Mater the Griffon

[yamadirt 426]

Watch those retrieves on wounded or dieing birds, I'd try to stick to birds that you know are dead then live birds in a "sleave" untill he figures out how to handle moving birds. A good "wing beating" can sour a pup pretty fast and it can take a while to bring them back. Sounds like you have a whole pile of "raw MATER-erial"lol to work with and I know how hard it can be to sty restrained when you have a good one. In the long run tho you will be much better off to bring the pup on slow.
Good luck
Have fun.

Your right it is tuff to stay retrained. Thats why I started with a pigeon and I actually tried to hit a few starlings first. They were too smart. I've just about got the video off my phone. I've had to download 4 different programs so far. I never thought about the wing beating as he takes a good beating daily from the dobie and my son. Also he is getting big too. But I will try to go slow.

[yamadirt 426]

Here are a few fun pics. Its been really neat to watch my old Dobie adopt Mater into the family. From 6 days of growls and lip curling to a father son relationship.

[yamadirt 426]

Here is the video of the retreive. Im sorry it sucks as far as the camera angle goes. Next time will be better

[Sasquatch]

Great pics Yama....love the one of Mater sleeping with your dobie.

[Kasomor]

Here is the video of the retreive. Im sorry it sucks as far as the camera angle goes. Next time will be better

Good stuff.... really liked how you fluffed him up when he brought the bird back.

I know it wasn't your intent...but make sure he gets the bird everytime you send him. Even if you have to walk up with him and give the bird another little toss again...you want him to get the bird EVERYTIME, so her learns not to come back to dad with out a bird....unless the bird lands in sh$$ of course.

[FirePower]

Good stuff.... really liked how you fluffed him up when he brought the bird back.

I know it wasn't your intent...but make sure he gets the bird everytime you send him. Even if you have to walk up with him and give the bird another little toss again...you want him to get the bird EVERYTIME, so her learns not to come back to dad with out a bird....unless the bird lands in sh$$ of course.

X2 on what Kas said, here is a bit of a hint. I always carry a dead bird or 2 in my game pocket when working pups with clip wings just for the ocasion you ran into. You can always give them a dead bird to complete the retrieve. In your first segment you can see exactly what Foxton means by a dog being wing beaten by a live bird. It didn't seem to faze your pup there but beware when steping up to gamebirds.

Great work I believe you have a winner there.
FP

[yamadirt 426]

Thanks for the tips guys. They are appreciated. My biggest problem with this guy so far is sock eating. The little bugger loves them. Last week he ate 2 of my 3yr olds. 1 came out one end and 1 was pulled out the other as a xray showed it in his colon. We did a massive sweep and clean of the house in and out. Well just yesterday he managed to get another pair. So he puked 1 and passed the other himself this morning. I almost had to help. I was so mad I took him to work with me to keep him away from my wife and kids. ( Keep him safe ) Well I get home from work and we are all hanging out . I had a 5 min snooze on the living room floor and out he comes from the bathroom my wife and kid were in with another sock. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH keep the freaking doors shut !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have allready dodge 2 bullets here FFS. Where is the other sock I say. Well we can't find it. I am steaming at this point. Found out a couple of table spoons of hydrogen peroxide will safely make a dog puke in 5 mins. Which he did and out came the sock. So a few lessons I learned so far. The latest one is don't let your wife read about stuff your writing about her on the internet. She will be mad at you. Mater is just fine right now and i'm off to home depot to pick up 4 auto door closers. For the record she loves Mater very much and this is not her fault. Everything is always my fault. Love you baby

[Sasquatch]

So a few lessons I learned so far. The latest one is don't let your wife read about stuff your writing about her on the internet. She will be mad at you. Everything is always my fault.

Those are valuable lessons yama. See? The pup is teaching you stuff already.

[yamadirt 426]

Well Mater is 103 days old and according to the book I'm reading now Game Dog by Richard Wolters is coming into the typical adolescent stage that should last about a week or so. He sits/stays/comes well. I'm very happy with that so far. Retreiving work is also going good but has its ups and downs depending on his mood of the day. So its short when hes off and when he is focused he can train much longer. He will stay until he is sent and i am now dropping off the dummy and doing a lap around the yard to throw him off. I then will send him to look for it. Its a work in progress but its coming along. Here is an updated photo.

I've picked up the bones/canvas dummy/balls and anything else off the floor so its just the rubber dummys for now which he likes. Also my dobie is right into the fetch thing right now too with these dummys lol. We have done a few more live retrieves the last couple weeks but he is off birds now for a few weeks. I know he has the drive in him for birds so its back to dummy training for now. Here is a vid of a 100 + yd fetch on a bird last week. On the following toss he did not quite listen well so that was it for live birds for now until he grows up a bit.So far he is off the socks but we have been watching that. We have added the whistle to the sit(1blast) and come (4blasts)command today. With fetch(2blasts) to follow soon. He has also got the laydown command figured out. He learns fast.

[yamadirt 426]

We are going to start our walking closer and closer to the gun club around the corner from the house. He goes everywhere with me and is used to a variety of sounds and people and dogs and has not shown any shyness. He will play with any dog at the dog park big or small. I've had a buddy shoot 3 times with the shot gun over 100yds away while we were on the farm walking and he has been in the truck while i've hunted waiting for me. Curled up sleeping on my seat. He also loves to look up while he waits. I bring him out when we set up the deeks and then when we pick them up so he knows whats what. He will sniff out the dead birds while we pack up. He is up to 25lbs now