Prizing

[daniel77]

I'm a bit curious what ya'll think about a pup prizing. My 16 week old ES male is turning out to be a fair natural retriever, although, I wouldn't call his retrieving desire to be on par with the labs that I've had. For this reason, I've been a bit more lax on his retrieving so as not to squash his desire. He'll frequently display prizing during one or two retrieves when we're working on retrieving. Note that he is showing off with head and tail up high, and we aren't playing keep away. I can call him to me at any point, but I'll generally allow him to make a circle or two. He doesn't do this all the time, and I know I can stop it quickly and easily. As he gets older, more will be expected of him, and less play will be tolerated, and he will be FF'd when the time is right. I also plan to use him as a more versatile dog than most strict pointing guys. Do any of you think I'm causing harm by allowing him to do this? I'm beginning to think it's about time to get "a bit" more serious.

[snips]

At 4 mo it is still all about having fun...I would not start anything serious for quite awhile.

[gonehuntin']

I love a dog that struts around with an object you've thrown. Those are, in my mind, the great retrievers. I'm careful never to snatch it from them when they bring it back to me, I let them strut around until they come to me, then I praise the heck out of them and gently take the object, maybe throwing it again, maybe not. "Prizing" is "prized" by me.

[RayGubernat]

When I see a young dog strutting around with a stick, bumper or hat or whatever it is I have thrown, I see a young dog with a boatload of pride and self confidence as well as a good deal of joy at just bein' alive.

I can't have too much of that in a bird dog. I will do whatever I can to maintain and nurture that level of self confidence and happiness around me.

RayG

[daniel77]

Thanks for the replies. I do think that I've got a pretty special pup here and I want him to be all that he can be. I'll let him keep on showing his pride then and maybe try and get a few pics of him prizing and pointing. Thanks again.

[surferdave]

Definitely all about fun right now. Plus him showing off his retrieve lets you know that he's enjoying it and having a good time. That's what you want in a young pup. As my dogs retrieving became more formalized, he easily distinguishes a "work" bumper and a "fun" bumper, as all dogs do, and many will continue to "prize" during fun time.

[Tall Boy]

I still throw a fun bumper at the end of every training sessions with my labs, I dont care if they bring it back or not. They'll run around with it, head high pround as heck.. it's always good for a laugh.

[BigShooter]

Moving on to a wounded wild bird during a hunt - for a pup's first retrieve I'm more than willing to let them strut around with their prize. It shows me they're interested in birds and excited about what they are doing. It is about the best reward they can get for a job well done and I'm standing there thinking - I gotcha, you're hooked now!