looking for advice: training a lab pointer

cfietz14824

cfietz14824

New member
Hello!
First off my name is Cora and I'm new at bird hunting and dog training. I'm hoping this will bond my dog and me and I love shooting trap/skeet, so I think bird hunting will be something I really enjoy!

I recently bought a Labrador retriever puppy (Her name is Betty.. yes, after betty white)! Her mom is a lab pointer, so i am hoping to bring that out in her. I have trained dogs on basic house commands, but have never trained an upland bird dog. I would love all the advice from people who have done this before.
I do not want to ship her off for a program/training; I am willing to put in the time (and money) to train her myself. She is currently almost 10 weeks old.

I feel overwhelmed with the amount of information about training on the internet. Yes, it is great we have all this knowledge at our fingertips but i don't know how to choose what is best for my dog. I've read a vast amount on the website: projectupland, I've watched videos from Standingstone Kennels and Feather Point Retrievers ' training style. As well as other YouTube folks.

I really just need to know where to start, and to make sure it's going to train her for pointing!
So if it is not clear --- my goal: Train Betty for pointing upland birds. I know she's young so I'm assuming lots of exposure and basic commands at first.

Please help -- thank you!
Cora
 

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Long story short, start by introducing loud noises, while playing fetch, slowly progressing louder. She needs to associate it with something good. Then lots of birds. You already have a head start because you will work obedience in with it. Don't worry about the bonding. She's probably already bonding with you. Just be kind. You'll get lots of good advice here..
 
Let the pup be a pup first. Start with crate training. I would suggest getting the Fowl Dawgs DVD's by Rick Stawski. Don't pull bits and pieces from different programs, pick one and stick with it. Keep your retrieve sessions short, maybe 3 or 4 a day and only a couple of times a week. You're going to need pigeons and a training pistol that shoots acorn crimps. Introduce the training pistol while the dog is eating. Have someone standing about a 100 yds away. While the pup dives to the food bowl, have someone fire off a shot with the acorn crimps. Do this for week. Then the next week move in 10 yds closer. Progress until your helper is only 50 yds away a month later. Then repeat the same thing from a 100 yds while you toss a clipped wing pigeon for the puppy. Progress to 50 yds. I never go any closer until about 6 months or so. Then I repeat with a shotgun. You will have a puppy that relates the gun to its 2 favorite things, Birds and Food. You're wasting your time with a fishing a rod and wings. It's great when a labrador points, naturally. But let that dog do what it is born to do, find birds and flush them. I had a dog from GMPR Riks Risky Raider. He would point a rooster naturally if a rooster held but if it was running he would flush them. He would point quail. But I never whoa broke him or trained him in that manner. He was trained like a retriever and he was the greatest hunting dog that ever walked this earth.

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Beautiful yellow.Just go hunting and find birds.Labs are not meant to point.Dont worry about pointing. Start out shooting a 20 gauge, then progress to a 12 gauge. I don't believe in crates, and a lab will usually retrieve without a whole lot of training.
 
Stawskis fowl dog is good stuff.
Train her like a retriever and join a retriever club. Do lots of obedience, solid obedience is the foundation for everything. As for the pointing side I cannot help there. Undoubtedly someone is going to say take her to the trap range for gunfire exposure. DO NOT DO THIS!!! You need to control the environment so gunfire is associated with birds. Birds make bird dogs!

Here is a option that is a bit cheaper than buying a starter pistol.

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Well first it looks like a pointing lab, saying a pointer lab sounds like a cross between a lab and pointer breed. Very cute pup, and you can have a great hunting dog even if she doesn’t point. Some times they don’t point till they are a couple years old. There is so much advice but I would check your area for a training group in your area, you will learn way more than DVDs or advice on here.

Second is go to beanpod app and look for Julie Knutson podcasts called training the pointing lab. There are around 300 podcasts from puppy work to running the triple crown. She is the real deal and you will learn so much if you follow her advice. Good luck.
 
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Beautiful pup! A lab is a flushing breed by nature and if he points for you good if that's what you want but his genetics tend to a close flushing dog and that is a good thing! Enjoy what he is meant to do genetically and if you want a steady pointer look into a GSP or a GWP/DD. I have the later and my son has labs and both have a particular duty in the field. We hunt them together weekly and the difference is obvious as to their genetics. A GOOD lab is impossible to beat in the field but pointing (in my humble opinion) is not their born talent. Hunt often and the pointing will emerge but don't expect a flusher to act like a English Pointer.
 
Beautiful pup. I bet you two will make a good team. I didn't see where you are located. I hope there is some good areas to get Betty out in the elements and exposed to all the sights, smells and sounds experienced in a hunting field. I have been blessed and spoiled to have the very best bird dog training right outside my door. Look for those areas and check what is allowed in your state for using public areas for dog training. Other members here have given you good advice on noise training. Remember noise should produce a favorable response for Betty.
Best wishes for you and Betty's new adventure.
 
Julie Bates Knutson has written a book Training the Pointing Labrador. She also has a podcast with the same name.
All puppies with pointing parents don’t point. I think many will but some won’t.
I’d get her on birds early and often and incorporate that with other basic training. Chukar work well.
And the labs that I’ve seen that point don’t point all wild birds all the time. Enjoy you pup for whatever she turns out to be!
 
That is a pretty pup and welcome to the awesome world of Pointing Labs! Mine is 5 1/2 and loves to hunt, sleep, eat, and go on the boat!

If you are on Facebook, I would suggest you start to following the American Pointing Labrador Association, as well as check their webpage. There is a lot to learn and great people that will help. I learned a lot from Julie Bates. I have both of her books. Working on the basics right now is the place to start.

batesworks.net

Batesworks

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APLA Home - American Pointing Labrador Association

Promote the pointing Labrador Retriever through training, breeding, education, performance and competition.
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cfietz14824 said:
I am hoping to bring out her pointer, but if she doesn't point she doesn't point! If she doesn't point as long as we can bird hunt together, thats all i care about!

I'm really fine with either!

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! i really appreciate it!
Also, i'm from central Wisconsin!
Click to expand...
Even the most hunted lab is still a house dog 95% of the year, enjoy every day. Lots of good advice here. I enjoy people who enjoy their dogs. From NW WI.
 
cfietz14824 said:
I am hoping to bring out her pointer, but if she doesn't point she doesn't point! If she doesn't point as long as we can bird hunt together, thats all i care about!

I'm really fine with either!

Thank you all for the wonderful advice! i really appreciate it!
Also, i'm from central Wisconsin!
Click to expand...
Great looking pup, but I'm biased to the chocolate color! Lol!
I've only run labradors.....I've worked my current lab to "point" to as close as it needs to be when it's there.....but he is not from a "pointing lab" line.
If he works a bird that he can lock down.....he will work to basically a point.....if the bird evens "thinks" about moving, he'll flush it or grab it....he'll flush it on command if the bird remains locked down. I worked alot of check cord and birds in spring launchers for this when he was young.....but also allowed his natural abilities at the tracking, flush and retrieving to flourish.....just at a controlled range. He hunts ducks, geese, pheasants, grouse, woodcock.....fields, marshes, boats and skiffs.....pretty comfortable with what he does, perfect.....nope, but very, very solid.
I'm in EC Wisconsin.
 
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