new to shooting- gundog enquiry

RichieRich

hi all new, to forum, and also new-ish to shooting, just wondering your opinion about getting a dog, i'll prob get a springer, i'm in the process of building a dog run 4.5 x 4.5m approx, i have 2 kids aged 2 and 4 and they will be mad about the dog and so will want to have the dog out of the run during the day to play with him, i will be putting a radio fence down around the perimeter and he will be housed in the dog run by night, what do ye think bout this arrangement? will this playing have any adverse affects on the dog like making him soft? is radio fence a good job?

pullandbang

You'll not go too far wrong with a Springer - great all rounder and great with kids. I wouldn't encourage letting the kids play with him too much though. You want your dog to think of you as the boss and the less interferance from others the better.

I'd keep him in the pen all the time, only letting him out when you are around. Kids have a tendancy to throw balls and sticks for dogs to fetch and you don't want your dog getting confused with different commands. He'll also begin to think fetching is a game and end up not coming back to hand.

RichieRich

ya pullandbang, i'll curtail the fetch games and he (the dog) will definitely have the one boss... ME! speakin of bosses i've another half who i know will leave the dog out of the pen when i'm not there as she's one of the 'ahh... the poor doggie lets lethim out of the pen to play for a while'.., then poor richierich has to be the big bad wolf in front of the kiddies, i'm sure the novelty will wear off both the missus and kiddies after a month or so

just wondering has anyone else encountered such friendly fire????:rolleyes::)

pullandbang

RichieRich wrote: »

speakin of bosses i've another half who i know will leave the dog out of the pen when i'm not there as she's one of the 'ahh... the poor doggie lets lethim out of the pen to play for a while'.

Simple solution to that either get a padlock for the pen and keep the key yourself or make sure "the other half's" chain isn't long enough to reach from the kitchen to the pen!:D

LadyTBolt

pullandbang wrote: »

Simple solution to that either get a padlock for the pen and keep the key yourself or make sure "the other half's" chain isn't long enough to reach from the kitchen to the pen!:D

If there was such a chain she should wrap it around your neck!:P

The real boss will get over the novelty when the puppy starts to poo where the kids are. Locked up doggy - v - constantly waiting to clean up poo. After 2 weeks you'll be warned to keep the dog in when the kiddies are outside. Puppy fever usually doesn't last longer than that with gundogs. Believe me I'm a veteran at this.

pullandbang

LadyTBolt wrote: »

If there was such a chain she should wrap it around your neck!:P

She does.....but we can't discuss that in this forum...it's a family forum!

smc001

pulland bang makes alot of sense in what he is saying, i would avoid the "shock collar" treatment i have yet to see a dog that is so stubborn that it has to be shocked in to learning, springers these days are pretty soft natured so clear strong instructions and a little and often with the training will get you the results you need.

after having springers for years i have recently started a cocker from field trial stock and despite what i was led to believe it is every bit as trainable as the springer and might make a more manageable option around small children.

RichieRich

hi smc100,ya i heard a lot about cockers being highly strung and difficult to train but i am now strongly considering one, really what training does a dog need if he's from stock? once he goes into the box when he's told and comes back when he's called,

i'll still get the radio fence tho just to stop the dog going out on the road and gettin run over and also to stop him going hunting on his own if left out and unattended, i've seen it happen dog goes off hunting on his own next thing he wanders into fields with sheep in and... BANG!! farmer puts a No. 4 in his chest

fat-tony

Mods - belongs to Hunting sub-forum, perhaps?

smc001

richierich, i guess it's down to what you expect from your dog, will he stop to the whistle, can you direct him at distance to a blind retrieve, will he drop to shot/flush, the more he does the more pleasure you will get from working with him, as for cockers being highly strung as i said i have just started my first cocker after several springers and it is a very biddable little dog which in fact seems to soak in the information quicker than some springers i have had, although i am sure someone else will tell you the opposite. Just do little and often with the training once the dog is ready to start and this is down to the individual dog might be 6 months old, 8 months or 12 months before they are ready to start serious training.

i'd still suggest a pen is better than the fence, a dog who is released and fed by the one individual quickly realises who is the pack leader and tends to be more attentive in training than a dog that can wander around a garden all day , unattended it can quickly develop bad habits and worse stolen which is not uncommon for gundogs

Whatever you go for, whatever effort you put in over the first 12-18 months will payback tenfold over the dogs hunting life.