German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

[Birdhunter3126]

I have two pups from the same litter although i did not get the second one until a few months after the first. I worked with the first pup alot when we first got her and she was retrieving and pointing great and loved to do it. When we got her sister she seemed to not want to retrieve or point anymore. she also seemed like she lost her interest in birds. ive tried several times to run them together and seperately and im just not getting any leeway. does anyone have any tips.

[Jon]

What was this pup doing before you got it? and with whom?

IMO ... one of three things has happened here. Either the pup has had a bad experience around birds, has been overexposed and is bored or the bird drive just hasn't kicked in yet.

In all three cases, I would forget birds for a while. Take the dog running, teach it to handle, come, etc and let it be a dog. Reintroduce in 2 months and tell us where you are. That reintroduction will be critical and may entail letting the dog run down a bird. You need desire before discipline.

[VCbirddog]

It's hard to make a evaluation on limited information but here goes.

You where the center of the universe for your first dog and anything that you brought into the equation was great (IE )bird, retrieving ,water etc .But with the reintroduction of the second dog you are no longer the most important thing in the dogs life. (friend ,subordinate or superior) Depending on the dog. If the first dog has a high level of game drive this will correct it's self in time. But if your dog has a low level of game drive and cooperation it may be best to keep the best prospect and get rid of the other.

PS I have 6 hunting GWP's . It cost just as much to feed a good one as a bad one. But the good one will be easier to train and cause you a lot less heartache
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Reading your GWP is the most important part of training or Hunting.

[Leadhead]

You failed to mention how old the pups are? From day one, until it is one year of age, the things you do with the pup will set the stage for the dog’s attitude and performance for the rest of its life. Without more info on the pups, I would train the pups separately.

[gwp4ever]

I think the advice you received is sound, I agree.
Back in the old days I used to pretty much let the pup run wild (they did come when called and heel, etc) the first year and a half. I trained only on wild birds, so they could never catch a bird. When they were ready, it was so easy to get them steady. By them they had lots of desire built up and became great hunting dogs.
Not so many open fields with lots of wild birds in my area today. Alas.
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Aablwch German Pointers,formerly"Darling's",
Ms.Mary Darling