My topic this month is ‘started dogs'. I have had two people come to me over the last month with young dogs bought under the guise of ‘started'. In both cases, the buyer paid for training that was less than adequate.
In case number one, a fellow bought a six-month-old English Setter that had supposedly had four months of training. The buyer had intended to use the dog during a South Dakota pheasant. Before paying for the dog, the seller had set a bird and walked the pup into it as the buyer observed. The pup pointed the bird and was steady to the flush. No shots were fired. You probably know where I am going with this. The buyer had attempted to contact me before the sale and shortly afterwards. Unfortunately I was not in town. I spent twenty-one days in October hunting grouse across the northern two-thirds of the state. I was unable to view the dog until November. The buyer said he thought the dog was gun shy, saying he had set a quail in one of his fields and walked the dog into it. Upon the flush, he shot a .410, killing the quail. At the shot the dog ran hell bent for the barn and hid. The buyer also noticed the dog would be frightened when his neighbor was target shooting with a .22 at a distance of over a hundred yards. The dog was aloof, almost shy when it arrived at my farm. It was spooked by my burn barrel and quad runners and did not wish to be petted by me. We took the dog for a walk through the preserve, at which time it did not appear to be hunting.
First, let me say a normal six-month-old English Setter pup is happy to meet people and should not be spooked by common things around the house. This dog had no interest in me even though I smelled like birds and dogs, since this was at the end of my work day.
Second, let me say that there are a few ‘seminar-givers'. I hesitate to call them trainers. They are telling people they need to start training pointing dog pups for the field at ten or twelve weeks. Young pups at three or four months of age do not have the attention span to do anything for more then a few minutes. And if you put a young pup in a pen full of flushing, squawking birds you will be running the risk of scaring the hell out of the pup. Young pups need to be developed over time as they mature, not rushed into adult situations or pressured to be under complete control all the times. Children and puppies need time to play and have fun on a regular basis for normal development. As I have said in past columns, introduce the pup to new things, let it have fun. Then, at about six to eight months, start your formal training.
The lesson with this dog was ‘always shoot over a started dog.' Shoot a bunch. If the seller doesn't like it, he's hiding something.
The second situation was a six-month-old pointing Lab. This dog was purchased for upland hunting. Once again, the seller claimed the dog had four months of training, two months with birds and two months without.Now, I understand that does used strictly for duck hunting are started very young on obedience drills. This is not the case with pointing dogs, simply because a pointing dog needs to have independence to search the fields. A pointing dog that never ventures more than ten or fifteen yards from the handler will not be effective at finding game.
A sure sign of a novice pointing dog owner is a dog that will not move out and hunt away from the handler. I was at a NAVHDA event about three years ado. During the Natural Ability portion of the test for dogs six to sixteen months old, I watched from the gallery as a breeder of German Short-haired Pointers ran one of his customer's dogs on the upland portion of the test. The dog showed little confidence, had its tail tucked between its legs most of the time, and refused to go more than fifteen to twenty yards from the handler. Not knowing the dog's owner was standing next to me, I explained to the gallery that this dog would be scored down because of this. I knew that the judges did not like to see dogs being pressured and basically over-trained at a young age.
After the test, as we were waiting for the scores to be read, the breeder sat down next to me and introduced himself. I explained to him his mistakes and assured him that as he gained more experience, with pointing dogs, he would become more comfortable with the dogs that ranged out, at least to the edge of shotgun range. He wanted to argue the point and proceeded to try to convince me that he was an experience dog handler.
The senior judge started his speech by saying that they do not like to see young dogs in this state. He went on to criticize ‘professional trainers' competeing in the NAVHDA tests as handlers for clients. I turned to the breeder and explained that he was the person they were talking about. He proceeded to argue his point foolishly with the senior judge. After he was finished, I approached the judge and asked him what his complaint was about how the dogs I had brought were handled. “Charlie, you know we don't have any problems with you,” was his reply, at which time I admonished him for making blank statements considering all professional trainers, at least in my presence.
The pointing Lab in question did not search the field when given the chance. It stayed with us and walked around, showing no interest in finding birds even though I gave it a freshly shot pheasant to play with before our walk. It would not heel on a leash and would not retrieve a pheasant shot during the walk without lots of coaxing. During the entire time I was evaluating this pup, the new owner was making excuses. I asked if the dog's parents' eyes, elbows or hips had been certified. He did not know. I asked how many birds and what type had been shot during training. He did not know. I asked what training had been done. He did not know. I could not see more then about a week's worth of training on the dog. It reacted to the ‘whoa' command but did not whoa. It was a nice pup, appeared to be well-bred, but I could not see where $1,400 worth of training was done, especially four months of training on a six-month-old dog.
When buying a started dog, ask specific questions, see the dog in action, and shoot a shotgun to see what kind of reaction the dog has. I always want to see the parents work and always ask for a two-week trial period. If the breeder is reputable and his dogs are any good, this should not be a problem.
Charlie Linblade
Mighigan Wing Shooters Hunt Club
Michigan Pheasant Hunting
Michigan Bird Dog Training
