# How long does it take to train a hunting dog?



## desideriascott

Ok, I am doing a project for school and I need to know special characteristics and what makes hunting dogs be able to hunt, and I need to know how long it take to train a hunting dog on average!


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## SDOutdoorsman

Depends on what you mean by "hunting dog". I think you need to be more specific and explain what your definiton of a hunting dog is. For example I have a buddy that has a lab mix and he takes it hunting with him. He has never done any training with him, but the dog will pick up birds and bring him to him so that is his "hunting dog". My dog is a year and a half old, I train with him 5 or 6 days a week. Sure he did a pretty good job this past hunting hunting season for his age but he is no where near what my definition of what I want my "hunting dog" to be.


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## Chuck Smith

I will elaborate a little more on the post by SD...

I agree it all depends on what you want your dog to do. Is it upland, waterfowl, both, etc.

My dog is 6 years old....and I still train him. Not as hard as I did when he was younger. But refresher stuff.....holding, marking, retrieving, etc. Because every hunting situation is not always the same. You will always or could experience something new or different. And I want to make sure my dog is ready for when that arises....or i should say I am ready to ask my dog to do what is needed when that situation arises.


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## dakotashooter2

Some might say the training never ends............................


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## gonehuntin'

A basic hunting dog training is four months. In that four months the dog will be obedience trained, force broken, taught to quarter in the field and work to the whistle, and lay steady at a duck blind. That is a basic gun dog course.

If you want the dog to run short blinds and take hand signals, he'll be there for another four to six months.


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## nosib

No dog is the same.... every dog learns at its own pace just like humans do. Don't listen to anything a book says. By 4 months have this 6 months have this. That ruins a dog putting so much pressure on them. Let them be a pup and teach them at their pace not a books/videos. You can follow the steps that a book shows, but go at your own pace. Might be faster, might be slower.

Also depends on what you want to talk about like others said. Upland? Waterfowl? Each of them uses different dogs normally and different hunting styles.

My 2 cents.


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## Hockeyhunter99

Training never stops. basic obedience, ranging skills, scent tracking, signals, pointing, flushing, sitting still in a blind, will all go away if you stop training. as it has been said on here before, 20-30 min daily for 4 months will result in a great dog. or 40-60 min daily for 12 months will result in a terrible dog.

follow the dogs lead. if the dog won't hunt or be around guns, there will be no point in trying to get it to hunt.

my .02


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