# Lab ?



## jwdinius1 (Dec 14, 2006)

i have a question for all of you hunters, not professional trainers out there. I am a College student at umary and i have a 6month old chocolate lab, i train him almost every day, but not very vigourously, i have taken him hunting since he was like 3months, he has progressed very nicley, however when i take him goose hunting, he will retrieve the first couple we get and after that he will just run out to them and chew on the rest. the question is what do i do, put him in the car after about 1 hr or just bare with it cuz he'll grow out of it or do i crack down and start yelling more, need help from a hunter not a pro trainer
sincerly
Team 870 :beer:


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## hydro870 (Mar 29, 2005)

Sit means sit, here means here, and fetch means fetch. To solve the problem, your dog needs to understand what you want. You want him to fetch. So first teach the fetch command and then enforce it. There is a lot of information out there on this topic. Search the internet as well.

Good Luck and happy hunting.


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## tumblebuck (Feb 17, 2004)

Just curious, why don't you think a pro would give you good advice?

Shouldn't they be the most knowledgeable?

I'd take advice from a pro over the "average joe" any day of the week.

No, I'm not a pro trainer.


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## brianb (Dec 27, 2005)

It is 6 months old.

You are goose hunting.

Wait until the dog is fully grown before expecting good goose handling. Yelling more isn't exactly effective training.

Teach it what you want it to do in a controlled environment then expose it to hunting.

Brian


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## hydro870 (Mar 29, 2005)

> It is 6 months old.
> 
> You are goose hunting.
> 
> ...


great advice.


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## brianb (Dec 27, 2005)

Thanks Hydro.

I am not a pro trainer either. My dog isn't even very obedient anymore since I've had a kid. (Used to a be a master level dog)

So my advice should count for extra, I've not only trained a dog, I've untrained him. That takes talent.


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## gonehuntin' (Jul 27, 2006)

That is probably the strangest request, or one of them I've seen on this board.


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## AdamFisk (Jan 30, 2005)

Don't worry Josh, I have exactly the same problem with my 8month. From what I have learned on this site, FF is the fix for alot of things. The FF training is going to start with my dog pretty soon. I am counting on that taking care of the problem. If not, he may go to school.


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## Dennis W (Dec 11, 2006)

I'm Far from a trainer. But when I got my lab pup I ordered a video called Retriever Fever. There is 3 videos in this set. I personaly think that was the smartest thing I ever did. that video taught me how to teach my dog. I would recommend those videos to anyone. Watching how to train worked better for me then reading how to train. I refer back to these videos alot when I have had problem areas. And my dog gets excited watching the dogs on tv. here is a link

http://www.dustinretrievers.com/fever.htm


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## jwdinius1 (Dec 14, 2006)

thanks dennis w, finally someone on here who wants to loan a helping hand not create more problems :beer:


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## Dennis W (Dec 11, 2006)

I'm glad i could help. 
I do have to agree with Tumblebuck though 
I would take advice from a pro trainer. and have talked to some in the past. One thing I learned from a pro was when teaching my pup to sit. when giving the command to sit whistle right afterwards.
So when i said sit i would whistle once. It was so easy to whistle train my pup I was supprised, now when im out hunting I can blow my whistle and my lab stops,sits and looks to me for further instructions. Its great she makes papa proud lol
Just my opinion.


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## hunter564 (Dec 19, 2006)

Get a e collar. All problems can be solved if you can correct your dog as soon as it does something wrong. I use mine as an attentyion getter. Then my dogs complete attention is on me for me to give commands.


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## brianb (Dec 27, 2005)

An ecollar will not I repeat not get a 6 month old pup to fetch a goose.

hunter564, I'd hate to be your dog.


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

I agree. NO e-collar.

I am in the same boat with my lab and I am now just researching and learning everything I can about FF before working with my dog.

No yelling either. You can ruin everything you have tried to accomplish by yelling or beating the dog.


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## brianb (Dec 27, 2005)

live2hunt,

Here is a link to the only book devoted soley to force fetch.

www.rushcreekpress.com

It's called "smartfetch" by Evan Graham. I don't have this book but I do have his other 2 books, Smartwork I & II. He is very step by step. He spells out a lot of things using Webster's dictionary definitions. I found that kind of annoying but other than that I got a lot out of his books.

Brian


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## cedarsedge (Sep 21, 2006)

I agree the Smart Fetch or Smart works books are the best on the market for both hunters and tester's Dan


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## hunter564 (Dec 19, 2006)

brianb said:


> An ecollar will not I repeat not get a 6 month old pup to fetch a goose.
> 
> hunter564, I'd hate to be your dog.


Its not like I used it as a punishment just to get their attention and it got my 6 month old to not only retrieve mallards from water but geese in the field. So I respect your idea but there is a reason my dog is a good as it is.


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## cedarsedge (Sep 21, 2006)

FF should be done before CC, most pups don't have all there adult teeth until 7-9 months of age Dan


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

FF should not be done until the dog has hunted atleast one season in my opinion. Let the dog grow up so it can handle the stress of the FF process.

Thats the far less risky way. You can cause alot of problems if you over correct a pup. Let pups be pups, put them in positions they can be successful and be positive. Make the dog love the game first.

My 2 cents and 35 years of experience.

I have the Sanborne method of ff which is easier to teach for the beginner and easier on the dog. It was developed for pointers but works on all dogs. Its aword document a long one if any of you want it PM me a email address and I'll send it as an attachment.

Its what I would use on my dogs.


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## cedarsedge (Sep 21, 2006)

What do you do if your pup is to young to hunt during the hunting season? I mean like a 4 month old pup during the fall of the year. If you wait until the next season you will really have your hands full.

Just follow the "smart Fetch" method by Evan Graham very easy on the dogs and yourself.

Dan


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

No you won't just let it mature, I don't FF most of my personal dogs just dogs I train for others. FF takes something out of them and a mature dog is going to bouce back a lot better if the love of the hurt is firmly ingrained.

FF can be done to two or three year old dogs easier, really the older the better.

this is just my opinion, I've probably only FF about a 100 dogs in my life though so take it a with a grain of salt.

My own labs dont get F Fetched, but I currently have a couple EPs in my string that I might FF I'm still evaluating that. My other current 6 dogs have not been FF. They retrieve very well.


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## cedarsedge (Sep 21, 2006)

As you probably already no, FF is the foundation for advanced work, with blind traininng and diversion bird traininng if you are into that. If you are just talking gun dogs you might not need that fro your training program.

I guess I will go with what Lardy, Rorem, and other well known dog trainers in the Midwest will do or are doing. I guess we can agree to dis-agree.  Dan


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

The guy at the top of the thread is the person you have to consider when you respond to these questions.

If it was me the question would not of been asked, although I sure would of years ago, although I sure wish the internet existed 40 years ago.

I try to tailor my response to the novice, someone like you isn't going to ask.

I think hes probably just a plain old hunter that wants his dog to bring geese back, and would be happy if it did that reliably. Someone like that needs to take his time and has no reason to hurry, and ids less likely to mess up his pup if he takes it slow

You are correct there is a distinction, the trials can only have one winner so they have to have some real high standards not needed for 95% of hunters and beyond the training commitmant of most of them.

A trial dog is a thing of beauty.

Merry Christmas


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