? about new puppy

[shiloh]

I have a new puppy that is about 4 months old. I do not want to send her to a school and I probably will not have time for a retriever club. I do not have anything against either one of these things, but my work will not allow me to do the clubs on a regular basis and I just would rather teach my dog what she will know by myself. Knowing this what direction would you all recommend that I go with this pup. If it will help I would be willing to get a book or two. I am not interested in anything other than a dog that will go get a dead duck, and since I am new to the sport she will probably not have to do much of this for a while. I have heard this type of dog referred to as a meat dog. I would mainly be interested in making her stay until sent, and if not too far out of my league, I would like her to do some hand signals. If you all think that I would be totally wasting my time or am out of line with this it would not hurt my feelings to hear it. I just prefer to teach my dog by myself. I guess that may sound kind of hard headed, but it would just mean more to me when she did go get a duck than if someone else had taught her. Any suggestions would be appreciated....

[CaptnT]

Thrasher, I suggest you go to Ebay and bid on one of Richard Wolter's books, either Water Dog, or Game Dog. I like the Game dog book a little better myself, as it deals with upland hunting as well. These books provide simple instructions on how to train your dog a little at a time. There are also videos available. These are written for the average hunter/trainer, and not for the advanced field trial enthusiasts. I trained my dog using these books and have been very pleased.

You can buy the book at a book store, but they are usually $25. You can get them for as little as $10 on Ebay.

Good luck and remember to make the training sessions as fun as possible.

[Hambone]

We have used Robert Milner's book, Retriever Training for the Duck Hunterwith several retrievers (both goldens and labradors). I think that you will find his suggestions helpful.

[shiloh]

Thanks for the info guys. Any more wouldbe helpful. These books must be the real deal because when you hear this question asked these books are usually mentioned. I will take a look on E-Bay and see what I can come up with...

[damnyankee]

I agree 100% w/the Capt. I used Water Dog and was very pleased. Easy to read, easy to understand, and PICTURES TOO!!
Make it fun.
damnyankee

[Chuckle]

I have a two year old yellow male that I trained myself. He is the first dog I ever owned or trained. I used a book called Retriever Training: A Back to Basics Approach by Robert Milner. The author was a field trials trainer for a while and then went over to Europe for two years to pick up on some training techniques. It helps you train your dog to be steady and calm, and it also is written for the hunter, not for field trials. I used it on my yellow and he turned out great. He ain't a competition dog, but he sits still in the blind and he'll go get a dead bird and that's about all I can ask.
One of the most important things I learned while training my dog (I'm no damn expert) is to take him with you everywhere you can. He'll be more comfortable in any situation and a lot calmer from experience around noises, people, etc. I also found it best to almost just "let the dog train itself", show him stuff and let him play with it for a while until he understands. I tried not to force my dog to do too much at one time, he did it when he finally understood what to do. I used all this advice myself and I came out with a pretty good huntin' partner, among other things.

Like I said before; I'm no Wildrose Kennels, just passin' along some good advice that somebody gave me when I got my pup. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]