Springer Training

dev110

Guys I am at the stage of training when I need to introduce my dog to the gun.

I am wondering form any of you guys that are in training would it be best if I applied for permission to have a starter pistol or if I should start with the shotgun but double the distance away from him?

He is going very well. I have him hupping at distance, recalling to name and whistle, fully steady to a thrown dummy, quartering on the whistle and hunting. Just this morning he flushed a pheasant for me.

I don't want to make all this work redundant by making him gun shy.

deeksofdoom

What age is the dog now?

If I were you I would first of all start getting him used to the sight of the gun, bring the gun out at feeding times and lay it down next to the bowl while he's eating. The reason being is that he gets used to the sight & smell of the gun and associates it with something nice i.e. eating.

Then start bringing him for walks with the gun, do this for a few evening and give him plenty of praise when he sniffs it etc...

While out on your walks mount the gun and get the dog to sit again give him plenty of praise. After a couple of weeks of this you can cut a few cartridges in two and just fire the primer and throw the dummy, after a few evenings of that you can progress to a live cartridge, no need for starter pistols.

Or else you could just go out and fire a shot over the dog and there's a 50/50 chance he'll be aright or you'll scare the living **** out of him. But introducing the gun to the dog the way I have described works for nervous dogs and its the only method I'ld use whether nervous or not.

dev110

deeksofdoom wrote: »

What age is the dog now?

If I were you I would first of all start getting him used to the sight of the gun, bring the gun out at feeding times and lay it down next to the bowl while he's eating. The reason being is that he gets used to the sight & smell of the gun and associates it with something nice i.e. eating.

Then start bringing him for walks with the gun, do this for a few evening and give him plenty of praise when he sniffs it etc...

While out on your walks mount the gun and get the dog to sit again give him plenty of praise. After a couple of weeks of this you can cut a few cartridges in two and just fire the primer and throw the dummy, after a few evenings of that you can progress to a live cartridge, no need for starter pistols.

Or else you could just go out and fire a shot over the dog and there's a 50/50 chance he'll be aright or you'll scare the living **** out of him. But introducing the gun to the dog the way I have described works for nervous dogs and its the only method I'ld use whether nervous or not.

He was 8 months at the start of April.
I am using the book Training Spaniels by Joe Irving.

I have brought the gun with me twice while walking and he smelt it once or twice and got on with his instincts.

Do you just cut the cartridge around the wad?

I was thinking of firing the first shot at about 70 yards while someone he knows stays with him and then slowly move in day by day.

I will start lying the gun down while he is eating tomorrow morning and start this and walking with the gun every day. Then by 2 weeks time I will start firing shots

deeksofdoom

Just cut the cartidge in to and empty out the powder, wad and lead. If you had him retrieving in and out of the river or doing something he likes while you fire the shot he won't take any notice.

dev110

deeksofdoom wrote: »

Just cut the cartidge in to and empty out the powder, wad and lead. If you had him retrieving in and out of the river or doing something he likes while you fire the shot he won't take any notice.

Thanks for that Deeks!

deeksofdoom

dev110 wrote: »

Thanks for that Deeks!

No worries, I very nearly made a **** of a GWP once, which although she wasn't nervous of the sound of the shot, she was nervous of the sight of the gun. I brought her out to fire a my first shot over her and whenever I put the gun to my shoulder the dog ran off with her tail between her legs.

The dog was afraid of any new objects she saw, I found this out because I came out the back door with a hot water bottle in my hand to put in to the shed, the dog saw the hot water bottle and she bolted into the shed with her tail between her legs. It sounds ridiculous but it happens.

Anyway your better off taking things slowly when it comes to training the dog to gunfire, months of hard work could be undone in seconds.

Spunk84

You could get someone to go 100yards + out in the field and rattle a shot off, have the dog on the lead and bring some treats with ya, when the shot goes Off give the dog a treat and a good pet and reassure him!

What I did was get a saucepan when he was feeding and smash it off the ground he got to a point the noise didn't bother him and he was okay, as for the age I rattle shots over my fello when he quite young as I wanted to know if he was gun shy:rolleyes: , I don't see the point of training a dog for a year to 14months to find out one shot and the dog is useless. I'd rather find out earlier and if he's abit shy, then I could work with him until he overcomes it or move onto the next one.:o

dicky82

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Turner-Richards-dummy-launcher-/150580830544?pt=UK_SportingGoods_Hunting_ShootingSports_ET&hash=item230f512150

not the exact one i have but very simillar.
i know some lads say these are a waste of time but its what i used on my bitch, and what i will be using on my pup (when he's ready).
i also think thses are great for the off season. i have a dummy covered in tail feathers and wings that looks like a fezzy. if im walking the dog and she puts up a bird i 'pop' this dummy and she retreives it. keeps her sharp.
if only i could pop the real ones when the season is on:rolleyes::o

dev110

deeksofdoom wrote: »

No worries, I very nearly made a **** of a GWP once, which although she wasn't nervous of the sound of the shot, she was nervous of the sight of the gun. I brought her out to fire a my first shot over her and whenever I put the gun to my shoulder the dog ran off with her tail between her legs.

The dog was afraid of any new objects she saw, I found this out because I came out the back door with a hot water bottle in my hand to put in to the shed, the dog saw the hot water bottle and she bolted into the shed with her tail between her legs. It sounds ridiculous but it happens.

Anyway your better off taking things slowly when it comes to training the dog to gunfire, months of hard work could be undone in seconds.

My fella didn't seem to pass any remark on the gun. The first time he saw it he was curious and after a quick smell and lick he was fine.

Spunk84 wrote: »

You could get someone to go 100yards + out in the field and rattle a shot off, have the dog on the lead and bring some treats with ya, when the shot goes Off give the dog a treat and a good pet and reassure him!

What I did was get a saucepan when he was feeding and smash it off the ground he got to a point the noise didn't bother him and he was okay, as for the age I rattle shots over my fello when he quite young as I wanted to know if he was gun shy:rolleyes: , I don't see the point of training a dog for a year to 14months to find out one shot and the dog is useless. I'd rather find out earlier and if he's abit shy, then I could work with him until he overcomes it or move onto the next one.:o

The guy I bought him off had a radio in the shed with them when they were young and would turn it on during the day up fairly loud to make them used to noise.

This is my first dog to train and am following word for word from the book and I am delighted with the progress and don't want to ruin it all by taking the next major step to quickly.

dev110

dicky82 wrote: »

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Turner-Richards-dummy-launcher-/150580830544?pt=UK_SportingGoods_Hunting_ShootingSports_ET&hash=item230f512150

not the exact one i have but very simillar.
i know some lads say these are a waste of time but its what i used on my bitch, and what i will be using on my pup (when he's ready).
i also think thses are great for the off season. i have a dummy covered in tail feathers and wings that looks like a fezzy. if im walking the dog and she puts up a bird i 'pop' this dummy and she retreives it. keeps her sharp.
if only i could pop the real ones when the season is on:rolleyes::o

How do them dummy launchers work?

terminator2

Spunk84 wrote: »

You could get someone to go 100yards + out in the field and rattle a shot off, have the dog on the lead and bring some treats with ya, when the shot goes Off give the dog a treat and a good pet and reassure him!

What I did was get a saucepan when he was feeding and smash it off the ground he got to a point the noise didn't bother him and he was okay, as for the age I rattle shots over my fello when he quite young as I wanted to know if he was gun shy:rolleyes: , I don't see the point of training a dog for a year to 14months to find out one shot and the dog is useless. I'd rather find out earlier and if he's abit shy, then I could work with him until he overcomes it or move onto the next one.:o

+1 to that

dicky82

this is my dog and dummy launcher but this was very early on in training she's spot on now.

http://youtu.be/q_pylPxQs4c

Spunk84

http://www.sportsden.ie have them as well, how many times can you fire it? how far will it go, dev you know what your at, keep up the good work

dev110

I might invest in one of them dummy launchers. They seem to be a good thing to have.

ace86

You can try using a .22 or the like for training for the shot there not as loud as the shotgun they just make a small craic. bringing the gun on walks is a good idea and let him smell the gun so he knows its nothing to be feared and the shotgun should come along no problem. best of luck anyway.

ronn

I used that joe irvine book aswell, its very good. I herd before that a .22 is much louder on a dogs ears than a shotgun, but the dummy launcher uses .22 blanks so i could be wrong,

the launcher fires the dummy about 60 yards, keep the o ring well oiled and make sure you hold onto it tight, bit of a kick off them,
threat it like a loaded gun id say they would do a bit of damage if it hit you or the dog,, test it on the wife 1st:D

dev110

They say if a dog can withstand the high pitch from a .22 the can withstand the dull bang from a 12g

dev110

@Deeks

Just after trying firing the primer and it will be perfect to get the dog used to the gun and that it makes noise. Very handy tip!

deeksofdoom

Glad to be of service, standing with a pup and firing a fully loaded cartridge is madness imho.

I've seen a couple of posts on this thread with fellahs recommending 'firing over the dog to see if he is gunshy or not,' when I read them last night I was cringing thinking 'I hope to **** he doesn't do that', your taking a big chance that the dog is not going to react badly to the shot. Dogs aren't born gunshy they're made gunshy.

Anyway best of luck with him!

kenneths

which joe irvine book is it this???
http://www.sportsden.ie/guns/gun-accessories/dog-trianing-books/training-spaniels-by-joe-irving.html

dev110

kenneths wrote: »

which joe irvine book is it this???
http://www.sportsden.ie/guns/gun-accessories/dog-trianing-books/training-spaniels-by-joe-irving.html

Ye thats the one. I think it is a great book.

alan86

ya i also have that book grate book he also has another one its Gun Dogs: Their Learning Chain by Joe Irving i am curently using this book to train my first springer and it takes you through every step of the way from 8weeks old to the finished product i would definitly recommed it.

dicky82

just on the dummy launcher.

the dummy launcher i bought came with two dummies.
i got the dog used to retreiving the dummies by throwing them by hand.
when i had the dog at the stage where she was hupped infront of me and was a distance away from her i would throw a left and right dummy and hand signal her to the retreives.

then one day i increased the distance between me and her slightly and used the launcher instead of throwing the dummy and just hand signaled her as normal. she never flinched a muscle, more interested in which dummy i was going to send her for first she just got on with it.

as regards the launcher itself, you slide the dummy down the shaft and pull and release the firing pin. the further down the shaft you go the further the dummy will fire.

it can use three types of .22 blanks.

green (soft)
yellow (medium) (i use these)
red (hard)

hope this helps.