# advice on trainning a pointer?



## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

Hey guys, i have 2 German/English pointer mixes. Great little dogs!! 
I haven't had time to work with them much at all. They point like crazy while I'm jogging them, they will lock up on any bird they see so I know they have it in them, I got grouse wings and have made a few trails in the yard and hid them and they go nuts and trail them down really good. 

i'd like to make one of them a grouse dog and then when I find out what else I'll be hunting train the other one for that bird, over time I'll get them both working together.

I'm not sure how to really go about it now that I've waited till they are a year old. 
Should I just take them out on a check cord and let them figure it out for themselves or should I start planting pen birds and doing some kind of real tranning?
I can't spare the money right now for a trainer and I'd like to do it myself, just seems more fun than just shipping them off and having someone else train them!

What do you think I should do, any books I should read?
thanks!!


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

pm sent.

one of the first things you need to do is to go to ksl.com and get some pigeons work your dog on. you dont really train a dog for a specific type of bird, a bird is a bird to a dog so they will learn to hunt them all. work on teaching them "whoa". i dont use a check chord much for pointing dogs as i work them with an e-collar. sometimes the dog will "just figure it out" but more than not you will have to do some formal training with pigeons.


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

Welp, I answered my question! I took my male out and that was a disaster. He really doesn't know what he is even looking for so he just runs down the easiest trail. Doesn't come when I call him just keeps jogging down the deer trails! I planted some grouse wings and he didn't even care about them when he found them. I think I'm just going to learn how to grouse hunt solo and if it is a waste of time I'll just duck and deer hunt!

Isn't a pointer supposed to stay withen sight of you? I mean if he would work closer I could maybe teach him what he is hunting.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

a pointer is supposed to range a bit and cover ground so you dont have to. in short, the better the point is held, the longer they can range and cover ground. that is one advantage pointers have over flushers, they can cover a lot of ground. the disadvantage is when they cover the ground and dont hold point and flush the bird prematurely.

dont judge your dog on one time situation. i have seen many dogs take some time to get into the birds side of things. one of the nicest shorthairs i have owned/trained didnt even know what a bird was when i got him but after some work and training he was finding and pointing birds with the best of them. it just takes time and patience so dont give up yet. if your dog has the "point" genes, it can be brought out to the surface with some time and training


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

Sprig Kennels said:


> a pointer is supposed to range a bit and cover ground so you dont have to. in short, the better the point is held, the longer they can range and cover ground. that is one advantage pointers have over flushers, they can cover a lot of ground. the disadvantage is when they cover the ground and dont hold point and flush the bird prematurely.
> 
> dont judge your dog on one time situation. i have seen many dogs take some time to get into the birds side of things. one of the nicest shorthairs i have owned/trained didnt even know what a bird was when i got him but after some work and training he was finding and pointing birds with the best of them. it just takes time and patience so dont give up yet. if your dog has the "point" genes, it can be brought out to the surface with some time and training


Thanks, 
Yeah it is my fault, I haven't worked him at all. I know he has the point genes cause like I said I watch him point and stalk robins all day in the yard. I have him doing the whoa a little bit in the backyard. I'm going to get some pigeons and go this evening and start giving that a shot. I have an E-collar so I'll give it a try rather than the check cord. 
The area I'm hunting I think is just to thick. He goes in those scrub oaks and I can't even see him so I wouldn't even know if he's pointing. I'm going to look for some other spots.


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

> Hey guys, i have 2 German/English pointer mixes. Great little dogs!!


So, in other words, you've got a modern day GSP... :mrgreen:



> Isn't a pointer supposed to stay withen sight of you?


 -_O- -_O- -_O- If you can get a pointer to stay in the same zipcode you're doing good.


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## TAK (Sep 9, 2007)

Age?

If you leave the dogs in the kennel and show them pictures they might get it!? Maybe.... But I have tried that and ended up just putting some time into them.

DON'T GIVE UP, take them dogs out every single time you go! If I had a dime for every time I had to run down a young dog because he did not want to get back in the kennel I would have TEX O BOBS money!

Pigions are fine, game birds better! Dave Walker has a dvd that you need also the Perfect Start dvd is a great place for you to start out with.

And save them wings for some decoration or something, Good chance they don't smell like bird anymore anyway! Ohh ya DO NOT BUY ANY BIRD SCENTS! Unless you want to spot train your dog to spot piss on the area it is in!


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

TAK said:


> Age?
> 
> If you leave the dogs in the kennel and show them pictures they might get it!? Maybe.... But I have tried that and ended up just putting some time into them.
> 
> ...


I'm going to get setup to have a few game birds in my shed tomorrow. 
I took my female out to the training area at ogden bay and just let her go, I was nervous she was going to run off and chase those pea****s but she was doing good. she stayed about 40 yards out if i yelled she'd come running back to me and pass me up. she was working every bush so I had no trouble keeping up with her. Now I just have to plant some birds in there and get her pointing. My male was not working the same but it was different cover. He was in clumps of scrub oak and he was just kinda truting around. 
I'm kinda parenoid about them running off. I'm used to beagle that will just bolt and you can't catch them, they don't come back and if they don't circle a rabbit back your way they are gone. Do i need to worry about that or is that just me being nervous?


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

Well, they don't call em "run-off" dogs for nuthin. :wink: Just keep doing what your doing and don't worry about it. Too many guys like to micro manage their dogs into oblivion. Just let them HUNT. They'll figure it out. And for God sakes, NEVER shoot anything they don't point! NEVER!



> I would have TEX O BOBS money!


If you had MY money, you'd be a broke dick just like me!


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## Artoxx (Nov 12, 2008)

One thing that I will suggest, even though my opinion of my ability as a trainer cannot get past the censorship program, is that if you have TWO raw dogs, you should take them out separately and work with each one individually. That way you are not interfering with one dog while yelling at the other and vice versa. Leave one in the kennel and take the other out for an hour or so, then switch. If this is not viable then leave one at home and take it the next time. 
When you get one or both of them doing what you want them to do in the field, then work them together so that they can become a team.
Two green dogs is asking for trouble, one or the other is going to get into a situation that is no good in one way or another, and you are going to be so busy with the other dog that you don't notice what is going on in time to stop it. 
Deer, Porcupines, Skunks, other peoples dogs, all come to mind instantly, and worse things are out there.
The more attention you can give each dog individually, the more productive your training will be.

I specifically bought a fully trained female GSP that was known to hunt close, so that I would not glimpse her going over a ridge 400 yards away and then never be seen again. She is still out of my sight frequently, but I know that she will turn up in a minute or two, and if she doesn't then I head in the last direction she was going until I find her point.

Also you might want to get one of those collar mounted beepers that allow you to hear where the dog is even when you can't see it, this is also helpful if it has the point function that changes the tone or pattern when the dog stops moving, hopefully indicating a point. Though they also indicate a squat just as well. :wink: 
Mine has a hawk scream point alarm that keeps the bird being pointed from flying before you are ready, as it thinks there is a hawk waiting for it to show itself.

Hope this helps.


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## cklspencer (Jun 25, 2009)

TEX that is just to funny. Ive got a GSP and let me tell you the first year I had him if you can call 2 miles close then he stayed close..lol He is now 7 and had shown great improvent over the last two. He does alright on grouse but when you are in thick stuff its tuff to get to the point before the birds get to nervus and flush. Pheasats are a whole nother game. If he finds one help up he is solid. Not one move made until you get close. I just wish we had better pheasant hunting. We hit the bird farm when we can but I hate paying for birds.
Now if I could only find a place to hunt some chucker.


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

> Now if I could only find a place to hunt some chucker.


 :shock: That's one of the only birds worth hunting in this whole state. They're everywhere! Get on your boots, pack a lunch and drive out to the desert. Steep mountain+cheatgrass+ rocky ridge lines= chukars. :wink:


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## toomeymd (Sep 21, 2009)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> > Now if I could only find a place to hunt some chucker.
> 
> 
> :shock: That's one of the only birds worth hunting in this whole state. They're everywhere! Get on your boots, pack a lunch and drive out to the desert. Steep mountain+cheatgrass+ rocky ridge lines= chukars. :wink:


Tex, Ive been trying that all week, West Desert at Lookout Pass, and the South end of UT Lake way west, no luck. But then again I don't have a dog. You would think I would at least jump a few by walking the brush...??? Jumped some grouse today in the sagebrush flats and foothills by UT Lake, but too far away for a shot. No birds (unless you count the tweety bird that divebombed me twice, tried a third time but I was fed up by then), but had a blast.


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

Hunting birds without a dog is like building a house without a tape measure and a level. :? Plus, chukars are hard enough to find when you DO have a dog, let alone without one... :roll: 

Get yourself a mutt dude! _(O)_


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## toomeymd (Sep 21, 2009)

Sept. of next year...we are downsizing for a year as the wife and I go to school and change careers to ones more productive in today's economy...Until then we're in an apartment...


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## TAK (Sep 9, 2007)

toomeymd said:


> Sept. of next year...we are downsizing for a year as the wife and I go to school and change careers to ones more productive in today's economy...Until then we're in an apartment...


I will rent you one!


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