Everything about the process, the costs and the duration of a hunting dog training.
The training of a hunting dog basically takes place on the first day your puppy moves into your home. The first moment is enormously important and of great significance, because your puppy should immediately learn that you are the pack leader. Furthermore, your puppy should learn from the first moment to show respect for the people as well as the house. You can enforce this hierarchy through discipline and consistency. In addition, the fixed feeding times as well as the training that your puppy becomes house-trained should already take place on the first day.
The course of the hunting dog training
During hunting dog training, both you and your dog learn how the communication between you and your hunting dog must work. Decisive for this is the body language. Furthermore, you will learn how to mark game spots and how your future hunting dog has to pick up game. Another part of the hunting dog training is the decision making over distances.
The special training for hunting with a dog starts with the introduction to the basic components of good hunting work. Usually the puppy is about seven months old at this time, but the exact age depends on the breed as well as the individual puppy. The early phase of training the future hunting dog is of enormous importance and must not be underestimated under any circumstances. An important factor for a successful hunting dog training is the relationship between you and your puppy, which is already established in the first days. So a lot of groundwork has to be done and a strong bond between you and a puppy has to be established before the first dummy is used.
The most important requirement for hunting dog training
In order for your dog to cut a good figure as a hunting dog, it is imperative that your dog is shot-proof. If a dog panics when a shot is fired or makes a mistake in anticipation of a shot, it is not suitable for use as a hunting dog.
During training to become a hunting dog, the puppy is accustomed to shots at an early age. The shots are fired at the same time as a dummy is thrown. Already at this stage, the reaction of the dog can be used to determine whether it is suitable as a hunting dog. If he is suitable, he will perceive the shot with great interest and follow the trajectory of the dummy attentively at the same time. This part of the training ensures that the dog looks out for falling objects after a shot has been fired and then marks them.
The cost and duration of the special training
The costs for the special training can be very different. The decisive factor here is the amount of initiative shown, because if you don't invest any time and effort in the training of your future hunting dog, you will have to reckon with higher costs. If your dog is then still housed externally, you must expect monthly costs between 600 to 1500 euros.
The duration of the training to become a hunting dog depends on the individual dog and the different training goals. As a rule, it is four to six months. Please note, however, that even after successful completion of the hunting dog training, further training sessions must take place, as this is the only way to improve and support your dog's hunting skills.
Details at a glance
Prerequisite: the dog must be gun-shot-proof
Costs: between 600 and 1500 Euro
Duration: between four and six months
