First bird dog training, advice for some clueless?

[arock]

I'm on my first gun dog as well and it can be daunting. I have a GWP but he didn't have a lot of interest in birds to start. But we are lucky enough to live by a place that has weekly puppy classes so he got a lot of birds early and often which has turned him into a monster.

He loves to fetch but we limited that a lot at the beginning. 8 reps max, food and praise when he brought the bumper back and he loses his mind every time he sees a bumper now. If yours is only 6 months old I don't think it would be too difficult to get him stoked about it if you limit it to "special" time and give a lot of praise and rewards then leave him wanting more.

The Standing Stone Kennels YouTube page is a killer resource. They have a ton of free stuff and a patreon program where you can ask them questions and send them videos of your training. Worth checking out. Getting some one on one lessons with a local trainer would be a solid idea too for introducing to birds and gunfire.

 

[TX_Diver]

Lots of good books and videos etc. out there. Lardy and Graham are the top (or were a few years ago at least). Nothing like hands on experience though.

Strongly suggest that you look up a UKC club and get involved. They are all over the country and almost all have monthly training days, host hunt tests, etc.

Great way to meet people who have been doing it awhile and are willing to help.

Welcome to Hunting Retriever Club, Inc.

Even if there's not one nearby it's worth driving a few hours 1-2x a month.

 

[Dos Perros]

I definitely think get involved with local club and maybe even a pro. Well worth the time and effort to make this dog one you'll be happy to have had his whole life.

 

[MOcluck]

I would eliminate treats after a fetch. The retrieve IS the treat. Are you planning on making a field trial dog or a gun dog? At 6 months of age you still have plenty of time. When you go out eliminate as many distractions as possible until you get the results you want then start introducing the distractions. Set her up for success (and failure when disciplining unwanted actions). Remember to have fun, as you'll be spending a lot of time in the blind together. 10 minutes everyday is good enough to build on. Good luck

 

[Crippledsledge64]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I’ve been burning through YouTube and picked up Game dog by wolters and will probably start on it during my flight.

I’ve introduced her to a dry pheasant wing I bought at the store and she’s crazy about it when rubberbanded to the bumper but now she just wants to eat the wing instead of bringing the bumper back so I stopped for now and just switched back to the bumper.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

I see each feeding session as a highly motivated training session.
I teach and condition many concepts with twice a day feeding sessions., 60 times a month.
Most labs are highly motivated then and its easy to teach lining, casting, backwards heeling, silent heeling, etc.

 

[ianpadron]

First off, she's young...there are 1 million other things going on in a 6 month lab's head than getting caught up in training lol. She will mellow out as she matures.

Keep it fun, even the most driven dogs lose interest in the bumper if you over-do it. A couple retrieves at a time, then call it quits when they are still asking for more.

Last, look up a hunt retriever or versatile hunt dog club chapter around you. Have a seasoned vet or pro take a look and give you some weekly homework. Great communities to be a part of as well.

 

[Wetwork]

Kinda off the trail, but if you remember this one thing and you'll thank me on your first hunt...Have your pup retrieve frozen birds/bumpers whatever, from beneath a pile of plastic decoys a few times. My first hunt with my chessie she marked the fall perfectly. The duck fell amongst my dekes and I sent her and she promptly started dragging my dekes back to shore LOL. Took a few at home training sessions with the deke pile to get her squared away. I blamed myself, so I never got on her for it, just ignored what was happening so she never got the "good girl" loving. When she did come back with a real bird...lot's a love.-WW

 

[cod007]

So been attempting to train my female lab (6 months old) for ducks and upland and am honestly at a loss. Tons of information online but it all seems contradictory to each other. I'm honestly getting frustrated and a little concerned seeing how i'm not likely to get another dog for some time and feel some pressure for this to work. I'd appreciate any insight or advice at this point, but I can't really pay for a progressional training. Here's what I'm working with.

Female black lab age 6 months named Mackinac. Mother and father both hunters.
Personality slightly shy in new experiences also very strong willed and very food driven
She has some obedience down, will sit, lay down, leash up, wait to eat until I give the command even if my back is turned, and we're working on heeling which she seems to be picking up.
Drive: Just started watching birds about a month ago, really wants to chase the family of geese off my lawn.
Has a good nose and seems too smart for her own good.

Challenges:
She seems to loss interest in bumpers pretty quickly even scented ones.
She more wants to chase my buddies dog than play fetch with him
She tries to take control of the training and will go to the truck if she is done.
Strong willed and often struggles with recall.

Biggest challenge:
Hands down me, I have no idea what I'm doing despite researching constantly.

Really i'm looking for insight, where should she be at her age. Any advice for the challenges listed, and any resources you guys have found helpful in the past. I feel frustrated working on training only to find another source tell me all the things wrong with doing it that way, ie: using treats for motivation.
View attachment 302392

“Biggest challenge:
Hands down me, I have no idea what I'm doing despite researching constantly.”...........

This!
Lots of good and valid information was stated by others. But, as I have witnessed firsthand in the past, the trainer is the most in need of training. I will reiterate the most important points others have written. (IMHO)
1. Get with a gun dog club nearby at the very least. You need to be shown ways to train your dog and things NOT to do. Generally these gun dog clubs will engage in training sessions for club members. This would prove invaluable to u and your pup. Watching and talking to other dog owner/trainers you will learn a lot.
2. Training sessions (of any kind) should be kept short. Keep him wanting more. Never boar him. Extend training time sessions as the dog progresses. Your dog will determine that. You just have to read him.
3. Be consistent. Your dog will give u the results that you consistently train it for. But remember to train with ‘fun’ in mind for puppies.

Further... almost all dogs require different tricks or techniques from another dog(s) from time to time. Books and vids are helpful and useful for ideas but being around other dog owner/trainers will allow u new ideas and pointers. Every owner/trainer hits a snag point now and then and that’s when experienced trainers can really show their worth. I strongly encourage u to spend a relatively small amount of time this next 12 months with other club helpers, trainers, classes to ensure your satisfaction, and your dogs happiness, for the next dozen or so years.
One last note... my Munsterlander never liked bumpers even tho all the other dogs around loved them. But she is still a fabulous bird dog. We didn’t let it be an issue.

 

[Wetwork]

Dobbs Tri-Tronic's Retriever Training....might be dated but I got a brag dog using it. I was blessed with a brag dog as my very first pup. The first I ever trained. Chessies are probably the hardest retriever to pull off as a solid retriever but if you do things right, they will retrieve anything, under any condition and never give up..and as plus they will protect your family as well as any rottie. Labs are a cake walk.​

I was a chessie guy, You just know. Anyway, your goal should be a brag dog....its a high bar but not that hard if you put in a little time. A brag dog is a dog your friends ask if they can use, and if you let them, they ask for them again.​

Retrievers are easy compared to pointers or cattle dogs. I didn't ever need live birds, just frozen training retrievers. Pointers you need live birds. Cow dogs you need livestock. Above all else, no matter what , at the very least, spend 19 minutes or more a day on your pup. Period. Everyday.​

Something I alway's preach is teach your dog to retrieve children. If your dog can do birds it can do people. There is no difference for a good dog its all the same. I could send my chessie for anything,. I'd send her and she would grab my kids and drag them in by their life jackets...as a game. Think for a second how that could be a life changing. All retrievers should do people as well as birds.-WW

 

[AK_Skeeter]

Labs are one of the easiest breed to train.
Mistakes I see newbies commonly make:

1) Repeating commands and therefore eventually commands become "background noise".
2) Not developing a good habit through many days of repetition.
For example, a pup retrieves several hundred times over many weeks in a confined hallway, he develops a good habit of returning with the bumper.

Once that good habit is consistently ingrained in pup, its easy to make the transition outdoors with pup excited about returning with the bumper to the handler.

 

[willidru]

At 6 months old don’t put to much pressure on training keep it fun. It’s easy to stress out. I liked retriever training forum for good input, but like any forum take what you want.

Spend time with you pup and train in short sessions 10-15 minutes. I don’t like treat training personally, pleasing you is generally enough reward for a Lab.

Sound Beginnings by Jackie Mertens is a great puppy training video. Then I followed Smartworks program.

Do you have live pigeons? Get some, great for training and working sent. Clip the flight wing feather on one side and shackle the feet with surveyor tape. They will fly a little but not get away. The flight feather do grow back so you have to keep trimming them.

Don’t try to many new things at once and keep commands to minimum.

Most of all Enjoy your pup

 

[Blackstorm]

Dog training is and should be fun for both of you.
You need to find people near you that have trained dogs to do what you want yours to do
6 months old is not too old but a consistent system is needed and followed, mixing and matching without knowledge or experience usually leads to a bad outcome
Birddogs are made with birds, the more the better, one of my dogs required over 500 in his first year as he hated bumpers.
Books, DVD;s and podcast are resources to be used once a training plan is formed for the two of you
Your short term goal should be to build a bond with your pup so he wants to please you an follow you on your retrieving training path

 

[WhiteOak]

A lot of great advice here and great resources between books, youtube, and dvds. Not all training is cut and paste from dog to dog. As a trainer one of the best things you can do is learn how to read your dog or each dog. Don't get ahead of yourself and give the dog time to just have fun as well. I think developing a strong bond with your dog gets easily overlooked in training, especially when we are trying to train the world's best hunting partner. The best reward you can give the dog is real admiration and some love. Spend plenty of time petting and bonding with your dog, play around and then calm him down. The pup is just 6 months at this point let it enjoy being a pup, if your having a hard time with bumpers maybe take a step back from the formal training and just go play with some tennis balls and Frisbee no pressure just fun. I bet that recall will improve just make sure your dog wants to come to you, don't recall and then discipline, if your dog needs correction go to it.

Develope a strong strong bond with your dog so that it just wants to do everything with you and it won't even realize it's being trained.

Don't put too much pressure on the "hunting training" the first year. I've heard the saying something to the effect of "let your dog have its first year and it will give you the rest". These dogs know how to hunt better than we ever will but if you put too much pressure early on with these pups they may think that well they really don't like it. Work on basic obedience sit, stay, come, heel, place, leave it, retrieves and drops(doesn't have to be bumpers). Learn how to handle your dog then go hunting(assuming you've done gun sensitivity training) give them as much exposure as you can and they'll figure it out.

 

[taylorholte]

First off, isn't about 6 months when your pup finishes teething? The teething process can give the dog a poor view of retrieving if the bumper causes discomfort to the gums.
Second, have you incorporated denials? I'm wondering if denials could positively affect the dog's 'want' to retrieve.
Third, if her parents are good hunters, if you focus on obedience and your relationship with her, she will figure things out and you will make a tremendous duo. Time and patience. She's just a puppy for the next year. Best of luck to you!