take the dog or leave it

pheasntstalker

hi lads/lasses,im in a bit of a wrestling match between the heart and the head,my bro in law is looking for a home for his springer,he is pure bred(the dog not the bro inlaw),and is roughly a year old,when we brought him out last season along side my springer bitch ,he showed great protenial,but the bro in law hasnt done any training what so ever with him,and cant due to work,he has a full tail:eek:,and id love to take him trouble is (1) would i be able to start from scratch and train him or will it be harder,i still consider myself a novice and i dont want to make the same mistakes i did with my springer bitch who is my first dog and (2) if i get the ans to the first question to help me make up my mind how to convince the wife to take him in:o:D:D ans on a post card please:D

kermitpwee

From my experience some dogs are easier to train and take to it quicker than others, it will take a while for you to strike up a bond with the dog before training starts. Is the dog a sensitive dog or bold, how would you desribe the dog? Has it had enough human contact to understand that the master has to bne pleased or has it been allowed to run wild for a year? Is he come from a pen enviornment or a dog that has been roaming a farm yard with loads of freedom?

Personally the full tail is a disaster imo and I wouldnt bother with him if heavy cover is your game. He will be pissing out that blood every 5 minutes. If i had a dog with a full tail I would persevere but wouldnt take on a dog with a full tail if ya get my drift. Other swill no doubt disagree but if he turns out to be a good dog that bashes thru cover you may have to get that tail amputated. If he turns out useless then his tail will not matter!

Stevegeraghty

My springer has a tail,when I come up with a solution I'll let ye know, my lad wrecks his ears as well

Spunk84

pheasntstalker wrote: »

hi lads/lasses,im in a bit of a wrestling match between the heart and the head,my bro in law is looking for a home for his springer,he is pure bred(the dog not the bro inlaw),and is roughly a year old,when we brought him out last season along side my springer bitch ,he showed great protenial,but the bro in law hasnt done any training what so ever with him,and cant due to work,he has a full tail:eek:,and id love to take him trouble is (1) would i be able to start from scratch and train him or will it be harder,i still consider myself a novice and i dont want to make the same mistakes i did with my springer bitch who is my first dog and (2) if i get the ans to the first question to help me make up my mind how to convince the wife to take him in:o:D:D ans on a post card please:D

You can only see, take him on until the season starts or less and see what you think after that . My mate was given a 3 yr Springer the same story as you but never hunted or shot over ,we brought him out and he was fantastic in ditches and being shot over. We put birds in a field and he would find them but he wouldn't come when he was called he would run on,that lasted 2 days and then my friend rehomed him, the dog either has it or it doesn't , sometimes your head is always right in my friends case he couldn't deal with having a dog that didnt recall,it may be the best working dog you every see but after a few instances were you have to spend an hour to half of a day looking for him then is when you realise its not worth it

pheasntstalker

i think il go with the head and leave him,to ans other ops questions, he has free run of the yard/garden an acre in all,but with radio fence round the perimeter,he knows who,s boss but he is bold/head strong,after reading posts and taking in yer advice and having not wanting him tortured with the tail ,il wait until i bred my own bitch after season ends this /nxt january and pick a pup an start from scratch,thanks again for all replies and advice as allways aprecatated regards p.s

kermitpwee

pheasntstalker wrote: »

i think il go with the head and leave him,to ans other ops questions, he has free run of the yard/garden an acre in all,but with radio fence round the perimeter,he knows who,s boss but he is bold/head strong,after reading posts and taking in yer advice and having not wanting him tortured with the tail ,il wait until i bred my own bitch after season ends this /nxt january and pick a pup an start from scratch,thanks again for all replies and advice as allways aprecatated regards p.s

Good choice imo, it would take a while if ever to reign him in if he has had an acre to run free in. There is one answer but it would need to be done with some tact and knowledge and with the tail I personally wouldn't bother unless he is a total hunting machine, Training collar(electric).

TriggerPL

kermitpwee wrote: »

pheasntstalker wrote: »

i think il go with the head and leave him,to ans other ops questions, he has free run of the yard/garden an acre in all,but with radio fence round the perimeter,he knows who,s boss but he is bold/head strong,after reading posts and taking in yer advice and having not wanting him tortured with the tail ,il wait until i bred my own bitch after season ends this /nxt january and pick a pup an start from scratch,thanks again for all replies and advice as allways aprecatated regards p.s

Good choice imo, it would take a while if ever to reign him in if he has had an acre to run free in. There is one answer but it would need to be done with some tact and knowledge and with the tail I personally wouldn't bother unless he is a total hunting machine, Training collar(electric).

It really is down to you , ya might see something in him you like , IMO I wouldn touch him with a tail your asking for hard ship . You would have work cut out for you but in not impossible . Probally better off with a fresh dog.

pheasntstalker

its hard to explain but when we brought him out at 5mths old last season,just to see what he was like,he left me an the father-in-law amazed and gobsmacked,he doesnt hunt like yer typical springer he has no great hurry ,nose to the ground picks up the scent beats on then stops ,sticks the head up straight,sniffs the air ,turns and looks at u as if to say ,we,re on:eek: an carrys on this is the gods honest truth my father inlaw has shot with,owned an trained his own springers and never seen this behavior in 25+ yrs he,s had them,coolhand luke we nicknamd him:cool: and he wasnt afraid of heavy cover or shots fired over him it was just ashame my bro inlaw didnt do any thing with him:(:( coz he can/and should have bein a great dog,tbh as i stated im still a novise and still learning it just might be too much of a challenge at this stage of my springer training just atm:(

kermitpwee

pheasntstalker wrote: »

its hard to explain but when we brought him out at 5mths old last season,just to see what he was like,he left me an the father-in-law amazed and gobsmacked,he doesnt hunt like yer typical springer he has no great hurry ,nose to the ground picks up the scent beats on then stops ,sticks the head up straight,sniffs the air ,turns and looks at u as if to say ,we,re on:eek: an carrys on this is the gods honest truth my father inlaw has shot with,owned an trained his own springers and never seen this behavior in 25+ yrs he,s had them,coolhand luke we nicknamd him:cool: and he wasnt afraid of heavy cover or shots fired over him it was just ashame my bro inlaw didnt do any thing with him:(:( coz he can/and should have bein a great dog,tbh as i stated im still a novise and still learning it just might be too much of a challenge at this stage of my springer training just atm:(

I have seen cockers air scent, I reckon that he is not in a hurry as he doesn't know what its about. Did he flush any game last year? You could bring him out now and see what he is like. Training a spaniel is not difficult so dont worry. 90% of people have the ability to train a spaniel to a decent rough shooting standard. You seem like your heart really wants to take on the dog. If you like the dog thats half the battle as you will be willing to put in the work. It would be a big ask to have him out for the 1st of november imo. I like dogs trained to a high standard you may not need that standard.
I have played the Devils advocate all thru this thread. If you want the dog then get him and train him up to the standard you need.

It sounds like you want him:D

pheasntstalker

too late now:mad: a shooting buddy of the father inlaws brought him 2day,and is goina try him,at least his goin to a good man with more experience than me:):) so happy in that regard,il start rite an proper with a pup nxt year all goin well:)

kermitpwee

pheasntstalker wrote: »

too late now:mad: a shooting buddy of the father inlaws brought him 2day,and is goina try him,at least his goin to a good man with more experience than me:):) so happy in that regard,il start rite an proper with a pup nxt year all goin well:)

Whats for you wont pass you, well so my man reckons. You will get a better bond with your own pup.