Today we woke up at 5:45AM (thank you Rod for letting us sleep in!) and drove up to Hastings for some training. Rod from
Redbirddog blog was kind enough to not only let us tag along, but to also work some birds! Riley did amazing, as usual, but her silly owner (me!) needs to learn to shut up and use my whistle while she's working instead of my voice. I just get too excited! She did superbly finding and pointing the birds, even in the strong wind. As soon as she was downwind of the bird, she immediately followed the scent. I don't think I'll every grow tired of watching her hunt! We brought a small bumper with us and practiced some fetch as well, which she loved. Rod brought out his pheasant bumper and after a few tries, she also started fetching that for us as well! She made me one proud mama today. :) We are a little concerned that the fireworks over 4th of July set off close to our house may have made her a little gun-shy because she jumped a bit whenever Rod would shoot his shotgun. I think we will be making a trip to the store for a starter pistol so we can practice with it out in the field a couple times a week until she's used to it. Her leg is SO much better - she still has a bit of a limp after a hard run, but I'm hoping that will go away with time.
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| Reuben, Riley, and the field we worked today. |
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| Riley would rather look at Rod than the camera! |
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It was a good time and Riley is a good bird dog. Careful with even a starter pistol unless she is around birds and is excited about something she LOVES (like her birds.) Fireworks suck for some dogs. My Chloe hates them. I was a few hundred yards away with my 20 gauge so even a blank gun should be used a long way away at first. Need to find that girl a trainer.
ReplyDeleteThank you Riley for finding my starter pistol I dropped in the field.
RBD
Sounds like a great day! I agree with Rod above. The best way to introduce or reintroduce is to do some birds without guns till she is CRAZY about them... Then you want to cap off with a starter pistol from a WAYS away as she is in hot pursuit of the bird she just found and you kicked up. So usually this is a 2 person job. One to handle her and one to be in the distance to cap off. You want to see her not even care about the noise as she is too into the bird chase, and if she does notice it it doesn't phase her and she continues to pursue. But really this is something you should do with a trainer. Wish I could help but we are on opposite sides of the US lol. Every dog is different but this is something you want to be sure to do right, or you could ruin your chance at having her as a bird dog.
ReplyDeleteI am sure Rod probably has a couple trainers to recommend, finding someone that has experience with their own dogs and hopefully even your breed is helpful. I have a fellow Vizsla owner who just sent their boy off for training at Firestorm Birddogs ( http://www.firestormbirddogs.com/ ) in Anza, CA. They have experience with the breed. I know nothing of them, but it's a starting point.
Keep up the good work
Anna
www.akginspiration.com