Looking for help/insight

outdoorslife89

outdoorslife89

New member
Hey Guys and Gals,

We just became proud owners of a 6 week old Black Lab/Husky mix. Dad is a full bread Black Lab while Mom is Lab/Husky. Are there any books on Lab mixes in regards to training and hunting? I would assume no(?) and that I'll be reading up on full bread Labs regardless if shes a mix or not? Also, are there good books for training that gear to upland or would it be more in general? Im ready to start reading/learning. Please, help a greenhorn out with some good material, if you dont mind.

It happened quick for us. We were not planning on getting a Lab but things happen, smiles on wives and daughters happen and we give in...right? Haha! She will be our house pet. I do not duck hunt, but, find myself getting out of deer hunting and into pheasant hunting more and more as time goes on. Something about the camaraderie and hunting with mans best friend in the fields is just flat out special!

Now, I wasnt planning on introducing her to the fields and hunting w/her, originally. Although the intent was strictly house pet(either way, we were and are planning on getting a Britt in roughly a year), Im starting to think it would be really special if I could train(obviously not looking to win any contests here) her to hunt the pheasant fields with me when she is "ready." So I can have a hunting buddy. I will not force her at a young age. Im thinking anywhere between 10 months - 1 1/2 years old but thats just a "gut feeling". I will let her tell me through training if and when she is ready. Because she is a mix and we do not have much history on her, I dont have much to lose other than time which I'm willing to sacrifice. I dont mind taking lumps along the way but am thinking I owe it to this dog to TRY. What do you think?

Any tips from you guys that have labs or lab mixes that get to share your time afield with them would be helpful and some Lab/upland hunting books would be appreciated! Thanks in advance everyone
 
Tom Dokken's Retriever Training book has some pretty good tips as far as early puppy stuff. I believe it has an upland section as well, it's been a few years since I've reviewed it. Charles Jurney's book Finished Dog is also really good, this is usually my go to reference. I wouldn't recommend Wolter's stuff while it has lots of good information it's pretty dated. Carol Cassity's book Building A Retriever has a ton of great drills but isn't geared towards upland.

All that being said I used Bill Hillmans DVD with my currant pup and am really impressed. After Hillmans I transitioned to Mike Lardy's TRT. My end goal is a FT/HT competition dog so I'm not sure TRT, Fowl Dawgs, or Smart Works are what you need. Check out Bill Hillmans stuff on YouTube, he has lots of abbreviated drills and excerpts from his program that will give you a taste before you buy. There are probably some Spanial training books that would help with upland, sorry I can't be more help there.

Let the pup be a pup, take him places, let him meet people, and play with him. Don't worry about any formal training for a while just avoid "bad" accidental training. I.E. Don't put him down when he squirms, don't let him out of his crate for barking (as long as he's been properly aired), don't throw him in a lake to see him swim, and don't shoot a gun over him to "see what happens". These mistakes are way to commen and are difficult to come back from, heck sometimes impossible.
 
Dog training

If you want a good book to read about the basics of dog training I have found that "Family Dog" by Richard A. Wolters, is a good place to start. He also wrote "Game Dog" and a bunch of others. I really like his training methods and his writing style. You can find his books at Amazon.com I like to buy the used books usually in real good shape and much cheaper. Good luck with you new puppy.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I will start looking into these...

Also, no shots will be fired, no throwing in the pool etc. I dont want to rush things as I want to give her the best possible chance to defy the odds and make her a decent pheasant hunting buddy

Also here is a pic of my pup and another of my girls!
 
Anything wrong with reading Wolters books and even though he doesnt use/recommend the e collar, just learn how and when to introduce it alongside/with his material?
 
outdoorslife89 said:
Anything wrong with reading Wolters books and even though he doesnt use/recommend the e collar, just learn how and when to introduce it alongside/with his material?
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with Wolters I just think we have came a long ways since 1970ish. Some stuff is dated and his basic ideas have been improved on by more current trainers. Current training literature will have a complete build up to collar conditioning etc. When Wolters was training the "accepted" process for some trainers to get a long range correction was a slingshot and marbles. (You will not read this anywhere but it's true).
 
Gatzby said:
Nothing wrong with Wolters I just think we have came a long ways since 1970ish. Some stuff is dated and his basic ideas have been improved on by more current trainers. Current training literature will have a complete build up to collar conditioning etc. When Wolters was training the "accepted" process for some trainers to get a long range correction was a slingshot and marbles. (You will not read this anywhere but it's true).
Click to expand...

Understood and makes sense Gatzby. More and more, as I research, Im seeing this repeated in regards to his stuff being outdated and although Im sure many have had success using his methods, I do think I would like to try something more up to date.

I checked out Hillmans videos and although Id like to go that route(Im going to try to make it happen) they are a little too rich for me currently...not too rich for my pup though as there is no price tag on her. She is worth any penny that could ever be spent.

With that being said; We rule out Hillmans(for now, unless I find out that I can swing it) and we rule out Wolters.

What/Where should I look to for training methods for puppies, where she is at now(almost 7 weeks) and her near present future(say 6-8 months-ish). We can rule out anything thats looking out to far ahead(unless its needed of course!) and you know better than I.
 
Nothing Wrong With Wolters

For me and the way I train Wolters methods for basic obedience have worked great. I have found that applying the basic principals outlined in his books early in the dogs development and then introducing the e-collar usually around 16 weeks has been a good combination. I am sure that there are other more modern methods that are as good or better than what I am doing but as my grandpa used to tell me, "if it is working don't fix it" and Wolters methods have worked for me.

With that being said, I have learned from reading the posts in the UP sight there is a ton of information and experience to be gotten from the contributors and for the most part most of it is right on. After reading some of these posts maybe it is time for me to look into some of these other training books, videos and training methods mentioned in the other posts. It never hurts to expand your horizons try something new. After all, I finally gave in and tried e-collars and it has made some of my good dogs much better dogs.
 
So, we chose to go with Tom Dokkens material. I have the upland dvd but right now am concentrating on his book and the puppy training dvd. I am impressed with how easy it is to follow. He keeps you glued in the entire time and doesnt stray away from the points he is trying to make. Very happy with our decision there.

Now Remi...

She has learned come, sit and kennel. We will be working on down and place next in a couple weeks. I want to continue the first three, mainly kennel as she has done very well with come and sit. Kennel hasnt been pushed/instilled in her yet but she is responding to it already with little time spent there.

She was introduced to her first pheasant wing yesterday and all I can say is WOW! What a drive on her! We only did this for 15 minutes max and she left wanting more. Even though we have a long road ahead of us I can say...now I get it. The bond, the relationship and how she is teaching ME as I guide her along

We will continue to work on obedience and fun for the time being!
 
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