Picture this scene. It's a crisp fall afternoon
in north central Wisconsin. Two grouse hunters, a man and a woman,
are making their way along the Jump River their three pointing
dogs are ranging ahead. A grouse is pointed, then flushed. It
flies across the blue opening between the trees above the woman.
She shoots and the grouse crumples, falling into the fast-flowing
river. The two young Shorthaired Pointers run to the river's
edge and look at the bird fast disappearing down the river
then at each other. Neither makes a move. The woman calls
to the Wirehaired Pointer, motioning toward the bird. The Wirehair
leaps from the bank into the river, retrieves the bird, and brings
it back to the woman. The dog that retrieved has saved the day.
In over thirty-five years of training pointers, one of the most
commonly asked questions we get is What about the retrieve?" |
Some years back, we were the hunters in
the above scenario. Today, the grouse tailfeathers are proudly
displayed in our office, and those two Shorthairs have been trained
to retrieve. As pups, both dogs carried birds on occasion, although
one preferred to shake the bird after first crunching any life
out of it. The Wirehair, on the other hand, never needed training
to retrieve.
So what does this mean to you, the novice pointer owner?
If you've been following our Points on Pointers column, by now
you're familiar with the development of your pointer pup from
babyhood to the young "started dog" and your
role in this process. Your pup should be hunting, handling in
the field, using his nose, be developed to the gun, and responding
to |
the basic commands of Heel, Whoa, and Here.
We hope that you've been able to get that young pup out into
some birds and have fun while continuing his education.
Continuing his what, you say?
That's right - some of the most important lessons that he will
learn will begin now hunting with you his partner.
You'll both continue to learn as he develops, and one great day
somewhere around two to three years of age a light
bulb will go on, and your pointer will put it all together. Many
a young dog may seem to do it all at an early age, but nothing
will replace time and experience to fully round him out. The
late bloomer that seems to take forever to come around will often
turn out to be a superb hunting dog given this time, experience,
and patience.
Back to our retrieving question
Your young pointer may be a natural retriever, or she may not.
Will you be able to tell right away? Not necessarily.
Should you give the pup some time? Absolutely.
Some young puppies will start out retrieving but gradually lose
interest as they get older, preferring to hunt for the next bird
instead. Others will retrieve consistently right from the start.
Some will half-heartedly pick up the bird, then drop it
and as they mature, gaining experience and enthusiasm will
begin to retrieve on their own. Others will look at the bird
with disinterest, even distaste "You expect me to
put that in my mouth?" Some dogs will chomp down on the
bird, crushing the bones and nearly eating it and possibly
your hand as well when you try to extricate the bird. We
trained a young Shorthair appropriately named "Chomp"
that exhibited these tendencies. We were told that as a
baby, he liked to catch and eat songbirds. |
