Tips on bird dog training

[az_shooter]

I have a chocolate lab pup, he's only about 8 months old and he loves the water and I have him retrieving out of water already and he knows the basic sit, lay, stay, and speak. I'm just wanting to know if anyone has and good training exercises to help my pup get ready for his first bird season. Maybe a good idea for a new forum category, bird dogs and dog training.

[123456]

I highly recommend that you get him responding to a whistle. This is a crucial piece for me with my lab. Also getting him to start on hand signals is a great start for his first year out. He will not be great at them, but with enough practice, he will be able to stop when the whistle blows and turn and look to see what you are telling him.

 

I took my dog out to the park on a regular basis and put out his training birds in what I called the baseball diamond shape. 1 at first base, 1 at second and 1 at 3rd. Then put your dog on the pitchers mound and you go to home base. Try to get him to retrieve the right bird by using hand signals. You will be amazed at how fast a lab will respond if you keep up the repetition. If you need to add snacks to this exercise, I would, ( even though I was told this was a bad idea).

 

Also I will tell you to keep your cool during the first year, and try to over emphasize your dog's success. I usually only punished the dog when he forgets his "manners" sit, stay,heel, and here. Other than that, let him run himself and swim himself until he wants to pass out. You know he had a great day when his tail doesn't work the next day.

 

When my dog's tail didn't work after a long day of duck hunting, I had to research it, and it is really common with labs. Really sad, and the dog is obviously in a state of discomfort. This happens when your dog over works himself.

Good luck and enjoy your new partner.

[25-06]

+1 He just gave you some good solid advice. Also remember at 8 months hes still a pup and sometimes you just gotta let him play.

[tjhunt2]

I just saw your post and how excited you must be to get started. I trained my yellow lab at a very young age with a lot of help from Mr. Bounds aka jackshoe. I will pm you tomorrow. Like what already has been said your dog is still a pup and don't loose fact of that. Congratulations on being a new dog owner. Hope he hasn't chewed your house down yet. lol

 

TJ

[az_shooter]

Thanks for the great info so far, and ill keep my eye out for that pm TJ, thank you. My biggest thing is I'm trying not to be hard on him because I want to keep him motivated but at the same time all he wants to do is play when I try and work with him. He's a great pup and I'm super excited to have him and be training him so I want to try and do it right.

[azshtr]

Go look at gundogforums.com. Tons of great information there.

[tjhunt2]

az_shooter, I sent you some information thru a pm.

 

You need to show off your new pup with some pictures on here. Good luck with the training.

 

TJ

[azshtr]

You could also contact Tony at Desert Creek Gun Dogs in Buckeye. If your dog is not what he would train he will point you in the right direction if you decide to let someone get the basics drilled into your dog. I was stunned with what he did with my sons year old GSP in a three month training session. It is very impressive. Having a solid foundation of proper training will last dog and owner a lifetime of memories.

[az_shooter]

Thanks for the info all and here are so pictures of the little guy, some not so little anymore haha, that last one I just took right now after I had to wash the mud off him cause it had been raining all day and he was having a blast playing in it.

[tjhunt2]

That is one good looking bird dog you got there Justin. He is going to make you a great huntin partner for sure. Does he have a name?

 

TJ

[maydayretrievers]

birds birds and more birds ..and lots of marks. Obedience training is most important if you can,t control the dog. And don,t just go out and blast a shot gun over his head. 1 Obedience here heel sit down and it should be on command not with treats 2 birds and lots of them, intro to gun fire at a distance while throwing marks for the dog.3 steadiness send the dog on his name when making a retrieve don,t let him just take off make him wait to be released on command

The biggest mistakes people make is not following a training program they just throw a bunch of ideas against the wall and hope it sticks. Get one of the retriever training books on training retrievers their all about the same just reworded ..

Take your time and don,t over train keep it exciting, Do not run a dog or swim a dog till it wants to pass out this creates problems later. only throw a few on land and few on water you want to keep the desire. good luck have fun