Speed Train Your Own Bird Dog
by Larry Mueller
Puppy Part: Pick out a puppy from a good breeder and make sure it points by bringing a rag on a string, tied to a pole. The puppy must point. We start training as soon as we get the puppy home and 8 weeks. I would add get a puppy that also retrieves.
Overview of book through introduction to water.
Be nice, don't force, can't drill anything into a puppy.
Number one rule: “Never ever loose your temper”.
Remember if it's not fun for you, you will never let the puppy know it.
Name the puppy a simple name.
First, crate train the pup and if at all possible let the puppy live in the house.
Second, find a good collar for the puppy.
Remember lots of rewards and no pressure.
Third, tie the puppy up to something starting with 15 minutes and add 5 minutes a day until puppy stops fighting.
Fourth, Let the puppy run free in the biggest area you can, this freedom vs. a kennel run will build a smart confident puppy.
Remember Freedom expands the puppy's mind, and kennel confinement stifles it.
Five, take the pup to outside areas for walks, and also to town and people visits.
Six, call puppy to you often and give a treat. When a treat is not given, praise and love up the puppy.
Seven, drag food ect. And have puppy find it.
Eight, start with a six foot drag, command Find It, each day make the drag longer until you are at 50 feet. Be nice and have fun.
Teaching “No”. When the pup is doing something wrong say no and correct the puppy.
Not every time, but to make the puppy understand the command No, Larry lifts the pup off the ground and grabs the pup by the scruff of the neck and gives a shake and commands No. Only one time of this will teach the pup the meaning of No.
Nine, Stay or whoa, hold a treat or hold the pup from his food. Command whoa and hold pup from food and and release of call pup to you.
Ten, Set, Tell pup to set, hold treat over pups head and help pup to sit and give pup treat when it sits.
Retrieving: “Field trials held from horseback have dominated bird-dog competition for most of this century, and they do not test retrieving. As a result, breeders have neglected to select their stock for the retrieving instinct, so most bird dogs don't have much of it.
If you bought one of the short-tailed or “”versatile”” breeds-such as a German shorthair, Weimaraner, pudelpointer, vizsla, wirhaired pointing griffon, drahthaar, and some Brittanys-you may have had a better chance of getting a dog with strong retrieving instincts. Their are unfortunately, no guarantees because as fast as a new breed is imported to America, someone decides to make them over n the image of the Americanized English pointer. Shorthairs have become much racier in build by outcrooing on pointers. You can see Brittanys with strangely short hair and the legs of of a pointer while the head ma y look more like that of a Brittany. Some individuals have retained natural retrieving ability; some have not.
On the other hand, relatively new field trials, such as Shoot-to-Retrieve events, are intended to develop and all of the hunting dogs instincts.” Larry Mueller.
Eleven, Fun Retrieves, toss something for the pup to retrieve.
A longer light line might help the pup to return.
Leave the pup wanting more.
Give treats if you want.
Try a tennis ball.
Use the word fetch.
Birds: In the book Larry uses a ring and a rubber band that is used on a pigeon with a line and a pole. Larry goes into how to use this. Very interesting.
Bird Training, and the first planted bird might go like this: Plant a live pigeon in a launcher with a dead pigeon. Bring the pup on a long line to find the bird. Pup points, launch the birds. One flies away and the other goes up and comes down. Shoot the blank gun, or shotgun loaded only with a primer. Let the pup get the dead bird. Have the pup retrieve the bird to you. This is the whole hunt in one setting.
Options: Work with frozen birds before this. Work with a bird flying off with no dead birds. Work with a dead bird in the launcher and no live bird.
If the pup does not see the dead bird, command find it and go looking for the bird. Lots of love and praise. Keep in fun.
Water: Don't force the pup into the water. Warm days are best. Start of f in shallow water. Walk out into the water and call puppy to you. Use other dogs to show pup it's ok. Use birds, or dummies on a string with a pole. Remember to keep it fun.
by Larry Mueller
Puppy Part: Pick out a puppy from a good breeder and make sure it points by bringing a rag on a string, tied to a pole. The puppy must point. We start training as soon as we get the puppy home and 8 weeks. I would add get a puppy that also retrieves.
Overview of book through introduction to water.
Be nice, don't force, can't drill anything into a puppy.
Number one rule: “Never ever loose your temper”.
Remember if it's not fun for you, you will never let the puppy know it.
Name the puppy a simple name.
First, crate train the pup and if at all possible let the puppy live in the house.
Second, find a good collar for the puppy.
Remember lots of rewards and no pressure.
Third, tie the puppy up to something starting with 15 minutes and add 5 minutes a day until puppy stops fighting.
Fourth, Let the puppy run free in the biggest area you can, this freedom vs. a kennel run will build a smart confident puppy.
Remember Freedom expands the puppy's mind, and kennel confinement stifles it.
Five, take the pup to outside areas for walks, and also to town and people visits.
Six, call puppy to you often and give a treat. When a treat is not given, praise and love up the puppy.
Seven, drag food ect. And have puppy find it.
Eight, start with a six foot drag, command Find It, each day make the drag longer until you are at 50 feet. Be nice and have fun.
Teaching “No”. When the pup is doing something wrong say no and correct the puppy.
Not every time, but to make the puppy understand the command No, Larry lifts the pup off the ground and grabs the pup by the scruff of the neck and gives a shake and commands No. Only one time of this will teach the pup the meaning of No.
Nine, Stay or whoa, hold a treat or hold the pup from his food. Command whoa and hold pup from food and and release of call pup to you.
Ten, Set, Tell pup to set, hold treat over pups head and help pup to sit and give pup treat when it sits.
Retrieving: “Field trials held from horseback have dominated bird-dog competition for most of this century, and they do not test retrieving. As a result, breeders have neglected to select their stock for the retrieving instinct, so most bird dogs don't have much of it.
If you bought one of the short-tailed or “”versatile”” breeds-such as a German shorthair, Weimaraner, pudelpointer, vizsla, wirhaired pointing griffon, drahthaar, and some Brittanys-you may have had a better chance of getting a dog with strong retrieving instincts. Their are unfortunately, no guarantees because as fast as a new breed is imported to America, someone decides to make them over n the image of the Americanized English pointer. Shorthairs have become much racier in build by outcrooing on pointers. You can see Brittanys with strangely short hair and the legs of of a pointer while the head ma y look more like that of a Brittany. Some individuals have retained natural retrieving ability; some have not.
On the other hand, relatively new field trials, such as Shoot-to-Retrieve events, are intended to develop and all of the hunting dogs instincts.” Larry Mueller.
Eleven, Fun Retrieves, toss something for the pup to retrieve.
A longer light line might help the pup to return.
Leave the pup wanting more.
Give treats if you want.
Try a tennis ball.
Use the word fetch.
Birds: In the book Larry uses a ring and a rubber band that is used on a pigeon with a line and a pole. Larry goes into how to use this. Very interesting.
Bird Training, and the first planted bird might go like this: Plant a live pigeon in a launcher with a dead pigeon. Bring the pup on a long line to find the bird. Pup points, launch the birds. One flies away and the other goes up and comes down. Shoot the blank gun, or shotgun loaded only with a primer. Let the pup get the dead bird. Have the pup retrieve the bird to you. This is the whole hunt in one setting.
Options: Work with frozen birds before this. Work with a bird flying off with no dead birds. Work with a dead bird in the launcher and no live bird.
If the pup does not see the dead bird, command find it and go looking for the bird. Lots of love and praise. Keep in fun.
Water: Don't force the pup into the water. Warm days are best. Start of f in shallow water. Walk out into the water and call puppy to you. Use other dogs to show pup it's ok. Use birds, or dummies on a string with a pole. Remember to keep it fun.