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She's got a great nose. Sometimes you have to back your dog up to the initial spot where a bird dropped to calm them down and 'get on the scent' trail.
Highly recommend scenting games for dogs. A lot of people ignore the fact a dog sees the world through their nose more than anything else. You can have a lot of fun with them when you waken up that sense. Balls and toys are fun, but hot dogs are BETTER!
Had a mixed trip out in Eastern Montana last week. We primarily went after pheasant, but the drought really hammered the population. But- I managed to have little Pearl with me on a check cord for many, many miles and around the 4th day in the field, and after watching older dogs work the field, pointing and retrieving some birds- she started to catch on. She stopped pointing and eating grasshoppers to actively field searching like a big dog! Cute to watch for sure.
She loves chasing feathers!
Her first retrieve- a native sharp tailed grouse. Amazing how they blend into the native grasses.
That was the bird where her mind seemed to go *BING!* I got it now!
Even though we didn't bag many birds, the training time is well worth the effort. Working on shot conditioning and exposure to birds is key. As a result- Pearl is not gun shy and she is definitely 'birdy'. Very, very high prey drive.
Oh and we learned another thing- being around 5 strange dogs, including two labs that had bad attitudes- she is NOT afraid of any of them. She is spunky as hell and will stomp those two front legs down and hop-charge those barkers with a *wuff-wuff-huff* and make them back off.. Amazing. Everybody was like "Oh man, you got yourself a live wire there!"
Thanks! I set the vid's to public, so not sure what is going on. Oh well- I need my teenagers to figure it out, lol.
I can tell Pearl is definitely 'tuned in' to hunting. Anytime I open my truck door she is the first dog in- waiting to go. I tell you the first time out is always nerve wracking. You don't know if the dog is going to like it, or become fearful if they get spooked... She appears over that hump.
I'll be heading out east again for 2 weeks hunting, well, everything. Mule deer or whitetail, upland birds and waterfowl. I think I'm taking Pearl and Schnitzel. Haven't decided yet.
Do you use the Shorthairs for Mulies, and White Tail? I only bird hunted with my GSP when I lived in Colorado, and Pennsylvania, and a little bit when I lived in Kentucky. Pheasant, and Grouse mostly. Pearl is getting it, and a real looker! I think the GSP is the best all around bird dog.
No- just birds. Can't use dogs on deer/elk. I'll take one out with me when I go mule deer hunting for 2 weeks. I'll break my days up- hunt birds (and scout for mule deer) and then rest the dog and hunt mulies.
I love GSP's. So eager to train, please and be companion dogs. The only shortcoming is cold weather hunting. They call GSP's 'North Dakota Shiverers'. Just not built for extreme cold.
I'm strongly considering getting a Spinone for cold weather/water work.
No- just birds. Can't use dogs on deer/elk. I'll take one out with me when I go mule deer hunting for 2 weeks. I'll break my days up- hunt birds (and scout for mule deer) and then rest the dog and hunt mulies.
I love GSP's. So eager to train, please and be companion dogs. The only shortcoming is cold weather hunting. They call GSP's 'North Dakota Shiverers'. Just not built for extreme cold.
I'm strongly considering getting a Spinone for cold weather/water work.
I believe they were bred for all around hunting in Germany, but yeah, I've never seen anyone use a dog for anything other than birds. I really like the breed also. I guess you could put an outer garment on them in cold weather. lol!
Many breeders and owners of the German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) fallaciously refer to their breed as Deutsch Kurzhaar. In fact there is little doubt that there are significant differences in breed standard and most importantly, the measurement of hunting aptitude. The GSP has been bred without regulation or restriction since its introduction to North America in the 1920’s; especially with respect to performance testing designed to improve the ability of the versatile Deutsch Kurzhaar. Now approaching the century mark of unrestricted breeding and no versatile performance standards, the (GSP) has evolved into a distinctly different breed.
The DK of today has emerged as one of the worlds premier versatile hunting dogs. It is the completed manifestation of those ideals inspired by the necessity of the German foot hunter to own and hunt with one versatile dog. The culmination is a dog well mannered in the home with the children and capable in the field, in the woods or in the water.
A well trained DK can seamlessly fill a day by retrieving downed waterfowl from a cold pond at the crack of dawn, pointing and retrieving birds in the afternoon, finding and retrieving furred game shot on the way home. After all of that following the blood track of wounded big game in the dark that evening.
Pearl is quite different than my two GSP's. More assertive, nose always 'on', definitely different.
^^^^^Very interesting, thanks! I didn't consider the unrestricted breeding in the U.S. changing the GSP breed apart form the DK. That makes a lot of sense though. I may look for a hunt test/trials breeder for my next one. I got lucky on my first one, as he was a pretty natural bird hunter.
Yeah you really have to investigate the breeder to see what they've bred for and particularly if they follow some standards like NAVHDA. Of course you pay for that, but if you want to hunt it's pretty important.
I know a few guys with labs, golden retrievers etc. that gave up hunting with their dogs. Maybe 6-7 dogs in particular. All the Goldens were gun shy, all but one lab had chronic health and weight issues, and one lab out of the bunch that 'hunts'. And that lab is smaller. Most of the labs came from people without much experience in breeding.
Personally I find what has happened to labs a travesty. Most are waaay too big, bred for the coach not the blind. It's starting to happen to GSP's too.
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