Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs How to survive a new Brittnay puppy

Things to know -

1) You will run out of engery before they do.

2) No rough housing, especially if you get the bigger dog from the litter. It will only make them more aggressive.

3) Patients patients, patients,.. rinse and repeat

This little bugger I got responds well to a soft hand, but if you fight him OMG it's going to be a long "testing" period.

I finally remembered, if he's doing something I don't like just stand up and start walkikng away... Give him a job (fetch and find it) and he's happy as a clam.

It took me 3-4 days to get him figured out, probably the same amount of time for him to figure me out. It's hard not to treat him like a person - dang cute and cuddly little creature.

So far -

- Fetch day one, he learned to give almost immediately.j
- He's not scared of much, had a leaf blower in the yard next to us kick up, he looked at me like "should I be scared of that" - on it's OK, good boy and we were walking along ignoring it.
- No "stick" in my yard is safe, he's on them and is always carrying something.
- Man do he love bird dogging, he runs the hedges that are full of leaves every single time we go out... SWEET.
- 100% nose, He just started looking at stuff, mostly he's all about his nose - should be a great dog.
- No barking so far (it's only been a week), he did howl once or twice but mostly he'll wine if he's lonely.

Spot

Reminds me of a day long ago....

Great! Looks like a super pup!

We have an 11 week old Chessie pup here at the house. She is a real pistol. "Hot" doesn't even begin to describe her. She is either 1/2 wolverine or honey badger!

She has to be crated if she doesn't have a job to do. Will destroy and eat anything in the house and refuses to be house broken. She comes out of the crate for training, walks, etc quite often. I come home from work for a visit if she has been crated more than 2 hrs. She "comes" to her name, "sits", and retrieves very well. She is doing lot's of work on a long check cord for now. Can't post a photo here but have a link-

http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?p=2473358#post2473358

Thank God I'm walking him now - he's full of energy.

Today he's 10 weeks old

He clicks now with the other mut we have, since I started walking them together a bit they seem more like a pack.

I'm starting him on sit now, and will kick up the retrieving with small dumbies as soon as he's ready. Great nose on him though.

My new puppy survival kit

I will never ever replace the Brit I had I am pretty well convinced.

well folks we have survived almost 2 full weeks.

He's developed more spots where he was all white - so he's starting to look like a respectable britt. I've convinced the wife to get him on our schedule this week vs. us following his schedule.. so life is coming back into the norm (a bit).

in the last 1.5 weeks he gained 3lbs... yikes !!
This sucker is built more like a lab than a Britt, but he's starting to lengthen out, so we'll see. The other coach potato mutt weights 24lbs, this britt who is 11 weeks old already weights 16.1 lbs...


Lessons learned -

Let the other dog tire him out... you aren't going to do it.

A "gentle guide" collar which has a nose loop that just hangs there over his nose has a HUGE effect on how much he wants to attack that fulffy dog bed he's been trying to kill.

We made it to 12 weeks, and he's close to 20lbs now.

We are transitioning him from the sun room to the living room, so he's moving into the bigger house now.

Not the chubby puppy anymore, now his legs are growing fast, and he's getting longer. In the next 3 months he'll double his size.

Good looking Brit.

Boy they change fast. Here is the 9 week Rollie-Pollie to the 14 week getting legs comparison.. It's like he's a different dog every couple of weeks. His speckle is coming in very nicely vs. the almost completely white fluffy puppy days.

9 weeks


14 weeks

Nice pup!

In some ways they grow up too fast, but in many ways not nearly soon enough.

Gonna get me one of those in the next couple years. Have to wait for my wifes Giant Schnauzer to grow up some before we take on another pup.

I know most guys are using their brits' for bird hunting, I plan on doing the same for stocked pheasant and wild grouse, but how do they do on the occasional rabbit? Will they point them or run them in the beagle circle? or should they be shy'd away from?

That's funny - this is exactly what I'm going through right now.

I want the little bugger to stop being a puppy (mouthing everything, fetching every shoe in a 2-3 room distance), And at the same time I love sitting with him on my lap, or the most of him anyway... He's getting big.

This week he started replacing the fluffy puppy hair with normal dog hair, next week he'll be 16 weeks old.

Pheasant ' Bird hunter would definitely shy away from general purpose. BUT Brittany's are very capable of hunting both birds and rabbits.

If you use them for rabbit's don't let them chase them, you just want them to flush them. They are too fast, and the rabbit's will run off and you won't see them like you would a beagle or other small dog that the rabbit is not so scared of. This simply means you have to teach the dog to flush and wait vs. chase as part of it's training...

Thanks thats good info. I grew up with Beagles when I was younger but hunt birds more now and have always wanted a nice Brittany. I am sure I have lots to learn.

Fine looking pup there btw.

So he's now 4months old and is already 26lbs or more, this week (and every week it's something different) his legs grew a good 2-3 inches.

He's has close to doubled his weight from that 13.1 lb fuzz ball of a puppy we originally received.

I'm going to start breaking him in on quail pretty soon, I need to see how he reacts to loud noises and then I'll start working him into birds. He doesn't mind feathers, he already retrieved a cardinal that flew into our picture window for me... LOL.

I guess this month he'll grew into those legs

Feb 1 = 4.5 months old

Very cool.. Missed this some how.. Love dog stuff as long as it is happy!!!!

Tri color... Whos she out of? There aren't many tri color brits in the country.

I got him from whitecroft Kennels in Paola KS.

Dave White runs the Missouri Brit association and he's has some great dogs.

I figured there had to be some Shadow and Joker blood in there. Tequila kennels and Jessica Carlson have bred most of the tri-colors I know of. Ed owned TJ, and they have a lot of TJ/Shadow blood in the kennel.

Yes he's out of the bloodline and is all nose ...

I took him to the range to see how he'd react to shotgun blasts...
10 minutes later we were standing right on the firing line and all he wanted to do was watch the clay birds fly.

In the next two weeks I'm going to get him into some birds - he already fetched a cardinal that flew into a window right in front of us.

I Felt bad for the cardinal but it knocked itself stone cold dead, I praised the pup when he brought me the bird though, he still looks across the Fence where I tossed it every now and again.

BTW - this guy is 31lbs and he's only 4.5 months old...

So he's going to be a heck of a big Brittany, which I'm more than happy about - we stomp ground, and I may even take him now for geese...

Congrats. My pup runs against a bunch of dogs with the same, and very similar blood lines in trials. You will really enjoy your pup, but I bet it doesn't end up as big as you think.

I would be fine with that, I really wanted a 35-50 lb dog, they work cover better IMO.

Id be willing to bet 40-45lbs, which is still technically over breed standard. Many of the dogs in those breedings have been campaigned as "dual dogs". While not impossible to get a huge dog out of that breeding, chances are it will only be a little over standard. I'm pretty sure Jessica just pinned the first dual champion in breed history on a tri-color Brit. Pretty cool considering tri-color isn't a desired trait by many judges. I like them however. Tri-colors and roanies ROCK!

BTW - Dave said he's got another (may 2) litters that will be ready to go the first week of March.

So if your looking for a male Brittany he's got some open.

I love mine, and I think you may be right his growth is slowing a good deal...

Yep, growth spurt looks like it's slowing down thank God.

Cool. Let us know how he works out. I'm still kicking around breeding my older female one more time. Her first breeding was to the now 2x back to back NFC. The litter looks pretty good so far, but I might go in a little different direction next time to get more white, and stay away from the roan that both my female, and the stud we bred her to, have on both sides. Whatever we do, we will be breeding for dogs who can easily go for an hour off horseback, and will run big All Age races with style. If I don't breed my older female who is now 7 1/2, we will breed my younger female who is 1 1/2 and out of my older female, and the 2X NFC. Too many decisions and not enough time or money.

My Britt just finished his 5th season and what a joy. He's my first bird dog and I can't believe the bond we have formed. He is the hardest worker I've ever seen. Buckeroo Banzai Buddy. He comes to me from Phoenix. What a dog. Good luck with yours. He's a great looking pup as well

5 months old and OMG he's over 30lbs..

I own a fuzzy GSP

Sharp looker though

Ok he's slowed down growing that God - he's 5 months and 1 week old..

Weights 35.5 lbs and his coat is getting more adult looking with tawny hair on his ears, and he's just start getting that longer trailing hair on the back of his rear legs that flares out.

A week shy of 6 month 37.8lbs...

And a very happy dog.

I have owned Britts for 30 years now and just got another...have used them for guiding and home companion....I never have had a puppy but have adopted dogs that all turned out to be wonderful critters with a little gentile effort I have had dogs that made me a hero guiding and doing things I forgot to even cover training.........these dogs do not do well with abusive behavior and electric collars can destroy a
dog as positive reinforcement it the real magic along with repetitive commands results in a happy secure dog...........

I have hunted with Britts for 40+ years. They are wonderful dogs. My last one had to be put down in late September as she was very sick. She was the best dog I have ever known. Whe was a fierce and smart hunter, and lived to please me. What else do you want in a bird dog? She was also a perfect house pet, and went everywhere with me. Brittanys are very active dogs. They have to run. They are curious, active, athletic, and sensitive. All dogs need a job, too. My first Britt was a male, and he fetched bird wings at 10 weeks. He was a terrific hunter, too. No more dogs for me at this point, unfortunately. Old age and a wife who has had enough dogs. Enjoy your Britt while you have him. Time with our dogs is way too short.

Well it's 6 months and He's 43.4 lbs and 21" at the shoulder.

Uhmm... I have a short fuzzy GSP ! LOL

Ok... 9 Months...

48.5 lbs - soft was a cotton ball, but just plain muscle like Big old Brit.

- should crack 50lbs easy by his 1 year old date....

Hmm.... Wondering how big he's going to be

Probably not too much bigger.

I think he is just overweight, I'm running him now and he's lightening up.