German Shorthaired Pointer puppy

[Ariu]

I have a German Shorthair Pointer (male) almost 3 months old. So far he has had one vaccine, will get the second one in one week and the third one somewhere at the beginning of March.
I hunt upland, geese and ducks over decoys and (mainly ducks) over the water, so I want to train him for upland and retrieving too.
The questions I have are:
Does the dog needs a formal training?
When should the training start?
How much does such a training costs and for how long?
Any trainers around Calgary?

thanks

[wwbirds]

Most trainers will not take a dog until you have socialized and done your housetraining and formal puppy obedience is a bonus by 5-6 months. Since waterfowl and retrieving seem to be your main interest I am surprized you did not get a lab. Cold water is not usually the forte of GSP and retrieving is good on some and lacking on others. Training costs are in the neighborhood or $850 to $1000 per month and some programs are as short as 90 days but everything depends on both the dog and your expectations. If you have never handled a dog before the trainer must spend at least one or two sessions a week with you so you are consistent in the handling of your dog. Does you no good to have a trained dog if you dont know how to get the best out of him. I see retrieving as the biggest challenge as many pointers lose interest in birds once they are dead. Pointing should come naturally but you will want to have a very strong recall and whoa commands ingrained before you venture out in the fall.

[goldscud]

If you are not concerned about having a "perfectly finished" dog you can do it yourself. Reads some books and spend the time. They are very clever dogs

[aulrich]

First off get your hands on this book, a good start for someone new to versatile, even if you are not training yourself.

https://books.google.ca/books/about/...d=bq0P_4GX5D8C

if you choose to train yourself and you are close enough, I highly recommend joining http://www.wildrosenavhda.com/

I don't know the cost off hand for a trainer, my guess it's cheaper than doing it yourself, the cost in training birds alone got pretty nasty for a couple of summers.

But that said it's more fun to do the training yourself. if you have time to keep a dog walked every day (and you will have to with a gsp and maybe twice at first).

[alacringa]

Training should probably have started about 5 weeks ago, but you're not too late. It is a lot of fun doing it yourself, and there are a lot of resources available. Joining Wildrose NAVHDA, as aulrich suggested, would be an excellent idea. It has been a pile of help to me, in training my Britt -- lots of folks with experience and helpful tips

[Ariu]

Thanks to everybody for the time and advice. Here is some additional info about me and my dog.
Yes I have handled dogs before. I own (since three years now) another non hunting dog.
Dog is almost housetrained but not so much socialized (he still loves to play and run around other dogs and don’t listen to commands)
He seems to be very clever and I am sure he will be a good pointer. I was with him in a pet store and he was freezing every time he was coming close to a rabbit or the other small creatures that they have there.

I have already some training books and I think I can teach him pointing, but what about retrieving? Is it so difficult? Any trainer around Calgary? I checked NAVHDA and it does not seem as an option - their location is more than 2hrs drive from where I live.
Thanks again

[britman101]

Here is my two bits worth of information. For pointing try and get the dog on birds. Great if they are wild but pigeons will also serve as good training tools. Sight pointing is one thing, but you want the dog to trust their nose, and to lock up on point once they get into the "scent cone" for the bird. The best teachers for this are birds. You can refine the point through the whoa command and making the dog steady to shot but you want the dog to trust its nose.
As far as retrieving you will find out what kind of retriever you have once you start asking the dog to bring things back. You might luck out and get a dog who is a natural retriever for both land and water. Brings back everything and right to your hand. However, usually things do not go that smooth and you have to work out those problem areas of the retrieve out with your dog. In my opinion retrieving is an obedience issue. This is because when you command the dog to retrieve a bird, it has to bring the bird back to you in a timely manner and to your hand. Any variance from that has to be corrected.

[elkhunter11]

I am getting my new dog in March, and I will be training him myself, with some help with Wildrose NAVHDA, which I just filled the application form to join. From what I have seen with friends dogs that I hunted over in the past, the dogs naturally point the bird, but they had to be taught to hold their position once the bird flushed, or they would chase the bird as soon as it flushed. The biggest issues that my friends had was getting the dogs to retrieve. The dogs would usually go to the dead bird, but they would either not pick it up, or they would pick it up, but not bring it back to him. I should mention though, that the dogs that I hunted over most, had obedience issues , because the owner didn't spend the time to train them to obey him. I am retired so I have plenty of time, and my first priority will be teaching the dog to obey me. After that, I will work more on the hunting skills.

After hunting with densa44 this past fall, I have a much better idea of how well trained pointers can work, and my goal is to get my dog to that level.

[densa44]

Take special note of the part about training the handler! If you yourself are the one that gets the training you will get the best out of your dog.

Sending the dog to a pro will show how well the dog works for the pro, for you, not so much.

If Wild Rose Navhda is too far away for a once per month session, get Rob at WWBIRDS to train you, it will pay off much more than sending your dog somewhere.

Just my experience.

[Newellknik]

This is a standard format .....get the dog .....then ask the
questions . I'm on my 11 pointer and 2 labs . I think GSP .
Tough for a first dog . Seeing as wild upland are on the decline..
And waterfowl are good and getting better. Densa brings up a
good point ,I've seen a few Pro Trained dogs not handled well
by the untrained owner . Good Pet first .....then good bird dog
Is the route to familial happiness .
I had two big Brits out of Iowa .....brutal house dogs ..
Like having cattle in the house ....They both hunted till
15 yrs. outlasted the wife by about 5 ....city girl .
I'm a Delmar Smith fan ......leaves the door open
to diversified training . Go with the dogs strength
Then work on his weaknesses . Should take about two years .
My Avatar is my latest protege . Rescue dog ,came from the
Betty Ford .

[PFKGSP]

Lots of good advice here from different angles. A lot will depend on the breeding your dog came from as to how much work it will take. IF there is a lot of field work in the background you should be OK.

If you are not familiar with handling a dog in these situations then a trainer is a good place to go. Books are a great tool but the best advice I would give you there is read a bunch of them. Don't tie yourself down to one book as the be all end all. Depending on your dogs issues even the worst book might have the one tip that works for that problem.

Britman 101 is right for the upland as well. Get yourself a bunch of pigeons or find someone to train with and get that pup on birds now. He needs to learn to use his nose and not his eyes.

Unless your dog is a stellar natural retriever right from the start I would go straight to a force break. They are far more reliable long term and are very happy doing it when they have been trained. Don't wait until he is 3 years old to decide he is not that good a retriever. If he doesn't want to pick birds up now he is not going to like it later on.