# Hank the Bird Dog



## Lindseynrey

Hi all,

This is my first time on the forum, so be gentle.  I have a 14 week old V. His name is Hank, and he's the light of my life. He's perfect in every way -- Haha, jk! No, he really is wonderful. He's very intelligent & loving, and growing like a weed. Since the day we brought him home he's adapted extraordinarily well, and we had a 6 hour car ride home, so that's saying something. He knows how to sit, shake, hi five, low five, and stand on his back legs (this was an accidental thing, but it's cute nonetheless). He is very good off leash; we have a lot of land for him to run on. He loves to swim, although, I don't think the likes the water as much as the actual act of swimming. The two main issues we are having are recall, and distractions. I know, I know... He's just a puppy and I'm expecting a lot of him. I have just always been told to start em' young. I like to let him off leash as much as possible, but fear one day he will chase a rabbit too far and not return. We will be doing formal training very soon in hopes that it will work. Any tips or tricks you've learned along the way for early learning on recall? I like to keep his mind challenged as much as possible, as it seems to stimulate him and make him much easier to handle.I'm just extremely excited for this forum; It seems to have a lot of knowledgable Vizsla parents who love their little ones! I've attached a picture or 2 of Hankster! 


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## mswhipple

Welcome to the forums! Hank is a cutie pie!! It has been so long since I raised a puppy, I can't really offer any concrete advice... but you are right in wanting a solid recall.
I adopted my boy Willie from the dog pound. He already had great house manners, and I could tell that his first owners had cared about him, and yet he ended up running stray and then being picked up by Animal Control. So recall is the most important thing, unless you don't mind having someone else end up with your dog (and that was really the best-case-scenario for Willie). While he was on the loose, wandering around, he could have been hit by a car. Luckily, he wasn't.
I do think the two key words for any kind of training are repetition and reward...


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## WillowyndRanch

Congratulations on your new Adventure!

It is wonderful that Hank is learning to learn, and at that age is very important for all of life's lessons. We hear often of how good the obedience of the pup is at these early ages, so I suggest you prepare for the eventuality that this too will go through adolescent behavioral changes and virtually all the "commands" he knows at 14 weeks will take a hiatus somewhere between 8 and 16 months. 
I would definitely work with clicker/treat training and the targeted recall at this age. It sets a conditioned response in a fun and positive fashion for both you and Hank.
The other aspect at this age that you have not mentioned, however eluded too that you want Hank to be a bir d dog, is to get Hank introduced to birds and I mean right now. There is a window of opportunity up to about 16 weeks. Start small - Coturnix quail are great for young dogs. If you want any advice on how to proceed with this give me a shout, PM or e-mail. Happy to help, especially with dogs named Hank.
Ken

Postscript - don't worry about the sit, sit, sit. Instead work on stand, stand, stand - especially if you ever want to think about hunt testing or any competition.


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## 1stVizsla

I'm interested in getting my 13 week V "on birds" as you indicate during this 16 week window? How do you do that? With a live quail? Is it harder to get them to pick this up later? Thanks for any info on that.

I worked on recall with my new V 3 wks ago (as soon as I started playing with her outside) and she got the "Come" command figured out in about 3 days of work! 

The breakthrough moment was when I had a fresh broiler chicken and saw her face when she tasted it! From then it was on...she comes running from around 100-150 feet across the yard, even on trails or from bushes which was my biggest concern because if I couldn't see puppy when we were outside I was immediately concerned (and they move fast!).

If she is having fun and resisting the call, squatting down to her level (if she can see me across the yard) and repeating the command or adding the word "treat" gets her bounding back into the house!

It requires reinforcement but she loves the training, especially if it involves a morsel of fresh chicken reward.


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## WillowyndRanch

This video clip uses a flyaway pigeon and a small wing clipped chuckar. The same principles apply and I suggest quail because it's easier for dogs that may not be as bold as Whiskey was in the video. Coturnix typically only fly a few feet, but any quail is fine, just pull or cut the primary flight feathers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-DW6GSfn_U



Ken


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## 1stVizsla

Awesome! Helpful video. I have found a source of quail, seems easier to find button than coturnix in my area of MI but I should be able to try both. One question.... do you house and reuse these birds? Or let them go at some point? We are completely new to this and our V pup is 13 wk old so I plan to try this during this week.

Also, I note the grassy field environment (low, cut grass so not to lose the bird I imagine) and the point about loud claps then caps (sound) is very helpful. I also note you are working with one dog at a time. I assume that the presence of another would be a distraction to the training? I have a 2nd (1yo GSD) who will freak that he's left at home but maybe after the pup is well onto the scent/retrieving functions he can accompany? 

Thanks so much! If there are more videos on your website let us know and we will watch those too. Once the dog is trained, if your facility trains the hunter, my hubby might use some assistance putting it all together! Thanks again.... Gina, Paul and Stella (Visla pup)


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## WillowyndRanch

Great questions. 
Really any quail are fine - if they are good fliers we limit their flight by pulling or trimming the primary flight feathers so the dog can chase a bit but still find success in getting the bird. The goal is to ultimately have the pup pick up and carry live - we call that having "power over the bird" which is important down the road as we work gradually to larger and larger game. Quail are not a dur.able bird, so quite often they expired during or after training. We keep them and re-use until such time as they are expired, then actually use them again for toss/retrieve birds, and ultimately trim wings off to tie to bumpers / training dummies. If the skin is pierced or too chewed up, it is definitely time to remove the bird from use. We don't want them to become too accustomed to raw meat as it can sometimes translate into swallowed birds rather than retrieved.

I like to start pups in relatively open field areas with small clumps of cover. The video was taken in a cut alfalfa field. The goal is success for the dog, so if it is done in high cover it sets the dog up more for failure than success. As we progress with experience we work into strips of cover, then fields of cover.

Definitely work pup alone. It is enough to manage the bird, pup and other distractions without another dog in the field. You can bring your GSD and crate while you work with the pup. Also, when high value items like a bird come into play there is always the possibility of an older/stronger/ tougher dog intimidating the younger one, which is very counter-productive to the goal.

I am not allowed to discuss our business on this forum, only here to offer support as best I can. Any trainer you may choose should also work with the owners in my opinion or the job is only half done.

I highly recommend a video produced by Jon Hann at Perfection Kennels called the Perfect Start. http://www.perfectionkennel.com/order-dvds.html

Best of luck,
Ken


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## redbirddog

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/06/get-yourself-great-trainer.html

Good luck. Get yourself a great trainer that UNDERSTANDS the temperment of a Vizsla. I ruined my first "gun dog" at 4 months old thinking she should naturally "get it".

I started redbirddog back in 2009 as I was starting to train Bailey. He is now 8 years old and we have had and currently have wonderful times together on hikes and in the hunting fields. Invest early in Hank. Lots of articles on hunting, training and field trialing on redbirddog. Hope it is of use to you.
http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/06/to-point.html

By the way, Ken is one of the primer Vizsla trainers in the country.

Happy trails and trials,
RBD


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## 1stVizsla

Thank you to both Redbirddog and Willowyndranch, I will follow your great advice later this week when I pick up the quail and I will post a picture of our new pup from Countryside Kennels. Supposedly she can hunt as Denise chenoweth raved about her bloodlines! They seem to have a very large puppy operation with 4-6 litters this past spring according to her (that would be around 40 pups??) My pups litter was 8 pups and I got first pick of the 2 females (1300/1500USD) for male vs. female). So I am looking forward to seeing if "this dog can hunt" ! I will look up your biz on the internet in the fall when the hubby is ready for some training! 

Seems the bigger challenge will be for the novice bird hunter to put this all together as the pup supposedly has all the genes and instinct (as I was told at length, we will see) . Thanks again!!


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## rmw

Wondering how your dog is working out . 
My wife and I just purchased a dog from Countryside


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## Betty

I have a 2 yr. old from Countryside, father is their top pointer, they are very helpful breeders.


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