German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

[wgonfan]

I'm waiting for my "green book" to arrive so I have had no formal training instructions other that "expose him to birds". so I went out & bought some live quail today, clipped thier wings & let them loose on my field. When I got home, I showed the bird to my pup, let him play with it a bit (the whole time I'm saying "bird" excitedly) then I set it loose in the field, I brought my pup to with-in 10 yards downwind of the bird & started saying bird again, he never could seem to get ahold of the scent nor did he move more than 5 feet from me looking for it. He was definetly looking for it but didn't cover any groud, he basically just went five feet infront of me & back, didn't even zig zag. I then moved closer to the bird & he honed in a little better but several times jumped or ran right over the bird, he eventually did find it & pointed for a moment. I then let him play with the bird before I hid it again & sent him after it. After a total of 4 times I picked the bird up & carried it back to the pen, it wasn't until I started to walk off that the pup really started to search for the bird. After he realized how far away I was (50 yards), he came off it & ran to me.

I was just wondering if this is normal, or should he be able to scent the bird out better, we had pretty good winds today (15 mph max) & I started him off down wind of the planted bird. My real concern was when he would be right ontop of the bird & not know it, that & the fact that he wouldn't leave my side.

Am I doing more harm than good.

Should I wait until I'm more educated before I try any field excercises with him.

I plan to let him go ahead I have his way withone of the birds tomorrow, is this not advisable?
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Tom - Texarkana, Tx.

Cargo - male GWP

[GWP Fan]

wgonfan, From reading your other posts I see your pup is still real young. Don’t get too worried about planting a lot of birds and how he handles them yet. The important thing is just getting him out with you, let him explore and build confidence. If he flushes the occasional wild bird (or better yet points it) that’s ok too. The "bird switch" in his brain will turn on in due time and when it does you will know. There will be plenty of time for planting birds and formal training this summer and in the next couple of years. For now just enjoy the puppy phase, it will be gone before you know it.
Good Luck.
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Hunt, Fish, Be Happy!

[Vom Britt]

There is nothing wrong with exposing your young puppy to a bird like a quail. I feel letting a young puppy chase down and catch a few quail builds desire & confidence. One thing though, there are enough distractions out there for the youngster and I feel it is best to lead the pup, crosswind into birds without saying a word.
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Bob