my birthday not my date of birth. My computer says july. _________________ Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk
Johnhod - as a Liverpudlian type do you have any right to complain of or to ask for a translation of other peoples languages ! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black !
I.M.O. retrieving is a subject dear to my heart but not dear to many Brittanies. With the best will in the world and even with rose coloured specs on Brits are not the easiest of gundog breeds to persuade to retrieve. As a breed they tend to do what comes naturally easily and that includes retrieving game but they tend not to like being trained to do it !
Up to present I have tried two ways of training a Brit to retrieve. I have tried working on the hunting from a very early age (10 weeks) and I have tried working on the retrieving from an early age (7 weeks) .... The pup given very early encouragement to retrieve was relatively easy to train for more advanced retrieving. The hunt encouraged pup was very difficult to train to retrieve any dummy or even ccld game.
The hunt encouraged pup hunted like a little fiend but she nearly had me in tears over her retrieving - or rather the lack of it ! She would have tried the patience of a saint ! She would retrieve fresh game but not dummies and I won two trials with her before I had persuaded her to pick a dummy. In short she was a real brit, a little monster -but - oh boy ! She could work ! I was very fortunate in those trials she won . The judges liked her and wanted her to win (I think !) when they discovered she only liked freshly killed game they made certain that the birds used for the water tests were damned near red hot !
All that was fine and good but more is needed if a fully accomplished gundog is required. Game cannot be organised to fall in such a way that it makes a good blind retrieve. To have a reliable dog at blind retrieves the dog must be prepared to retrieve either dummies or cold game. Only in this way can the neccessary practice take place.
Since even cold game is not always available the dog must be trained to retrieve dummies - back to square one - many Brittanies don't like them !
Unless the handler is very experienced or prepared to C.T. the pup or F.F. the pup I believe that retrieving should be a major part of a pups life from a very early age. If it wants to play the only kind of game to engage in should be retrieve games. Only after two or three puppy type retrieves should the handler engage in other games.
Neither F.F. or C.T. is acceptable to me for gundog training so I am left to work with the instincts a good breeder should have bred in to a litter with extra to spare ! That is of course a personal view but I have used both F.F. and C.T. - both are capable of masking a lack of retrieve instinct and a dog lacking in that instinct should not be bred from no matter the dogs other attributes at work or in the show ring.
If good retrieving is required , breed for it first, train for it second.
The Plum. _________________ The dogs nose is better than yours, let it use it!
The Plum
Unless the handler is prepared to C.T. the pup
I wonder if this is what you did? The click was the safety going off.
Mine soon learned the connection between the safety's click and the need to keep an eye on the gun (shooter) as well as the sky. I really should have a camera with me when behind a peg - when the bird is missed - the dog does not need to speak our language the eyes speak volumes _________________ Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk
It is certaily true that a dog will quickly understand the significance of the sound a gun makes when a safety catch is put "off."
I had a bitch that was used to decoying pigeon and goose. She sat or lay in the hide and if things were slow she would fall asleep. She come instantly awake if I saw a bird coming in my direction and put off the safety in preparation for the shot.
Once while I was in an evil mood I noticed her sleeping in front of the fire one evening. I sneaked away and got the gun. She jumped bolt upright when I put the safety off and stared all around her trying to see the bird and get her bearings. She realised my trick ,gave me a filthy look and lay down again with a grumble.
I never repeated this, in fact I felt a bit of a rat ! I love a bit of fun but I am of the opinion that tricks should not hurt man or animal physically or mentally. Just a personal thing.
The Plum. _________________ The dogs nose is better than yours, let it use it!
That bit about only retrieving game when it's red hot applys to the Ghilldog, she is really not interested if I try to get her to retrieve cold game ie anything more than a couple of hours old. Perhaps they share the same ancestors Hope the training goes well today......... _________________ Jan
Merlin, hips 9/9=18 and Ghillie, hips 8/9=17
Pull [n or v] An equal and opposite force perpetrated on both ends of a lead that results in the inevitable tripping and falling of the human involved!!
I was in the unfortunate position of not getting my Brittany until he was 9 months old and getting him retrieving dummy's was a struggle. I resisted the temptation to use the FF and knew (and still know) little of CT methods so it was a long hard slog on dummys, with mediocre results. Once on game, however, he changed completely and retrieved as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Once the season was over I had to wean him off game and back onto dummys, for training, which took less effort than I expected (except at training classes, on a particular ground, where he sees retrieving as something for the others to do while he enjoys a sniff around) _________________ My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.
That bit about only retrieving game when it's red hot applys to the Ghilldog, she is really not interested if I try to get her to retrieve cold game ie anything more than a couple of hours old. Perhaps they share the same ancestors Hope the training goes well today.........
Ponder this!!! Imagine having a mouth of cold duck, or chilled pheasant or a defrosting quail on a frozen shooting expedition... _________________ "...amitie, respect mutuel et amour..."
Yes, thats just what she hates Victoria. We don't have frozen shooting expeditions but she won't pick up game that I keep from one day to the next.......or defrost.
_________________ Jan
Merlin, hips 9/9=18 and Ghillie, hips 8/9=17
Pull [n or v] An equal and opposite force perpetrated on both ends of a lead that results in the inevitable tripping and falling of the human involved!!
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Talk about the pot calling the kettle black ! 