New Pup..Now what?

LoneRooster

LoneRooster

New member
Hey All,
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer..It has been hot!!! Good grief..anyways I was blessed with a new pup (female lab - Dixie) this past wknd and she is already a handful (I knew she would be). I am looking forward to her becoming my favorite hunting partner. I know all of you have had much more experience with raising bird dogs (I have only trained some beagles for varmit hunting and theres really not much training involved in that..just set em loose and listen). Any tips you guys have would be great. I already have her chasing around some pheasant wings in the yard. It would be nice to have a little guideline on when to start exposing her to gun fire..when to put her on birds..etc.. I have read some good books - Water Dog - Richard Wolters and How to help Gun Dogs train themselves by Joan Bailey. Any insight from you vets out there would be greatly appreciated! Looking forward to hearing all of your thoughts on how to train my new friend.
 
I would wait on the gunfire. I put young pups on birds that have their wings taped up. The biggest thing is to spend time with your dog and bond.

I have not trained a lab but I was told by Dennis Anderson at UK Labs (his dogs are very well trained and manageable) not to play repeated fetch with a young dog. He doesn't play fetch with dogs until they are a year old. He will do some retrieves with birds, but not a big game of fetch with a tennis ball or something. He said that a retriever will retrieve. If you over do fetching games it can create a dog that is impatient in the blind. Made sense to me.
 
Here is the best advice you are going to get: TAKE YOUR TIME AND BE PATIENT!

I can't stress that enough. We all have a tendency to be impatient and try to rush our pups. She is only a pup. Let her be a pup. At this point socialization is very important. You can start working on some very basic obedience but for now that's all I'd do. If the breeding is there she will eventually figure everything out. Once she is old enough start getting her on birds, the more the better.

People often ask me if I trained my dogs or had a professional do it. I tell them all I did was work very hard on obedience and then took the dog to the field. Very little actual hunting training on my part. It was all OJT. Sure, I've had to have a pro do some force fetch but that was at about 2 years of age.

Good luck and have fun. You have a cute little gal there.
 
Congrats on the pup!. ( as you can imagine I am a little partial to labs). I agree with Jeff and Zeb. I would wait on the gunfire awhile, I think I started at 8 months or so. If you get him retrieving and focused on that the gunfire won't be a problem. When you do introduce start slow. Main thing for me is teaching obedience and getting the dog out. Above all else remain patient. If I find myself getting frustrated I simply stop the session. Young dogs learning can drive me crazy. I have had many labs over the years, and I encourage force fetching. Like zeb said I have waited to 18months or so. Many people don't think a Lab should be force fetched because it is a natural retriever. Force fetching teaches much more than that. I do get my dog out often to work with him, and he is coming along nicely at 3 years old.
 
Tom Dokkens retreiver book is good and easy to follow. Charles Journey's book is real good also (I find myself referring to his book very often). Mike Lardys Total Retreive Training is probably the best complete training program. Evan Grahams Smartworks program is very similar to Lardy's and he makes himself availble on-line for questions (I have been to 2 of his 3 day seminars)

Don't rush into intro to gunfire, intro to birds needs to happen first. Let water and swimming happen on its own, give pup a chance to go into the water on his own. Throw a ball or a sock in a hallway 2-3 times every couple of days or so (8 retreives or so a week) NO MORE. Never let retreiving become boring or let your dog become exhausted retreiving till the pup matures.

The most important thing is let your pup be a pup. Join a community ed class that offers "puppy kindergarten" the social skills learned will benifit you in every aspect of the dogs life. If you can find a obediance class that uses positive but not permissive training give it a shot, if they use clickers don't laugh give it a chance.

Never apply a timeline to your training. Always end training sessions on a high note. If you get frustrated simplify the task till pup succeeds-then stop. Four sessions lasting 5 minutes is way better than one 20 minute session.

Around 5 months or so your pup will get his adult teeth, some dogs do not train well during this time period while others don't seem to mind. Keep an eye on his canine teeth as sometimes the baby teeth will not get pushed out by the adult tooth, this can cause bite problems.

Steve
 
thanks for all the helpful advice! It is greatly appreciated..finally made it thru the first night of her not whelping in her kennel. It was good to get some sleep! I am working on basic obedience right now and doing some fun retrieving. She has been pretty good with retrieving in the house and I keep it short and fun. I hope to get her outside this wknd to do a bit more with a pheasant scented dummy and a few wings. I think I will try to get her on a few pigeons sometime soon as well.
 
Just have fun and and like Zeb says teach the basic commands first. She maybe a bit young for birds. Cute pup:cheers:
 
LoneRooster said:
thanks for all the helpful advice! It is greatly appreciated..finally made it thru the first night of her not whelping in her kennel. It was good to get some sleep! I am working on basic obedience right now and doing some fun retrieving. She has been pretty good with retrieving in the house and I keep it short and fun. I hope to get her outside this wknd to do a bit more with a pheasant scented dummy and a few wings. I think I will try to get her on a few pigeons sometime soon as well.
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I hope she's not whelping. She's a bit young! Whelping is the act of a mammal giving birth:D

Good luck, get some sleep

Steve
 
It really helps to put the pup with a good veteran bird dog. You know how dogs learn to love the excitement of the shotgun and the shots. The pup will notice the excitement right away. Has worked very well for my pups. The first outing is with the 22.
Nice pup you have by the way.:thumbsup:
 
Totally agree with the socializing element being the first step. Let the pup be a pup right now but be sure to expose it to people, dogs, etc. in an easy, non-threatening way. A neurotic dog can make a lifetime of trouble.

I also recall working very early in the ``come'' or recall commands on both my labs. Wolters has some good tips on that. My favorite was taking the pup to a fenced ball field and having my wife go down one baseline and I walk down the other, calling the pup back and forth. Our dogs still love this game and they ALWAYS come when called, no matter what (my first, most important skill in a dog.)

And congratulations on a great looking pup. I both really miss that experience and really don't at the same time, y'know? Take lots of pictures!
 
I recomend take your time as well. Also come to the club and train. Gun fire is a long way off. Are you wanting that dog to do upland hunting? if so I would train so as to intro 1/4ing and finding game first. Get the dog to 1/4 gun to gun, learning the wind, finding it's birds in cover, and chasing fly aways. Then intro the gun, after a strong "flush" is instilled. Then intro gun fire in a sure way at that time. If you like I would help. Everyone welcome. PM if interested
 
Thanks again for all the advice. She is 9 weeks today and we have been spending some time in the yard retrieving some dummies while I fire off the cap gun. She seems oblvious to the noise which is good. I will continue with the cap gun and then eventually work towards a 22 and likely use a dummy launcher when she is big enough to really run after something. - FCSPringer..I would love to seek your help. Teaching a dog to quarter a field is something I have very little experience with. I will primarily use her for pheasant hunting but will also use her for waterfowl.

A bit off topic but I also entered her into the pheasants forever puppy photo contest. If yall get a minute click the link below and "like" her photo. It would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again!

http://www.facebook.com/events/2757...5858699&set=oa.448909905122074&type=1&theater
 
I agree with "let the pup be a pup". Right now work on the simple basics of sit, kennel and potty training. You can do other things to get pup ready for training however. Play the wing on a string game a couple of times, then introduce pup to a live clipped wing pigeon.If your pup doesn't take to it right away, give it time and don't panic. If pup has no problem picking up a live bird, that part is done. This isn't training yet, it is just familiarization. The biggest key is socialization. Build a strong bond between the two of you. If you like, this fall I will be starting a small training group near Mora, MN, which is about an hour or so north of the cities and I'll be looking for people to train with. Groups are a good way to find guys to take turns throwing bumpers and it can be a great way to have fun killing a Sunday afternoon!
 
Smitty - Thank you for the input. I would be very interested in joing a training group. Please keep me updated. I have befun to some retrieving work and sometimes she is really excited about it and other times not so much. I am trying to make sure I do not push her to hard but I want to know if anyone has some ideas to get her more excited about retrieving. Thanks!
 
LoneRooster said:
Smitty - Thank you for the input. I would be very interested in joing a training group. Please keep me updated. I have befun to some retrieving work and sometimes she is really excited about it and other times not so much. I am trying to make sure I do not push her to hard but I want to know if anyone has some ideas to get her more excited about retrieving. Thanks!
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Ok great! I'll let you know when I get back up north. Have you introduced her to a live bird yet?
 
Thanks I am looking forward to it! I am bringing her up north to a cabin this wknd and my buddy has some quail with clipped wings so this will be her first look at a wild game bird. Any advice on how to introduce her to the birds?
 
While you gently restrain your pup have your buddy hold the bird by the wings and tease the pup a bit to get him jacked up. MAKE SURE PUP IS ON A CHECK CORD (I assume Dixie is used to dragging a cord as you are doing retreives). Give the quail a short throw of 5-10 feet pup will probably charge out like mad so be very careful not to be standing on the check cord as you DO NOT want any accidental corrections. Pup may or may not grab the bird. If he grabs it let him enjoy it for a bit. Then call him to you using your best high school cheerleader voice (do not use a strong commanding voice). If he comes great, if not slowly and gently bring him in with the check cord. When pup gets to you do not rush to take the bird from him, it is his prize and he should get to enjoy it. If he just chases the bird around but doesn't grab it reel him in (gently) with the cord and put him and the bird away for at least a couple hours but a full day would be even better and tr again. If she doesn't show much enthusiasm for the bird DO NOT panic or read anything into her behavior. Wait a few days or even a couple weeks and try again.

But most importantly remember she is just a baby and needs to play and have fun. She needs to experiance car rides, being petted by different people, getting her feet rubbed and so on. Socialization is the first step towards having a great pet and hunter, obediance is the second. Don't rush you have plenty of time.

Steve
 
I agree, socialization is the biggest key to building your pup to becoming a lab who aims to please. Car rides, lots of play time, etc. Basically, the first 4 months are teaching house rules, introduction to everything imaginable, and let her be a puppy. For now when you are letting her retrieve, just get her in the habit of chasing whatever it is down, and guiding her back, while calling her with enthusiasm, with her check cord. At this stage, I use a paint roller with a pheasant wing inside of it for retrieving games. NOT as a chew toy though. This is a pleasant object for her because it is small, light and soft. The wing just adds a scent for her to associate later on. She thinks it's a fun game, but really it is early stages of gun dog training. Right now, no more than 3-5 retrieves per day. You want her to be enthusiastic about this.
 
Here are some recommendations for training books. I have read a lot and these are the ones I refer to the most.

British Training For American Retrievers (Vic Barlow)

Tri-tronics Retriever Training (Jim and Phyllis Dobs)

Anything written by Richard A. Wolters is a good basis for your program.

Smart Fetch (Evan Graham)

You cab also Youtube just about anything to get an idea how other people do everything from obedience to Force Fetch if you choose to do so.
 
LoneRooster said:
It was good to get some sleep!
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Heh, I'm right there with you LoneRooster. I have forgotten what its like to have a young pup. Got mine at 6 and 1/2 weeks, so the first week and a half was a bit rough. Shaman is 10 weeks now and can finally sleep trough the night. Can't give you any advice about hunting training since I only trained guard and water-rescue dogs in my life, so this topic is very interesting to me as well. I can tell you that per my breeder recommendations I'm planning on doing more formal training when Shaman is at least 8-9 months old. Until then, its going to be just simple obedience training and lots and lots of exposure to people and other pets. Introducing her to water is really easy, just don't trow anything in for her to retrieve at the very beginning. Find yourself a nice shallow area with hard bottom and get your feet wet, play with her at the water edge. Before you know it you be knee high and she will be swimming circles around you :)

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