German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

[dualgwp]

We took our two 7 month pups out today for a bit of pheasant hunting. I was very proud of the two of them, they worked hard for almost 2 hrs, through soybean fields, swamps, woods and some stuff almost too darn thick for us to walk in. They were tired at the end, but neither wanted to get picked up to go home.

Unfortunately we didn't get any birds today, but yesterday the male found, pointed and retrieved two nice cock birds.

Youngsters are such fun to work! I wish I took the camera.
Bernee

[birddog]

Hey Bernee, I too was out hunting pheasants. Just got back from a trip to Iowa. Unlike you though, I did take the camera. My young 17 month old wire, had about 30 single wild pheasants. He tracked some and pointed the one's that thought they had out smarted him by sitting tight. Not only did he work them like a mature dog, he retrieved the one's we shot. I really got some beautiful pictures, which is tough cause your guard is down, not to mention the gun not in the ready position in case the bird should jump. It worked out though and this evening I just finished a delicious pheasant dinner. Not only do I train the dog, I shoot the bird, clean the bird and prepare the bird for the table. How's that for covering all bases? If you are interested in a picture or two let me know and I will scan them to your email address.
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Hunting, Its what were all about!

[cheerio]

is there anything more beautiful than a good working dog working?...
Funny enough, we, humans, insist on calling it "working" whereas, judging by the look of them, the dogs call it "having fun"!

[Keith]

I love watching pups learn how to hunt. I took my two 6 month olds to a field by my house last evening right before dark. They tore that field up looking for birds and jumping up the occasional snipe, dove or meadowlark. And they run fast when they get worked up. Tomorrow I will take them on their first quail hunt. The last time I took their two parents out I got 3 pheasants and some quail. I will be happy tomorrow if I can just get them into one wild covey and get a few good points.

[Keith]

Saturday I got my two pups into their first wild birds. They found and pointed two coveys of quail. Really worked them good, getting birdy and catwalking into good points. They have only heard a shotgun a couple of times before so I used a .410. It is really fun to shoot quail with a .410. The retrieves went pretty much as I expected. They searched the area real good back and forth until they found the downed birds. Then they played their favorite game of keep away from each other and me. Not unexpected. But they will learn. Just need some individual work with birds on retrieving. They also tracked and harrassed their first armadillo. But I just kept walking and called them off of it. It was a beautiful day to be in the field.

[Keith]

I also did a little water work at the edge of the lake. There were some waves coming in and it was a sandy bottom. I waited until they were warmed up after a two hour run. This is the first time I have had them in the water this hunting season and I was curious how they would handle the colder water. They did just fine. I through a large stick and they each did 3 retrieves. I kept the retrieves short just throwing it to swimming depth water. I won't take them on a duck hunt until next season. Right now I use the two older dogs.

[Keith]

Took my male and my two female pups to Kansas Saturday. That was fun. Hunted one of the public walk in areas. Unbelievable number of birds for this late in the season. I hadn't gone a half a mile before getting into a bunch of pheasants and several coveys of quail. Even got a prairie chicken from a flock. The dogs did great. A great workout for my two 6 and a half month old pups. They hunted their little hearts out. Already pointing and backing each other. I can't wait to go back. Season ends at the end of January. Then I will hunt quail here until February 15.

[birddog]

What a small world. I too just got back from Kansas. What a fantastic hunt! My young dog worked those wild pheasant with such ability I sometimes forget he is only 18 months old. As for quail. I would be shocked when a covey would rocket out from under one of his points. One "point" in particular comes to mind. We were at the edge of a dirty food polt,(corn field) when he locked solid. I tried to fumble for the camera in my pocket but could not get my hands on it ( to many shells ) and thinking a big rooster was about to flush I decided to forget the picture taking and went in for the flush. To my surprize 3 quail jumped out. I managed to bring 1 down. I have to be honest though, I should have bagged 2. The guy I was hunting with was watching the whole thing from the side of a hill. Sure does put a smile on your face and pride in you heart when your dog shows off for you in front of an audience.
Hope you and yours have a Happy New Year! Janet
_________________
Hunting, Its what were all about!

[Keith]

Another great weekend out with the pups. They are 7 months old now and learning. Got them into a lot of wild quail Saturday. Interesting watching them learn. One tracks a lot more and one works into the birds with her head up. The pup with a high head points from much farther away. Both found and pointed birds. Both are backing. The one that tracks more took off on a deer track. When she gets a little older I will probably have to nip that with an e-collar. They get jealous with birds and want to play keep away from each other and me. Time spent alone with each pup and planted birds will cure this. Right now I am just concentrating on them learning how to hunt. Where birds live and how to handle them. They get better each hunt.

[birddog]

Hi Keith, sounds like your pups are doing great. I have a suggestion. Don't you think you should start working these pups by themselves. At seven months they seem to know what they are doing. I have found always running 2 young pups at the same time can cause them to start relying on the other..I also find it hard to make any correction. Because they both listen to your commands, lets say Jenny could be doing it right but Jill needs some handling, both will react to your whistle or voice command. Better to get a handle on something that could cause problems down the road. I have seen mature dogs that have been worked together from puppy hood and they are always on the same bird and always keeping an eye on each other. Where one goes, so goes the other. They must gain independence from each other. Just my thoughts on this. Janet
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Hunting, Its what were all about!

[Keith]

I probably should. But right now I have limited time in the field. I also run them with one older dog sometimes. He is finding most of the birds but with him I get them into a lot more birds. I have taken them out alone and they find and point some quail. They don't trail each other out hunting. They pretty much both do their own thing. The jealousy comes out when I shoot a bird. Season is almost over then I will buy some birds and work them both alone on retrieving. More than anything right now I am trying to instill in them the love of the hunt.

[Keith]

Took my two pups down to a pond yesterday evening to see how they would react to cold water retrieves. Haven't had them in the water in quite a while using the older dogs for duck hunting. The pond had only been thawed for a day and still had a little ice around the edge. I took the first pup and threw a wing wrapped dummy and shot my blank pistol. She swam right out and brought it back. I praised her and took her back to the truck and got out the second pup. She ran out to swimming depth water and would not go any farther. I tried throwing rocks to the dummy to stimulate a retrieve but it didn't work. She would just run up and down the bank looking at the dummy. So I went back to the truck to get the other pup. She smelled the duck wings on the dummy and after a short hesitation swam right out and brought the dummy back. I praised her and let them both run around a while. No problem running them with the older dogs. They both hunted hard and wide looking for birds. I took them back to the pond and threw the dummy in. This time when the first pup swam out to get the dummy the other pup was jealous. So I held the first pup and did a short throw of the dummy. This time the second pup swam out and brought the dummy back. I praised her and let them both run again. Then I put them in the truck and went home. I was happy with the way it worked out. I will probably do my next water work with them in the spring.