Dog Training Buddies
One of my favorite things about training dogs is sharing with others, especially young people. I invited a couple of friends the other day to come and watch my dogs work and to be my shooters. My neighbor and avid hunter John C. (left) with his son had a fun time chasing pheasants while I worked with Annie on being more steady on point. My other friend Aaron came up from SG with his son to see the cover and tour the pheasant hunting preserve where I work as a guide. Aaron raises and trains german shorthairs and is the breeder of the dog Ace that I am currently working with.
Chris Colt of cove mountain kennels was out working with his new english pointer “Max”. It was his first time to watch Max working around birds and he was anxious to see where to start the training. Max seemed to have plenty of bird drive and not much problem with guns and noise sensitivity. It was fun to be the bird man for Chris and to watch him work and train the dogs from his kennel. Chris has been looking for a new pointing dog since he lost his wirehair Aika this past year to old age. This new english pointer just might be the ticket. Watch the video of Max’s first pheasant on YouTube.
Ace did well and had a fabulous back with Annie pointing a covey of wild valley quail that live on the property. We are trying to grow the quail population on the pheasant farm as they are a nice addition to the game birds. We use bobwhite quail for training but the valley quail are much more beautiful. I wish I could have got a picture of it but I was proud of Annie and Ace for their solid bird work.
Hi, I have a question about my husband training a Brittany in a home where a 2-yr old lab mix lives and knows me as his master. We just got a 6.5 week old Brittany and it’s already proving to be a struggle, mostly because I became the master of our first dog, purely because I spent more time with him, took him to the park, trained him, fed him, etc. He bonded with me more due to my husbands busy schedule and that was also a source of friction for us as my husband was jealous of the dog’s attachment to me (still is).
We got this puppy to be a hunting dog and it’s difficult for me to not take the lead and be the “mommy”. My husband has indicated that he should get the puppy in the morning, feed it, pick it up when it cries, be the one to let it out when we get home, etc. It is hard because 1) he’s so cute, and I just want to love on him and 2) he’s so little right now, that I don’t feel I can do any harm by picking him up if he’s crying in his “room”. My husband is OK with me doing certain things to help out, but I think he’s fearful that this dog will also end up liking me more and that it will ruin his ability to train him. I get that completely.
I have some questions that i’m hoping you can help with:
1) Considering the puppy’s age right now, what should I NOT do to hinder his bonding with my husband (at this age, 7-12 weeks, etc)? It would be helpful to know the “what not to do” at the various stages
2) With two parents in the house and a dog that sees me as the master, how do we make sure the new puppy isn’t confused by this?
Any direction you can offer would be much appreciated as I’m trying to give up the control and be aware of importance of this dog reaching it’s potential.
Thanks!