First Seasons
Perhaps the most important hunting season in a puppy's development is the first fall, where they learn to love the woods and form a partnership with their owner/hunter that will last the remainder of its life. Running hard and complying with commands are two of my objectives with young pups in their first year, and Rocky and Bella (pictured above), my pups from Rosie's litter last spring, had a good first season in respects to what we hoped to achieve.
I'm a believer that the desire to hunt hard and find birds, the "prey drive", is something that is intrinsic to dogs. It is either there or it isn't, and being Rosie's pups, I knew already that the prey drive would be strong with them. Much like Rosie, they run hard and their search seems to be very good - both Rocky and Bella pattern well and check in with me, and respond to my changes in direction through the woods. They also have been very responsive to my recall command, when needed, and the training collar has helped reinforce my commands when the puppy brain is not responding ...
Birds and bird contacts are also an important part of the first season too, but handling birds is secondary, as having a good time and contacting birds is more important at this time. Fortunately, the October woodcock provided many opportunities for both dogs to showcase their pointing instincts, and they did not disappoint. Bella in particular had a lot of solid points on woodcock, and we took quite a few with her, while Rocky also had several good woodcock points and was rewarded for his efforts by my clients.
Finding live game is one aspect of their development for sure, but they also both excelled at finding wounded and dead game. The first woodcock I took over Bella was a case where I wasn't entirely sure that I had hit the bird. It turned out that I did, as Bella found and retrieved the dead woodcock to hand after searching for five minutes. Rocky also retrieved to hand, without much prior retrieving training (outside of playing some "fetch" games with him a few months ago), so the appearance of this skill was great to witness. it should only get better too, as they presumably point more birds that are taken by my clients, giving them more retrieving practice.
As you would expect, grouse have been a tougher nut to crack, but we're starting to have some success there as well. Over the last week or so, Bella has had several longer points (ten seconds or so) on grouse, but I unfortunately have not been able to get to her in time for a shot. We have done little in the way of "whoa" training yet, so things happen pretty fast out there: dog searching, point established, a few seconds of me trying to decipher if it is in fact a point ("Is that really a point?"), then hustling to get to the pup before the bird starts moving and the pup breaks.
Rocky's development seems to be a little behind Bella at the moment, which is probably right on schedule. Do females develop faster as hunters than males? Nodding in approval, my wife and every other female in my life just snicker when this theory is mentioned. He may have had fewer points so far, but his heart makes up for any shortcomings - he really attacks the cover, and more consistent pointing will come for him soon.
It seems as though Rosie's good genetics are surfacing in many of the other pups that are hunting as well. We have been fortunate to stay in touch with some of the other puppy owners from that litter, and it sounds as if Rocky and Bella's siblings are well on their way to becoming great hunting partners as well. Good reports have been rolling in from the owners of Sookie (NH), Erna (NH), Otto (MA), and Hazel (ME), and all of the pups have made progress in their first year.
Out of all the pups, Sookie especially has had a great fall, excelling on woodcock and providing her owner with a lot of great opportunities to take birds. Much like Bella and Rocky, there's still plenty of work to do for all of the pups, with lessons to be learned and new commands to become proficient at. In other words, we all have plenty to do, but they're off to a good start and the next bunch of years should be a lot of fun for all of us ...
I'm a believer that the desire to hunt hard and find birds, the "prey drive", is something that is intrinsic to dogs. It is either there or it isn't, and being Rosie's pups, I knew already that the prey drive would be strong with them. Much like Rosie, they run hard and their search seems to be very good - both Rocky and Bella pattern well and check in with me, and respond to my changes in direction through the woods. They also have been very responsive to my recall command, when needed, and the training collar has helped reinforce my commands when the puppy brain is not responding ...
Birds and bird contacts are also an important part of the first season too, but handling birds is secondary, as having a good time and contacting birds is more important at this time. Fortunately, the October woodcock provided many opportunities for both dogs to showcase their pointing instincts, and they did not disappoint. Bella in particular had a lot of solid points on woodcock, and we took quite a few with her, while Rocky also had several good woodcock points and was rewarded for his efforts by my clients.
Finding live game is one aspect of their development for sure, but they also both excelled at finding wounded and dead game. The first woodcock I took over Bella was a case where I wasn't entirely sure that I had hit the bird. It turned out that I did, as Bella found and retrieved the dead woodcock to hand after searching for five minutes. Rocky also retrieved to hand, without much prior retrieving training (outside of playing some "fetch" games with him a few months ago), so the appearance of this skill was great to witness. it should only get better too, as they presumably point more birds that are taken by my clients, giving them more retrieving practice.
As you would expect, grouse have been a tougher nut to crack, but we're starting to have some success there as well. Over the last week or so, Bella has had several longer points (ten seconds or so) on grouse, but I unfortunately have not been able to get to her in time for a shot. We have done little in the way of "whoa" training yet, so things happen pretty fast out there: dog searching, point established, a few seconds of me trying to decipher if it is in fact a point ("Is that really a point?"), then hustling to get to the pup before the bird starts moving and the pup breaks.
Rocky's development seems to be a little behind Bella at the moment, which is probably right on schedule. Do females develop faster as hunters than males? Nodding in approval, my wife and every other female in my life just snicker when this theory is mentioned. He may have had fewer points so far, but his heart makes up for any shortcomings - he really attacks the cover, and more consistent pointing will come for him soon.
It seems as though Rosie's good genetics are surfacing in many of the other pups that are hunting as well. We have been fortunate to stay in touch with some of the other puppy owners from that litter, and it sounds as if Rocky and Bella's siblings are well on their way to becoming great hunting partners as well. Good reports have been rolling in from the owners of Sookie (NH), Erna (NH), Otto (MA), and Hazel (ME), and all of the pups have made progress in their first year.
Out of all the pups, Sookie especially has had a great fall, excelling on woodcock and providing her owner with a lot of great opportunities to take birds. Much like Bella and Rocky, there's still plenty of work to do for all of the pups, with lessons to be learned and new commands to become proficient at. In other words, we all have plenty to do, but they're off to a good start and the next bunch of years should be a lot of fun for all of us ...
Sookie has had a great first season, pointing and holding woodcock for her owner to shoot. She has helped take 25 timberdoodles this year.
Finally, one for the males! Otto has become a good hunting partner for his owner, helping take this pheasant earlier this fall.
Erna hunts hard and under control for her owner. She took a grouse hunting trip a few weeks ago, and has had good sessions hunting pheasant at the state sites.
