# Were to start



## CHEESE (Jan 29, 2009)

We brought home a Vizsla/pointer mix about 2 months ago, He is a little over four mounths old. I want to start him to hunt, nothing competitive just to have fun and get out with the fam. but not sure were to start, should i by a book? if so which one, any advice, help, knowlege would be great. 
thanx


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## threshershark (Sep 7, 2007)

I'm not a professional trainer but I've had a variety of pointers over the years. There are numerous books and DVDs out there that can provide instruction. One book I found interesting is Training Pointing Dogs by Paul Long. Amazon sells it for about $10 bucks these days. The reason I mention this book is that it addresses the question of what your goals are for the dog, and whether or not you should consider involving a trainer.

This topic is really too broad to address well, but my main suggestion with a dog of this age is to simply build his enthusiasm and allow him to have fun. Expose him to bird wings, retrieving, and some clip wing or tethered pigeons. Give him lots of praise and don't worry too much about corrections at this point. As the dog gets excited about birds and bird scent and associates those things with praise and fun, you will begin to see what comes naturally to him and which elements will take some work.

Everyone has different objectives for their dogs, so the first step is to determine what yours are. 

I like to keep things fun with more praise than correction up through about 1 year of age. You can work on basic obedience in short, repetitive sessions of about 5 or 10 minutes at this point too. If you don't already own a 30 or 50-foot check cord, that is one accessory you will probably want to pick up right out of the gate. This will help you stay in contact with the pup during yard training sessions and in the field also.

Good luck - and enjoy the pup.


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

Keep it fun while he's young. Fun = Birds, and lots of em. Pigeons, quail, chukars, what ever you can get your hands on.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

i would consider investing in a small pigeon cage and a handfull of homing pigeons. the number one thing that dog will need is birds, birds, and more birds. from my experience training dogs for other people, i will say that the number one thing i see with the dogs i get in for training is they havent seen enough birds. There is alot more to it than birds but without birds you dont get a bird dog. 8)


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