# The puppy is learning his name.



## flyfisher117 (Jun 29, 2009)

Still not 100% if i want to persue making Ike my gordon setter puppy into a hunting dog (Gun Dog magazine ran an article about them and it said they arent the BEST of hunting dogs) but hes starting to know that his name is Ike hes still in that stage where everything is a game.

What is the best thing to start training him now? 

I havent started his gun training just yet (hes still a big baby so im wanting to wait another week or two)

Right now i take him on walks to run the enrgy out so im just working on keeping him close to me. he wont walk much more than 10-15 feet ahead of me if he gets much farther than that he stops and waits for me to catch up im HOPING its his inner instincts and a good sign and not just because hes a scared puppy.

Hes never seen a dead bird yet but i have a buddy that is giving me a bunch of phesant feathers for fly tying so im going to give the puppy a few to see what they are like and might go phesant hunting and bring a whole bird just to see his response to that.

so i guess as of right now just work on basic obedience and introduce him to the hunting scene like guns and dead birds?


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

Start with the basic obedience stuff like sit, here, lie down, stay and maybe heel. Work on one at a time, and don't go too fast. Use some small treats to get it started. Only reward him when he is complying. Try playing some simple fetch games with a small training bumper (new paint rollers work well). Keep your training sessions short and positive. If you can get your hands on a pheasant wing or two, you can play a bit of fetch with those. Don't let him chew them up though. While they are young, you want to form good habits, so be consistent with how you do things. Don't always train in your yard either. I had to learn that lesson. My lab would listen at home, but nowhere else because he was never trained anywhere else.


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## flyfisher117 (Jun 29, 2009)

Hows the best way to start teaching them to fetch? MY parents had an English Springer and they never taught her at all ever since she was a pup she fetched tenis balls and shoes and anything else you would throw and bring it right back. But with Ike I usually just toss it a little ways and tell him to "go get it" then call him back to me. When he comes back I tell him to "release" and get him to let go of the toy without me forcing him or yanking it from his mouth and hes good for a while then after 7 or 8 fetches he starts to run the other way and chew on his toy so we stop and i take it away so he cant chew the toy up to pieces. Will this teach him any unwanted things?

And then is it bad to give him Raw Hide bones to chew on? hes a chewer so to keep him from eating my hand/arm or trying to chew up socks we give him Raw Hide bones


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