# To take or not to take dog?



## Duck_Hunter12 (Jun 15, 2010)

I have a lab that i picked up in jan and he is 10 months old, Reggie. I have been training him for waterfowl, out of the boat and in swamps. He is a trypical die hard retriever, won't stop until playing fetch until his legs won't carry him anymore. he is about 60lbs now.

i have been debating on bring him with on the up and coming ND duck hunting trip (just 4 days long). I've had him dove hunting, he was a little slow to learn but picked it up after a while, still looking for training dummy. No one else is bringing a mutt, and last year lost a few nice cripples because of no dog. I am just concerned with his age and not actually having brought him duck hunting yet. Bringing him on his first duck hunting being a trip with 4 other guys. On the other hand, in mn he won't get anywhere near the opportunity to retrieve than he will in a few days in ND.

any experienced mutt owner's opinions?


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## 6162rk (Dec 5, 2004)

bring the dog. he won't learn at home.


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## Bug Guy (Jul 19, 2009)

6162rk said:


> bring the dog. he won't learn at home.


+1


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## Gooseguy10 (Oct 10, 2006)

X2......only if you are sure he is 100% used to being around gun fire. If not, be careful. Duck hunting (especially over water) with four guys features sudden, multiple bursts of shooting,. in close proximity. If your dog is not used to gun fire, you will have issues.

Some general thoughts....try to hunt away from the group. EIther by yourself, in your own boat, or off to the side. Bring a leash to tie the dog into the boat, bring a screw in dog tie down if field hunting, bring a piece of camo burlap, avoid standing in water with the dog for long periods....etc.

Finally, if deep water......bring a pocket full of rocks....yes rocks. When the young dog goes out in the water after a bird and is not on the right track to get a bird. Throw a rock towards the downed bird. The dog will look at the splash and see the bird. If possible, walk the dog out there in the right area.

Have fun and report back how it goes.


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## Duck_Hunter12 (Jun 15, 2010)

Those are some good pointers, he is not gun shy, i've shot 3.5" with him at my feet without being spooked. The nice thing about the bigger group is we usually split up and go to different spots. So hunting by 4 other guns shouln't be an issue. thanks for the advice.


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## FowlBoysInc (Sep 14, 2006)

Bring him with,get some birds under his belt.I would be careful with 4 guys shooting,dogs pick up alot of bad habits.Would be better like you said, going at it with just 2 guys or by yourself.This way you don't have a bunch of birds falling and the dog doesn't no where to go or which one to get first ect... I hunted with a big bunch first year with my dog,regret it now.


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## mach (Aug 29, 2005)

Leave him at home as your buddies have been planning for this trip and don't want any surprises
Wait until you get the dummy duck and train him after the hunt and then take him out Solo
Elect one of your buddies to play "Dog" this year withs a pair of waders and concentrate your firepower on one or two birds in sure kill range to cut down the chances of cripples and bring some #6 shot for finishers.


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## speckline (Dec 13, 2008)

I am halfway between Mach and the others. 
Talk to your hunting buddies for their opinions on whether to take your dog or not. 
Reason being that a poorly trained or a dog in early training can really disrupt the hunting enjoyment of others. Use you gut impression and be honest with yourself for the sake of your hunting buddies. If all are in agreement to hunt with your dog, then by all means bring him. Just make sure you are a good dog handler and do not let the dog bark, whine, break, chomp birds etc. :beer: 
Tie him dog along side YOU and pay close attention to what he is doing.
Can be the best exposure to birds he will ever get.
Also, be prepared to leave your dog in the truck if any of the aforementioned occurs.
Case in point, a good friend no longer hunts with us in ND due to an unruly dog. Wouldn't sit, constantly broke and barked at decoying birds. His invite was recinded because he would not put the dog away. :******: 
FWIW.
Good Luck and let us know how he/you did!!! :thumb:


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## teamflightstoppersND (Feb 20, 2009)

Bring him with and drop him off at my place for the weekend. Im tired of retrieving my own birds!!!


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

6162rk said:


> bring the dog. he won't learn at home.


Exactly! I have hunted over 1st year dogs at 6.5 months to 9 months. They might have been a little confused but did learn. If your trip is about killing then leave dog at home, if you want to help create a great bond with your dog, bring the dog.


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## templey_41 (Jul 19, 2008)

BRING THE DOG!! He won't learn sitting at home. Just like in college when you didn't go to class. Can't learn or get experience if you're not there. Unless you've been on this website long enough then you know it all! 

First if you are worried about him screwing around with your other buddies there bring a leash and a yard stake to tie him up to. This will also help with breaking. I brought my 5 month old lab last year to nodak. I had both my dogs tied to my layout blind best thing i ever did. That way the dogs weren't breaking or running all over the place looking for birds that we missed and I could send jus tone at a time. It was awesome watching my young dog run past her bird then come back and suddenly turn on a dime and catch the scent of the downed duck. Its a magical thing to watch and makes a dad proud!!  If you feel your dog is ready do it. A month later my female lab was retrieving 12 lb geese and had never even tried her hand/mouth at it!!! Made me proud that day too!

Enjoy your dog! You put the time and effort into training it!


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## Save Hens (Mar 15, 2008)

Bring the pup, thats one of the most enjoyable parts of waterfowling. I dont leave the house without my dog when headin out to the blind


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## aztec (Oct 27, 2005)

By all means bring your dog. But you need to get a read on how your buddies might react when the dog doesn't perform perfectly. Are your buddies likely to get ticked off at you and your dog if the dog breaks and prevents them from getting a shot? Or if the dog is slow to retrieve and plays around rather than bringing a bird straight in resulting in flaring birds? Or will they see such events as an investment in time towards better performance down the road?

If the former, then you need to hunt off by yourself where presumably you will have more patience with less than perfect performance. I haven't hunted with all of my dogs (five labs over the years) in their first fall at ages ranging from six months to eleven months. Just remember your dog is a pup and will inevitably screw up. But he/she will probably surprise you with some good retrieves that you will remember for a long time. The experience that your dog will get at a young age is invaluable. Bring the dog.


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## Duck_Hunter12 (Jun 15, 2010)

I think you guys fully convinced me (and enough ammo to convince the old lady) to bring him with. I am actually more excited to see him make a solid retrieve at this point than shooting ducks. Or at least make me feel better for all those awckward summer days at a boat landings with decoy, waders, and training the pooch.

I've ran it by everyone, none of them have ever really hunted with dogs before. Only one person besides myself has even been to ND duck hunting. They all seemed fine with it. The one nice thing is myself and another guy are the two mainstays that go every year of the trip but everyone else changes from year to year. So basically i just need to make sure to keep him happy. I made them aware he is far from perfect. I don't really have a problem leaving him in the camper for a while or going off by myself either so.

thanks, reggie is coming.


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Duck_Hunter12 said:



> I don't really have a problem leaving him in the camper for a while or going off by myself either so.
> 
> thanks, reggie is coming.


Don't leave him in camper unless camper is dog proof, might come back with everything ripped up.... eace:


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## labman63 (Aug 17, 2009)

This is two 10 month old littermates in ND last Oct. Take the dog, he'll learn alot.


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

Bring him, but on the first couple flocks put your gun down and control the dog!

Trust me, that feeling of seeing things click for the dog the first hunt is so much better than shooting your limit of birds.


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## LightningRenegade (Aug 11, 2010)

Bring your dog and expect a lot of frustrations on your part especially for the first few trips.

But it's a small price to pay and you'll reap the benefits later on. Besides, he'll have a lot of fun.


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

I personally don't like to bring a green dog on a hunt with others. The exception might be that I would not hunt at all but only control/work the dog. I took My 7 Month old springer out a couple times (by myself) during early goose season. Most of my time was spent just controling her which was fine. Blown opportunities were not the issue at the time. Exposing her to incoming birds (ducks and geese) was my purpose/goal.


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## Duck_Hunter12 (Jun 15, 2010)

I brought him with. it was a great learning experience for both of us. Day one he sat next to me just fine, didn't get a chance to retrieve until we jumped a couple of ducks. I lined him up and sent him, he was confused, did it again and threw a rock, and he did his first retrieve, he did awesome. He completed 30+ retrieves. Wasn't gun shy, didn't bring back decoys. Had some trouble staying still in the blind but on the 3rd day he was getting it.

One guy was getting frustrated with not staying still, but was ok and just wanted him to learn. But all of them, including him was very impressed on how well he was doing. So it was a good trip and i'm glad i brought him. It was a lot of fun watching him retrieve, escpecially the wounded ones.

He had trouble with watching birds, spotting birds on the water, and completing retrieves ( he would drop them 5-10ft short of me). so we'll have to work on those.


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## walleyeguy13 (Jul 27, 2010)

Glad to read that you took him. I was hoping that would be the case.

I did the same thing a few years ago with our lab at just over 4 months. We just wanted her around the guns and action. I had no expectations whatsoever. As it turned out, my son dropped a teal while walking along a little water hole. The dog marked it, charged out after it, and brought it straight back to him. It was fun to see how she connected the training we were doing at home with the real thing. She fetched every bird we shot the rest of the weekend. What a blast to watch a good dog in action.

We just came back from our last weekend in ND. It was just my son and me so we brought our 11 week old pup along with her mom. She got to hear the big guns (no problem), slog around in the muck, and swim around like a little muskrat while I put out the decoys. Oh... almost forgot... we shot a few ducks as well. :wink:


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## PHIGS (Sep 16, 2010)

hope you didn't wreck your dog for future hunting endeavors.

you train to hunt, you do not hunt to train.

pick up a good training program like Stawski's Fowl Dawgs, or Evan Grahams Smart Works, follow that program, and when the dog is ready, then bring him in the blind.

my requirements for any dog of mine, or anyone that brings a dog to hunt: high level of obedience, force fetched, collar conditioned, steadied, and basic handling. IMO, if they are not at that level, then they are more trouble then they are worth.


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## honkbuster3 (Jan 11, 2006)

Im in the same boat. I have a 7 month old chesapeake bay and I have been debatng whether or not to start taking him out with me. Ive been working extrmely hard and havent had any problems with him as of yet. I just dont want him to be scarred or damaged because I took him out too early. Hes not gun shy or anything. I just want him to have a good experience the first couple times so he gets excited to go out with me. I think this thread has helped me make a descion though. thanks :beer:


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