Jan 4, 2025 6 min read

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

By Dave Bates

For the Observer-Reporter

And so it goes with bringing home a new pup for the holidays. It seemed like such a great idea to get a dog for the kids or to brighten up an empty feeling home. The big red bow tied around its neck was so cute. The kids squealed with delight.

Fast forward a couple of weeks. Now it’s January. The novelty has worn off and puppy is tracking sludge from the now soppy outdoors. No one feels like setting foot outside for a puppy walk. Everything that can be chewed has been chewed a couple of times over. Baby dog is getting bigger by the day and more uncontrollable by the minute. The wife is getting short on patience for this once great idea of yours. What were you thinking?

Unfortunately, you weren’t thinking, or maybe more correctly, you just didn’t know what to think. Don’t beat yourself up too badly. Better times are ahead. Help awaits. We got our first German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP) in 1999. A number of pets have followed. I’m close to beginning the search for a little Springer Spaniel female. And even though I’ve been through this more than a time or two, I am just as frightened for the possibilities that lay ahead as you are at this moment.

Let’s get this straight from the get go. … This is not the ONLY way. This is ONE way. This is sort of MY way. More correctly, it is the Wolter way. Before you start sending me nasty emails my way about what an unfeeling, uncaring brute I am, don’t. If you want to go to one of the big box pet stores and stand in a class with 20 other butt-sniffing, peeing, barking other dog/owner couples, be my guest. If you think feeding the pooch 10 pounds of hotdogs is doing any good, by all means, buy stock in Oscar Mayer. I disagree. But then again, I think that a well-mannered dog should be akin to a well-mannered child. They should be taught right from wrong from the very beginning and right should be enforced from the get go. I do not find out-of-control puppies nor out-of-control children cute. Thus stated, here are a couple of ideas that might help to form the basis of a great doggie/master relationship:

* Teach puppy these basic commands from day one – sit, come, stay, no, heal. They are the building blocks for all training. These are commands, not requests. Everyone in the household trains. Don’t shout them; command them firmly and then reinforce them. Say it and mean it every time. Never let a puppy get away with disobeying. It will take a little bit of time for them to understand that you are the boss and that you mean business. If they don’t do it correctly, each and every time, back we go to the starting line and we do it til we get it right. The how to’s of these five commands will be found in Richard Wolter’s book, Gun Dog, that I will mention as recommended reading at the end of the column.

* Keep your fingers out of the dog’s mouth and DO NOT let them chew body parts. You will think it cute until Cujo is six months old and breaks skin. Then you will be enraged at the dog for doing exactly what you taught them to do. Ask yourself, is this fair? Would you like to be governed by the same rules? The same goes for playing tug of war with rope and pull toys. Don’t do it. Trust me, this will save a lot of pain for both parties, later.

* Do not allow the dog to lick in any form whatsoever. It makes things a lot simpler later, both on puppy and owner.

* The same goes for jumping – keep the dog down on all fours at all times and do not give the dog attention when they jump up on you. Say “no” and push the dog back down on all fours and ignore them until they heed the command “no” to cease and desist. This is not a game, it is an absolute. It won’t be very long til they give up on jumping up and mind their manners because they are not getting what they really want, which is attention.

* Make the dog sit and wait for their food until you give the command to eat. I know it sounds like barbarism but it’s not. It establishes your role as the boss which is most important in the learning process. Again, this is all covered in the book.

Also, get puppy used to being interfered with at the food bowl. Pet the head, play with the ears and tail during eating. Stop the eating and make puppy sit and wait at varying intervals before allowing them to eat again. This teaches less aggressiveness around the food bowl with other dogs, children and unsuspecting adults.

* Keep puppy in a sleeping crate (during night time) for the first six months to a year. It will become a place of shelter and calm, if used properly. Do not keep them in a crate all day and then put them in for dinner when you go out for the evening and then make them stay in the crate for a full night’s sleep. If you are going to do this, don’t bother getting a dog. The dog cannot take this constant crating and attempting such is useless.

* For breaking a gun dog to the sound of gun fire, use Wolter’s method. I have never had a dog result in gun shyness using the case of dog food method.

* Teach the dog to retrieve and also to cast or move in the direction of a hand signal from the handler. Great for gun dogs as well as non-gun dogs. Retrieving provides hours of fun and exercise which will pay big dividends down the road.

These are just a few ideas to mull over until you read the book, Gun Dog by Richard Wolters, ISBN # 0-525-12005-x. It is an old fashioned, no nonsense training guide based on research science. The first six chapters are short and easy to read/understand and are not necessarily relegated to hunting dogs but all house dogs. Once you finish the book it will all make sense.

By today’s standards, Wolter’s methods appear to be a bit archaic, like me, but his methods have worked over several generations for me and my dogs and the clients of my former Fido University dog training school.

Good luck and be consistent in your training. You’ll have the pal of a lifetime.

Dave Bates writes a weekly outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter. He can be reached at alphaomegashootingsolutions@gmail.com