Rescue Mutt

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mnhockey99

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Picked up a 8 week old pup last March from the humane society. He came from Alabama and was marked as a lab/terrier mix. He is definitely more lab than terrier or boxer or something who knows and now at 13 months weighs about 55 pounds.

I started dummy work with him right away this last spring, was a natural. We moved into scent and tracking. He stayed close, no check lead required, a few times lost concentration but nothing to over the top for a pup. Worked with the dummy over a .22 and 12 gauge and zero gun shyness. Listens to all commands, great family dog. I thought I had really good hunter on hand.

Problem, took him out for his inaugural season and does nothing without the dummy. Would rather walk behind me than hunt. Got birdy a few times, I even tracked one down myself and flushed it for him and nothing, could care less about hunting. But if I bring out the dummy, he is a hunter again.

I know that dogs either have that instinct or they don't, maybe I'm just not being honest with myself and his hunting ability. Any advice or words of support?
 
Might try what I call "kitchen training." Here's a link:

http://www.ultimatepheasanthunting.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20479&highlight=kitchen+training

Continue until the pup knows what's coming and is excited by the play time, then make it a treat for the dog--i.e., it does something good, it gets to fetch the frozen pigeon,quail, pleasant...although I'd stay with the smaller birds. (Note: check with SWMBO first if you are using the family refrigerator.)

Use a pheasant wing every now and then inside the house, then extend the fetching to the rest of the house by hiding the wing and telling the dog to "fetch."

Praise extravagantly!!!

The pup's got to know what you want. It already has most of the learning done, now it needs to figure out what you (it's hunting partner) want.

My simple training rules for me:

Don't train if you are angry.

Be consistent.

Be persistent.

Best wishes. Keep in touch.


btw, you can buy pheasant wings online, pack of 6, if I recall correctly.
 
mnhockey99 said:
Picked up a 8 week old pup last March from the humane society. He came from Alabama and was marked as a lab/terrier mix. He is definitely more lab than terrier or boxer or something who knows and now at 13 months weighs about 55 pounds.

I started dummy work with him right away this last spring, was a natural. We moved into scent and tracking. He stayed close, no check lead required, a few times lost concentration but nothing to over the top for a pup. Worked with the dummy over a .22 and 12 gauge and zero gun shyness. Listens to all commands, great family dog. I thought I had really good hunter on hand.

Problem, took him out for his inaugural season and does nothing without the dummy. Would rather walk behind me than hunt. Got birdy a few times, I even tracked one down myself and flushed it for him and nothing, could care less about hunting. But if I bring out the dummy, he is a hunter again.

I know that dogs either have that instinct or they don't, maybe I'm just not being honest with myself and his hunting ability. Any advice or words of support?
Click to expand...

I've got a real similar story. About 6 years a got a rescue "Lab Mix". Turned out to be a lot of pitbull in that mix. She loves the "field work" but will not hunt. That being said, once I got a true hunting dog, she will go with and run around out there and has brought back shot birds, but I don't know if you can create a desire in a dog that isn't naturally there... I think that's the primary cause of hundreds and hundreds of different hunting dog breeds. The desire to focus and harness the natural instinct.
 
We used to take this guys 110 pound 3/4 German Shepard , 1/4 lab out hunting. Murray was so smart, that he figured out how to flush birds, then retrieved birds. He was amazing, and 4 years old the first time he went hunting. That was the strangest thing I've ever seen, and a great dog.All black, and looked like a shepherd.
 
Kismet said:
Might try what I call "kitchen training." Here's a link:

http://www.ultimatepheasanthunting.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20479&highlight=kitchen+training

Continue until the pup knows what's coming and is excited by the play time, then make it a treat for the dog--i.e., it does something good, it gets to fetch the frozen pigeon,quail, pleasant...although I'd stay with the smaller birds. (Note: check with SWMBO first if you are using the family refrigerator.)

Use a pheasant wing every now and then inside the house, then extend the fetching to the rest of the house by hiding the wing and telling the dog to "fetch."

Praise extravagantly!!!

The pup's got to know what you want. It already has most of the learning done, now it needs to figure out what you (it's hunting partner) want.

My simple training rules for me:

Don't train if you are angry.

Be consistent.

Be persistent.

Best wishes. Keep in touch.


btw, you can buy pheasant wings online, pack of 6, if I recall correctly.
Click to expand...

All good advice. But I bet there are guys on this forum including myself that could send you pheasant wings for free! Or is there a law against that...
 
mnhockey99 said:
Problem, took him out for his inaugural season and does nothing without the dummy. Would rather walk behind me than hunt. Got birdy a few times, I even tracked one down myself and flushed it for him and nothing, could care less about hunting. But if I bring out the dummy, he is a hunter again.

I know that dogs either have that instinct or they don't, maybe I'm just not being honest with myself and his hunting ability. Any advice or words of support?
Click to expand...

How many birds did he actually encounter? Maybe he just didn't see/smell enough to catch on yet. My 2 dogs picked up the idea pretty quickly that, "Hey, Dad's taking me someplace where there are birds. I want to find them." But we did it fairly often & were in areas where there were actually birds to find. I find it completely logical that a dog who doesn't know there's something around to hunt would rather play, or even follow you, thinking you might throw the dummy. Sounds like it just may be a case of the light bulb not coming on yet.
 
Was there any point where you used live birds during training? If not, then that's what you need to do. He doesn't know why he's out there or what he's looking for if he wasn't introduced to actual birds.
 
Thank you gents! I have had wings on the dummy as well. We didn't see a lot of birds this season, maybe half dozen or so and all flushed so far out I pretty sure he never saw them. I'll keep working on him, fortunately I have plenty of areas within a 10 minute walk or drive that I can get him on some birds in the area, which is where we normally train but the deer and turkeys are so thick in the area he probably has a nose full of deer and turkey crap which doesn't help. Appreciate the suggestions however and will definitely give them a whirl although I think the wife and daughter may have an issue with the pigeons in the garage lol :)
 
JeremyS said:
Was there any point where you used live birds during training? If not, then that's what you need to do. He doesn't know why he's out there or what he's looking for if he wasn't introduced to actual birds.
Click to expand...

Not yet, definitely going at it this spring though.
 
Yep, DEFINITELY get him somewhere there are some birds. He needs to find & flush them (assuming he doesn't point) in order to get the idea that he's out there to hunt. Even then, it may take several outings to catch on. But he needs to get some birds under his nose, otherwise he'll never know the reason for his existence. My dog took about 3 hunts (where there were birds, mind you) before he completely realized his special purpose. He's hunted 5 seasons now & is a VERY aggressive hunter. But even then, if we go, say 1.5 hours or something without flushing so much as a hen, he may tend to lose interest somewhat. But the moment he smells one, it's game on again & his enthusiasm gets a huge boost. That's what makes it so much fun - watching the dog do his thing.
 
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