first GWP

[muntjacmad]

Good morning all,

so I have bit the bullet and got my name down on a GWP. I decided that my life wasn't quite stressful enough so why not add a little spice! The bitch is owned by a local foxer who uses her for indicating and finding shot foxes and the sire is wiremoor gundogs dog django.
i know there are umpteen topics on these furry buggers but i was just wondering who currently owns one and is there any definite dos and don'ts?

i have never owned a HPR breed but have had spaniels lurchers terriers hounds and a few other bits and bobs. I want to eventually use it to accompany me stalking as being a huge dog fan, stalking without the presence of dog just feels a little like something is missing (i'm saying that now after a few spooked deer and failed trips ill probably have been glad to be on my own) i want him in the home with the family as well so that will be my first and foremost to get his manners around the house.

who owns one and has some productive advice?

atb

 

[McKenzie]

Get a tame one.

 

[TringSaint]

I have 6yo GWP called Womble.
He is lovely but also has attitude - only dog I have had who actually ‘talks back’ at you when you tell him off!
He can be quite lazy and is prone to sudden deafness in the field, especially when something bolts, and he steals food from the kitchen counters (no sandwich is safe!), but he is a lovely dog.

 

[rem284]

Install the basics, develop a good relationship with the dog but it is not an equal one. Heel, sit, down, stay, stop. I train mine for bird work even though I hardly ever use them on birds. I think it helps with obedience and stimulation

 

[yellow belly]

First 2 years are the making or breaking of it.... sit, heel, stay and deer tracks are all I'd be doing. Don't be in a rush to get it out with you as you'll ruin it before you even know about it! Be bloody firm with it, but fair and it will all come together, I like mine to love a ball, so it has an off switch to working and a focus/reward for training that isn't directly deer related.

 

[Ginmaker63]

Picked up a GWP (Tilda) just before Christmas, so far so good.
Likewise we have had various dogs over the years and Springer Spaniels for beating, etc and I recently took my old Spaniel at 12 years old for her first stalking trip.
What I have found out is how fast GWPs grow and at 12 weeks nothing is out of bounds for her from the floor to the top of the kitchen units and dining table.
That said so far she is the easiest dog I have trained, just hoping it continues. I am hoping that this time next year to get her out stalking

 

[TringSaint]

Picked up a GWP (Tilda) just before Christmas, so far so good.
Likewise we have had various dogs over the years and Springer Spaniels for beating, etc and I recently took my old Spaniel at 12 years old for her first stalking trip.
What I have found out is how fast GWPs grow and at 12 weeks nothing is out of bounds for her from the floor to the top of the kitchen units and dining table.
That said so far she is the easiest dog I have trained, just hoping it continues. I am hoping that this time next year to get her out stalking

Indeed - no food is safe in the kitchen.
My GWP will also open doors if he feels so inclined, so we have to be careful with the bin cupboard and also the outside door as it’s no uncommon for it to be wide open because he has decided he wants to go out!

 

[Bigron321]

Just be prepared…very prepared…for anything and everything!!
Once you work them out and get on top of them and make friends they are absolutely worth the blood sweat and tears. I work a pack of spaniels and a HWV and a GWP and the pointers really do amaze me sometimes.

 

[sam84]

I’ve had mine for 20 months now and find him great.
I’ve not taken him stalking yet so can’t give an opinion regarding that.
Need to be firm at all times, the only real negative I’ve found is he will steal any human food given half a chance.
Great to see how intelligent they are, need plenty of exercise daily.
If you keep them interested they are great dogs plus he’s lovely with all the kids.

 

[spanj]

Good morning all,

so I have bit the bullet and got my name down on a GWP. I decided that my life wasn't quite stressful enough so why not add a little spice! The bitch is owned by a local foxer who uses her for indicating and finding shot foxes and the sire is wiremoor gundogs dog django.
i know there are umpteen topics on these furry buggers but i was just wondering who currently owns one and is there any definite dos and don'ts?

i have never owned a HPR breed but have had spaniels lurchers terriers hounds and a few other bits and bobs. I want to eventually use it to accompany me stalking as being a huge dog fan, stalking without the presence of dog just feels a little like something is missing (i'm saying that now after a few spooked deer and failed trips ill probably have been glad to be on my own) i want him in the home with the family as well so that will be my first and foremost to get his manners around the house.

who owns one and has some productive advice?

atb

Speak to Ian at anvilstone gundogs. Knows the breed inside out and an excellent trainer

 

[trucraft]

Speak to Ian at anvilstone gundogs. Knows the breed inside out and an excellent trainer

I would second this. He’s a non-nonsense GWP man.
If you don’t need any professional help at some point whilst training your pup, you’re a better dog trainer than most.
At some point most new GWP owners will question their decision.
I did almost daily for the first two years. And I still do now at times.
I now have a 3 1/2 year-old bitch.
She was a lot of work and still is at times. Chasing is definitely a weakest point.
Tracking Deer and training them to track Deer is the easy bit. To a dog like that following up moderately hard blood Trail is a piece of cake.
My advice and I wished I’d known this from the start. Is to not give them too much freedom in fact very little is better than too much. The more you give the more they take and it’s harder to rain back in.
Mine is an absolute hunting machine, and although I’ve only ever encouraged her to work deer she still will hunt anything if allowed.
All that said be consistent be patient and choose the right breeding and you’ll have an amazing dear Dog.
I put mine onto what I thought was a dead Deer a couple of days ago. She found the strike point in the field followed the trail with me behind her, off lead. Only to see the Deer
jump to its feet start running.
She was on it within seconds and grabbed it by the head and pinned it.
This was the first live deer she’d ever followed up. I was blown away by how efficient and instinctive she was.

 

[Jon P]

My Dog history similar to The OP- have done a lot with terriers , hounds , spaniel etc - now on my 3 rd GWP, my current one is out of a bitch that is used solely for foxing.

As stated above- be firm but fair, they can be quite sensitive even the pig headed ones with crazy prey drive. Get them broken to livestock early but don’t start them hunting to early- get them socialised with people and other dogs- I started working mine too early - 8 months old due to a hip injury on my older GWP. Has taken a lot to settle her down. She is 4 yrs old now. Mine lived in the house for first 12 months then moved out to kennels- currently living back in the house for last few weeks as hoping to move house soon and no kennels at other place yet.

Great house dogs and no one will get passed them as they are protective over their family group. Hard work , but worth it

 

[Alex88]

Teach it the difference between deer and livestock, at a young age.

 

[McKenzie]

Teach it the difference between deer and livestock, at a young age.

And badgers & cats & every other ****ing thing

 

[.25-06]

Having a bad day with GSP? phone your GWP owning friend to hear the dogs just chewed through the kennel into the shed, then removed the heads off several hundred pounds worth of geese decoys and working his way through the duck decoys when discovered.
Naughty, naughty dog I think he said, or words to that effect. Brightens the day

 

[muntjacmad]

some fantastic replies on here just what i was after. A couple of questions.
will the right one have enough prey drive/grunt to take hold of a deer if that unfortunate situation arises?
and if i restrict his freedom, and by that i mean not letting him run into the sunset but hammering heal work and the such. When the eventual time comes that i feel thats been mastered will i end up with a clingy needy dog looking at me at all times for its next move or when allowed do you think it will still hunt?

 

[Siggy]

lots of good advice above!

some fantastic replies on here just what i was after. A couple of questions.
will the right one have enough prey drive/grunt to take hold of a deer if that unfortunate situation arises?

f*** yes, they all will, just let them mature first and don't expect them to hold down a red stag on there first deer - (some will though!). I think my current bitch was 4 before she tackled a live deer - not that she had many opportunities! now she has real finesse although she hasn't worked out headshot deer still kick!!
remember accidents happen and muntjac buck fangs come with expensive vet bills so think about the consequences before you send your dog.

and if i restrict his freedom, and by that i mean not letting him run into the sunset but hammering heal work and the such. When the eventual time comes that i feel thats been mastered will i end up with a clingy needy dog looking at me at all times for its next move or when allowed do you think it will still hunt?

you need to be really creative, just hammering the heel work will kill your GWPs soul, you need a secure environment where you can do surprisingly complex drills, as much like a game as possible - stops, recalls, retrieves etc, but yes, you want the dog focused on you, and ultimately working for you, not for themselves!!!

 

[Jon P]

some fantastic replies on here just what i was after. A couple of questions.
will the right one have enough prey drive/grunt to take hold of a deer if that unfortunate situation arises?
and if i restrict his freedom, and by that i mean not letting him run into the sunset but hammering heal work and the such. When the eventual time comes that i feel thats been mastered will i end up with a clingy needy dog looking at me at all times for its next move or when allowed do you think it will still hunt?

With the right dog they will hold on.

My first GWP was run with a pack of foxing terriers. She was a hard dog and would take no messing from anything. Would pull a fallow deer even if it was not shot.

Second GWP completely different end of the scale. Very kind gentle , would track a deer but would not engage in anything physical. I moved her over to work with my Harris hawk which she was great at.

Third GWP and current one- if she had been my first GWP it would have been my last. .
Great for tracking deer, will indicate deer bedded down in front of me. If tracking off long lead she has a GPS collar on her as she will keep running. - I can’t trust this one fully off lead when stalking if muntjac are around as she goes deaf and it may as well be someone else’s dog, I think this is from starting her to young.

All were broken to livestock as I have regularly access to free run my dogs through sheep, cattle horses on a daily basis.

 

[trucraft]

some fantastic replies on here just what i was after. A couple of questions.
will the right one have enough prey drive/grunt to take hold of a deer if that unfortunate situation arises?
and if i restrict his freedom, and by that i mean not letting him run into the sunset but hammering heal work and the such. When the eventual time comes that i feel thats been mastered will i end up with a clingy needy dog looking at me at all times for its next move or when allowed do you think it will still hunt?

Whether they will grip and hold a wounded deer is down to the individual dog.
But with a GWP that’s most Dogs.
I’ve always encouraged mine to grab the head and neck on freshly dead deer. But to be honest, the instinct is definitely there and when the adrenaline is running, they know what to do.
I wouldn’t worry about doing too much heel work. Once you start your realise it takes many many hours to instill. However obviously short lessons a few times a day is much better than along arduous trading session.
if you’re using your dog for Stalking, you want it close by. I’d rather have a clingy dog for Stalking than one that wants to range all the time. I use a long line 10 to 15 m and as a pup I wouldn’t let her off any further than that unless in an enclosed paddock.
I made the mistake of giving mine way too much off lead time as a pup. Subsequently, she was able to just run over to every dog and person she saw. I wouldn’t do that again.

 

[Siggy]

Third GWP and current one- if she had been my first GWP it would have been my last. .
Great for tracking deer, will indicate deer bedded down in front of me. If tracking off long lead she has a GPS collar on her as she will keep running. - I can’t trust this one fully off lead when stalking if muntjac are around as she goes deaf and it may as well be someone else’s dog, I think this is from starting her to young.

this rings so true with my latest dog!! E-collars are amazing at getting their hearing back. Never thought I would resort to one but if they know what they should do, it just stops them exploring other options, I saw results in a day on the lowest setting and now she only occasionally needs a reminder and that is unusually on the vibrate setting.