Help With Field Training my Lab

[bobman]

you can tell bobman knows what he's talkin about!

HAH! don't say that in front of my wife

 

[OkieHunter]

For live birds I use Quail or Pheasants but I have a fellow close that raises them.

 

[NGaHunter]

Bob...He did not get the pup at 5 1/2 weeks. It was one of 2 left from the litter and he got it when it was about 9-10 weeks old

 

[sbrown]

Wingmaster has given me good advice on my 1 yr old female. She will fetch a screw driver with enthusiam if I ask her to and so far she doesn't bat an eye with the noise from the launcher yet. I would think that you would won't to stop using your own voice as a volume or "boom" as you say when trying to get her used to loud noises. I could be wrong but as it has been told to me a dog that retreives with enthusiam should veiw those noises as just secondary sounds and I always want my dogs to associate my voice with a command or praise. If she is that shy or timid about the bumper I would forget about the noise or gun part for now and get back to making it more fun for her to retreive and showing her that it was a good thing, if she won't ever do that then the rest may not matter. Try some scent and maybe even a wing. My female was retreiving bumpers very well already but when I added duck scent that added even more fun for her and made her want to use her nose even more on blind retreives it seemed. The I tied a pheasant wing to a bumper and I remember as soon as I pulled that wing out of the plastic storage bag, alot of small loose feathers went to blowing in the wind and you could see it in her face the interest and curiosity. So don't give up, you may just have to back up a bit, rebuild her curiosity and confidence. Also, you may not have to scold her near as hard as some dogs. My lab, while smart is not sensitive at all, I can scold her hard and she doesn't let it bother her, my 150lb male Mastiff on the other hand goes off and pouts if I just raise my voice to him. Good luck.

 

[bobman]

I've never given up on a dog, and I'm not in a hurry ever.

So far thats worked for me, a pro trainer has to cut his losses but a private owner has all the time in the world to turn things around.


Dogs to me are just like kids, theres always a way you just have to find it.

 

[JACKED UP]

Update..

In just two evenings and from all the advice you guys have mentioned Molly, my yellow female is back on track and doing great. It took a little love, time and patience. I may have jumped the gun a little bit, but I was afraid something was wrong and I needed some advice to point me in the right direction.

FYI she is actually running harder at the bumper than ever before. I think where I messed up was from the encouragement standpoint. I didnt really push her/encourage her, but I was quick to correct her when she was wrong. I speak to her in a soft voice now, and she seems very eager and receptive to whatever I tell her. Go figure, if only my wife was like that.....

Thanks everyone for the advice. None of us are perfect. We all have to start somewhere, even the pros.

 

[BOB_HARWELL]

JU, If you were doing things right around the house your wife would be like that.
Let us know when you are ready to use gun fire around pup.

BOB

 

[sbrown]

Glad to hear she is doing better. Also, if possible and when available you may want to use another dog for training purposes to build confidence or even as a motivator. Wingmaster can maybe tell you more on whether or not that is a good idea. But for example as he mentioned with training a dog with steps, my Mastiff was already used to them, my lab when a pup was not and she was not sure of them yet, so I used my Mastiff, I went to the top, told him to heel and she would watch him come and then it just naturaly made her want to. I had a male Weimeraner that didn't care for water to much either, until I got a female that loved it and then he would bale off in it just to keep her from beating him. But I have a friend with a male lab that was doing well until he got a female and now if the female goes after something he won't even bother.