And Then There Were Two ...
That's Rosie's pup "Bella", from the litter of ten pups she had eleven weeks ago. She'll become a grouse hunter and valued member of our hunting pack, but there's a long way to go in her training to get her where we need her to be. The next few weeks will be important for bonding with Bella and her brother "Rocky", another of the pups that we are keeping from the litter.
We made some good strides in the bonding process with Bella this week, taking her for quite a few walks with her check cord on, getting some good repetition with the "COME" command, and enforcing the rules of the house with her at every chance. She's doing well and I'll be doing the same thing with Rocky this week. Then, we'll be doing some woods walks starting in July to get them comfortable with being in the woods and having fun at the same time. More reinforcement of commands and some introduction to gun fire as well should have them on their way to becoming contributing members of our team.
The other eight pups? They all headed out to their new homes a few weeks ago, and while it was good to introduce them to their new owners, it was bittersweet to see them go as well. Most are going to hunting households, but they all seem to be going to people that will truly love them and give them good, safe homes. Yes, we miss the pups, but it's much easier to care for two puppies than care for ten of them, so it is a bit of a relief and the house is much quieter now.
Still, it's been nearly seven years since I last trained a puppy, so I'm learning this process all over again. It is amazing to watch the changes take place physically and mentally on nearly a day to day basis, and at the end it is enormously satisfying to know that you and your dog are a hunting team. While the pups will hunt with me when time permits this fall, I'll spare my clients the honor of hunting with them until next year - it'll give me enough time to smooth out the rough edges that they're sure to have ...
We made some good strides in the bonding process with Bella this week, taking her for quite a few walks with her check cord on, getting some good repetition with the "COME" command, and enforcing the rules of the house with her at every chance. She's doing well and I'll be doing the same thing with Rocky this week. Then, we'll be doing some woods walks starting in July to get them comfortable with being in the woods and having fun at the same time. More reinforcement of commands and some introduction to gun fire as well should have them on their way to becoming contributing members of our team.
The other eight pups? They all headed out to their new homes a few weeks ago, and while it was good to introduce them to their new owners, it was bittersweet to see them go as well. Most are going to hunting households, but they all seem to be going to people that will truly love them and give them good, safe homes. Yes, we miss the pups, but it's much easier to care for two puppies than care for ten of them, so it is a bit of a relief and the house is much quieter now.
Still, it's been nearly seven years since I last trained a puppy, so I'm learning this process all over again. It is amazing to watch the changes take place physically and mentally on nearly a day to day basis, and at the end it is enormously satisfying to know that you and your dog are a hunting team. While the pups will hunt with me when time permits this fall, I'll spare my clients the honor of hunting with them until next year - it'll give me enough time to smooth out the rough edges that they're sure to have ...
