Retriever training help

[Wassid82]

I've trained my dogs. I too wait for the 5 month mark before formal bird training. I think it has been good to just have a couple of months of team work drills and walks.

 

[KurtR]

what are your goals? Meat dog or run hunt test or field trials?

 

[Ron.C]

I've only ever had one retriever so take this post for what it is.

I knew next to nothing when I started and used Bill Hillmans "Training a Retriever Puppy" program. I followed Bills puppy program and it was super simple and fun for both me and the dog.

He shows how to introduce birds and build excitement. My pup was introduced to wings at 8 weeks and birds at 11. It's all done as "fun" for the dog.

With lots of encouragement and praise, she learned very young to bring whatever object was thrown back to me.

His methods are actually quite simple and at the end of it your pup can sit, make simple retrieves, hold, and will deliver to hand because they have fun doing so . At the end of the program they are introduced to gunshots. They basically finish this program in a great place to start learning where you can continue on with Bill's program or go with a number of others depending on your preferences and what you want from your dog.

 

[Wyowind]

I agree with Ron C. I use Bill Hillman's methods. It's not as much "pressure" on the dog. Especially during puppy up to about the first year. He has more advanced work after the basics stage, if you want to go for an advanced retriever. His CD's seem a little pricey but if you're going to have more dogs later it's nice to have a refresher on the material. You could always resell them too. Someone else will want a copy. Theres a lot of ways to train a good retriever but Hillman definitely gets results with a softer approach and patience.

 

[WCB]

Obedience is all you need to worry about right now IMO. Of course play fetch with him but just make it fun for now. Only had one lab but always have had springers and now have two French Britts that will retrieve anything we throw or that gets shot (more or less drag big Canadas back). Never have had to force fetch any dog we have had and have had zero issues. It may not be needed. Once you start the actual retriever training part you will know if there will be issues.

I do know people that have had their dogs force fetched and again in my opinion have someone that knows what they are doing handle that. I have seen a few dogs not wrecked but definitely set back a bit in there retrieving by DIY guys that had read every book and watched every tape and still screwed it up.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

With dogs, any problem is easy to solve if it is nipped in the bud and not tolerated as a habit.
For example, if pup hears commands repeated, he learns to ignore commands.
The first part of this video clip is what I typically see with newbies, while the second part shows
how easy it can be to develop a reliable recall with a pup.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

Here is another example, pup whines, so big dog gets the retrieve.
Pup learns not to whine and is rewarded with the retrieve for being quiet and steady.

 

[mtnlomo]

Take baby steps and build up. Get him using his nose asap. Play while you train, and train while you play.

When you get to force fetch, some force fetch methods require a lot of pressure, my 1.5 year old female black lab is sensitive to pressure or harsh corrections, she would shut down and give up, when she's actively hunting then she can take much more heat. I was used to more stubborn dogs so I had to adapt and use a hold conditioning that requires more time, but was a more positive and gentle experience for her. Now she will pick up anything I tell her too, wrenches while working on my car, grocery bags etc. and every single bird this year except one was brought to heel and then hand.

 

[Michael54]

Im in the process of force fetch training my 1.5 yr old dk now. Every trainer i talked to told me to make sure she has a very solid "hold" before doing it. Playing fetch and on birds she will bring them back every time. However i want to be able to cast her on blind retrieves as well and plan on testing her. If i was just hunting her i would stop where she is currently at and be totally happy

 

[Trapperkid]

Thanks everyone these have all been helpful and he’s learning very fast if anyone else has any tips or suggestions please feel free to post them.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

1) Every pup is different, just like people. Don't advance based on a fixed schedule, advance based on your dog's learning of concepts and performance. Your building a retriever, step by step.

2) There is no reason to ever get mad at your retriever.

3) If he creeps, don't reward him with the retrieve!

4) If your dog fails, immediately simplify and teach the concept many times for the remainder of the training session.

5) Always promote and maintain a good attitude, especially into water. Hunting in cold water is fine, training in cold water is not. Use an aquarium thermometer, long sessions in water the air+water temperature should exceed 100 degrees F.

6) Be very careful introducing gunfire. It is easy to create a gun shy dog, Gradually introduce gunfire starting with a .22 shot at 100 yards away.

7) Don't repeat commands! Repeating commands teaches pup to ignore commands.

8) If you get frustrated with your dog your doing something wrong...quit for the day a think of a better way to train..read your dog and get inside his head.

9) Retriever training should be fun, not work.

10) Anticipate problems and nip them in the bud.
Teach, teach, teach...confusion should not be interpreted as disobedience.

 

[RSather528]

I didn’t have the time or resources to do it myself and sent my pup to Dokken’s since I am pretty close. While I wish I could have done it myself it was worth every penny. They turned what would have been a good dog into a great dog. At home and at that puppies age I think being having him be comfortable and staying comfortable with a crate/kennel pays dividends.

 

[Billy Goat]

Something of note is that force fetch was a training technique developed by an upland trainer with dogs that had no retrieve instinct, or very little. A retriever already wants to retrieve, you just need them to do it on your schedule. I chose to not force fetch my lab. It hasn't been a problem, but he isn't a trial dog either. It might be easier than you think to breed retriever habits out of dogs, and when you are force fetching you aren't using the built in drive. I think force fetching is an easier program for a pro trainer to use, not for every home trainer as you can screw up pretty good with a dog.

Find a few books to read on training techniques. There's a lot of them out there. I think learning to use an e-collar correctly is priceless. Mine loves his, it's how he knows we are going hunting. It's just a device to get their attention. If the dog vocalizes while using it, you are using it wrong.

 

[KurtR]

main reason i force fetched my current pup is it is frustrating when they have a pheasant in their mouth and drop it to go get another one and it runs off and you are searching for it again. I had no intention of running hunt tests but i joined a club and fell in love with it. We are 2 months out from our first test and cant wait. My other two dogs were good hunting dogs but my dog now is already at another level. We are just waiting to get in the water when it warms up and start working on swim by.

 

[Mountainman3]

Get Richard Wolters book on retrievers. It used to be the Bible for dog training. I’ve trained all my labs off the basic fundamentals from his books.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[30338]

Go on youtube and search Stonnie Dennis Heel training. It is very effective and very useful later on.

 

[Billy Goat]

main reason i force fetched my current pup is it is frustrating when they have a pheasant in their mouth and drop it to go get another one and it runs off and you are searching for it again. I had no intention of running hunt tests but i joined a club and fell in love with it. We are 2 months out from our first test and cant wait. My other two dogs were good hunting dogs but my dog now is already at another level. We are just waiting to get in the water when it warms up and start working on swim by.

I get that, I just never encouraged mine if he dropped a retrieve. It took a little bit to break him of the instinct to go to where another bird dropped, but he got it figured out. He will bring the first retrieve back ( that I sent him on, not his choice) then is ready to launch once I have bird in hand.

As a teenager I worked a bunch of hunt tests, I guess I got burned out with some of the personalities.

I also decided that I wanted more of a meat dog than a trial dog. It was the same thing with border collies. You can have a good trial and good farm dog, but you won't have one that is great at both, not one that I ever saw anyways, and I was around a lot.

Not knocking anyone for field trialing or force fetching at all, hope I don't come across that way. Just trying to put the info out there that you don't need to go that route to have a good working dog, but you will spend some time on them.

 

[ianpadron]

Man 6 weeks is pretty dang young to get a pup, I'd focus on house/crate training, bonding with the family, etc. and at 8 weeks start introducing basic obedience in a few 5 minute sessions a day. Tossing a balled up sock in a hallway for a few minutes is THE BEST method to amplify a young retrievers drive...no distractions, has to bring it back, super fun.

Keep training short and fun and you'll be blown away by how much the lil nugget progresses each week, he sure is cute!

As he gets older, Freddy King has a killer YouTube series for duck dogs, used them on my Golden and he's a duck fetching machine at 4 yrs old.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

and when you are force fetching you aren't using the built in drive.

This isn’t true. You are amplifying and controlling that drive. I have a buddy with a lab that wasn’t force fetched. He quits on retrieves that are too hard or where the bird or bumper or ball isn’t where he saw it land. With force fetching when you say the word, they know they have to come back with something in their mouth.

 

[Billy Goat]

This isn’t true. You are amplifying and controlling that drive. I have a buddy with a lab that wasn’t force fetched. He quits on retrieves that are too hard or where the bird or bumper or ball isn’t where he saw it land. With force fetching when you say the word, they know they have to come back with something in their mouth.

If he is quitting, it's because he doesn't have drive.

My dog will drop over dead before he quits, you need to watch him closely in the heat. Force fetch makes the dog do something, the dog is doing it because it was trained to do it. With a retrieving drive the dog is doing it because it wants to. I like to work a dog who is doing what it enjoys doing, I'm not saying that a FF dog doesn't, but I have seen several that don't. I like to train where I build on instinct. It's just how I learned.