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how in h-e-double-l do i work with my dog to stop her from breaking? i put her on a lead to where she can't go until i release her but doing this hinders her from staying by my side all the time and failing to see some of the marks. i know very little about dog training other than simple OB. she's cool with everything until she hears boom and she's off like a bullet to go.

fyi- i'm dealing with a brittany, not a lab; i only dove hunt with her

Get you one of the little short leeds thats about 8-12" long. Make her heal and stay get someone to throw the bird whatever and don't let her make a move before you command her puller back tell her again to heal if she does. Make her watch the bird or whatever untile she sets like you wish then commander her to retreive.

I'm no trainner someone else may have something better but thats the wayI've done mine.

Blake Williamson wrote:Get you one of the little short leeds thats about 8-12" long. Make her heal and stay get someone to throw the bird whatever and don't let her make a move before you command her puller back tell her again to heal if she does. Make her watch the bird or whatever untile she sets like you wish then commander her to retreive.

I'm no trainner someone else may have something better but thats the wayI've done mine.

she won't break when i throw a bumper or throw a bird in training. but when a gun is fired she's gone. i don't even have to hold her normally; but she'll break her neck and your arm if your holding her and a gun is fired trying to go get bird.

does that make since?

U ever tried training with a partner with another dog?
Ever tried a retriever trainer?
Ever tried shotgun blanks?
Pinch collar and short lead?
Frozen birds?
Live birds?
How old is the dog?

Give a little more info on what you have tried so far.
I'm no expert, but I can tell u a few things to try.

music_man wrote:U ever tried training with a partner with another dog? yes somewhat, not much though
Ever tried a retriever trainer? have talked to several and got pointers throughout the time i've had her, but pay someone, absolutely not
Ever tried shotgun blanks? have yes, regularly no,
Pinch collar and short lead? yes, i keep her on a lead so she can't
Frozen birds? yes
Live birds? yes
How old is the dog? about 1.5; i got her after 10 months though; so that's when we started with ob;

Give a little more info on what you have tried so far.
I'm no expert, but I can tell u a few things to try.

can throw bumper, birds, ball etc. while she's at heel she won't break, she'll sit till i tell her to go. however when gun is fired, she'll break like hell to go;

at this point i'm going back to the sit/stay command and trying to reinforce, you don't get up until i tell you to. that's about all i know to do. that's why i'm searching for advice.

thx

Based on my experience, you need to throw everything you can think of at her in training. Make it as close to a hunting situation as possible. You need to have someone throw a bird or bumper and shoot while you control your dog. You cant leave out the gun in training and then expect her to respect it in the field. You may also have to sit out on the shooting during a hunt and focus solely on the dog. If you have an e collar it can be a very useful tool for reinforcing sit. Try to set up as real of a hunt situation in training and if she breaks you can make the correction and not have a hunt ruined.

and a lot of this could be on me. i very well could have put her in a position to fail thinking she was ready when in all reality she wasn't. learning curve for me as well her; i can assure you she's way smarter than i am. all i know is if i can ever communicate to her what i'm trying to get her to do she's done it everytime. she's not hard headed and eager to please. maybe i messed up and started going way to fast.

i'm in the oxford area fyi...

Get you a choke collar and 15' lead tied to something solid. When she breaks tell her no and let the collar do the work. I'll bet it doesn't take three sessions to break her.

Is the dog collar conditioned? If so, then I would work on basic OB in the yard with the e-collar.

Either way, get a quality stake-out and stake her down. Then, sit at the most forward position you can where she can see to mark. She does not get to go unless her butt is on the ground. Any violation of sit means a reinforcement of "sit" to whatever level she has been trained to.

Personally, I don't take my dogs hunting until they're through basic OB and collar conditioned. Then, I stake 'em out and they cannot break. They learn real fast they don't get a bird unless they're sitting nicely. And they also have already been taught sit means sit.

Do this in training without a gun first, to familiarize her to the stake-out. I would recommend longer birds at first (whatever is "long" to you). Then shorten them up until they're almost in her face.

Then, incorporate a gun at the line, again with long birds. Then, slowly bring them in. Mix them up, but the majority should be at hunting distances.

YMMV...good luck

After watching my trainer training my dog not to break was quite a process. Dee Dee has more "go" in her and is ready to go then, right then. The one thing he did t fix it was, when she approached the line and sat down and began looking to the field, he barely stepped on her tail. She stopped breaking.

Don't do the 15 foot rope deal and let the dog possibly injure itself. Steadiness is a gradual process of gradually increasing the temptation to break. Going straight from the yard to shooting over the dog in a dove field is not gradual. If you want a steady dog don't take a gun. Focus on the dogs steadiness and when dog sits quietly reward it with a retrieve of a bird your buddy shot.

What you condone now you will be living with for the rest of the dogs life.

Bill

e collar if shes collar conditioned... Heeling stick if she's not.

sit with someone else, with your gun and all, just don't shoot...focus on the dog. Pop her in the head with that heeling stick/gun barrel/e-collar if she moves.... make her sit down and go pick up the bird yourself.

Key is YOU pick up the bird, don't reward her with a retrieve. Make her sit there next to the bucket while you do it. If you can't do that... you skipped obedience.

good advice, and some things i'm going to try. she is collar conditioned and works on e collar everyday, when the kennel door gets opened. She doesn't know what life is like without an ecollar. seems like it's me that needs correcting more than her. we spent all afternoon going back through OB and i'm going to put some birds in the air today and see how we do with training (no gun involved). thanks for all the help guys i appreciate it

B3 wrote: If you want a steady dog don't take a gun. Focus on the dogs steadiness and when dog sits quietly REWARD IT with a RETRIEVE of a BIRD your buddy shot.

What you condone now you will be living with for the rest of the dogs life.

Bill

There you go!! What Bill said.

I got one right now that will take a booty whoopin, sticking, burn if he moves a toe nail... etc. it don't matter to him....., BUT if I deny a retrieve to him, and I walk out and pick it up....well he acts like he's watching part of his soul die!!!

You ever watch a narcotics dog work??? When they hit and alert, their reward is to get to retrieve their toy.

I appreciate all the good intent, but Holy Cow! Isn't anyone going to ask how old this pup is? How much training it's had? What tools does the OP have to work with?

EvanG