French Brittany questions.

[ole matty]

I m looking to get Brittany for myself either this spring or summer.

It will be my first pointer dog as I grew up with springer and owned one myself. How hard will the transition from flusher to pointer? More training on pointer than flusher?

Only one concern I have as I am deaf visually is very important to me. I m worrying it dog goes in tall grasses or cattails where I cant see dog and dog is on point. How will I know if it on point or not? Gps/shock collar is one optional but I cannot afford it at all.

Thanks

[B-man715]

My first response was going to say a gps for locating your dog on point, but since thats out, I got to thinkin...........??????????

Something along the lines of a orange flag seen on some four wheelers.....

When Garmin first came out with the Astro tracking system; the dc-20 (part that was for the dog) came with a vest that the tracking collar was attached to.

I bet you could find some kind of lightweight rod or antenna that you could attach a flag to, and have that mounted to the vest.

I might still have the dc-20 vest (I don't use it, not sure if I tossed it though before we moved). If I do you are more than welcome to have it, just give me a pm. I live in Stacy too, on Gable ave.

[brittman]

What you are suggesting may be difficult especially with a young dog. Do not mean to be a buzzkill, but a close range flushing dog is probably the logical answer.

I keep track of my Brittanys as much through hearing as vision. Hearing them is important in both grassy fields and woods. Rolling terrain may also result in losing sight of the dog.

A GPS would certainly help with locating a "lost" dog, but I think would be difficult to use when the dog is on birds.

That said there has to be others in your situation that can provide some insight or advice. Hopefully someone will offer up some real solutions.

[ole matty]

B man I will look into that antenna idea. I did thought of it. I just need the good vest for it. If u find the vest let me know I ll swing by as i work at Stacy although I live in centerville now.

Jardsimmon at aol dot com is good way to contact me.

Also other question. Let say I can't see dog at all and aren't sure if it's on point. It is able to call dog back even if it's on point or ?

[Lindy Lee]

I have a French Brit. She is only 30 lbs and is very easy to loose site of when she goes on point in tall grass. I do not know what I would do if I could not use the tone portion of her collar to find her. Even though she is a ranging breed, I have trained her to stay close, mostly for the fact that I was afraid of losing her, as we mostly hunt in ND. As for training, I will have to say the little that I trained her she is easier to train than the lab we had before.

You definitely have a tough decision ahead of you.

[leech~~]

I had one and went through Pointer training with him. He was a great dog. He was so good at the "Whoa" during training that I could actually go up to him on point and pick him up and turn him around, set him down and he would still have his paw out on point. I only did that a few times for fun as I didn't want him to get messed up on what he was suppose to do.

I guess I would put a bell on her at least if cost is an issue.

[LABS4ME]

I guess I would put a bell on her at least if cost is an issue.

I think Ol Matty is looking for visual ideas being he's deaf... Have to be an awfully big bell!

Matty,

There is a company in Minnesota called dogflag. They are from Owatonna and I think it is exactly what you are looking for. Inexpensive too. I would imagine a pup that is raised wearing this device, will never skip a beat when out hunting. I can think of times I've lost my Lab and Cocker in cattails and would've given anything at that moment for this!

Good Luck with the new pup!

Ken

[leech~~]

I think Ol Matty is looking for visual ideas being he's deaf... Have to be an awfully big bell!

Ken

Opps, thanks Ken. I need to read twice reply once! I did see an Elc collar that "beeped" (not good) but also had a row of small flashing lights on it. It was on another guys dog that I met in the woods so didn't get any details on it sorry.

[B-man715]

Hey Matty,

I looked everywhere for the vest and can't find it. I fear I tossed it out when we moved....

I looked into the site brought up about the Dog Flag. I think this is the ticket for you! Same concept that I was trying to get at. I googled Dog Flag Minnesota and found the site right away.

It's under a hundred bucks, and hopefully will provide the solution to your problem! Sorry I couldn't help more.

[B-man715]

Hey Matty,

I tracked down one of those vests I was talking about (from a friend that doesn't use it either).

If you are still interested in it let me know.

I also have a blaze orange relfective vest that I don't use(too big for a beagle, but will work for a small upland dog).

You can have them both, just pick'em up

[Acemac]

Epagnauls Bretons are a closer ranging dog than the AM britt. that being said they are eaisly lost in the thick stuff the flag idea is one I have even looked into for my dog as sometimes high winds make it tough to even hear the beeps. I would get with a quality trainer that has tons of experance with these dogs and work on training for a close dog.

they are great dogs and there are some great blood lines here in minnesota with strong french roots.

training will be a snap these dog cant help but do it here is a quick video of Frankee De L'Esarbot doing some bruch up training this fall really the only reason she ranges so far in this video is beacause of the lack of cover as the cover gets thicker she stays closer.

French britt training