Planing for a new dog

[Acemac]

I am thinking about getting a Britteny Spaniel for my wife and me. I want to make sure if we do get a dog that some ground rules are set up right from the start with how we will raise/train our dog. I want our dog to be able to be in the house (with limits) and also be trained to spend time when we are away in a kennel. Becoming a bird dog would also be a plus but, most important in my book is having a dog that I can take to deer camp in July and don't have to tie him to a tree. I cant stand some of the people I see walking their dog in my neighborhood when you can tell they have no control over their PET. maybe i ask to much but it would be nice to have a dog that will come in the house and kennel up or sit at the end of the dock and wait for me to come back (rather then drowning to come find me.

I grew up in the woods and my wife is a city girl the last thing I want is a dog that everyone treats like a human and wonders why it misbehaves so often.

If we do in fact get a dog I want to be committed to training the dog to hunt/point so what are some things I should be preparing for to make this (in my opinion huge choice)

guess i am just looking for some guidance on things to think about that a non dog owner would never think about when embarking on training a new dog.

Please be critical I want to learn how to be a great dog owner!

[Ralph Wiggum]

It sounds like you have a good idea of what you want. We were in the same boat as you two years ago, and we had similar thoughts and goals as you (minus the hunting part). After seeing our share of untrained and unruly dogs, I was determined to have a well-behaved dog.

Have you ever trained a dog before?

The number one piece of advice I can give you is don't go at it alone. If you are a new dog owner, get help training. There are lots of good obedience schools out there, and they will greatly up your odds of being successful. You'll learn more about training the dog than the dog will learn.

Be prepared to invest time. You don't get a good dog by training once a week. You'll need to work with it daily. And start early. Nothing wrong with starting basic obedience with a 10 week old dog.

If you and your wife are willing to put in time and agree on your goals, you will do fine. As of two years ago, we had never trained a dog. We've now got a wonderful two year old dog whose got his AKC Rally Novice title (well on his way to a Rally Advanced title) and is an active therapy dog visiting hosptial patients.

[Walleye Widower]

look up (google)

pack structure DVD

your puppy 8 weeks to 8 months DVD

basic dog obedience DVD

all available at the same place

Also look up (google) leerburg free e-books

Good job planning ahead!!!!!!Wish more people would do that, hats off to you.

You can train your own dog, you dont necessarily need OB classes, a lot of them are not any good especially the pet warehouse kind, dont ever go to one I am sure there is good ones, I just dont know of any. Sounds like Ralph found one, maybe he can help you in that dept. And depends on where you live.

Good luck on your decision, hopefully you wont turn out like me and have your life revolve around dogs, dog training, dog training seminars and spending all your $ on a dog(s)

[gr8icefishinmind]

Take Obedience training, but like walleye said do some checking first to find a good trainer with a good reputation! Obedience in a dog makes training soooo much easier!! Oh and make sure that the training involves the dog and yourself in the class! Not just dropping the dog at the training and picking it up afterwards!!

[Ralph Wiggum]

...not any good especially the pet warehouse kind, dont ever go to one

Yeah, skip the "Petco" classes. Find an obedience school with a good reputation. If you're in the cities, I can recommend several great ones depending upon where you live.

The thing I like about obedience schools is a good instructor will be able to key you in on things you are doing wrong that you may not realize. Can't get that from a book or video.

[setterguy]

Couple tips that have worked for me.

1. When you know the dog knows a command, give the command once then wait. As long as it takes wait. If you start saying "here sparky, here buddy, here...all the dog has learned is that the first command means nothing. I had a trainer tell me he waited a dog out 20 minutes before to lay down.

2. Especially when they are young, never let them cheat on a rule. Jumping up, crossing a line in the house while eating ect.

3. Excersize. Pointing dog are nortorious for having loads of energy while young. Do training after a walk or long session throwing the bumper. They will stay a little more focused.

Good luck, having a plan like it sounds like you do is half the battle. Many people get the dog first then try to develop the plan and by then the dog has learned 15 bad habits that need to be re-learned.

[CJH]

Good advice from everybody above. I am a big believer in lots of exercise. One of the major reasons dogs act up is due to lack of exercise. A tired dog is a happy dog.

We had good luck at the Petsmart classes, but our dog was pretty easy to train, so I don't think it was necessarily the result of going there. I would go to one of the places that maybe Ralph or somebody else recommends.

Have lots of patience, you're going to need it. It can be very trying at times.

Personally, I am a big fan of crate training for house training. Our lab was house trained in about a week. He still occasionally had an accident, but it was pretty rare.

Good Luck! Glad to see you planning ahead, a lot of people don't!!

CJH

[jigging-matt]

I second the crate training. Also if you are looking at a Brittany, you will definitely need to make sure they are exercised lots. i have a Britt that just turned 3. Love him to death, but he is a very active dog. Great hunter, beloved member of family, but he lives in his kennel that goes thru the garage to his outside run. I spend lots of time in my garage (even in winter) so he is not just "left outside" with no one around, but when I got him I compromised with the wife that there would be no more dog hair in the house. Everyone is happy and when we are home he has full run of the yard. Sounds like you have a good plan, hope it all works well. Nothing better than having a four legged member of the family to bring smiles to all.

[Acemac]

Well we pulled the trigger and reserved our selves a spring puppy from L'Escarbot Kennels!

So now we have about 10 weeks to wait and get ready for the new addition to our family.

Anyone have any words of advice for things they wish they would have done to better prepare themselves from brining their first dog home?

[SportFishin']

Congrats on your soon to be addition. One thing you might want to do since you are getting a pointer is to check out your local North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association chapter "NAVHDA" for short. There are some great chapters in the MN area. If you are in the twin cities check out the MN Chapter they are a great bunch of guys who are training nuts. They will help out anyone willing to spend the time with your pup.

They have training events planned through out the year and a few tests also. Since you & the mrs. have ten weeks or so I would look at attending a few training days of thiers and get to know about the club. You will also get to see other members dogs & what you have to look forward to in your pointing dog. They are a great bunch and want nothing more than to have everyone have a great trained dog. They have a HSOforum so a quick search on the net & it will yield you the International Club & MN Chapters sites for more info.

Good Luck!

Chris Buller

[rich4walleyes]

If you are getting a French Brittany from there, you are going to get a great dog!!! I have a French Brittany and could not be happier with mine. I did not get mine from there, but did look at them when I was looking. They are a great dog that will make you happy CONGRATS! ! ! ! !

[hanson]

Anyone have any words of advice for things they wish they would have done to better prepare themselves from bringing their first dog home?

I'm a first time dog owner and I thought I did the best I could to prepare myself, but I was wrong. I mean how hard can it be?

I figured the potty training would be easy. All the reading I'd done, and alot of it was on these forums, was how easy Labs are to house train. LOL! Not mine!!

I had to leave him alone (crated) when I went to work for the day. I am able to come home at lunch so he was alone for 4 hours or so at a time but I seriously got fed up with him ******* in the crate, and then he'd get into it as well. Seamed like the first week, I was washing ******** off him 2-3 times a day.

Crate him at night?? Yeah right. I didn't sleep the first week.

I gave up, couldn't take it anymore.

I now have a Lab that LOVES his crate although I didn't teach it to him, or at least I don't think I did. I think he learned that that was the one place in the house that he could escape me. I now just leave the door open and he'll sleep in it all night with the door open, rest of the time he's on my bed (at least when I go to sleep and then he'll come wake me up).

Potty training is now solid and has been since about 2 months after I got him. It took awhile but he's very good at it now. I don't even worry about it anymore.

One thing that I wish I would have figured out much earlier is how to get him to "give" or "drop" something he retrieves. I think it may have started with some playful tug-o-war but he's very protective of "his" toys now. I'm really working hard to correct this now but it hasn't been easy. Probably best to prevent it from the start.

I would also start socialization and puppy class obedience as soon as you can. I didn't know the obedience school I'm going to had a very young puppy class but I wish I would have gone to it if I'd known about it.

I'm probably not off base on this but don't expect everything to go smoothly or as planned. And don't get frustrated when things do go awry. When you read books, watch videos, etc, etc... its step by step and this is how things work. Maybe a pro trainer can get those kind of results out of their pups but a first time dog owner, or at least me, won't. Manage your expectations.

My last thought goes back to a choice you already made. You are getting a hunting/sporting dog. I chose a Lab as I've always loved them and I love to waterfowl hunt, so it was pretty much an easy decision. What I've come to realize is I have a dog with what seams like an unlimited amount of enthusiasm and energy. I'm sure this is partly a result of the breeding. But I'm surprised I can keep up with him at times, he's that energetic. I think I've lost 20lbs since getting him.

We just came back from the vet today and he's 9 1/2 months old now, 79lbs, and he is not out of shape at all. Vet STILL said "look at the size of those paws." I've been hearing that from the day I got him. I picked the big, adventerous male dog from the litter, the one the books say to stay away from.

Speaking of vets... $$$$$$!! Save it up. You'll need it and lots of it to cover the first year of check-ups, immunizations, boosters, heartworm med, flea & tick med, etc, etc. Everyone says buying the dog is the cheap part of ownership. Yeah, it sure is.

I'm a rookie new dog owner and those are a few of my thoughts from the last 6 months. Have fun!! I've had my hands full from the day I picked him up but I'm not sure I'd trade it for anything. Its been fun. Really looking forward to this summer and water retrieving.

(Sorry about the asterisks... seams like I can't use any form of the word ****** or ******* or ****** when talking about a natural function of my puppy. Guess we have school kids reading who know newer better slang forms of those words than I know.)

[Acemac]

great posts guys although Hanson makes me nervous... O.o

[cutter08]

I was in the same boat you are 5 years ago. All i can say is expect the unexpected LOL. As a first time dog owner i thought i had it all worked out ahead of time. Had a training program i liked, did all the research of the breed, and Picked a dog with an excellent blood line.

With in the first year he was at the vet 8 times and the emergency vet 3 times. Come to find out he has bad allergies and a very sensitive stomach. No matter how much you prepare your self there is going to be some unexpected things that you just cant prepare for and you just have to deal with it as it comes your way.

I have some hunting buddy's that payed the big bucks to send there dogs out and have them trained and if i were them i would want my money back (not the dog or the trainers fault, its the dog owners). Its a good option for the guy that has a busy life and still wants a well trained dog. but The thing is the owner needs to be trained just like the dog. It sounds like you are going to do it on you own and i give you much respect knowing how much work it is to train a dog. All i can tell you is at points you will get frustrated and that's when you need to step back and take a deep breath and relax. AND HAVE FUN WITH IT.