The Young Pointer

As the working dogs grow older, it’s important to keep the new ones coming on. I had a 4-year old, a 7-year old and an 11-year old. Time to top up.

Gaia was put in whelp and by some, most unscientific method, I delivered the first boy puppy and fell in love. He had exactly the same markings as the sire and somehow I took that as the clue. 

                   Pontus at birth

Another 8 puppies followed and I studied them all as they reached 8 weeks of age, but Pontus (Greek mythology: Gaia’s first born son) just had to be my new working pointer.

            Pontus at only 6 weeks (on the right)

The Hunt-Point-Retriever (HPR) training starts immediately at 8 weeks in my house. The HPR needs to do almost everything a Labrador should do, but he must also be a game-finder and a pointer. He must cooperate and hold the game for the gun (knowing how much pressure to put on the birds to keep the sitting and not flushing) and he must then flush on command. My HPRs are German Wirehaired Pointers and I only use them as bird dogs. German Wirehaired Pointers for deer will also have to learn the craft of deer hunting with his master.

Starting in the house, Pontus learned the controlled retrieve and 'holding' the dummy.

It is a painfully slow process, but we got there in the end. Walking to heel, re-call and general manners in the house, car and outside are part of the growing up. 

He learned to retrieve the dummies outside, to swim and to carry cold game, which is another good puppy exercise.

As Pontus was born in the spring he was too little to make anything of the August grouse. However as the woodcock started to come in, he could come out hunting with the old fellow, learn a little bit about the scent and backed Gollum without really understanding much of it. 

With access to snipe, I got him to point those. The easy ones are grouse and pheasant, so it’s great to imprint the snipe and woodcock on the young dog. The grouse spring count did offer the opportunity for Pontus to experience the moor and the scent of grouse as simply hunting on the moor is great for the young dog to experience.  

As he was less than a year old he gained most by backing up the others on point and learning to just stand back.

As the year came round, Pontus was being trained in all the usual things like blind retrieves etc. We took part in a working test and he won the puppy class and came second in the novice.

But at long last the grouse counting in July came round and Pontus got the hang of it. Just like his mother, he lifts his nose so high when he detects scent that he often ends up with one or two ears flipped back by the time he is on point.

The brood count in July and August is good for training because of course it doesn’t matter if the young dog still has to find out how close he can get before disturbing the birds. The downside is that there may be small chicks that are too easy to peg.

I was very pleased with him and soon the shooting season came along. Pontus was out with the Glorious 12th party, but only as spectator.

Then, finally, on the 15th August I allowed Pontus to have some solo hunting having his first point with the gun ready. 

Pontus looks almost as pleased as his ‘mum’ Gaia, after she made the retrieve.

After this day, there was nothing stopping him. He had a day of his own the following week and six birds were shot over him. He even managed some nice points on the back wind later. All birds are still picked up by different dogs. No need to excite the young dog.

We have had some lovely days on the grouse this year and it is always extra exciting to have a young dog on the go. And when we come home, Pontus gets in one of his many luxurious dog beds and asks me to peel a grape for him.

For more stories and observations on Working Pointers, please see the Tuffies Blog.