1 year old dog seems to have no birdyness?

[HolyMoses]

I have a friend who has a 1 year old lab that is quickly becoming a house pet. Just wondering if you guys know of anything he can do to ignite this dogs prairie drive.

It isn't the dogs fault at all IMO. The dog has good papers and a had a hefty price tag, so my buddy thought that was all it needed. No training of any sort.

The dog just follows him through the grass. Never seeming to "hunt". When a gun goes off, she doesn't get scared or run, but she doesn't seem to care. We dropped some birds last time out and the dog wanted nothing to do with them.

What can be done to save this dog from a life of confinement in a dog kennel? I suggested getting a few birds and planting them for her, but he says that did nothing. She literally acts like she is walking down the sidewalk, just following along, looking timid.

 

[carptom1]

There has been several threads on here about this, so you might be served to try to find some of those as I remember some having some pretty good recommendations. In this situation It may require several sessions of you working your dog, or another on some birds while the lab is tethered or kenneled where he can see but not participate. Lavish heavy praise and love on the working dog while the lab watches. After awhile try to get the Lab to do something simple like fetch a wing or do a simple retrieve. It may take several sessions and it is going to be a little work. Labs want to please and if he comes from good hunters, it should take care of itself with some effort. If not a good trainer should be able to fix this.

 

[HolyMoses]

There has been several threads on here about this, so you might be served to try to find some of those as I remember some having some pretty good recommendations. In this situation It may require several sessions of you working your dog, or another on some birds while the lab is tethered or kenneled where he can see but not participate. Lavish heavy praise and love on the working dog while the lab watches. After awhile try to get the Lab to do something simple like fetch a wing or do a simple retrieve. It may take several sessions and it is going to be a little work. Labs want to please and if he comes from good hunters, it should take care of itself with some effort. If not a good trainer should be able to fix this.

Working another in front if him while he watches is sort of the opposite of what he has been trying. I will pass that info along to him and hopefully he will give it a try.

I suggested to take her to an actual trainer, but I see him buying another dog and hoping for more of a natural then spending money on the current one. Birds are cheap, so he has no problem dropping a little cash to do something himself, but he isn't paying someone to help this dog.

 

[bdub20]

I would definitely get it on some birds by itself. I would think that in a controlled situation any dog would at least get curious with the bird, get the scent and want to chase it around. Continual praise and rewards when around the bird. Even though it may not have acted gun shy when the guns went off it may have gotten nervous and associated that with the bird. When my dads dog was young it wouldn't go near the dead bird and he was told it could still be gun shy.

 

[Gatzby]

Get some pigeons and pull the flight feathers on one wing. Have the owner keep the dog lead while a helper walks around whooping it up while holding the flappy bird by the feet. If the dog gets jacked up put the bird away give him a sometime in his crate and repeat. If he retrieves put a check cord on the dog and allow him a retreive after jacking him up with a bird. I wouldn't do this more than a couple three times. Wait a day or so and repeat and so on. When he is crazed coming out of his crate start adding in a .209 at 100ish yards while watching him closely.

This really is an issue than needs an experienced eye over seeing. Where is the dog located? I would try to find a club training day as this is a pretty easy fix in person but tough over the internet.

Remind your buddy that dogs are like bank accounts, you only get out what you put in.

Steve

 

[bobman]

Another thing to try is dogs are jealous, so if the dog has any retrieveing desire you can sometimes use that as a means to wake them up

find a dog that this dog gets along well with and tie the non interested dog then give the other dog retrieves and a lot of praise each time. watch the dog that tied and see if it starts wanting to get in the game.


If the dog shows no interest to clip wings like Gatsby suggested and has no interest in retrieving he should neuter and find a good pet home and start over. Some dogs just don't have it

And with his attitude about training he would be better off buying a trained dog

 

[FCSpringer]

I agree with Steve. Go to someone who knows. First gun should never come before bird finding ever. 2 just because a pup comes from some great pedigree does not mean they toss the same dogs as pups. I know some National champ ESS that couldn't throw a news paper fetcher for a pup. And not one dog out of them were worth a hoot. Natural ability should go a long way. But that can be severely dampened by improper training young.

 

[jonnyB]

My two cents - have trained five hunting dogs, but am not an expert, however I would consider the following:

1. Find a good trainer and invest in a program. Typical intro. to birds (two weeks) usually pigeons only.
This program instills the "prey drive" inherent in all dogs, especially hunting types. It's an imprinting
process. And the trainer will shoot over the dog during this two-week process.

2. Advance to controlled conditions at a preserve - use chuckers and flags.

3. Make it fun! At one year I would consider this dog still a puppy and very immature,( in relation) to hunting and birds.

Good Luck!

 

[HolyMoses]

Thanks for the tips. I passed the info along to him. I actually think I may have convinced him to just bite the bullet and have someone train the dog. There is a local guy who does a little training and I think he may give him a call. Probably the best for all involved, but if he doesn't, he is going to use the info here to do it himself.

:cheers: