Half Lab

K

kirk1978

New member
Hello fellas, Im new here and love to hunt those "pretty birds" as my wife calls them. I live in Oklahoma and only hunt in our little panhandle which is growing into a very nice population of birds. I have a question or 2 about my mutt that hopefully some of you fellas that have dealt with training dogs can help me with. First my dog was a rescue (its a long story) but he looks as yellow lab as you can get, but I know he is half something else just by looking at some of his litter mates. He seems to have a good nose and will fetch until I give up. I only get to go pheasant hunting once a year and am not sure ifs worth trying to teach him to hunt or just take him to retrieve?

Thanks in advance
Kirk
 
Definitely not by any means! I think that it's been a little slow lately with all the weather and other things happening.

As for training, if he shows any instinct or signs, why not try? You say he has a good nose and will fetch, I guess it just depends on how much time you want to put into him. Sounds like he has the desire which is half the battle to begin with.

Good luck!
 
Kirk... I suspect if you can get your half-lab to retrieve for you, heâ??ll soon figure out that finding the birds is as much fun as retrieving them. Getting them to retrieve is usually the bigger challenge. If your lab has a good nose, with your diligence and enough time in the field, there's a good chance he'll learn to separate bird scent from all the others (although itâ??ll be tough if he only gets the chance to hunt once a year).

It sounds like you've spent time reinforcing his natural instinct to retrieve, but there's a big difference between fetching a retrieving dummy and retrieving wild birds. I think if you can work one-on-one with your lab in the field, with minimal distraction from other hunters and dogs, you have a better chance of teaching your lab to honor you, hunt close to you and retrieve wild birds for you.

JMB
 
KIRK: If your dog has some natural abilities go with it. Go with him alone so you don't mess up someone elses hunting and you will find with time he'll be your best hunting buddy. Then when you know what to expect take him with some other friends and show off your hunting dog.
 
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