Introducing Merlin

[Bdswest]

Just thought you may like to meet Merlin. He was collected on Friday and is 11 weeks old. So far is getting on well with the 10 year Lab we have. I am planing on training him to track so will certainly be after tips at a later date. I'm sure he will be a good retreiver at a later date as I've lost count of the number of my sons toy cars he's brought to me.. Very Aware of things outside and has been watching Birds that have been flying over the garden intently.A few cries the first night for about half an hour then all quiet, came down and the dogs had swaped beds, not quite sure how the 10 year old fitted but there you go. I'll try and keep updates going as he progresses but for the moment he's enjoying being a pup.

Cheers Jon

 

[Caberhill]

Hi Jon,

Thats a good looking boy you got there, wish you the best of luck with him. I think our lab whined for the first two weeks so I think you got off lightly! I imagine having another lab will help. Keep us posted of how you progress.

Ali

 

[Bdswest]

Cheers Ali

So far so good, still a little whine when put to bed but settles done very quickly. As soon as he wakes from naps he's going to the door and although a few small accidents in the house defiantly more outside than in.Very impressed with him so far but a complete food fiend, Our old boy has never been a greedy lab but this one Im really having to keep an eye on, He's discovered where the food is for the older dog and will dive into it if given a split seconds chance.

cheers Jon

 

[stone]

Hi Jon

Best advice I can give at the moment is to already start him on blood trails now
only short ones with drops of blood every 6 inches or abouts say start with 10m straight trails for the first few fresh ,
then make them a little longer upto 30m -50m over the next few weeks upto 1 hour old and increase the distance between the blood spots say 1/2 metre or abouts
so by 6 months of age you should be upto 200m+ , 3-6 hours old trails with blood spots around a metre
this is easily achieved if you wanted as I'm sure the dog can cope
2-3 trails a week is more than enough as there is no need to rush

all the time you can still install the basics for birdshooting including a bit of dummy work
but I would not use any game at all for the bird shooting side of things untill you are ready to go into the field to shoot game over him
so we are talking 14-20 months old , personally the later the better so he has a full season on deer first and has matured a bit, so as not to confuse
in the meantime you can still take your dog out stalking from say 10 months of age to get a bit of field discipline installed
stalking is a great way to perfect heel work and steadiness
I used to sit my dog in a release pen and feed the pheasants around her and lay trails in areas that were animal and game rich, so she learn't that it was the blood trail that was important and not the other distractions
when I introduced her to game and picking up there was the smoothest transaction you could ever wish for
she is now a very capable dual purpose dog to be proud of
wish you luck and great joy with the new arrival
ATB

 

[Bdswest]

Thanks Stone that's really useful.

Cheers Jon