# breaking !!



## saveaduckkillaskybuster (May 29, 2005)

my 15 month old lab does very well for it to be her first season. patience and reps have really paid off. i have one problem that i need some advice on. while training she does not go until i release her even when we are trainning with birds and guns, but the other day and on a hunt prior once we started shooting and she saw birds hit the water she broke and retrieved the downed birds. 
i need some sugestions on how to correct this problem.


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## gonehuntin' (Jul 27, 2006)

Simulate that exact condition in training and give her a strong correction when she breaks. Never let her break. If she breaks while hunting, wade out, get her, and drag her back. Don't let her get away with it.


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## Shu (Oct 21, 2003)

agree, practice and then take a day or two off from shooting and keep the dog on a lead and if they break, correct them immediately. Good luck


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## BROWNDOG (Nov 2, 2004)

The reward is the bird, is she breaks correct her and take away the reward, don't let her retrieve the bird. It even gets harder when you put other dogs ( an honor) in the mix...


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## jonesy (Aug 3, 2006)

I do alot of the same things ....when making a dog steady at the line, I use the leather pinch collar, and some arm, plus e-collar..........teach the steady with the pinch, and then when the dog starts understanding whats being asked, then overlay the e-collar. Now do not say no when the dog breaks.......here is sufficient.....you start screaming no!! he will start, or could start rejecting the retrieve. Work more with the here command.....dont say the dogs name, and here......because the usual release for a mark is the dogs name...so then it will get confusing.....because you say the name, which means to go, but also saying here??? see what I am describing ??? Stay focused with the teaching, at first dont make him sit long.....you are building....so you can always add the time. Cya Jonesy


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## saveaduckkillaskybuster (May 29, 2005)

appreciate the advice


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## Watchm! (Jul 9, 2005)

Put her on a lead and steke the lead into the ground.
If in a lay-out blind place the lead around one of the frame's poles.


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## macmiller (Oct 24, 2006)

I will respectfully disagree.

I want my dog to if possible reach the downed bird on the first bounce.

Many time, the bird if NOT dead will be stunned momentarily by the impact with the water or land and it is during that time very easy to pick up. In the 20 seconds more that it will take to line the dog to make the "proper" (this is something that was decided by field trialers who may not kill more than 5 "wild birds in a year) retreive often times the bird has recovered and either started to run or worse in water has dived often time never to surface again.

My sole responsibility after shooting a bird is the successful retreive and anything that lowers that success rate is shirking that responsibility.

An even worse scienerio would be to have my dog honor the retreive of another dog that is farther from the downed bird because the owner of that dog was the shooter. You can "play" these games under controlled situations in contests where real gamebirds are not wasted but when you are really hunting, the speedy, successful retreive is desired objecteive.


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## rb.number3 (Jun 15, 2004)

I disagree, I would do everything in my power to not allow my dog to break. If that means not shooting, so be it.
I have seen several times, dogs that brake, hot on the heals of a wounded goose. Only to have someone in the decoys, decide to shoot.
My dogs are way to important, to care if a bird happened to get away.
If all the shooting has ended, I will then send my dog. 
If that means I am acting like some FT or HT guy, so be it. 
It has to do with obedience, plain and simple. 
When we have a young dog in the decoys, we have someone that sole job, is to manage that dog. Not to Shoot, but to make sure the dog, is
allowed every chance at doing things right. 
You are on the right track, a few corrections, is usually all that is needed.
It takes a little extra effort, but well woth it in the end.
Russ


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## cedarsedge (Sep 21, 2006)

Dogs can not mark falls when they are running. They lose depth perseption of the mark. If the birds fall and are crippled, your dog should be able to trail the bird to its location.

You are doing the right thing by stoping the breaking now rather than later when he has already been doing it for sometime. Dan


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## macmiller (Oct 24, 2006)

rb.number3,

If you have hunting companions who shoot at something on the ground when you are hunting with your dog, you have a much more serious problem than breaking.


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## rb.number3 (Jun 15, 2004)

macmiller.
You are right, if I have someone shooting on the ground, in the decoys,
I have problems. I do not believe, anywhere in my previous post, did
I mention anyone shooting on the ground. I said a wounded goose, and
if the goose is on the ground, why would you need to shoot. That is what
we have dogs for. But my dogs cannot fly, and if you only shoot between
10:00 and 2:00, and you are in a layout blind, that may put a dog in danger. So this is just one reason I do not allow my dogs to break.
What is Breaking, it is when a dog goes before being sent. 
So is it ok, for him to break before the birds are in range. Or does he
need to wait until the shooting begins, and then break. Or must he wait,
until the shooting stops, and them break.

The question was, is it ok to allow my dog to break??? 
And you said yes. Breaking, is allowing your dog to go before being sent.
Do you really allow, your dog to break. If a dog is allowed to break on gun fire, then what happens when you hunt close to other hunters.

I did not intend to, make this into a heated exchange. Until my hunting
ethics, were questioned. Sorry for venting.
I stand by my first comments, do not allow your dog to break.
Russ


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## macmiller (Oct 24, 2006)

rb.number3

I apologise for any statement that I made that offended you. I went overboard in trying to state my point of view and was out of line. Anyone who has the skills to train a dog to be steady to shots is no run of the mill hunter and I should have realized that.

We each hunt our own way and do what works best for us. I hunt alone on week days because I am retired and all old hunting buddies either have quit, died or are too old to wade sloughs with me and when I hunt on weekends it is with no more that 2 others who I have known for years.

My dog marks the first bird on a double and if she doesn't mark the second also then that is my responsibility. Her memory is almost always better than mine by the way.

I am new to this board as you can see and find it peopled with knowledgable hunters. I only hope that I will be able from time to time to add something from 64 years of shooting at ducks.


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