1ST Fifteen Weeks With Ted
I started looking for a GSP puppy in December of 2012. I found Randy at Desert Point Kennel on line. I talked with him 2 or 3 times over the phone and after our conversations I finally decided to go to Wellton and see what he had to offer. I wanted to check out his dogs and his setup.
I pretty much knew that Ted was the dog I wanted after he untied my shoe while I was in the pen with him and his brothers. He was nine weeks old.
Two hours later, on Feb 16, 2013, my wife Cindy and I were headed home with my new best buddy, Ted. We stopped on the way home and picked up food and a few toys for him. After we got home we set up a crate for him so he would have a safe place to go when he needed it or for when Cindy and I needed it.
The following Monday I installed a doggy door in our patio door. Within about 15 minutes my wife Cindy and I had taught him how to use it. We repositioned his crate right by the doggy door so that when he came out of the crate he could go outside and do his business. It only took a couple of days for him to realize that he could go in and out and do what he needed to do. Potty training him went pretty reasonably well by doing this. We only had a couple of wrecks in the house during the process.
Cindy and I started training Ted pretty much as soon as we put him in the truck to bring him home. So far we have been successful in using our past experiences with other animals that we have had as well as the information from a couple of books.
I found a couple of books that I have been using to help me in the process of training Ted. One is “How To Train Your Bird Dog” and the other is “Puppy Training For Dummies.” Both have had a lot of good information that Cindy and I have used. In addition to that I have been able to call Randy with any questions or concerns. I also have been giving him progress reports to make sure I am doing the right things and that Ted is right on track with where he should be.
I started leash training Ted as soon as we got him home that evening. I put his collar on him and took him out to the back yard. I tied it to a pole on the porch with about a five foot lead. I left him there for about an hour. He complained for about 10 to 15 minutes and then decided he would just wait for me to come and let him loose.
The next day I took him out in the back yard with a collar and a leash. He wasn’t too thrilled about it and tried to fight at it. After a couple of hits on the end of the line and quick turns of direction he started to get the idea and started to walk where I wanted to go. The next day we ventured into our neighborhood for a walk around the block on the leash and had very few problems.
My wife Cindy is able to be at home with Ted more than I during the course of a day. She has taught him to sit, lie down. She has taught him not to get on the furniture as well as where his limits are. It is a work in progress. He tests us on occasion.
She also lets him run around in the backyard and explore for as long as he wants. One day she saw him pointing to a couple of birds that were in our bushes without being prompted. She decided to bait the birds by setting out birdseed. Now she gets to watch Ted point all the time.
I try to take Ted out almost every afternoon when I get home from work. We have a mountain preserve about four blocks from our home. We go on leash for those four blocks and as soon as we get to there I let Ted off the leash and we go hunt for quail that hang out in the draws that run through the preserve.
At first I was the one spotting the birds but the more we go the better Ted is at finding them himself. He has pointed birds several times for me since the first time we went out.
On Saturdays, Cindy and I take Ted out into the desert and go for a walk with him. We let him hunt up what ever he can find. On two Saturdays I was able to come up with some pigeons to plant for him. So far he has been able to find and point all the birds that we put out. We have flushed them and shot them over him and he goes to fetch the birds but then he doesn’t want to bring them back and give them to you every time. We decided to put a fifty foot lead on him and let him drag it so we can make him come back to us if necessary.
We have also been working with Ted on fetching in water. We are teaching him in the desert out of different stock tanks that we know of in the desert while we are on our outings. So far he is doing well in the water. He will swim in the water and bring it back to us.
When we are out in the desert and Ted tries to test me with a command of “must come” I tell him if that is the way he is going to be I am going to leave. So far I haven’t gotten 10 yards before he changes his mind and is right by my feet.
We also work every day on teaching Ted that he must come when called in as many different circumstances that we can think of. We try and use one word commands for any thing we want him to do.
While we are out on our walks in the neighborhood we try and meet as many new people and new dogs as we can. When we meet someone new or someone that he has met before, we make Ted sit and calm down before we let him or the other person say hello. He is still a little rowdy with his hellos but he gets a little better every time we go out.
Things seem to be going very well. So far we have scolded him with a tough voice “No” a lot but we have not whipped him.
I think the most important thing to do is to spend as much time as I can with the dog and you both can teach each other.
Bob & Cindy Lee
I started looking for a GSP puppy in December of 2012. I found Randy at Desert Point Kennel on line. I talked with him 2 or 3 times over the phone and after our conversations I finally decided to go to Wellton and see what he had to offer. I wanted to check out his dogs and his setup.
I pretty much knew that Ted was the dog I wanted after he untied my shoe while I was in the pen with him and his brothers. He was nine weeks old.
Two hours later, on Feb 16, 2013, my wife Cindy and I were headed home with my new best buddy, Ted. We stopped on the way home and picked up food and a few toys for him. After we got home we set up a crate for him so he would have a safe place to go when he needed it or for when Cindy and I needed it.
The following Monday I installed a doggy door in our patio door. Within about 15 minutes my wife Cindy and I had taught him how to use it. We repositioned his crate right by the doggy door so that when he came out of the crate he could go outside and do his business. It only took a couple of days for him to realize that he could go in and out and do what he needed to do. Potty training him went pretty reasonably well by doing this. We only had a couple of wrecks in the house during the process.
Cindy and I started training Ted pretty much as soon as we put him in the truck to bring him home. So far we have been successful in using our past experiences with other animals that we have had as well as the information from a couple of books.
I found a couple of books that I have been using to help me in the process of training Ted. One is “How To Train Your Bird Dog” and the other is “Puppy Training For Dummies.” Both have had a lot of good information that Cindy and I have used. In addition to that I have been able to call Randy with any questions or concerns. I also have been giving him progress reports to make sure I am doing the right things and that Ted is right on track with where he should be.
I started leash training Ted as soon as we got him home that evening. I put his collar on him and took him out to the back yard. I tied it to a pole on the porch with about a five foot lead. I left him there for about an hour. He complained for about 10 to 15 minutes and then decided he would just wait for me to come and let him loose.
The next day I took him out in the back yard with a collar and a leash. He wasn’t too thrilled about it and tried to fight at it. After a couple of hits on the end of the line and quick turns of direction he started to get the idea and started to walk where I wanted to go. The next day we ventured into our neighborhood for a walk around the block on the leash and had very few problems.
My wife Cindy is able to be at home with Ted more than I during the course of a day. She has taught him to sit, lie down. She has taught him not to get on the furniture as well as where his limits are. It is a work in progress. He tests us on occasion.
She also lets him run around in the backyard and explore for as long as he wants. One day she saw him pointing to a couple of birds that were in our bushes without being prompted. She decided to bait the birds by setting out birdseed. Now she gets to watch Ted point all the time.
I try to take Ted out almost every afternoon when I get home from work. We have a mountain preserve about four blocks from our home. We go on leash for those four blocks and as soon as we get to there I let Ted off the leash and we go hunt for quail that hang out in the draws that run through the preserve.
At first I was the one spotting the birds but the more we go the better Ted is at finding them himself. He has pointed birds several times for me since the first time we went out.
On Saturdays, Cindy and I take Ted out into the desert and go for a walk with him. We let him hunt up what ever he can find. On two Saturdays I was able to come up with some pigeons to plant for him. So far he has been able to find and point all the birds that we put out. We have flushed them and shot them over him and he goes to fetch the birds but then he doesn’t want to bring them back and give them to you every time. We decided to put a fifty foot lead on him and let him drag it so we can make him come back to us if necessary.
We have also been working with Ted on fetching in water. We are teaching him in the desert out of different stock tanks that we know of in the desert while we are on our outings. So far he is doing well in the water. He will swim in the water and bring it back to us.
When we are out in the desert and Ted tries to test me with a command of “must come” I tell him if that is the way he is going to be I am going to leave. So far I haven’t gotten 10 yards before he changes his mind and is right by my feet.
We also work every day on teaching Ted that he must come when called in as many different circumstances that we can think of. We try and use one word commands for any thing we want him to do.
While we are out on our walks in the neighborhood we try and meet as many new people and new dogs as we can. When we meet someone new or someone that he has met before, we make Ted sit and calm down before we let him or the other person say hello. He is still a little rowdy with his hellos but he gets a little better every time we go out.
Things seem to be going very well. So far we have scolded him with a tough voice “No” a lot but we have not whipped him.
I think the most important thing to do is to spend as much time as I can with the dog and you both can teach each other.
Bob & Cindy Lee