# DD puppy's first point on film!



## jeff788 (Aug 7, 2009)

I had my 4 month old DD puppy, Allie, out on some pigeons yesterday and got one nice pointing picture. This is my first bird dog, so I don't have anything to compare her to, but I think she's really coming along nicely and is exceeding my expectations. Most of her points yesterday were from 15-20 yards away through the brush, so I'm pretty sure she was pointing scent the way she should. She held her points with only a little creeping while I approached and petted and praised her. It was cool to see her intensity come out. The first time I had her on pigeons there wasn't a lot of intensity as I think she was just trying to figure out what the heck that scent was. This time there was no doubt, and she was very excited.

I had considered various ways of planting the birds for her, but I settled on carding them. It may not have been the best approach, but it worked pretty well, although I did make a mistake on the last bird of the day. I released it in a pretty open area, and as we were approaching it flushed without either of us noticing it. I think we were untangling the check cord... Anyhow, then I had no idea where the bird was. We scoured the area and all we found was a big hawk flying around... which I figured had probably taken care of the pigeon for me. After a while I figure that we weren't going to find the bird and I took the check cord off because I was tired of untangling it from the brush (need to get a better one) and thought I'd just let her run around a little bit and explore. On the way back to the car she slammed on point behind a big bush. I circled around the bush and couldn't see anything, so I kept walking. Allie started to follow me but then turned around and pointed again. I went back and looked better and saw the pigeon ~20 yards away! I went in to catch the bird but it got away from me. Of course Allie didn't have the check cord on and proceeded to chase the bird. It landed 2-3 times, each time she pointed it for 30 seconds or so then crept in and flushed it until the bird was exhausted and she caught it  . That's the bad news... the good news is that once she got it in her mouth I called her and she came right to me with the bird. I put her on lead and let her carry it back to the car and then she willingly gave it to me. In the end I made a few mistakes, but I think it was a productive outing.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

> It landed 2-3 times, each time she pointed it for 30 seconds or so then crept in and flushed it until the bird was exhausted and she caught it  . That's the bad news...


Baloney! There are no such thing as bad birds at this age! If you've read or had guys tell you that letting a pup catch birds and pack them around is going to ruin her ability to hold point they're just dead wrong. (they must own pointers :mrgreen: ) Steadiness and being broke to wing shot and fall, if you choose to break her to that point, are WAAAAAAAAY off down the line of things you need to worry about right now. Let her get into as many birds as you can, and this fall when you hunt her shoot everything that flies up in her face weather she points it or not. Catching birds is NOT going to ruin her. It's only gonna stoke the fire. Once the fire is lit and roaring, Usually at about a year old, THEN take the birds away and break her to be steady. After that, all you'll have is a steady, broke, bold, confident, bird finding machine on your hands. 8)


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

Can't imagine a pointer guy told him that. I like to let my pups run, point, catch, run, and act stupid for at least a good year before formal training. Hell I have been letting Money do that for two years! Let them get amped up and excited about birds before teaching them manners.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

nice looking dog. catching a bird or two is not a big deal, it can actually increase the dog's prey drive for birds as long as it is kept to a minimum and not made a habit.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

bwhntr said:


> Can't imagine a pointer guy told him that. I like to let my pups run, point, catch, run, and act stupid for at least a good year before formal training. Hell I have been letting Money do that for two years! Let them get amped up and excited about birds before teaching them manners.


Thats the thing about a pointer "acting" stupid. It's actually not and act... :mrgreen: :O•-:


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

:roll: Glad you FINALLY got a bird dog Tex.


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## izzydog (Jan 18, 2008)

That is a great story! Like Tex said, at that age the experience you had will do nothing but get that bearded lady amped up find the birds!


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## Theekillerbee (Jan 8, 2009)

Lookin' good Jeff! Keep up the work and she'll continue to amaze you.


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