Dog Training?

[QUACKADDICT]

I've been working with my two labs every afternoon after work. Had problems with them in the dove field. They are litter mates born in February'01. They retrieve great and have "soft" mouths, but they have gotten so excited with all the shooting that they forget what heal means. They have gotten to the point that if a guy next to me shoots a bird down, they go get it. I can't stand that, but I'm smart enough to know better than to scold the dogs in the field every time they pick up a bird. That's what they are supposed to do, isn't it?
Anyway, we have been working on the heal part and I guess by luck, I found a way to get them to "mark" the bird better and then retrieve on my command. I don't get home until just before dark, so when we work on heal and back, they are doing it under low to no light conditions. This seems to make them use their ears and noses more than usual (duh!).
Just wanted to know what some of you thought about this training method. I'm new to the world of retrievers. Have hunted quail all my life and have trained many pointers, but never labs.
Any suggestions appreciated.

[Haymaker]

Quackaddict,

Now I am by no means an expert, but when I was teaching my lab to sit until given the command to retrieve, I used a leash with a quick release on it. I would fasten one end to wonder mutt's collar and the other end to my belt. When she would try to take off on her own she would find the end of the leash, I would reseat her, and then give her the command to retrieve. After a while she got the idea. If you have found something that works for you and your dogs, go with it. Every dog is a little different and so is every trainer.

Good luck,

Haymaker

[webbmaster]

I used one of those ground anchors. You can get them at WalMArt or any pet store for that matter.
Its a small metal pole that you stick in the ground and attach a leash of any length.

This can save you becasue the dog is not tied to you.

I put a choke collar on my dog and about a 6 ft leash.

She tried to break a few times, but figured it out fast!

I saw one guy a few years ago attach it to his bucket. The next thing you knew the dog was running across the dove field with a bucket attached to it!

[Wildfowler]

I agree with WM, don't tie the dog to yourself. Stake him/her to something more substantial. Otherwise you may find yourself being jerked senseless while trying to make a follow-up shot, causes a lot of misses. You should keep the dog on a leash to help them learn your commands. And use a pinch collar, the dog won't pull against it.

Good luck.

[QUACKADDICT]

Thanks for the info guys. I have used the leash in the yard, tied to the hitch on the truck. That seemed to work great in the yard, but when we got to the field and the birds were falling, they just didn't seem to have enough self control to stay at heal. I like the idea of the ground stake. I'll give it a try this weekend if we don't get rained out. Its been so dry here this year that I don't want to complain about the rain. For any of you that might farm, the guys in my neck of the woods cut 6 bu/ac on the corn and the cotton is about 18 to 24 inches high. Any bolls on the plants are hard locks so the cotton crop looks bleak. Maybe, if it keeps raining like it has for the next few weeks, we'll have enough water to float the dekes. Thanks again for the dog info. God Bless.

[GordonGekko]

I'm by no means an expert, but it sounds to me like you may be having a couple of problems. First off, dogs need to be introduced to a new situation in a very controlled manner. This means you need keep them under control so you can be sure every command is enforced, in this case keep a leash on them. I usually stand on the lead, and move my foot off of it after I release my dog, you can also make a quick release knot around your belt, and that works pretty well. One other thing you might want to consider is that when you take a young dog you are "training" and not hunting, this means at least in my instance that I let someone else do the shooting while I work my dog. I won't carry a gun until she has proven that she can handle the situation and will listen to me when I give a command.

The other problem (and this is an assumption so I may be completely off base) seems to be that you aren't working on your dogs "honoring" (i.e. staying at the line until released, or while another person/dog makes the retrieve). This is something I work on with my pup all the time in a bunch of different places, I'll make her stay at the line while I go and pick up dummies, while my father in-laws lab goes to get it or sometimes I even let my heathen Scottish Terrier go and get the bumper (that is if I don't want it back anytime soon), but during all of this work she has had a lead on during all of this line work. What is important is that I have a way to maintain control of her, and that I show her I am in and I work on it with her in a lot of different environments.

Gordon

[duforester]

Quack: all this is good advice. I know the first time I took REMI duck hunting, I never loaded my gun that morning. Granted, she was only 6 months old, but she did exceptionally well with the other 2 guys shooting.

I would also recommend finding someone in your area to train with. Also, find some real birds to use in your training. I believe you will find this will make a real difference. Good luck!