da' Cutter the Hook and Kill Baby Willow the thrill killer of birds 

is one of there Mates 

He is a Handler show or field and hand works birds for Reds Like Few can

He is a 24-7 Road show for Reds

You want one of the Best choices Pups handler and Real Information and are near San Diego these 2 Can and will Get Her Done 

He hand works live birds like Few CAN very real settings to match freedom and wild conditions 

Trevor and I are Hunting soon some fun Together 

Real life is so much more Fun For Reds ;D


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