German wire hair pointers
bi...@mindspring.com
Hi,
I am new to the list.
Is there anyone else on here who has a German Wirehaired Pointer?
I looked at a 10 mo old tonight. Poor thing seems to have come from a breeder
who sold this young male to someone who lived far away at about 14 weeks of
age. This poor creature has spent this whole time in a pen and never touched
or petted. He is beautiful and came over to me and let me pet him. I am
wondering how difficult it will be to help him be a normal dog again?
Any ideas for building up his confidence? so he could live a comfortable
life? I doubt he will ever be able to handle gun sounds.
About how much should he weigh? He was skin and bones. I am here to learn
what I can.
Thanks for your time.
BJ
Steven L, Ashe
Your male should be in the 35 to 50lb range by that age. The fact that he came
over to
you is promising. He obviously is going to need a lot of TLC if he is to make it
as a
normal hunter/companion. Do not push it until you see him gaining some
confidence,
probably 2 mos. I would take him out to open places first, then work him up to
shopping
area walks on lead, to experience sights and sounds yet unencountered. When he
begins to
act "normal", try dropping a metal food pan from a distance of 20 yards from
where he is
eating. If it does not bother him, move closer each feeding until you are
convinced that
the surprise noise does not bother him. At this point, if you intend to hunt
him, take
him to familiar fields and fire a .22 rifle while he's chasing something and is
at least
50 yards away from you. If he runs back to you, just keep walking, indicating to
him
that nothing is wrong. If you can occasionally run him with a broke hunting dog
and pop
blanks, it may help, because your pup will learn by seeing that the other dog is
not
spooked by the strange new noise. I believe that he has a good chance to recover
the
first 10 months of neglect, given that he will have good care and understanding.
Get
Delmar Smith's book by Bill Tarrant. It is the best, in terms of correctly
raising bird
dogs.
Steven
Bob Capistrant
I don't own a GWP but my best friends do and I've seen them at AKC hunt
tests(especially the GWP Club of Illinois sponsored test at Des Plains
Conservation Area). They're nice dogs, a little head strong and require
regular grooming.
: or petted. He is beautiful and came over to me and let me pet him. I am
: wondering how difficult it will be to help him be a normal dog again?
Sounds like he had enough confidence left to approach you, a perfect(benefit
of the doubt ;-)) stranger.
: Any ideas for building up his confidence? so he could live a comfortable
: life? I doubt he will ever be able to handle gun sounds.
Move him into the house with you, take obedience classes, be careful around
small furry animals- GWPs have been known to have between meal snacks.
I wouldn't be too quick about a gun shy diagnosis, GWPs are often tough
minded enough to shake off bad experiences. Find a breed club local to
your area, the GWP clubs seem to do a pretty good job of keeping their
dogs dualality, so finding people who hunt/show/obedience should be easy.
: About how much should he weigh? He was skin and bones. I am here to learn
: what I can.
Take him to the vet, could be internal parasites, not enough to eat, any
number of diseases, normal adolescent gangliness - your peace of mind is
worth it.
: Thanks for your time.
: BJ
Good luck,
Bob Capistrant
bi...@mindspring.com
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and help and kind emails.
I will be bringing him home tonight. Tomorrow he has a vet appt.
I hope he doesn't have heartworms. I live in Georgia and we have a big heart
worm problem here I am told.
He will be tested for that. His is very skinny and the vet said we ought to
place him back on puppy food.
Now to figure out what is best for him..He has been under so much stress.
Did I mention that he was never named? The person that is selling him had
him for 2 weeks.
She was calling him 'fuzzface" but he has too much "dignity" in his eyes and
deserves a strong name.
his eyes are a golden amber/brownish color. According to his papers he is a
liver and white with ticking.
His nose looks like a chocolate brown.
I have his whole pedigree here.
I can't wait to get him all cleaned up work with him and get some weight on
him.
Tomorrow I will know what he weighs. The good thing is that his eyes are
clear and no pus..
According to his papers he is 9 months old.
I called the breeder in North Dakota where he came from to let them know
what had happened to him and that he will be ok. I hope that was ok to do
It seems he came from a big breeder.
I hope he adjusts ok..I have a feeling he will.
Ginny
jeff potter
Hi BJ...I had a GSP mutt as a teen and he was great. Now I have a GWP gal. We
got her 6 months ago and she'd been severely neglected. She was 1.5 yrs and
didn't have a name. She was very afraid of sticks, snap-sounds and everything
else, so I'm sure she was beaten. Well, now it's now and we've been to an
obedience class and she's great (I'd say) in every way. She just figured out
mirrors
today. (That was fun!) I'll use her as a versatile and I bet she'll work out. We
haven't started hunting training yet, no guns, but what a willing dog. She's
stubborn, but we deal with it--give some places, expect more in others.
Actually,
it's only ever a matter of time--I say 'Down' and when I look away she
drops---wants it to look like it was her idea. Regular and clear training works
like a
dream---but I see that she gets confused if I mess up commands. Smarter than me!
She's heeling as we run past other dogs, squirrels, whatever. I'm wondering if I
could train her to sniff for morels. She's good and I bet yours will be, too!
Best of
luck to you!
--
JP
***********
Jeff Potter
"Out Your Backdoor"
Magazine of Informal Culture and Affordable Adventure
http://www.glpbooks.com/oyb
Great Lakes Press---Engineer's Plaza & Exam Reviews
http://www.glpbooks.com
jeff potter
bi...@MINDSPRING.COM wrote:
>
> I called the breeder in North Dakota where he came from to let them know
> what had happened to him and that he will be ok. I hope that was ok to do
> It seems he came from a big breeder.
Something is fishy here with that Big Breeder. Good breeders know when
something is going wrong with their dogs. At least that's how it seems with
GWPs.
They seem like a responsible, closeknit crowd from what I've seen. Aren't there
requirements by the GWP people as to who can be a breeder or buy a dog? I'd hate
to think of bad apples in the GWP bunch. Oh well.
John LaViola
Anybody know of "Bellquest" kennels, Mount Airy, MD and the lines
they're breeding.