German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

firethelazor · Newbie Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 1

Hi I am new to this site. I became a GWP owner in DEC of an 6 month old GWP, Quill. I got him to be a hunting dog and home companion. This bird season he had alot of exposure to wild birds. Now that the season is over I was wondering if there is anyone out there that lives in the Central Kansas region that can show me an effective way to steady my dog and train together. My issue is that he will not allow me to use a suitcase handle configuration to teach/learn WHOA. Quill also has been trained to heel and I think he is confused on what I want with the HEEL and WHOA commands. I live at Fort Riley, KS. If there is anyone out there interested feel free to im me. Or if you have any suggestions. Thanks.

Ghostdog · Newbie Joined: 25 Feb 2007 Posts: 1

This probably will not be much help but, there are soome good books on the market that can help alot. There are also some good videos. A good author is Richard Wolters (Game Dog). I worked with a personal trainer for teaching my GWP retrieving but, most of the field work and pointing I worked my self. I am getting a pup in the summer (just had to put my dog down) and plan to do the training myself. I am a little nervous about it.

Good luck

Anita · Junior Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 26 Location: Montana

firethelazor,
Congratulations on getting a new puppy! I would recommend looking for a NAVHDA chapter near you. NAVHDA stands for North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association and you can look at their website www.navhda.org for more information.
They are a group of people dedicated to training versatile hunting dogs and most chapters have training days, they get together and help each other train their dogs. They are a wonderful resource and I am sure they will be happy to help you.
On NAVHDA's website you can also purchase their "Green Book" which is an excellent resource as well, kind of heavy handed in few respects, in my personal opinion, but you can tone it down to fit your dog. The book has a whole chapter on WHOA training and it has worked well for me and my dogs.
I hope that helps. Good luck and let us know how Quill is doing.

Anita