Is there anyone in SE Wi that is into bird hunting?

I've got a 8 month old GSP that I am trying to train and the trainer I was talking with a few months ago has stopped returning my calls. At this point I would like to try to train him myself. But I don't know where to start. He has basic obedience down, I just need to get him around birds and gun shots.

So if there is anyone will to help me out I am more than willing to cover extra bird costs or really anything else to get some help. I live in New Berlin but we are up in Door County every other weekend or so.

There is a trainer in Thorp that my Appleton and Madison area buddies both use for their GWPs.   Seems to do a great job.  I will check with them and get the guy's name/kennel.

Great results from what I can see.  I the dogs tend to be rock solid once they outgrow being a puppy and their instincts kick in.

Don't mean to derail, but I've never met another arfcomer in New Berlin.  

Thanks!

I talked to a trainer I've hunted with before, but he will only take the dog for 10 weeks (which is normal) for $2600. While not bad, it's a lot more than I can spend. The guy I was talking to (that won't call me back) would do 1hr private lessons for $50/hr. And give me a place to get training birds from.

double tap

I am sure there are more of us.

I'm a little north of you but I have some experience with bird dogs if you need a hand.

I've had GSP's for some time and am transitioning to Brittanies.  I'm not the guy to talk to if you want a field trial trained dog but I have some experience with good field dogs.

My two mutts.

I am def not looking for a field trial dog. I doubt I will ever have him in any sort of competition. I just want to be able to get out and hunt.  I am basically looking to get him introduced to birds and gun shots and possibly other dogs so that he knows how to back, so I don't really piss off other people that I may hunt with that have good dogs.

Any help you'd be willing to offer would be greatly appreciated. I was planning on getting a membership to Wern Valley so that I had a decent place to train him, with access to birds. But I am not opposed to driving.

I'm writing this not knowing where your pup is in his training/development, so I'll apologize if he's further along.  

8 months is pretty young for some dogs, so be careful spending too much money on a membership and a ton of birds just yet.  I've see dogs ready to hunt at 8 months and dogs not ready to hunt until their second year.  Transitioning from sight to scent pointing can be a challenge for some dogs as well.  I'd look for a place that sold chukar as well as pheasant.  An ornery rooster can scare a young dog.  Chukar are big enough that a young dog has an easy time finding the, they don't typically run, are good flyers, and won't spur your dog.  The DNR offers a dog training LC.  Another option is look into getting one of those LC's and finding a place that will sell you birds and planting birds, you can plant birds in the designated DNR dog training areas.  Something to keep in the back of your mind, early season in WI is rough on dogs.  Scenting conditions are terrible until the first solid frost.  

How I've always done introduction to shooting.  Take your pup out for a good solid romp, get him really tired, and then take him to a skeet range.  Start way back, 100 yards or so, every time there is a shot praise a few treats never hurt either, if the shots alert the dog but he isn't alarmed move 10 yards closer every few minutes.  If the dog is uncomfortable/showing signs of nervousness ignore him (don't reassure him in anyway) and move back to where he is calm again.  The objective is to get the dock withing 10 yards of the range w/o paying any attention to the shots.  This may take one trip or it may take 20 trips.  

Where is he at in whoa training?  Are you using an E-collar?  Teaching hand signals is a must if you're going to hunt spooky grouse.  If you wan't to get together I'll be happy to help.  I will say one of the weak points for my dogs is backing maybe we can help each other on that training point

I'm a real big fan of letting a puppy be a puppy.  Spend as much time in the field with him as humanly possible, you will be shocked how much your dog will figure out on its own.  

He has basic obedience and I have him introduced to the E-collar, mostly for correction. Every time we go outside the collar goes on, it has gotten to the point that when he sees the collar he gets excited.

My plan for Wern Valley was mostly just for training this year. They sell chucker for (I think) $8

So far  I have tried to do my best to let him just be a puppy. We have a 6yr old rescue beagle mix that he loves to play with and is constantly pointing her.

I introduced him to a full frozen rooster last week, and the first thing he did when he saw it was lock up on point (I made a fool of myself praising him for it) and he then proceeded to growl at it.


He has been around pistol fire and it didn't seem to bother him, but he was eating about 15yards away at the time. However he absolutely freaks with fireworks, even when they are hundreds of yards away.

Not being a pet person, I thought it was easy as:

BANG
"go get the damn bird (and don't chew on it on your way back)"
"Good boy."

but I may be wrong

FWIW, when I had my chocolate lab, I took him to the sunday trap shoot at the club I'm a member at. Started in the parking lot, and moved closer. Didn't phase him a bit.