Gun Dog Forum

Hey!
I have some questions about recovering a bird dog that hasn't been hunting trained very well. My girlfriend's Brittany came from a good breeder and had some training as a puppy. His instincts are excellent but he doesn't have any brakes and loses interest in playing fetch after a few throws. All he wants to do is sniff for critters and can be disobedient on scents. She takes him with her to train for marathons so he predominantly is running and exploring smells at high speeds. Does anyone have any tricks or tips to put a set of brakes on this dog and possibly getting him to retrieve? He is E-collar trained to come if he gets out of sight and is uncooperative on a check cord or leash. Is this little guy a lost cause for hunting? And will he be a distraction or a nuisance to training a WPG pup that arrives next week? Any thoughts or suggestions are truly appreciated!!

B!

If the dog is five years old and doesn't have basic manners, that's on his owners. Work on basic obedience to instill manners and to put yourselves back in charge of a bratty dog. Then move on to field/hunt/birdwork. Find a knowlegeable mentor, or a good program via dvd or books and follow it.

5 years is not too old to train for hunting. My first dogs were 8 years old when they started, and turned out pretty well.

You might be able to get the Brit well started before the pup is ready, and if so, the Brit might be a good training aid. If the Brit is a slow learner ( or if your training skills come on slowly) don't try to train the pup along with him. Work with them separately. There comes a point where it can be useful to pair dogs a different levels, but that's pretty far down the training road.

Good luck in your efforts, and post pics of the pooches!

My last 2 Brittanys would not play fetch but were outstanding retrievers on birds. Always train your dogs separately. No it is not to late, you just need to train what you want it to hunt. Does it know NO and OUT ? If it is obedience trained it will make a good hunting dog.

Yes he has plenty of obedience. He is a little spoiled but is a very birdy dog. I was wondering about tips on where to start with an older dog and how I may get him more excited about fetch. He is great about coming when called as long as he doesn't have his nose down a hole.

Frankly, outside of Labs, most dogs don't naturally want to retrieve a dummy more than a couple times...

Start as you would a young dog. Sometimes older ones move along a little faster, but sometimes they are more resistant, so just take it as he goes. You can't push or cut slack just be ause of age.

You might be looking at force fetch later on.

no not at all go for it

Bbatt2899 wrote:Hey!
I have some questions about recovering a bird dog that hasn't been hunting trained very well. My girlfriend's Brittany came from a good breeder and had some training as a puppy. His instincts are excellent but he doesn't have any brakes and loses interest in playing fetch after a few throws. All he wants to do is sniff for critters and can be disobedient on scents. She takes him with her to train for marathons so he predominantly is running and exploring smells at high speeds. Does anyone have any tricks or tips to put a set of brakes on this dog and possibly getting him to retrieve? He is E-collar trained to come if he gets out of sight and is uncooperative on a check cord or leash. Is this little guy a lost cause for hunting? And will he be a distraction or a nuisance to training a WPG pup that arrives next week? Any thoughts or suggestions are truly appreciated!!

B!

Hey' You have a lot going on and probably require some help .

JONOV wrote:Frankly, outside of Labs, most dogs don't naturally want to retrieve a dummy more than a couple times...

You don't know Springers or Cocker do you!


B![/quote]
Hey' You have a lot going on and probably require some help .[/quote]

Yea! What he said!

JONOV wrote:Frankly, outside of Labs, most dogs don't naturally want to retrieve a dummy more than a couple times...

Lol I've seen more labs that don't retrieve than any other "gun dog" because of that assumption

The over-use of the retrieve exercise has eroded a natural retrieve in more dogs than you could imagine. Shags nailed it. It's back to basics. This dog could be delightful with the right firm direction and patience.
Sounds to me like it has the core fabric. You might have more trouble training "her".

CDN_Cocker wrote:

JONOV wrote:Frankly, outside of Labs, most dogs don't naturally want to retrieve a dummy more than a couple times...

Lol I've seen more labs that don't retrieve than any other "gun dog" because of that assumption

I've seen more 'every dog' want to do something when they want to do it .
Perhaps some don't see that many .
................
This one sounds like the mamma is the Honcho and Speed ain't on retrieving.
On yer bike .

Some great feedback. The basics has been working and quite fast. He is coming along nicely on retrieves. I'm going to try some live flushes with launchers to put breaks on him. Maybe if he realizes he can't catch critters he'll focus more on my delivery. As for "you have a lot going on" comments, that is what this forum is for. Useless feedback isn't worth my or your time.