# My brother's dog...



## steelcommander (Nov 11, 2005)

My brother has a lab that he got a little over a year ago and he takes her out pheasant hunting. Because it is her first year, she has some troubles, partly because my brother isn't the best dog trainer. When hunting, he cannot get her to go ahead of him. All she will do is follow behind him and step on his heels. Also, she has a very high ball-drive. That is her life. When you are not throwing a tennis ball to her, she whines constantly. The whining never stops. how do you get her to shut up?


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## taddy1340 (Dec 10, 2004)

In regards to her whining, your brother needs to work on her being steady and having her realize every retrieve isn't for her. If she has that much drive, he can stop retrieving and work on OB. If she's solid on "stay" he should throw dummies around her and pick them up to teach her patience. Once she's quiet, he can release her to the retrieve...hence the reward for being quiet and steady.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Has the dog ever been on it's own in the field with minimal restriction? Does it get exercised with minimal supervision-control? Might be no self confidence because it's never had a chance to learn on it's own away from the owner.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Dicks right, the dog is afraid either to go out on its own or has been so strictly trained to retrieve and stay until sent that its confused.

When I trained labs if it was a dog thats going to hunt the uplands primarily, I would forgo the serious retriever training until they were ranging and quatering well. Some labs are hard to get to range if the order of training is reversed.

I would try to hunt it with another dog that is experienced at pheasants and not try to handle it just let it explore like you were starting a new pup.


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## tallgrasser (Nov 18, 2005)

I suggest getting that dog some pigeons with their feathers pulled on one wing, and put those birds down in a short grass field in front of the dog let the dog go after it. Let that dog realize that there's more to life then tennis balls. Then after you built some desire move to a field with taller grass and let the birds run off out of sight, release the dog and then let the dog find'em with it's nose. You need to build that desire.


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