Hunting vs. continueing with training

Chocolate Fitz · Post by **Chocolate Fitz** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 4:39 pm

Hey guys I'm needing some help... I'm trying to train my lab by myself and I think I have done pretty well so far. We went on our first hunt, a dove hunt, and I killed 14 and he retrieved all but 4. He also retrieved a few of my buddies birds as well.. He is only 6 months old and I believe he does really well for his age. The problems I am having is that he seems very excited to load up and go hunt but just not that into going to work with dummies. How do I get him just as jazzed up about working on things as he is when he is hunting? I feel that he has got everything down that I want him to have except hand signals. He is stopping good on the whistle but won't face me on the stop, what do I do about that? And how do upload a pic to this?

CDN_Cocker · Post by **CDN_Cocker** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 5:16 pm

At 6 months I would just train and hunt him next year. He's very young.

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:52 pm

CDN_Cocker wrote:At 6 months I would just train and hunt him next year. He's very young.

Yep, that.

After next year, I would mix in some live birds you shoot and frozen birds you shoot a blank to keep his motor running. Also use blanks with the bumpers.

Chocolate Fitz · Post by **Chocolate Fitz** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:06 pm

Thanks guys I think I will just continue the training... That is a great idea! But What are some ways u get ur pups really fired up about training?

Texas_GSP · Post by **Texas_GSP** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:22 pm

I'd hunt him and FF him after the season is over. He is a hunting dog after all. That's what I've done with my current pup, now 18 months, and have seen nothing but benefit.

gundogguy · Post by **gundogguy** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:37 am

Chocolate Fitz wrote:Hey guys I'm needing some help... I'm trying to train my lab by myself and I think I have done pretty well so far. We went on our first hunt, a dove hunt, and I killed 14 and he retrieved all but 4. He also retrieved a few of my buddies birds as well.. He is only 6 months old and I believe he does really well for his age. The problems I am having is that he seems very excited to load up and go hunt but just not that into going to work with dummies. How do I get him just as jazzed up about working on things as he is when he is hunting? I feel that he has got everything down that I want him to have except hand signals. He is stopping good on the whistle but won't face me on the stop, what do I do about that? And how do upload a pic to this?

There is an old saying that very few folks seem to know or understand. "Do not show the pup the power of the gun before he ready"
Pumping a pup with a busy day in the dove should just about kill his interest in inanimate objects, such as bumpers. At 6 months there is no way he has had enough or even close to the basic training that a dog needs to able to handle the factors involved in hunting or hardly even day to day activities.
My very first training instructor often said, "That is your dog you are welcome to do as you please, just remember we all get the dog we deserve."
By the way 7 Field Champions came out of that class of 10

Trekmoor · Post by **Trekmoor** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:32 am

I agree with Gundogguy, just about any self respecting gundog would greatly prefer to at least find and possibly retrieve fresh shot game than to find and retrieve dummies. Occasional cold game is probably fine but it's better to wait until the pup is very keen on dummies before introducing fresh shot game.....unless you can shoot an awful lot of birds for the pup and tell the birds where and how far out you want them to fall.

Bill T.

cutty72 · Post by **cutty72** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:55 pm

My lab/wirehair cross is similar. She gets excited for the first 10 or so retrieves with dummies before she starts getting bored.
However, get her in the field and she will go all day, be it 1 retrieve or 100.

Bluesky2012 · Post by **Bluesky2012** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:15 am

Texas_GSP wrote:I'd hunt him and FF him after the season is over. He is a hunting dog after all. That's what I've done with my current pup, now 18 months, and have seen nothing but benefit.

I'd assume yours is a GSP, not a lab. The difference in training and development is completely different. It is fine for upland, not at all for a retriever.

cutty72 wrote:My lab/wirehair cross is similar. She gets excited for the first 10 or so retrieves with dummies before she starts getting bored.
However, get her in the field and she will go all day, be it 1 retrieve or 100.

If you are ever throwing 10 retrieves in training, then you don't know how to train a retriever. You need to make each retrieve be used to teach something, and now just throw meaningless marks. You will burn your dog out doing that, and it is never learning anything from it.

cutty72 · Post by **cutty72** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:57 pm

Bluesky2012 wrote: If you are ever throwing 10 retrieves in training, then you don't know how to train a retriever. You need to make each retrieve be used to teach something, and now just throw meaningless marks. You will burn your dog out doing that, and it is never learning anything from it.

Call it "playing" rather than training then. Both dogs will successfully find and retrieve dummies in the yard and birds in the field.
Sometimes it's singles, or doubles, even triples. They learn to retrieve the mark I'm directing them to, and to bring it back directly to me.
Are they field trials perfect? Nope, don't want them to be.
My lab will fetch all day long, pretty sure "burnt out" isn't in her vocabulary.

Swampbilly · Post by **Swampbilly** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:21 pm

Chocolate Fitz wrote: But What are some ways u get ur pups really fired up about training?

Keep it fun 'Fitz. Praise for success, and challenge your pup on marks that you know he can be successful on.
Pay attention to what's been mentioned in terms of countless meaningless marks. When pup gets bored- you've long overdone it. Keep pup wanting more and end things on a positive note.

You mentioned handling/casting-
Unless you've got an endless supply of birds, you don't want pup to run out, sniff a bumper and just look at you like- " Hey where's the beef?" While it's good he likes birds, you've got quite a bit of yardwork that's going to require him to pick up- yes,-->bumpers on a regular basis.

Use birds sparingly for now, but don't deprive him of them.

EvanG · Post by **EvanG** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:40 am

CDN_Cocker wrote:At 6 months I would just train and hunt him next year. He's very young.

You got your answer in this post. He's just reached the age to begin formal training. Don't lose that. Keep him home this season and training him. Give him his life's tools, and take a well trained dog to the field next year. Don't gamble on being lucky. Be smart!

EvanG

CDN_Cocker · Post by **CDN_Cocker** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:46 am

You have many seasons ahead of you to look forward, you are not missing out on anything by spending the time training this fall and waiting to hunt till next year. Dogs don't really start to shine as hunters anyways until they are 3 years old or more. Instill the basics now and don't jump ahead. You'll be glad you did next fall.

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