training a hunting dog- questions BEFORE we get one?

Good hunting dogs come from hunting dog lines. They are carefully bred from a sire and dam that are good hunters. They have the instinct and desire to hunt.

Most dogs of a "hunting dog breed" are not good hunters. They are bred as companion animals with no consideration for how they hunt.

Hunting dogs are trained from pups to be hunters. An older dog can never learn as well.

A rescue dog will come with baggage. They will always have a flaw that you can't get rid of.

It is better to get a gun dog from a trainer that trains gun dogs instead of from a breeder. He will also likely breed dogs or source dogs from breeders . The difference is the product that they are selling. If you are working with a trainer he will be very concerned with his finished product and be careful with what he selects. Tell him everything that you want from the dog and let him find it. You may need to wait a little while.

When you are searching for a trainer look at how the dogs relate to the trainer. Do the dogs love him or are they scared of him? Do they run to greet him or do they cower in fear?

As an aside, if you let your hubby have this one, he will owe you. Perhaps a necklace.

Go here for the best dog training couse http://dog-training.gelaf.info/

Since it is obvious that you do not have a clue about obedience training, your services should be for free. You cannot train even an adult dog for 8 hours a day. About the most that can be done at any one time is 10 - 20 minutes and that is with an adult dog and not a puppy. The attention span on this baby is extremely short and training session should be no more than 10 minutes and twice a day. Additionally, there isn't going to be much learned if you will only be training for 5 days. Obedience training is cumulative and is done over a much longer period of at least several weeks to several months.

What you can charge is determined by your experience, reputation, and accomplishments and in a case like this, should also include guaranteed expectations. Just working with dogs over several years, is not the experience that is necessary to be a dog trainer. There are too many people who are putting that title to their name and fleecing the public. Don't be one of them.

Just to answer the specific point about rescue dogs. I have a rescued Spinone Italiano which is an Italian breed of hunting dog. I got her from the Spinone rescue (there will be a contact near you). She has absolutely no baggage at all. She needed to be re-homed because her owners were divorcing and could not take their dogs.

She also had a son who was re-homed and is equally well settled in with no problems at all. Not one.

Do not automatically assume rescue dogs have baggage. It's a myth. They often need to be re-homed because their owners have problems, not the dog! I have had six rescue dogs in all and none of them have had serious problems. Yes, they may take a few days to settle (although my Spinone didn't even take that long) and they might be off their food for a couple of days. But once that's dealt with - and all it takes is a bit of time and patience - they are more often than not, brilliant in every sense.

You just need to make sure you go to a reputable re-homing centre. For hunting dogs, decide which breed you prefer and then go to the site for their breed. You will usually find a contact for the re-home section.

Then - just speak to them. Tell them exactly what you are looking for. Ask for their advice about the best age etc. They are the experts and they will know. If the re-homing person doesn't know, they will point you in the direction of someone who does.

It sounds like the pointer rescue you mention is a great place to start. If you automatically discount rescue dogs you are missing out on a great opportunity. There are so many advantages to a slightly older dog too - no messy house-training, and often they are perfectly trained to commands.

And incidentally - I don't use my Spinone for hunting (she was used for breeding before I got her), but I do take her out for walks in scrub land. She seems just to know instinctively what to do. I can always tell where she is, because it's the place where birds suddenly take off! Her son who was re-homed at age five years old is, I know, used as a hunting dog and is brilliant.

Good luck - I really hope you find the dog you're looking for.

1.)Yes, I truly believe so. But it depends what kind of dog (like a Cur or Walker Dog)

2.)I'm not that sure...probably, just simple things, but I'm sure they can be fixed.

3.)Yeah, it's probably better because the trainer must know what he's doing.

My parents hunt, we have a cur that will track, and (I know it sounds weird) two weenie dogs that LOVE to track deer! lol

If some of the rescue dogs are gun shy, then idk if you'd want one because they could run if your husband were put in a situation where he had to shoot an animal in a hurry.

An untrained dog, I'm not sure, you'd probably have to take them out a couple times with those scent things that you can drag along the ground.

Oh, and about the decision, that's what'd I'd say too, but things like that are fixable!

1

if u do happen to get a dog that is gunshy i recommend tying up to a tree and fire fire fire....until eventualy it gets use to it