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#1
11-15-2005, 08:58 AM
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My friend picked up a half starved Brittany Sunday while deer hunting
and then pawned her off on me. She seems to be about 5 or 6 months old. Real sweet but VERY timid. She was skin and bones... and I have been feeding her and letting her rest a lot to get her strength back up. She seems to be ok with my dogs, although she wants to defend the food bowl. I have been keeping her in the crate when not directly supervised as she is not completely housebroken.
Does anyone have any insight about Brittanys? I know they can be timid when abused... and she sure is timid, but very sweet, and loves to be around people. I am gonna let her get her strenght up a little before I get a pigeon for her to play with. She is also very jumpy right now too. I am afraid that she may be gun shy. I'll cross that bridge when I get there though. Baby steps. Jabba
__________________
"The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is America's Original Homeland Security Bill" 
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#2
11-17-2005, 04:29 PM
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I have a Brit male.They love to hunt and can go on those short legs alot longer than a guy might think.Male Brits are fighters, but females are sweet as sugar.My friend has a female that he keeps in the house (in lieu of kids I guess).She does upland and waterfowl and will bust brush.
My other bird dog (a lab) was a stray.He made a gun dog by getting him in the field and killing birds.Now he runs down cripples and retrieves dead birds regardless of how nasty the cover.Getting into birds is paramount. Bobwhites, Brush, and Briitanies by Joel Vance, while mostly a quail hunting book, will give you some background info on Brittanies and other spaniels as upland dogs.
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#3
11-17-2005, 06:48 PM
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There is a school of thought that is a little different than taking a dog to the trap range to find out if it is gun shy or not. In hindsight, I probably agree with it, but I have taken my dogs to the clays range on a bunch of occassions.
Essentially, you want to get a dog interested in birds and once she is interested in birds, you want to introduce gun fire with birds involved. Start out with a starter pistol from afar while she is working birds. Once she is okay with that, decrease the yardage. Once you can fire the starter pistol while you walk right beside her, step it up a notch to something like a .22 or .410. Essentially, work your way up to a 12 ga. Somehow, I think you know how to see if a dog is gun shy and/or get them over the gun shyness. Me, I spent a lot of time with my dogs and earned their trust before we ever went into the field together. I either started with a 12 ga. from afar or a 20 ga. right close to them. I have not had a problem. My uncle on the other hand took his dog out hunting with us once and it took off along with his buddy's beagle right after the first gun shot. Eventually, he got the dog back because it came to an old lady when the lady offered it food, but the beagle was never found because it would not trust the old lady with the food.
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The pond, waterfowl, and yellow labs...it don't get any better.
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#4
11-18-2005, 10:14 AM
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I am gonna let her get used to me a lot more before I work her too much in the field. I may catch a young pigeon and clip it's wings, and let her chase it around the yard. Just to see how she acts with it.
She's getting healthier and stronger. Eating a lot and drinking a lot too. Has no house training at all. But she's eager to pee outside and get praised for it when she does. I had her to the vet on Tuesday. She weighed 28 lbs and does not have a micro chip. She's a little bit guardy of the food bowl with my GSP. He allows her to be that way with him. My lab however laid down the law with her. She seems very sweet. I am sure it'll take her a while to feel totally comfy with us, and to believe that she has a home. Life at my house is pretty good when you're a dogs though so I have faith that she'll get there eventually. Jabba
__________________
"The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is America's Original Homeland Security Bill"
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#5
11-18-2005, 08:21 PM
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Jabba, I had a Brit years ago that I got quite by accident. She was a grouse hunting fool. Her owners were an italian couple and he had her everywhere upland hunting but they got a divorce and the lady won the dog in a custody battle just to get even with her ex. She was going to have the dog put to sleep but I talked her into giving it to me(had to vow I would not give it to her husband) .... but I called the guy and told him I had his dog and he could come get it soon as I got her home. the hubby was moving and asked me to give her a good home. I did. "Misty" only had two problems that I never could break. First, she had been kept in the bathroom during the day while her owners were at work and really acquiured an appetite for eating soap which would make her extremely thirsty. She thought the toilet bowl was her water bowl and after the soap she would be foaming and blowing bubbles. Bathroom door kept closed solved that problem . Coming from an italian family , Misty loved pasta. she would lay on the floor and pay no attention as long as we did not have pasta but if dinner was spagetti or lasagna she would wine, moan and drool like nothing I had ever seen. Misty was 12 when she left us and went to dog heaven.
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