New Guy Looking for Guidance

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edgarwwilson
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New Guy Looking for Guidance

Post by edgarwwilson » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:17 am

I am new to the site as well as retriever training. I am looking to train my 15 week old yellow lab, Abbey, for retrieving doves and ducks here in South Carolina. 8-10 dove hunts each year and a few less duck hunts on average. Got her at 51 days. Read all of Richard Wolters' books and have pretty much gone by his instruction for the last 8 weeks, mixing in some Bill Hillman online advice. At 15 Weeks Old she is sitting well, coming well, healing OK, staying OK, Kennelling OK. She is housebroken, for the most part and other than a little whining at first light, she is very well crate trained, including in the car.She is not overly excited about retrieving yet, but will fetch a dummy on a short toss, as long as the other dog doesn't interfere. She has trained on a couple of separate pieces of land and seems very comfortable in the fields and woods. We have another dog that makes home training difficult, so I am working with Abbey a few minutes at a time, a couple times a day. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Specifically:

Food? I started with Blue Buffalo and am now on Iams. My other two were fed Pedigree and lived to be 14 (black female) and 15 (yellow female) but were strictly house dogs.

Increase excitement for retrieving?

Introduction to shotguns (skeet shooting pretty often around here).

Introduction to ecollar? Best brand for the $, six months?, let her wear a week or so before turning it on?

Use of dummy birds with injectible scent?

Dummy launchers?

Best instruction, (Hillman?)?

Introduction to dead and/or live birds?

Age for first "real hunt"?

All I can think of at this point. This site has already been very informative for me so thanks in advance. Have a great day.
Edgar

Trekmoor
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Re: New Guy Looking for Guidance

Post by Trekmoor » Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:29 am

She's not even 4 months old yet so my advice would be to slow down and let her be a puppy. :D

Bill T.
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NEhomer
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Re: New Guy Looking for Guidance

Post by NEhomer » Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:00 am

Welcome Edgar and congrats on your new pup!

Increase excitement for retrieving?


She's just a pup, don't sweat it.

Introduction to shotguns (skeet shooting pretty often around here).

Goodness, don't start out at a skeet range. First step is a blank or .22 some distance away while she's chasing a bird.

Introduction to ecollar? Best brand for the $, six months?, let her wear a week or so before turning it on?

I think any quality collar is fine but nowadays I just use my Alpha 100 GPS with e-collar built right in. Wearing it for a while is a good idea.

Use of dummy birds with injectible scent?

Doesn't seem necessary to worry about scent.

Introduction to dead and/or live birds?

The first bird my pup got in close contact with was a pigeon in a cage just to be safe.

Age for first "real hunt"?

This year should be ok but I would go it alone and not have three or four buddies all blasting away over her.

Good luck!

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EvanG
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Re: New Guy Looking for Guidance

Post by EvanG » Wed Aug 17, 2016 3:58 pm

Unless you're interested in developing a field trial dog, the better method/program is Smartwork for Retrievers. Here's a look at how we start pups on real birds. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Eva ... ORM=VDFSRV

EvanG
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mnaj_springer
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Re: New Guy Looking for Guidance

Post by mnaj_springer » Wed Aug 17, 2016 8:25 pm

1. You can feed whatever you want as long as your pup is getting the nutrients it needs and is doing well on it. I feed Purina Pro Plan 30/20 and I like my dogs on it.

2. Don't fret about the retrieving. She's a pup.

3. NO! Stay as far away from skeet shooting as possible! That is not a gun intro nor an innoculation; it's only trouble. A gun intro involves birds, and it creates a positive association.

4. Again, +1 for what Homer said.

5. Scent for dummies is a waste (IMO). After a few retrieves it just smells like dog slobber.

6. Dummy launchers are good for training alone, after gun intro.

7. Not sure. Not a retriever guy here. But use one. Know it well. And stick with it.

8. I use a clipwing pigeon. Get the pup excited, wanting to grab it, then w short toss with no pressure to grab it. But if they do o gently reel them in with the checkcord.

9. My spaniel was 6 months but I didn't expect much and I was alone. And she was comfortable with birds, retrieving birds and gunfire... And the hunts were short.

And bonus: Don't worry about timelines. That's an easy way to create frustration for both of you.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!
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― Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

ckgsp
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Re: New Guy Looking for Guidance

Post by ckgsp » Thu Aug 18, 2016 2:32 pm

first things first. you should get some birds for her to chase this will build desire like nothing else. once you have the desire then intro shooting birds for her . she will put the gun together with the prize (Bird in mouth) then wait for her to mature. Once she has desire and is mature you can start the pressure.

ESS13
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Re: New Guy Looking for Guidance

Post by ESS13 » Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:54 pm

Train your pup alone without your other dog present. Introduce your other dog into the equation later.

Slow down and relax. Focus on having fun for right now.

Find a respectable local trainer or training group to start refining your skills. You will be the one who will need to be trained not the dog. Learn about yourself, self control, habits, correction and your dog will reflect what you are doing. Go watch someone who you respect handle a finished dog. watch both the dog and the handler closely.

e collars will come in time.......excitement for retrieving will come in time........

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