Dog training schedule/workflow

[coremachine]

Dear friends:

I've heard that one shouldn't attempt manning/training a hawk with an immature/untrained dog. I'll have to wait a while before I'm ready to build a mews and get licensed, but I'd like to train a pointer/flusher first to help with hunting.

How much time should I allow for that if it's the first time I've trained a dog?

[twogeldings]

It really depends on the dog, it can take anywhere from 6 months to a year to properly train. A more excitable dog will obviously take longer than a calmer, more focused one. Obedience is really the key, a solid obedience foundation equals a solid hunting dog.

I got good obedience down in about a month, once I had her working well, I showed her what I wanted her to do. That took about an hour (I used live rabbits, runners I call them). I've been chipping away at hunting obedience for about five months now. Thats with a very gradual training system however. Work turned into fun, lots of dry runs in the field just flushing out whatever is in the grass that day (not actually killing anything, just flushing).
She flushes wonderfully, excellent in the field. She really works splendid at a distance (watching her pop up out of the tall grass when called for a command always makes me smile). But, she sometimes can't resist the temptation of giving a rabbit a hard chase (she returns promptly however). If I really drilled at it, she'd be perfect in about two weeks. I've been focusing more on building her stamina and muscle tone though, versus drilling Do Not Chase The Rabbit At All into her.

But like I said, it depends on the dog. My girl is has energy, but stays focused and likes to work and train. I believe you generally wait until the dog is a year old before you start hunt training, and two years before you do actual hunts. At least thats what I've heard from the Lab people