Hunting / Bird Dog Training in Calgary or Airdrie
 

Does anyone know of a scent work dog trainer in the Calgary or Airdrie Area?

I'm fairly new to bird hunting myself, and I have a less then typical bird dog (German Shepherd) that I would like to train to retrieve birds. As well as finding some antlers in the spring. I'm looking for somewhere I can learn with my dog and not send her away to a kennel to get trained. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

:)

:party0052:

Buy a lab then start, literally none of those things that you want to train the dog for come naturally to a shepherd.

It might be possible...shepherds can track... you might be able to teach him to trail a pheasant. No idea on people that train them for that though. One option that comes to mind is maybe swing by your local police detachment and see if you can speak with their dog handler. They might be able to give you a few pointers.

Other than that check out leerburg training videos. http://leerburg.com

That said, for your purpose you might want to consider buying a field
bred retriever.

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly!

I definitely understand your perspective to get a dog that was actually meant for the specific sport. I guess I just don't want to give up that easily. I'd like to at least give it a try with her and see how it goes before I decide to invest into another dog. And thank you for the tips about online training or dvds etc. I will look into that!

Have any of you trained your dog to bird hunt? How old did you start your dog? How did you get them to be less scared of the loud shot?

Thanks again!

There's a number of folks on here that have trained our dogs to hunt. But the vast majority of us have bred hunting dogs. (Labs/shorthair pointers/brittneys/etc). Training usually starts as a pup and it's a life long process of either training or maintaining the skills for each season.

I have no idea how training your shepherd for hunting will go, you may well have your work cut out for you. But if the dog has the desire to please and work with you it might be possible to some degree. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.

As for your question about the loud shot...that's an introductory process,
Probably would require more time than I have right now to type out, but basically, you start at a distance and slowly move closer to the dog, as long as the dog doesn't mind the noise you can progress until you are next to the dog while at the same time you need to be associating the noise with something positive . There is a great potential to create a gun shy dog by just going out and firing shots around your dog.

Shes still a puppy, and shes pretty smart, shes already on her way to tracking down some sheds so I'm pretty confident she will be capable of find birds. I really appreciate your advice! I've already fired a few shots around her and she didn't seem to nervous but I definitely don't want to traumatize her.

Hopefully this works out. Thanks again! :character0175:

There's videos on youtube on people hunting over GSD's. They likely won't be a good pointer, but seek and flush shouldn't be a problem with the right training. Shepherds are intelligent dogs.

My buddy in Ontario breed and trains Sheperds for Guard Work.
I have sent him a message to see whether he has ever scent trained dogs for hunting.

It looks like it can be done:
https://youtu.be/RU76ShF45lg

I'm not overly concerned that she won't be able to figure out the finding and retrieving the birds, I'm more interested in finding someone who would be willing to work with her and I so that we don't look like idiots when we do get out there and go hunting.

I will admit, being female and hunting as it is can sometimes be a bit intimidating. Especially since I will have a ridiculous looking dog with me. We will probably end up looking like fools so I would love to work with someone who trains dogs even if they typically work with real hunting dogs. So if anyone does know of a trainer that works one on one I would really appreciate the contact info!

Thanks,
:D

If the dog goes through force fetch training it would be fine I think. A retriever trainer would be able to help, but other than WWbirds I can't help with a recommendation. I would not hesitate to contact him and see what he thinks. He knows dogs and training.

Don't worry about how you look. Most like the only one that's going to be looking at you will be your dog. Good on you for getting out there! Enjoy the outdoors with your dog!

You won't be the only one with a dog that looks out of place, last fall we saw a group with three German Shepherd or German Shepherd/Cross dogs at a pheasant release site. Those dogs chased up enough birds, and the group fired enough shots to kill several times their limits. :)

Well thank you guys, I really appreciate your support! I guess sometimes I forget that its more about having fun and getting out and trying then how you look.

Just for information sake, in case anyone else is reading this feed looking for something similar as me. I haven't been able to find a specific trainer that specifically sticks to training bird dogs, but I have been able to find some interesting scent-work courses around Airdrie that run over a period of a couple weeks. They couldn't hurt, and I'm sure its a good place to start. I've also contacted a trainer at kayenna kennels which seems promising, one of the trainers there has past experience on training hunting dogs.

I am going out on a limb here...but I'm guessing that with those scent work courses you should be able to transition the same skill to finding birds and sheds. Just have to make it worthwhile for the dog. (Fun/exciting/rewarding)

I might be interested in checking out those scent courses you've found if you don't mind pointing me in the right direction. I'm in the same boat, female shepherd just haven't got around to looking for the courses


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Here are the websites of the places I have found:
http://www.onthetrail.ca/dogtracking.php
http://www.hightails.ca/dog-training...-descriptions/
http://www.theplace4paws.com/training/
http://clevercanine.ca/class/find-it-nosework-classes

The place 4 paws is where I'm currently taking my dog for puppy manner classes, but she also offers some additional nose work courses once you've completed the basic training. I haven't personally went to classes at Clever Canine, but I have a friend who took her rescue Shepherd through a course with them who had some severe issues and she turned into the best/well behaved dog. I've heard a lot of great things about the company itself so I thought I would add it here. They offer probably the best option if you want to train your dog to hunt for sport. The other two were just something I found on the web, and I can't personally say if they would be worth it, but I thought I would add them on here. Hopefully that helps!

A tip
 

Save your money on scent training, all dogs can find the birds, coyotes don't need training for example.

You need obedience training first. Your dog must be under your control at all times. You have a large and powerful dog.

Decide if you are going to encourage the dog to flush or "point", both are possible.

Retrieving will require a lesson or more of force fetch. That's about it.

Have a look at Rick Smith's whoa post training, Huntsmith.com I think.

Remember you can teach a dog anything, it takes time, patience and a little expertise.

Ugd
 

Talk to Andre @ Ultimate Gun Dog in Turner Valley....
He has seminars all the time...
http://www.ultimategundog.ca

Follow up
 

Following up on this thread - any results?