Hey all, now that we are in the offseason I still want to do everything possible to keep my 1 yr old lab busy. Had a great 1st season with him, as he was everything I hoped for and more in a first year gun dog, some very nice flush and retrieves. He did however struggle a tad with drop/release of the bird. He would retrieve the bird to my feet, but out of pure excitement would pin bird (especially if flapping) to the ground, then would jump/lunge at it once I had it in my possession. I try to get the bird into my pouch, out of sight out of mind, asap but isn't always immediate. Been doing some research on the force fetch. With the cold days of Minnesota and already dark by the time I'm off work around 5pm it gets somewhat challenging to take an hour or two at the park next to my house for training sessions like we do quite a bit in the spring, summer, fall. Any tips on what others have worked on in the past with a young dog transitioning from first to 2nd year. Things I can do in the garage, yard, etc. We keep the conditioning up with walks/jogs, but my thoughts are more in the idea of obedience/hunting. We will be scheduling a trip or two to the game farm within the next couple months to keep him on some birds.
Offseason workouts and traings
- Thread starter TBIRD19
- Start date
Seems he doesn't quite know the basics of "fetch" and what's expected.
I would continue to work with him in the garage, with a training dummy, or frozen bird if you have one.
When the dog lunges at the dummy, he gets a "no" response from you. Next step is a nick, if he continues this behavior.
This process has worked for me...
I would continue to work with him in the garage, with a training dummy, or frozen bird if you have one.
When the dog lunges at the dummy, he gets a "no" response from you. Next step is a nick, if he continues this behavior.
This process has worked for me...
Yep, excellent to start planning right away by looking at what your pup did that you liked, and what your pup did that you didn't like, then think about what you might like him to do and make a plan to work on that!
My pup is also (18 months) not great on retrieve. She's a great flusher, works in decent range, good whistle sit, decent recall unless it's on a hot runner, so I will work on those things in the context of refining and reinforcing. But she is not a great retriever. Functionally, it's all good. If a bird falls in or across water, she'll bring it to the near shore at least, then to my general vicinity with a nice soft mouth. Sure, not in my hand every time, jumps and lunges at it etc..., but to be honest, those are really not hills to die on for me. But yes, I'd like her to have a clearer understanding of what FETCH really means, and what I expect from her. So we'll be working on that, just to make life more pleasant and a little more "stylish" (for lack of a better word) this fall. I also really want to work on a more solid HEEL. She'll do it, but I have to repeat myself more than I'd like, and I found it problematic when trying to jumpshoot ducks. So we'll be doing some "sneaking up" on water with her at heel, using the slip-lead or e-collar corrections to let her know that heel means heel until I tell her otherwise. I also plan to work on some familiarization with the Mutt Hutt for duck hunting and keeping her steady and quiet in there while I shoot until I tell her to fetch something. Aside from that, it will be general obedience and keeping (both of us!) in shape.
For your plans, I am not an expert on force fetch, but others on here definitely are. But from what I know, you don't need to delay it until you can spend hours at the park outdoors. Much of it can (and I believe probably should) be done indoors before it moves to the ground (if you're doing it on a table) and then outdoors. So plenty to do inside during the dark and cold winter months! Good luck. Take your time and make sure you're both having some fun along the way too!
Cheers,
-Dave
My pup is also (18 months) not great on retrieve. She's a great flusher, works in decent range, good whistle sit, decent recall unless it's on a hot runner, so I will work on those things in the context of refining and reinforcing. But she is not a great retriever. Functionally, it's all good. If a bird falls in or across water, she'll bring it to the near shore at least, then to my general vicinity with a nice soft mouth. Sure, not in my hand every time, jumps and lunges at it etc..., but to be honest, those are really not hills to die on for me. But yes, I'd like her to have a clearer understanding of what FETCH really means, and what I expect from her. So we'll be working on that, just to make life more pleasant and a little more "stylish" (for lack of a better word) this fall. I also really want to work on a more solid HEEL. She'll do it, but I have to repeat myself more than I'd like, and I found it problematic when trying to jumpshoot ducks. So we'll be doing some "sneaking up" on water with her at heel, using the slip-lead or e-collar corrections to let her know that heel means heel until I tell her otherwise. I also plan to work on some familiarization with the Mutt Hutt for duck hunting and keeping her steady and quiet in there while I shoot until I tell her to fetch something. Aside from that, it will be general obedience and keeping (both of us!) in shape.
For your plans, I am not an expert on force fetch, but others on here definitely are. But from what I know, you don't need to delay it until you can spend hours at the park outdoors. Much of it can (and I believe probably should) be done indoors before it moves to the ground (if you're doing it on a table) and then outdoors. So plenty to do inside during the dark and cold winter months! Good luck. Take your time and make sure you're both having some fun along the way too!
Cheers,
-Dave
mnaj_springer
New member
TBird...
It sounds like you have a good pup! Nice work ::cheers: I wouldn't worry about the lunging from a first year dog. To me that's encouraging because it shows desire and no fear of birds. Those are two things I wouldn't want to change. Just work on a rock solid "sit" and then you'll have a positive tool to end that and something to correct (when not followed) that won't diminish desire.
February is a good time to start FF. Most of it (nearly all) can be done indoors. It's great mental exercise for a dog. If you haven't done it before I would suggest finding a mentor. And if you don't have patience, you should find some of that as well before training FF yourself. I think a solid FF program will end the "pinning the bird down" behavior.
But my post-season schedule looks like this...
-January: nothing serious. Relax. Stay warm. Occasional patterning/retrieving session. Maybe some skijoring for conditioning.
-February: retrieving drills (FF or whatever else is needed)
-March: obedience refresher time
-April through August: lots of bird work and obedience
Good luck!
It sounds like you have a good pup! Nice work ::cheers: I wouldn't worry about the lunging from a first year dog. To me that's encouraging because it shows desire and no fear of birds. Those are two things I wouldn't want to change. Just work on a rock solid "sit" and then you'll have a positive tool to end that and something to correct (when not followed) that won't diminish desire.
February is a good time to start FF. Most of it (nearly all) can be done indoors. It's great mental exercise for a dog. If you haven't done it before I would suggest finding a mentor. And if you don't have patience, you should find some of that as well before training FF yourself. I think a solid FF program will end the "pinning the bird down" behavior.
But my post-season schedule looks like this...
-January: nothing serious. Relax. Stay warm. Occasional patterning/retrieving session. Maybe some skijoring for conditioning.
-February: retrieving drills (FF or whatever else is needed)
-March: obedience refresher time
-April through August: lots of bird work and obedience
Good luck!
This has all been very helpful and supportive, didn't expect to get the feedback I have so far so I thank you all for the input!
Dave- You hit the nail right on the head with just wanting to become a little more "stylish" in the field. Everything he did in afield this fall (flushed, found dead birds, retrieved to my feet, are all things that are acceptable to my standard. Although, not picture perfect, he did the job and I was happy with it, but I think we all kind of challenge ourselves to be the best owners we can possibly be and want to see our dogs perform at their full potential, so that's really the big reason I want to polish him as much as possible, he deserves that and will be a better dog for it!
Mnaj Springer- Thanks for the reassurance that I'm not behind on my offseason timeline, nice to know that everybody is taking a well deserved breather and will pick back up in February. You were right that I didn't want to "no" him too much when pinning/lunging at those birds, because after all he did just do everything I wanted in the flush, mark, retrieve so I couldn't really discourage that! Plus didn't want to shut down his high desire for prey, I love his drive and didn't want to kill that. Will start the FF training in the garage starting February. Patience is probably the biggest word I've heard in the FF training so we be reading up and watching some videos, while keeping in mind it doesn't happen overnight
-Thanks all for the words of encouragement :cheers:
Dave- You hit the nail right on the head with just wanting to become a little more "stylish" in the field. Everything he did in afield this fall (flushed, found dead birds, retrieved to my feet, are all things that are acceptable to my standard. Although, not picture perfect, he did the job and I was happy with it, but I think we all kind of challenge ourselves to be the best owners we can possibly be and want to see our dogs perform at their full potential, so that's really the big reason I want to polish him as much as possible, he deserves that and will be a better dog for it!
Mnaj Springer- Thanks for the reassurance that I'm not behind on my offseason timeline, nice to know that everybody is taking a well deserved breather and will pick back up in February. You were right that I didn't want to "no" him too much when pinning/lunging at those birds, because after all he did just do everything I wanted in the flush, mark, retrieve so I couldn't really discourage that! Plus didn't want to shut down his high desire for prey, I love his drive and didn't want to kill that. Will start the FF training in the garage starting February. Patience is probably the biggest word I've heard in the FF training so we be reading up and watching some videos, while keeping in mind it doesn't happen overnight
-Thanks all for the words of encouragement :cheers:
Lunging at the bird...
This is something I would work on, as it's usually with an open mouth, attempting to connect with the bird or training dummy.
My dog still attempts this after giving up a bird. And I continue to tell him NO. Hopefully he will grow out of this control/possess issue...
I think the dog would prance around and show off for an hour if I let him!
This is something I would work on, as it's usually with an open mouth, attempting to connect with the bird or training dummy.
My dog still attempts this after giving up a bird. And I continue to tell him NO. Hopefully he will grow out of this control/possess issue...
I think the dog would prance around and show off for an hour if I let him!
Gatzby
Well-known member
Winter is perfect for place training (mutt hut), FF, and obediance.
I like the advice givin to get a solid sit/heel. This coupled with FF will take care of dropping and lunging and give a more stylish retreive. Also when you receive dog and take the bird slow down, calmly take the bird and don't hurry to put it away. If your calm your dog will relax a little also. But lunging and grabbing will still happen with high drive dogs until obediance and maturity over come drive.
Don't be scared of FF everyone has to start somewhere and it is not big deal if you have solid obediance, reasonably good timing, and paitence. However finding a mentor is a great idea. I have FF'ed quite a few dogs but I still have professional trainer critique my progress a couple times during the process. The value of a second set of eyes is immeusarable
Living in MN puts you in the heart of some of the best Retreiver trainers and retreiver clubs in the nation. Check out Northern Flight Retreiver Club, Central Minnesota Retreiver Club, and Benton County Retreiver club. Links to all of these plus many others can be found at GMHTA website. (Greater MN Hunt Test Assoc). Many of these clubs have training days all winter as well as informal Feild trials. If your not scared of the cold a lot of training happens!
I like the advice givin to get a solid sit/heel. This coupled with FF will take care of dropping and lunging and give a more stylish retreive. Also when you receive dog and take the bird slow down, calmly take the bird and don't hurry to put it away. If your calm your dog will relax a little also. But lunging and grabbing will still happen with high drive dogs until obediance and maturity over come drive.
Don't be scared of FF everyone has to start somewhere and it is not big deal if you have solid obediance, reasonably good timing, and paitence. However finding a mentor is a great idea. I have FF'ed quite a few dogs but I still have professional trainer critique my progress a couple times during the process. The value of a second set of eyes is immeusarable
Living in MN puts you in the heart of some of the best Retreiver trainers and retreiver clubs in the nation. Check out Northern Flight Retreiver Club, Central Minnesota Retreiver Club, and Benton County Retreiver club. Links to all of these plus many others can be found at GMHTA website. (Greater MN Hunt Test Assoc). Many of these clubs have training days all winter as well as informal Feild trials. If your not scared of the cold a lot of training happens!