Have purchased ESS pup and am looking for training info,i.e.; books or video. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

I can't help ya with training books but i've owned a few springers. They're great close cover & loyal dogs! I did all of my own training which is pretty simple for a springer, they already know what to do just gotta teach them a few commands & go hunting. Goodluck

Long hunter first get him birdy like right now! Find. Someone who raises quail and buy a few, clip the primary feathers on one wing and let him retrieve and play with the bird in the backyard. My pup was doing this the first day I brought him home(8 weeks). Next buy Hup, training the spaniel way. Once he has all his immunizations get him in obedience. Spend all your extra time wig him and he'll be like velcro. Good luck, good choice,flush 'em up.

Copy and Paste this link. It will get you started.
http://www.dobbsdogs.com/library/fl...index.html

Appreciate the info,thanks much.

jplonghunter

I too have an ESS and I did very little to train him. He is a great dog and naturally has a gift for hunting. I took him out when he was just one year old and he would flush and retrieve on his own. I have had to work on his releasing the bird to me however. He has gotten really good at that too. They are great dogs and great for the family.

I love the ESS breed, except for their longer hair that catches burrs, etc. easily.  That's one reason I like the short hair on my DD because he is so easy to take care of.  Drying him with a towel before he comes in the house is about it!

TG the breed is awesome but the hair is a little much. During the summer and hunting season I keep my dogs cut close with a short hair cut. My male was even mistaken for a gsp once or twice. One guy who we met in the field with his son tagged along with is for a bit. When my dog dove into a slough and pushed a pheasant out of the water he said " I never a seen a pointer do that, shouldn't he have pointed that bird?" He was a bit suprised when he learned that pointer was an ESS. Seems he hadn't seen one hunting in years.

QH---My DD is really mistaken for a GSP because he didn't grow his long, wiry muzzle and his body hair is very short like a GSP. His Mother was almost black in the big splotches where he is brown. I attached a couple pictures of him so you can see what I mean. I really like him better than the ones that have the wiry face and everyone that sees him comments on how pretty he is!  He has one heck of a nose and the breed retrieves on land or water.

He's a looker that's for sure. Do you use him for blood trailing or hunting fur or just birds? I have read that DDs are good all around dogs.

The breed will do it all and he is no exception! I basically use him on pheasant and grouse, but when we are just out for his daily exercise I let him run squirrels, rabbits, or anything else he wants to chase (except deer & turkey). He has killed a few groundhogs and feral cats, as well as an occasional squirrel, but I usually call him off before he catches anything. That is what is so amazing about him. His command is STOP for anything I don't want him to do and he can be in the middle of running something and will put on the brakes when I holler that command! He has only made one loud woof in his entire life when he's awake (he will be 7 the end of October) and that was two weeks ago up at my cabin when a friend came in at midnight and surprised him after we had gone to bed. Otherwise he only yips in his sleep, almost like he's a beagle running a rabbit, LOL! Here is a picture of a few of the pheasants my buddy and I got out in ND with him last October.

Topgun,
What breed is a DD? Sorry for my ignorance but I don't have all the abrevaitions memorized.

Armypa it stands for Deutsch Drahthar, the spelling may not be right but TG will help me. A versitile breed used to hunt fur and feather on land or water. Seperate breed from a wire haired pointer. Kind of like a fancy pointing springer. Haha just kidding TG.

You were close---Drahthaar, and they are dynamite for anything you want to hunt! They were bred by crossing the Pudelpointer, Griffon, Stichelhaar, and the German Shorthair in the late 1800s-early 1900s. The majority will look just like a Wirehaired Pointer, but due to the breeding some will turn out to look like the individual breeds that were crossed. Mine came out of a kennel in Georgia with the Father looking just like a wirehair and the Mother looking just like my dog. I'm not a geneticist, but obviously the shorthair was dominant in some of the dogs in the background of his Mother in order for her to look like him and she passed it on to him, but I think the other six in his litter took the characteristics of the Father.  I used to hunt behind flushers, including a couple of great ESS dogs that buddies owned and this is the first bird dog I've had.  I started as a kid with Dad at 5-6 years old back in the early 50s with a couple coonhounds and then we went into beagles when the hounds died of old age.  To me, there is nothing like watching a good pointer and when you have a combination like the DD that will do anything it's hard to beat!!!

I have never heard of that breed. I guess I will have to research it some more as I haven't decided which breed I want but have been leaning toward an ESS or GSP. I am waiting until I know I won't deploying anymore as my last dog which was just a pet went "crazy" when I left and the wife could not contol her so she found another home for her. I don't want that to happen to a expensive hunting dog. Well time to look at breeds again.

ArmyPA---Click on this website and take a look at the DD breed.  It's very informative and will give you about anything you want to know about the DD, contacts, etc.

www.vdd-gna.org/

Armypa what do you hunt, what kind of cover? I hunt a lot of Ca quail in heavy cover, mostly berry briars and wild rose thickets. These birds aren't hard to locate but they are hard to bust from heavy cover, this is where a springer is worth his weight. Plus once out of heavy cover they won't hold to a point. On the other hand my dog isn't the best on chukar because he doesn't cover ground like a pointing breed. What I'm saying is get the breed that suits your main quarry and cover type the best. Good luck.

Topgun--I read about the DD breed. They seem to be a versitile workhorse. The more I look and read the more breeds I find which can somtimes make it harder to decide.

Quailhound--I mostly just hunt pheasant now since that is what is close by and easiast to find. I I had a dog I would probably venture farther looking for dove, grouse and chucker and maybe try my hand with ducks. I hunted quail a couple times may years ago. It was fun but they ran more then they flew and then they flew fast. I am leaning toward an ESS because I like their looks and temperment and the smaller dog will work better for us for inside the house also but then at the same time I love to see a dog come to a point. I found one ESS breeder who has also trained his dog to find antlers which would be great for scouting time and good exercise for both.

Thanks for all the input.

i too have a ESS and love him and Im trained him on rabbits and he is a beast when it comes to jumping rabbits some people call me crazy cause its a "bird Dog" but a hunting dog will hunt period. he is a great family dog my 2 year old daughter can walk my 45 lb dog thru our neighorhood with out any problems. training was a breeze. I am having one issue though and not sure how to cure it. he submissive pees in the house (wife aint liking it) nor am I but love the dog going to get another one a female later on. Any help with that peeing will help though. I also think they are a very underrated dog overall and hunting