Training Tip for my Puppy

[TedhuntsNC]

I am training my first dog. He is doing great thust far i was told to get the simple game of fetch down pat with him first. He can do this no problem although when he is in new surroundings he may get distracted by new smells orobjects but over all he does pretty good. I have shot around him he is not "gun shy" at all. But i am wondering whats the next step?.............. A dummy launcher?..............and how to get him to stay on track. BTW he is 8 months old

[Georgia Boy]

What kind of dog is he and what are you training him for?

[Del Lolo]

What training program are you following ?

[TedhuntsNC]

He is a 8-9 month old Black lab Brittany spaniel mix I am training him for waterfowl and possibly for doves I am following training tip for George Hickox as well as others I am on no one set program. Keep in mind this is the first dog I have ever trained. I have hunter all my life and have been around hunting dogs but never had my own. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated.

[Georgia Boy]

I would say introduce him to some birds, after that he is old enough to start a FF program.

[cjhills]

Don't over do the retrieve games. They can drive you crazy wanting to play. A lot of obedience training. Here,sit,heel and collar conditioning. Get a retriever training program and follow it...........................................Cj

[Rick S]

He is a 8-9 month old Black lab Brittany spaniel mix I am training him for waterfowl and possibly for doves I am following training tip for George Hickox as well as others I am on no one set program. Keep in mind this is the first dog I have ever trained. I have hunter all my life and have been around hunting dogs but never had my own. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated.

Pick a program and stick with it!!! If you're training your first dog, you probably don't have the experience to mix and match methods and steps from various programs. Find a proven program and one you can easily follow and stick with it. Also find a local club for hands on help. Good Luck!

[SpringerDude]

With that particular mix of breeds, you could have a great dog it it loves to fetch and also points. It has been suggested that you find a local club to train with.

below is a link to the Hunting Retriever Club website page that lists all the local clubs. List is in Alpha order so scroll down and find the ones in your area. Now, the "city" might be a few hours away but if you contact the club's officer, you can ask if they know anyone close to you that is training. looking and asking and you will find someone that can help you.
http://www.huntingretrieverclub.org/loc ... ites.shtml

Getting internet help at times is great but you need someone observing your dog to give you the best training advice and how to proceed where you are wanting to go.

You can also search AKC's website for events in your area. Again, find someone and ask for referral to folks in your area that is training.

Good luck with your pup. Sounds like you are on your way.

[TonyS]

As a first time bird dog owner I can relate. Get the yard training stuff done. And when you see the dog understands then for a while don't worry about it. What I mean is I have a dog that fetched perfectly when he was 3 months old. After that it was 'keep away'. Except for birds I shot.

Now, a year later, suddenly around the house, he can't get enough 'fetch'. I have to hide his toys.

After you get the yard stuff done and even while doing that make sure you take him out in the woods and fields to run. The more he feels comfortable there the better he is going to do. Later you can begin pigeons. Since this is a flushing dog and mine is a pointer I can't tell you much more.

Have fun and good luck!

[DoubleBarrel GunDogs]

Hickox has a seminar in North Carolina in April. This may or may be what you're after. I know this: If you don't follow a particular training approach you'll most likely get very confused, and your dog will reflect that confusion.

Good luck,

Nate

[deke]

As a first time bird dog owner I can relate. Get the yard training stuff done. And when you see the dog understands then for a while don't worry about it. What I mean is I have a dog that fetched perfectly when he was 3 months old. After that it was 'keep away'. Except for birds I shot.

Now, a year later, suddenly around the house, he can't get enough 'fetch'. I have to hide his toys.

After you get the yard stuff done and even while doing that make sure you take him out in the woods and fields to run. The more he feels comfortable there the better he is going to do. Later you can begin pigeons. Since this is a flushing dog and mine is a pointer I can't tell you much more.

Have fun and good luck!

He aint a liar, I have to hide everything from my dog. And when I say everything I mean everything, shoes, socks, water bottles, remotes.... The list goes on and on, the "bleep" dog will catch cats in our back yard and bring them over to me ( unharmed of course). I didn't follow a retrieving program with my pup, but after I got him crazy about fetching we worked on him sitting until sent on a retrieve, then hunt dead, then lines, then doubles, then blind doubles with lines. And that is where I stopped.

[RoostersMom]

Find a program you like but also, go back and do gun acclimation training. Just shooting over a dog to "see" if he is gunshy is a very poor way to introduce him to guns. Train him that a gunshot means a dead bird - so he's always looking for that dead bird and really anticipating (and learning to love) the gun. I use the perfect start dvd on all my dogs.

[Wyobio]

Don't over do the retrieve games. They can drive you crazy wanting to play. A lot of obedience training. Here,sit,heel and collar conditioning. Get a retriever training program and follow it...........................................Cj

No kidding! My GWP is OCD about retrieving, when I won't do it she would go over to the various neighbors until she finds a willing victim. One of their kids is a budding golf prodigy, and she would retrieves his chipping practice balls all day

Honestly, she is 11, super fit and lean, but starting to develop arthritis--which I feel all of her crazy retrieving games over the years is a contributor....

[aulrich]

Must have puppy pictures

[Senah]

We were dragging wings in the snow starting at about 4 months. It was a game - 1 person would hold him on the side of the house (or stay inside) and the other would create a trail with a reward at the end. They don't have a huge attention span at that age, so we didn't do more than 3 rounds at a time. One mistake was that when we got him he wasn't gun shy at all, but we took 3 months off and didn't shoot around him, so it took about that long to get him used to guns again (we started very small and worked our way back down to a 12 gauge).

We threw dummies in the lake or stream when it was warm enough, but mostly as other have stated, voice and hand signals and obedience were HUGE in the first year. Getting him solid on those, especially since you can't do too much at one time, was very important. We also socialized him non-stop by eating our lunch (even in winter) on a bench on Main street so that he met loads of other dogs and children. We read that if you don't get them used to children when they are pups, they never see them as human and will not respect them or defer to them. It was a great thing to do, as we don't yet have kids and there aren't a lot of other hunting dogs in our neighborhood.

[lugmastro]

Fetch is great, but is only a part of the process. Dogs will also react differently on birds. I have a GSP that will bring you anything to throw for him, eating an orange is not possible in my house. But in the field he would point dead birds and be very slow to fetch them back. I had to work forced fetch with him in order to make it work. I agree with most, pick a program and stick with it. By dog 3 or 4 you will be able to deviate and do your own thing.