The Brittany Forum

Sokoly · Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:08 am Post subject: Your opinion

What is your opinion? I am seriously thinking of finding a nice trained brittany. The offer I got is 3,5 year old trained male around 700 EU, a 3 year old male with no pedigree 100 EU, also introduced to hunt (but with guns), and a 1 year old female with all the papers 150 EU. The owner of the bitch told me that she needs some more work to become a steady marker-pointer. What is your opinion, what should I go for. The money does make the difference but the point is I would really like a dog that will become a part of my life and be of help when doing falconry. Finding the partridges. Please give me your opinion on this. I am not in a position to take care of small puppy - Sad

Annie as admin · Bretonnier Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 1757

I would go for the young female. Older trained and partly trained dogs quite often go through disobedience with new owners so you would be in the same position as if you had to retrain. The female will be much more likely to bond with you too.
Annie
ps we do not know whether you are male or female as we don't know names in your country - Laughing

Which please?

Sokoly · Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:59 am Post subject: Ha

I am a 30 year old male. My name is Ognen my nick name is Sokoly because Sokol means FALCON in Macedonian as in many other Slovic languages. :-)
If I go for the female will I have to breed from here and what is the best time to do that? What are the traits that I should look for when the owner takes her out in the field to show her to me? How do i recognize some good or bad traits? What to look for? How do I judge the character?
Their will be more questions coming up...... :-)

Mugi · Bretonnier Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 1304

Hi

I can't help with what to look for as I have never worked a dog but like Annie I would go for the bitch. In my opinion the fact that she needs some work to finish her means you have an ideal opportunity to build a good relationship with the dog which can mean more with the HPR breeds than what actual training has taken place.

As for breeding, no you don't need to breed from her. I don't know what the facilities are in your country but if you can manage to keep her separate from dogs during her seasons then there is no reason to neuter either although there are certainly some health benefits to consider.

If you chose to breed it should be done because you want to and if you know you can find homes for the pups.
_________________
Sue, Chase and the non-Brittany boys - Brice & Piper. Pets first and foremost.

Never forgetting Mugi and Freddy

Sokoly · Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:20 am Post subject: Yup

I plan to keep her in the house. So no adittional separation from the dogs would be needed I quess. Bitches are smaller so it would be even better for me and for her to leave in the house. The only thing that is worrying me is how am I going to leavve her at home alone during the working ours??? What should I do to make this event less stressful for the dog and less costly for me (my inventory, sofa, rags, furniture, etc.) :-)))

Annie as admin · Bretonnier Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 1757

Hi Sokoly
You should invewst in an indoor kennel - a large cage where she can move around in and you can leave water and food if necessary. It would be best if you had someone coming in to let her out to wee if you are away more than a few hours. But perhaps you can get home at lunchtime?

I would also suggest you arrange to have a few days off work to bond with her as she may suffer separation anxiety otherwise and bark - your neighbours would not like that! You can get her used to the cage during those days by putting her in there to eat and also when you are eating, and she can sleep in it at night. If she is left alone to roam the house she may well chew things up as she will get bored. She is little moer than a puppy really at that age.
I agree with Sue - no need to breed unless you want to and have buyers for puppies. If she turns out to be a good worker people will want them.
Good luck.
Annie

Sokoly · Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:09 pm Post subject:

Can someone give me some advices on how do I make her a good working/hunting dog? Is only taking her to the field good enough? What do I do when she finds the birds? How do I make her not flush them till I give her the signal?
I know I ask too many questions but please understand me I wantto give my dog the best treatment and have some good input from her during my falconry.

Annie as admin · Bretonnier Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 1757

Don't worry. She will hunt naturally. Most Brittanys are hunting machines. What you need to do is not let her off lead until she will stop on command every time (one long whistle blast and a flat hand held high like a policeman) and return to you every time (a few peeps on the whistle and perhaps a treat when she comes back to you and sits nicely). When she is allowed off lead to hunt she will forget most things but if you have trained these two commands onlead you will have a better chance of controlling her. You can use a long line so she cannot run away until she is steady.
Annie

Mugi · Bretonnier Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 1304

Hi Sokoly

As Annie says, they do it naturally. The first time I took Mugi out was just as the pheasnat season was starting and the area we were in was teeming with birds. Mugi hunted steadily, went on point then flushed a hen pheasant. He returned to me all happy with himself.

I got him aged 10 yrs from a pet home so it is definitely a natural ability!!
I concentrated on recall as my first training priority and since then we have worked on the emergency stop. In my opinion all other behaviours can follow but with these you have a good chance of keeping your dog safe and happy.
_________________
Sue, Chase and the non-Brittany boys - Brice & Piper. Pets first and foremost.

Never forgetting Mugi and Freddy

Sokoly · Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:34 pm Post subject:

Thanks for your advices, but what does it mean to train in to stop. Don't they stop naturally when they find the sent of the birds? How do I teach the dog to stand on a point a longer period without flashing the birds. I will need this kind of work because I will have to release the falcon and wait at list 10-15 minutes to get a good hight and position of the falcon. Will she wait that long and wait for my command when to flush the birds? How do I make her stop from chasing the falcon and partridge, this could be dangerous because as soon as the falcon catches the partridge they will lend. If the dog approaches on the falcon with kill it can get grabbed on the nose...