Getting The Point Picking The Best Bird Dog Isn’t A Perfect Science. Local Trainer Gene Mahoney Says Sometimes It’s All A Matter Of Luck

No one has a foolproof method of picking the best bird dog from a litter of pups, said Gene Mahoney.

“A lot of time it just comes down to luck,” said the Medical Lake dogtraining hobbyist who has walls plastered with gun dog trophies.

Consider the case of his English setter, I’m Dick Too.

“I was ready to get rid of Dickie as a pup,” Mahoney said. “He didn’t seem to have it, and he was ugly to boot.”

But Mahoney’s wife, Peggy, liked the Dickie for reasons even she can’t explain.

“She said she wanted to keep it and train it,” he said. “At five months, she told me I’d better come out and check out her dog. I couldn’t believe it. He’d dig a furrow in the dirt when he came to point.”

Dickie has gone on to win two Shoot-To-Retrieve national championships, the latest being last year in Indianapolis.

Mahoney has 10 dogs and two horses on his 11-acre spread north of Fairchild. Since retiring in 1990, he’s had plenty of time for his training style to evolve.

“I used to be a tough trainer,” he said. “But any more, I nice-train them. I don’t put too much pressure on a young dog. A pup will tell you when it’s ready to be trained. Go too hard too fast and a dog will cower and not want to be with you.”

But nothing is certain in the world of bird dogs, he said. “You never know it all. I can’t even tell you what breed is best.

“I won my first competitions with English pointers. God, they’re hardworking, staunch-pointing dogs. But I never had a pointer that wouldn’t at some time or other say to hell with you.”

Mahoney turned to English setters on a whim.

“I just saw one and fell in love with it,” he said.

“If somebody asked me to recommend a breed for hunting, I’d say German shorthair. Setters get filled with burrs, while shorthairs are easy to maintain. Setters can be water shy, shorthairs aren’t. Shorthairs are better retrievers and better in hot chukar country.

“Shorthairs also make better watchdogs,” he said. “Setters are terrible watchdogs. They’d open the door for a burglar if they could.”

When it comes to picking a pup, Mahoney has only one solid guideline:

“If mommy and daddy have what you want, there’s a good chance pup will, too.”

But choosing a breed is a much more personal thing.

“You pay the food bill,” he said. “If you’re happy with a dog, to heck with what other people say.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: 10 TIPS TO A BETTER BIRD DOG * Get a pup from a reputable breeder. * Look at the sire and dam to see if they have the traits you want. * Ask for references. * Expose pup to all kinds of activities. * Let pups be pups. * Do a lot of play training at early stages, working on whoa, heel and fetch with little pressure. * Read “Best Way to Train Your Gun Dog: The Delmar Smith Method,” by Bill Tarrant. * Don’t use the word “no.” It sounds like “whoa.” Use “quit” or “stop.” * Don’t teach a bird-dog pup to lay down. It may cause problems when it starts pointing. * Train regularly, and be consistent. -Gene Mahoney