Labs
Active member
I post the following with this disclaimer: I get that not all believe in training their dog, and those that do, differ on the level of performance they need from their dog...
Yesterday I was parked on an approach next to a public hunting area off site catching up on emails & listening to roosters crow, when a guy pulled up next to me and asked what my plates meant (Labs). I told him I raise & train Labrador Retrievers and am a huge fan of the breed. The gent (older than me, probably mid-70s) wondered if he could ask my advice on an issue he was having with his lab? I responded I could try to help, but I needed a little background on his dog (age, training level, the specific issue, ect). Man, did I get an earful...
No idea how old the dog is, he got it from the pound so has no knowledge of it's background, and it went from a lab to being maybe part lab. It had no training he was aware of and he really didn't believe in it anyway, because he had labs before and "they just knew how to retrieve".
It turns out he had a myriad of issues. When hunting roosters the dog would run after the flushed bird and come back when it felt like it, and it refused to pick up ducks/water retrieve. He said he was getting sick of the dog not doing what it was supposed to do and was thinking about getting a "shock collar" and trying that.
Man alive. I decided to tread lightly. I explained that dogs have prey drive but no innate knowledge on how to perform a complete retrieve or any tasks humans might desire, so they have to be taught. I used the analogy of a 5 year old child with the potential to learn math to the point of becoming a genius, but must first learn numbers and then build upon that as the child matured. He seemed to get that.
I explained that OB is the foundation of all training, and asked if his dog obeyed the commands, Sit, Stay, Here, and Heel. He said no. I advised there wasn't much I could help him with unless the dog's OB was solid, and no amount of application of an e-collar would help as the dog was not collar conditioned. I told him to take that route would probably ruin the dog.
He seemed to accept that, then asked if I could help him with the dog's refusal to pick up & hold waterfowl. Way tougher question. I simplified the explanation of refusals & FF/CC as much as I could and explained without that training he had no tool to correct a refusal. He was skeptical. I figured the best & most I could do to spare his dog unpleasantness was explain a gentle hold/give exercise, knowing that without OB the dog wasn't going to sit still while a bumper or frozen was bird was put in it's mouth and held there. He thanked me and went on his way.
I don't blame the guy for his misconceptions. Hell, I shared some decades ago before I became a student of gundog training. I felt bad because talking to the guy, I knew his unrealistic expectations mean his dog has a very tough life ahead of him. Been bothering me so I just needed to get it off my chest...
Yesterday I was parked on an approach next to a public hunting area off site catching up on emails & listening to roosters crow, when a guy pulled up next to me and asked what my plates meant (Labs). I told him I raise & train Labrador Retrievers and am a huge fan of the breed. The gent (older than me, probably mid-70s) wondered if he could ask my advice on an issue he was having with his lab? I responded I could try to help, but I needed a little background on his dog (age, training level, the specific issue, ect). Man, did I get an earful...
No idea how old the dog is, he got it from the pound so has no knowledge of it's background, and it went from a lab to being maybe part lab. It had no training he was aware of and he really didn't believe in it anyway, because he had labs before and "they just knew how to retrieve".
It turns out he had a myriad of issues. When hunting roosters the dog would run after the flushed bird and come back when it felt like it, and it refused to pick up ducks/water retrieve. He said he was getting sick of the dog not doing what it was supposed to do and was thinking about getting a "shock collar" and trying that.
Man alive. I decided to tread lightly. I explained that dogs have prey drive but no innate knowledge on how to perform a complete retrieve or any tasks humans might desire, so they have to be taught. I used the analogy of a 5 year old child with the potential to learn math to the point of becoming a genius, but must first learn numbers and then build upon that as the child matured. He seemed to get that.
I explained that OB is the foundation of all training, and asked if his dog obeyed the commands, Sit, Stay, Here, and Heel. He said no. I advised there wasn't much I could help him with unless the dog's OB was solid, and no amount of application of an e-collar would help as the dog was not collar conditioned. I told him to take that route would probably ruin the dog.
He seemed to accept that, then asked if I could help him with the dog's refusal to pick up & hold waterfowl. Way tougher question. I simplified the explanation of refusals & FF/CC as much as I could and explained without that training he had no tool to correct a refusal. He was skeptical. I figured the best & most I could do to spare his dog unpleasantness was explain a gentle hold/give exercise, knowing that without OB the dog wasn't going to sit still while a bumper or frozen was bird was put in it's mouth and held there. He thanked me and went on his way.
I don't blame the guy for his misconceptions. Hell, I shared some decades ago before I became a student of gundog training. I felt bad because talking to the guy, I knew his unrealistic expectations mean his dog has a very tough life ahead of him. Been bothering me so I just needed to get it off my chest...
