Bird Dogs Afield host Paul Fuller is the gun dog columnist for Northwoods Sporting Journal. The Journal has granted permission to re-print Paul’s articles. Thank you Northwoods Sporting Journal.

Justin Gets A New Puppy

This month’s column will be devoted to answering an email I received recently. Here’s the email:

"My name is Justin and I’m an avid hunter and fisherman. When I graduate from University of Maine this spring I plan on buying a Brittany puppy for a gun dog. I’m from Maine and hunt partridge/ruffed grouse and woodcock and I plan on doing the training myself. I was wondering whether you had any opinions, remarks, or advice about the Brittany breed or the breeder “Drew’s Brittany’s” out of Berwick, ME. I read your column every time I buy a Northwoods Sporting Journal which is about every month. I appreciate your time and reply. - Justin."

Before I answer Justin’s email, I want to express my pleasure in hearing from a younger person who has Justin’s goals and ambition. Keeping our gun dog and hunting heritage alive is important and young folks like Jason will continue to carry the banner.

My answer:

Justin, great to hear from you. I’m excited about you getting puppy. Training a pointing dog is the ultimate joy for me and I’m sure you’ll also find the process very rewarding.

I’m not familiar with Drew’s Brittanys so I called the kennel and spoke with the owner’s wife. It’s important that both the sire and the dam are hunting dogs and Drew’s wife assured me that they are. This is a good first step. Drew’s wife also gave me the name of a very pleased owner of a puppy from their kennel. I called the owner (Mitch from Machias) of this dog and he did nothing but rave about his Brittany and how well it handled game its first year. He shot several grouse and woodcock over the dog this past fall. It sounds to me like you’ve picked a good breeder and kennel.

Although I covered picking a puppy from a litter in my February column, I’ll cover some of the basics again. First, I like a light colored pointing dog. When your dog is on point in the grouse and woodcock thickets of New England, you want a dog you can see as you approach the point. Next, I want a puppy that shows little fear. I don’t want a wallflower. Avoid a puppy that runs to the corner of the whelping box if it hears a little noise.

I would pick my puppy around six weeks of age. I would ask Drew’s Brittanys to put the whole litter in the yard and I would watch them play. Watch for a bold puppy. I would then show the litter a grouse wing on a string. That’s simply tying a grouse wing to about five feet of fishing line or string and then tie that to a fishing rod. Put the grouse wing on the ground in front of the puppies and watch their reaction. As soon as the most aggressive pup gets close to the wing, pick it up and flip it about six feet and then let it rest again. Watch the reaction of the pups carefully. Do not let them catch the grouse wing. You may even get one of the pups to point the wing. If you do, pick that pup. If you don’t, that’s okay; pick the pup with the most interest.

Once you pick your pup, visit and hold the pup as often as possible until the litter has been weaned and ready for their new homes. Socialization is extremely important to having a well-adjusted dog. Different breeders have different schedules for releasing their pups to new owners; however, it’s usually around eight weeks. Jason, very soon after getting your pup home, have it checked by a veterinarian. Ask the vet for advice on feeding. A pup is typically fed three times a day. Feed a high quality dog food. It will pay-off in the long run.

If the breeder has not put a collar on your pup, I would wait one week to do so. Then I would wait one more week before introducing the lead. The next step is to enroll your pup in a puppy basic obedience class. Sure, you can teach basic obedience at home, however, the class will provide continued socialization with other dogs and that’s important. At this age you also can let your pup chase every bird or butterfly it sees. Let the pup have fun. From eight to twelve weeks is an important period for bonding between you and your pup. Your pup will learn that you feed it and you’re the master. Use the pup’s name frequently.

At about 12 weeks of age, when your pup is out in the yard or a field simply chasing birds or butterflies, shoot a .22 from about 50 yards. The pup will hesitate a little and look at you but then continue on. Do it once more that day. Continue that exercise over a one or two-week period and your pup will not be gun shy. The key is to be sure the pup has his interest engaged in something exciting when you first fire the .22.

The first year you simply want your pup to develop its natural abilities such as nose, desire and pointing. If you use pen-raised birds such as quail, to help develop pointing, always be sure that your pup is on a check cord. Using a check cord will help prevent your pup from catching a pen raised bird. Catching the bird is not permitted. If the pup starts catching birds, it will be harder to get the pup to stay steady on point. Finishing your dog to wing and shot comes after the first year of training.

Allowing sight pointing, such as the wing on a string exercise, is only done when your pup is very young. Once your pup recognizes his nose and begins scent pointing, any sight pointing exercise must be stopped immediately. In fact, I would only use the wing on a string exercise to pick my puppy. From that point on, I would let my pup develop his nose for scent pointing.

Avoid the temptation to shorten the training process by using an ecollar. An ecollar is never used to teach a command. It’s only used to for non-compliance to a command already taught in the yard.

Justin, there are many books available on pointing dog training and most of them are very good. One book is Pointing Dogs, Their Training and Handling by Earl C. Crangle. It’s published by Androscoggin Publishing, Inc in Milan, NH. One of the newer books is Training The Versatile Hunting Dog by Chuck Johnson. The Brittany is a versatile breed. I’m sure you can locate both books on Amazon.

One last piece of advice. Go to a North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) training clinic. The Yankee Chapter is in Maine and they do an excellent job. Their website is www.yankeenavhda.org. Click on Calendar for a list of events.

Good luck, Justin, and I hope to meet both you and your dog someday in the field.

Paul Fuller is host of the Bird Dogs Afield WebTV program which may be viewed on the MyOutdoorTV.com network. Through cooperation with Northwoods Sporting Journal, Paul’s previous columns are now available on his website which is www.birddogsafield.com. Paul may be reached at paul@birddogsafield.com.