How to Prep for first Deer Dog

[TopDown]

All of what @gelert says.

You have hinted at it but you may also want to decide what exactly you want the dog for. Is it a pure tracking dog? If so, do you have enough work for it or will you be looking to join UKDTR or similar? Do you want to do bird work as well? If so, what balance do you want and how will you manage the training?

Joining an HPR club will be invaluable if you haven't had one before (and probably the case even if you have). I am a first time HPR owner and it has been an experience to say the least. As above, Wiemeraner is a different choice and you are going to have your work cut out finding a suitable pup but it isn't impossible. There may be breeds better suited but to each his own.

I am not sure there are any very local to you but the BMHS put on tracking days regularly which are inexpensive and well run. I have been to Cannock and Thetford and the guys in both of those are really helpful and very knowledgeable. You can also do Schweisshund through them if you want to work towards something.

There is more help out there then might appear immediately obvious given that HPRs are a bit of a minority category. Good luck. Feel free to reach out for help any time.

 

[ruger 243]

I have been stalking for over 10 years now and shooting for easily over double that and whilst I have been around many gundogs of various sorts I have never owned or had my own. Although my folks have had family dogs etc (just not actually mine).

I currently have my eyes set on a Weimaraner Bitch. Partially because I understand they are great deer dogs but also because they appear to have character, be competent bird dogs and are very active. I would like a pooch I can hike, run and hunt with regularly.

All that said... I do not want to stumble in blind. Which is why I am posting here. What preparatory work would you do prior to getting your first deer dog? Would you attend classes first? Ask to take your pals dog out a bit? Buy certain bits first? Ensure you train X, Y or Z immediately once you get the pooch? Undertake a certain course or consult a certain guru? Introduce to Venison or blood at a certain point?

Very interested to hear the thoughts, theories, lessons, mistakes and wisdom here.

Many thanks

well i know this isn't what you want to hear but your not gona give yourself a good chance on your first dog .ive been in and around shoots and stalking for 45 years and have yet to see a well trained weimarana but thats not to say there isnt any out there and dont see many on shoots these days so the chances of getting a dog with years of working stock bread into them are slim. i see from your post youre asking the right questions and doing your homework and i wish you the best so hopefully you get a good companion.. BUT as its your 1st dog, get a labrador and save all the stress.

 

[Monty3006]

Check out the Deer Dog Blueprint. It’s a very structured video program which starts from day one of getting the pup and goes right through to hunting. It worked well for me with my vizsla.

The Deer Dog Blueprint - PageFly

Big Game Indicating Dogs is based in New Zealand and run by Paul Michaels. We specialise in helping people to train their own big game indicating dogs, or deer dogs, using The Deer Dog Training Blueprint.

biggameindicatingdogs.com

 

[farrieral]

Get a Labrador!

Train to heel, sit, stay & recall. The rest is a glorified game of fetch.

Mine are both primarily worked on feather but have both taken to tracking deer with little training needed, just a fresh warm kidney after gralloch, job jobbed!

 

[Dan Newcombe]

Read as many dog training books as you can before you get the dog. I like Joe Irvine but there are heaps and it’s worth getting a few different points of view.

Personally I’d steer clear of a Weimeraner - never seen one that’s even half way useful for anything other than stopping a draft. German Pointers is you must have a pointer but a lab would be my choice - you have a pretty much infinite choice and they are more than capable.

 

[tom_0787]

FWIW i was in the same boat as you some years ago, we had a GSP bitch, well bred form working stock, in theory an ideal hunting dog.

we, my wife and i, have had pet dogs for a while but never knew how to train the dog properly. We found a course for traning hunting dogs near Dorchecster. Guy called Walter, cant recall his surname but he was well known for breeding good ESS working dogs, and the kennel name was 'Sunstar' something or other.

Anyway point is it became clear that dogs are generally easy to train, its the handlers who really need the training.

Generally when we train a dog we are exploiting its natural instincts, and therefore it is about getting the dog to understand what instinct you want it to use at the right time for us. If we dont communicate with the dog effectively then we stand no chance.

If there is one bit of advice id give is if you haven't trained a dog for obedience before then get yourself some training first.

JMHO

Walter Harrison - great trainer!

 

[GlennUK]

Walter Harrison - great trainer!

Thats the man, when we attended his course we only had one dog, he said dont worry you can borrow one of mine. He was true to his word, it was a 'pup' weaned but not much more, never been on a lead and apart form being called for food it had not training! The course was a long weekend and by the end of the three days that dog was making simple retrieves, hunting the hedgerows for me, all due to the way he trained me.

Subsequently bought a bitch pup form him some months later, got her to the stage where i needed to introduce her to live game, when my business took off which mean i would spend c.75% of my timeout of the uk, as it turned out for around the next 3 years. Following a conversation with Tony (another spaniel breeder from Kent, he used to write on dogs for Sporting Gun and i cant recall his surname either!) he bought her from me to strengthen his breeding line. When i took the dog over to hi, he looked her over and said right show me what she can do which was pretty nerve wracking as a novice handler, she did what i asked, when asked and he was happy to take her off my hands.

All down to the training i got from Walter.

 

[Bowland blades]

I have been stalking for over 10 years now and shooting for easily over double that and whilst I have been around many gundogs of various sorts I have never owned or had my own. Although my folks have had family dogs etc (just not actually mine).

I currently have my eyes set on a Weimaraner Bitch. Partially because I understand they are great deer dogs but also because they appear to have character, be competent bird dogs and are very active. I would like a pooch I can hike, run and hunt with regularly.

All that said... I do not want to stumble in blind. Which is why I am posting here. What preparatory work would you do prior to getting your first deer dog? Would you attend classes first? Ask to take your pals dog out a bit? Buy certain bits first? Ensure you train X, Y or Z immediately once you get the pooch? Undertake a certain course or consult a certain guru? Introduce to Venison or blood at a certain point?

Very interested to hear the thoughts, theories, lessons, mistakes and wisdom here.

Many thanks

very few of this breed are truly selected working in the UK. Do yourself a big favour and get a breed and pup with a real working heritage behind it in its lines, that is if you want the dog to be almost certain to be truly useful in the field . In no way am i stating a dog missing this background cant be a good dog in the field , just its far less likely !
Modern bred dogs from essentially pet /show lines are essentially something to steer clear of .
On the subject of the dogs sex of the dog ... A male has more strength and size and it does not come into season just before your setting off on a trip !
Breeds with the highest chance of success for walk stalking are Labs, GWPs , working Springers, Bavarian . Of course anything that can use its nose could be employed and i have seen a few good deer dogs of different breeds that do great but i am just saying its a very much higher chance the dog becomes a real asset if it comes from a good sound working stock ( meaning very few of its lines if any where sold or lived as pure pets / familly companions )
There are other good deer dogs that i did not list above because i was just thinking about giving you the best chance at success for a walk / stalk dog - When you get one that comes with shooting /hunting lines
I have had a GWP and two Labs that worked deer , i am very unlikely to buy anything other than really good working line Labs , it really doesn't need to be deer work specific in its breeding if its a lab but it does matter its familly line where all truly working .

 

[Mauserstalker]

Was in a similar position as the op last year but decided to go with a male gwp pup.After getting use to labs and springers in the past,the gwp is a different beast altogether.He is now 11 months old,weights 35kg and can jump a 4ft high gate from a sitting position.big thing im finding with him is how much firmer you need to be in obedience training with him compared to labs or springers.He is no where near ready for game yet either and won't be until he is nearly 2 from what I see from him while he is out.Never had a dog with such intelligence and character doe

 

[kingstonandy]

Others have said it already, but to reiterate.

Deer Dog Blueprint
Get an easy to train breed as your first one
Train the wife first