Beating

[calibra]

Hi

The local farmer where I live hosts hunting.

He allows a group of people to shoot his birds. He told me that if I was interested I could take my dog along and do some "beating".

Basically,, my dog would walk with me through woods and flush out the birds. It would to retrieve them yet, just flush them out.

I have no idea how a hunt really works. So this is new to me.

I am just interested in "beating" and not retrieving as I think this would be good excersise for me and Rosie.

Rosie is a 5 month old pointer, and this would happen probably one morning a week.

How can I train Rosie to beat?. Any ideas?. Hunting season does not start for another 7 months, but when I do it I want her to be good.

Thanks

James

[Novel]

Hi James,
There may be some cultural words here that are impeding communication, so.. I'll just bludgeon through your questions with some questions of my own, and some opinions!
"Beating" is not a term I am familiar with, but you mention that it is like flushing... That I know. Spaniels, Brittanies, and some other members of the Sporting Group are "flushing" dogs. They find the birds, where ever they are, and make them break cover so that the hunter can shoot them. This is a natural instinct for the dog. You let him into a field where birds are and he will naturally do this. Also, there are pointing breeds, like the Vizsla, Weimaraner, Pointer, etc. that point the birds, indicate on them, and have more natural insitinct to stop there, pointing. Given age and/or training, will determine how long they point, and if they stay there through you flushing the bird and shooting it, or not.
Flushing or beating with a young dog would not necessarily be a bad thing, because the dog is getting experience with birds and finding them. This will all come in handy as the dogs gets older. When the dog is about 9 months old, you want to start formalizing the hunting. This means commands that the dog must listen to, that enables him and you to work better together. Before that chasing birds and trying to catch them is acceptable, but as you train you want to teach the dog to stop and point the bird, and stay there until you reach him and the bird. You, the hunter, flushes the bird, and then shoots it. Your dog should still be a statue. When the bird falls, you command the dog to go get the fallen bird and retrieve it back to you. You place the bird in your sack or bag, and tell them to continue on hunting.
Soo...
In the end, Rosie will naturally look for the birds, and at her age, you should encourage her to find them, never telling her anything, by that I mean no corrections, this is just her having fun. If she finds a bird, lots of praise!!! Lots and lots of praise!!! If she doesn't find one, and instead eats deer doo doo, that's alright too, just move her along until she starts hunting again.
I train my 3 Weims to compete in hunt tests. I use pigeons to "practice" at home, and we go out into parks and natural areas to hunt native birds. Hunting is natural for them, it's the little things to make the human's job easier, that we train them for.

[calibra]

Hi

Thanks very much for the reply.

You are correct, the term is flushing

Rosie is a 5 month old pointer.

Rosie will from time to time point to birds. However, her point is not very strong. I would like to make this her points alot stronger but I just do not know how to go about it.

This is just a bit of fun for her and myself once every so often.

I took her down to a pub where the hunters hang out after a hunt. She will be the only pointer in the group as the rest of the dogs are either springers, retreivers, or jack russells. As she's the only pointer, I would love her points to be spot on and look really good.

I think I need to find some dead birds too. Thats gonna be tricky.

James

[Novel]

You are welcome to whatever insights I can help you with. I was raised in a family of hunters, and have hunted my entire life, but until you're the one training the dog, things are different.
Being out with a group of natural flushers (Spaniels, etc.) may make your training harder, once you start the formal training, but you won't want to do that until she's about 9 months old anyways, some people wait until 18 months even. But as far as being out and playing, this sounds like it could be very good for Rosie. Let her get out there and chase birds and scare them up and have a romping good time! She can be an adult later, for now just let her be a puppy. The more puppy play time you let her have now, later, when you begin to introduce commands and restrictions, she'll have enough enthusiasm for birds to get her through it. So, don't expect anything from her at this age. Just see what she does, how she acts, what she finds, etc... Just let her have fun. There's time for seriousness as she gets older.

[12weimgirl]

Most dogs don't start to point STRONGLY until they are 6 months old.