Pointing Question

[Mayfly]

So I have a pup who is half GSP and half Chocolate Lab. I have been anxious to see if she is going to point as a hunter. Lately I have seen her lock onto some pretty solid points. They are on the cat though. She'll turn a corner in the house and the cat will be in sight and she'll lock up solid. Won't move. When I see this it excites me and I actually encourage it. My roommate yells at her because its his cat.

How should this behaivior be handled? Any thoughts? I just started seeing it two days ago.

[This message has been edited by Mayfly (edited 01-03-2004).]

[Fisher Dave]

The best way to handle this situation is without a doubt to tell your room-mate to lay off!

[BDR]

I have always encouraged my GSP's to point everthing they desired to point as pups. I had one the could hold a butterfly forever, It was pretty cool to watch at 10 weeks. She really learned alot from those butterfly hunts with me watching from the house doing absolutely nothing, she knew if she got to close it would fly and she could never catch it. I think learning they can never catch it very importantbecause they will get their thrill from the hunt and find not the chase! Sight pointing can lead to disadvantages or problems but I'll leave that for someone more knowledgable than me.

Brian

[setterguy]

Tie a rag on a fishing pole and put it out in front of her. Drag it along the ground, get her to chase it and then see if she will point it. Then you will have a good idea of her pointing instinct. BDR mentioned that sight pointing can becaome detrimental to training, but in these early stages you shouldn't have any problems. Just make sure that you don't ever let her catch the rag, and don't make it an everyday thing. You can show off the dog to your buddies once in a while but I would do it on a very limited basis. If you need any help with training a pointer just let me know, I will help as much as I can.