Dudley Lab

G

gsh lover

Active member
Alright you lab guys, guess I am one also, just got a Dudley Lab last night, she is 10 weeks old, what do you suggest on when to start training? We already have a yellow lab, nonhunting dog(we rescued her from an abusive home) so gun shot are out of the question for her.
Wolud like to see if this dog can hunt, upland mostly, what do I need to look for? Any and all comments welcome. No name yet, The wife wants to name her, so who the hell knows wht she will come up with.:)

:cheers:
 
gsh lover said:
Alright you lab guys, guess I am one also, just got a Dudley Lab last night, she is 10 weeks old, what do you suggest on when to start training? We already have a yellow lab, nonhunting dog(we rescued her from an abusive home) so gun shot are out of the question for her.
Wolud like to see if this dog can hunt, upland mostly, what do I need to look for? Any and all comments welcome. No name yet, The wife wants to name her, so who the hell knows wht she will come up with.:)

:cheers:
Click to expand...

I would look for the same thing that I would look for in any dog, a desire for birds. Introduce her to a freshly killed pigeon or a clipped wing pigeon. Start developing her desire to retrieve and socialize her by taking her everywhere with you. The best dogs, be it a companion or hunting dog, needs to be crate trained.

As for the other dog, because she was abused, why does that mean she can not hunt? You condition a dog to the sound of the gun and associate it with something positive.
 
Last edited:
thanks for the response. Molly, our older dog( about 2-3 yrs old) is very timid. Even after 2 plus years with us. She loves us to death along with everyone else who comes over, but we think as a pup she must of had a bad experience with guns. As soon as she see's a gun tail tucked and away she goes. I guess I am to kind hearted to force any more bad experiences on her, she's our baby.
The new pup likes to watch Molly retrieve, but so far, she has not shown any interest. I think she is still getting used to us. She has a good nose, and a great personality, so time will tell. How old she be before we introduce her to birds? I have NO experience with labs, just pointers.

:cheers:
 
gsh lover said:
thanks for the response. Molly, our older dog( about 2-3 yrs old) is very timid. Even after 2 plus years with us. She loves us to death along with everyone else who comes over, but we think as a pup she must of had a bad experience with guns. As soon as she see's a gun tail tucked and away she goes. I guess I am to kind hearted to force any more bad experiences on her, she's our baby.
The new pup likes to watch Molly retrieve, but so far, she has not shown any interest. I think she is still getting used to us. She has a good nose, and a great personality, so time will tell. How old she be before we introduce her to birds? I have NO experience with labs, just pointers.

:cheers:
Click to expand...

i would certainly train the pup without the older dog present...keep her bonded and looking to you for birds and commands.....crate training a must....GL.
for now nature walks and letting her learn about all the new smells/scents in her world.....keep it light for now.
 
crate training in process...most information says start their training at 6 mths.
Molly is a very strong retriever great nose, was throwing play toy today for her, and the pup, her name will be Echo, was chasing her back and forth, but didn't want to fetch by herself.
Thanks for the response.

:cheers:
 
Had a lab like your older one. Just let her be. I know all about run and hide when the gun is out. Justin's toy gun scared her. The pup is a whole different deal. Start small early.
 
I've got a 10 week old little girl lab sleeping on my lap right now.

Crate training as your doing. Right now she can learn what the word "no" means, teach her "treat based here command" comes in handy at this age. Take her on plenty of field walks and other types of socialization. If you have a long hallway get yourself a paint roller and only throw 2-3 retrieves a couple times a day for her and let her hold onto her prize when she gets back to you.

No hurry to start formally training her. 6 months is a great age. Remember at about 4 months she will start teething so cut off retrieving until she is over that. You can introduce her to a live bird now or wait. I'm neutral on the opinion of when to introduce birds. Just make sure you have her retrieving birds well before the season start obviously.

Other than that lots of love, lots of talking to her and no yelling at her. All the crazy stuff she does and mischief she gets into is all what a puppy is supposed to be. Have fun with her!!

By the way Stella grace is my pups name.
 
get a copy of The Ten Minute Retriever and follow it at her pace - not yours or the books pace.

Have fun!
 
Find a program and stick with it. Don't beg, borrow, and steal bits and pieces from several different philosophies. Lardy, Hillman, Smartworks, etc are all great programs for training a retriever. If you are looking for a great hunting companion I suggest Fowl Dawgs by Rick Stawski. You can get the dvd for $20. It is what I follow and very easy for the novice. Here is a link to it.

http://www.gundogsupply.com/fowl-dawgs-dvd-series.html
 
Our lab pup is just over 1 year now, here's how we started our pup from the day we got him home until the day we started training at 6 months.
Small collar with a 6" piece of string hooked on it, we kept getting longer rope as the weeks would pass. This conditioned him for having a leash or check cord on, dragging it around, it's so natural he never payed attention to it.
We did a lot of holding the pup and having someone else call his name, when he'd get all excited we'd let him go, a few days he knew his name.
I'd direct him to heal by using a treat, after a couple days he knew sit, heal, stay, place and all by light treat training, as the weeks went by I'd give less treats.
We'd take him out and walk him throught little water puddles on the blacktop, the puddles were a little warmer than the ponds etc.
Throw toys down a hall way so the only place she can go is towards you.
Every session very short, 2-3 retreives.
Throw treats into the carpet or grass to teach her to use her eyes and nose. This has helped with simple hand casting.
All this and more has built him up to his training and burning through his obedience and upland training.
Several people have suggested Jackie mertens sound beginnings, kind of cheesy but sure gets the pup going in the right direction.
Crate training and "kennel" was so easy, the first few day he was home we'd take him out all the time and we'd throw a treat in his kennel and tell him "kennel", pretty simple but effective, all we have to do is tell him kennel and he runs in there. Never put her in there for punishment, it's her safe quiet place. Make noise around the food bowl while she's eating.
Also was told to minimize the amount of time the pup has contact with other dogs the first few months, this makes them bond with you and then while training there less apt to wanna play with the other dog and focus on what you want, but also get her well socialized around others after a few months
Do bird and gun intro at 6 months and start e collar after that if she'll have one, I let ours wear his for a few hours a day for a month+ before ever turning it on.
Pretty long winded but hard to remember all the things that have led to a very trainable hunting buddy!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top