Hey everybody, I’m looking for some help with training my lab. I picked up a 18 month old lab last fall. He was retrieving (thrown toys) very well and listening to commands ok. But over the last month or so has basically decided not to go out, play, and stopped retrieving to my hand. I’m not really sure why. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Steve
Steve,
By no means am I a certified dog trainer. Might be certifiable! LOL.
My experience with labs (have had one of the three colors for as long as I know) has taught me that there is a difference between a house dog and a field dog. Very rarely is there a mix of both, but they all love to play! Is yours not feeling well? Spring time almost always includes a trip to the vet for Fred (my yellow I have now), because he will get hold of some new found thing exposed by the snow going away. Something to think about.
There are a lot of members here that know a lot about dogs. If your pup is not sick, I think someone could give you some advice from there!
JMHO here but if the lab wont play then a trip to the vet is in order. i never really trained a dog to anything but to eat and sleep and poop on the paper. beagles i have worked with but then they will chase a rabbit and when the jump a deer i just hit the button on the shock collar and that is that!
retrieving dogs is something i have not done and Gar….........i have the licensing, and the paper work to prove it, for the “villiage Idiot” ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!
Im with Andrew and Bird on this one. I would think that the dog is not feeling well. Especially for the age. Young dogs are full of energy and love to play. My dads last 2 dogs have been labs (both yellow) and they definitely slowed down as they got older. I have one question though….........did you try shooting around the dog? I only ask because some dogs dont do well around loud noises. Whatever the case, I hope you find your answer and get the dog to hunt with you. There is nothing like hunting with a dog. Makes for some great memories!!
Thanks guys. My little buddy is starting to get more ready to play. It must have just been a small bug. I also had some sick kids in the house with us. Guys I hope you all stay safe and thanks again.
Well first off the advise on the going to the Vet is right on. Now if he seems to be feeling better then you can get going on his training.
I am curious as to what your goals are with this pup ? Are you going to hunt him and if so on what ? Run tests ? Also to what degree has he been trained ? There is a big difference between a “huntin dog” and a gun dog. A gun dog is a pro and by that I mean he will be rock steady and quiet even when there are geese on the ground 5 yards in front of him with several hundred more trying to land. He will not move when you shoot until given the order to do so. He will run blind retrieves and take whistle commands and hand signals. He will not hesitate to follow any command given and will do so with a bit of style and enthusiasm.
18 months is a bit old to be starting a dog but it is not an impossible task by anymeans it just means you need to get busy. The first and most important thing to do is make sure his obedience is rock solid from sit and that means sit until I tell you not to, to heel to here (come). Great obedience is the bed rock to a well trained retriever everything else comes from this. Now I am a firm believer in the dog that is involved with your everyday life meaning hanging out in the house chasing the kids around the yard will make for a better hunting companion than the dog that lives in the kennel and is only taken out to train and run the yard a bit then put back up. But you will need to teach the dog that playtime and time to work are two different things. If you havent trained a retriever before I would recommend two things first off get involved with a retriever club. You will find training partners and people who have been there and done it and you will meet some great folks in the process. Second get some sort of a training program and stick with it !! There are a lot of resources out there right now and in fact maybe to many as sometimes you can get to much info. I have a buddy that did that he bought a bunch of books and videos and then kinda took some from each of them and tried to make his own program and ended up confusing both himself and his dog and is way behind where he should be given the dogs age. He finally picked one and is now getting back where he needs to be. I would strongly recommend the Smart Works series from Evan Graham. Far and away the best program I have came across and will take you from a raw pup to a finished gun dog its very easy to follow. I would never start another dog without this program.
Training a good solid gun dog is a marathon and not a sprint but it is a lot of fun albeit a lot of work. Other than hunting with my Son training my own dogs is the most satisfying thing I have done in all my years in the field. Just keep it fun for both you and the dog and the payoff is incredible.
Was wondering when you were gonna respond to this thread Liberty!! Excellent post and advice. If I ever need some thoughts on training, Ill be sure to pick your brain!
Sorry I was late on this one but yesterday was Saint Patricks day and well…....Lets just say there was no green beer but whiskey from a green bottle and beer from a brown one,well thats another story all together.
I am without a doubt no expert and Labs are not my thing even though my club is full of some damn good ones but I do know enough to offer up some pretty good fundamental advice as I have been lucky enough to train with some solid trainers in my time.
Anytime I can help a Brother or Sister here I would be glad to thats for sure.
Thanks to everybody that has replied. To answer some of Liberty’s questions:
1. I would like to go out duck hunt and pheasant hunt with my dog. I am not really interested in doing hunt test.
2. Actually more important than number 1 is i want to make sure my dog gets to have fun with me and my other 2 boys (3&4;). Keeping the dog more as a family pet than a hunting dog. Ideally he will love to do both.
I do understand that this will be a life long joourney for the whole family but my main goal will be when my boys get older The four of us will get to go out together. Thanks for the book/video option and all the other ideas from everybody.
You guys are all great. I hopeyou all get to enjoy the training season again. Time to take the boys out to play again.
Steve I must tell you in my opinion anyone who says a dog cant be a great family dog as well as a great hunting dog is flat out wrong especially where retrievers are concerned.
I think having a dog who understands when its play time and when its time to work is a good thing.Dogs are pack animals and their familys are their pack and its is very important for the dog to be a part of that as dogs, just like people need time to just hang out and have fun.Though they must understand where they are in the hierarchy of the pack,meaning they understand they are not the pack leader !! The other thing about the family dog is as its not spending all of its time in the kennel it is learning while just being around the family and this is very important as you take a dog who has no social interaction and take them out of the kennel in many cases the dog is not capable of listening to anything you tell them as they are so happy just be out that they cant settle down right away to pay attention to anything you try to teach them and this is what gets people to say things like that dog dosent listen or he is so bull headed I cant teach him anything.
For example I raise Chessies a breed with a lot of negativity attached to them as they can be tough to train (most pros dont like them) very protective and they have a independent streak (some say stubborn ) that can be problematic to work through but my dogs live in the house,sleep in our bedroom and love to play with my daughter,catch the Frisbee or just hang out with you and all this makes them better dogs as they are involved with us all the time.That being said when you ask them hey want to go to work or lets go get some birds you best get out of the way as they are going to run through you to get to the door !!! They also get excited when you put the e-collar on them as they know they are going to be working and even if it is something that they are not overly fond of doing like say pattern drills they still are ready to go as they know that them doing this makes you happy so they will do it even though they would rather be running marks and this comes I believe from being family dogs as well as first class gun dogs.
I guess my point is as far as I am concerned at least a good gun dog and a great family dog should be one in the same,you just have to teach them that work is work and fun is fun and if you do it right they will have a hard time telling one from the other.
Good luck and always try to keep it fun for both of you and things will work out fine.
Liberty,
I want to thank you for posting on this thread. I was waiting for some info from you, as much as Steve was not knowing you yet. Have never really researched training a dog. Just followed what my Dad always went by, and maybe by luck, have always had a great friend and a decent hunting partner. I think the problem is too much play, and not enough work. Anyway, thanks again. By the way, a good friend of mine has two chesapeakes. One is a great water dog, the other loves upland birds. When he found out their talents, he started taking them both on any bird hunt. Was completely awesome to watch them team up and actually teach each other what the other was good at! Amazing dogs!
Andrew I am more than happy to try and help anyone here I can thats for sure.
One thing that you have to be careful of is if you have a dog that has a lot of drive you have to be careful about how much you train as in my dogs case the more we work the more they want to !!!! They love to play and hang out etc. but if they even think you are going to train they turn into major nut cases and if by chance you are not going to train when they think you are they are one royal pain in the a$$ let me tell you.Its a pretty cool problem to have all in all though my Wife can get a little annoyed if say I am working in the garage and my older dog thinks we should be training she will sit by the door and just whine and bark and she wont stop untill she comes out and sees I am working on some project and then she will dig out a bumper and just follow me around untill I throw it for her a couple of times and then she will calm down a little at least.
I do think drive in a dog is a key element if not the most important one and its something we cant teach but if you have a dog with moderate drive I feel that the loyalty you can get from them from being a good owner/partner can help carry the dog through something that they may not have been willing to do.Its hard to get a dog without a lot of drive to break through some ice and the end of a long swim for example but if that dog loves you and wants to please you with a little encouragement you can get them to push through but if the dog doesent have that I am getting that damn bird no matter what gets in the way attitude without the love they have for you it may be and in fact is very unlikely they would push on through to finish the task.
I do know this, these days the more time I spend around people given how self absorbed and uptight so many seem to be now days the more I love my dogs !!
Liberty,
Like I said before, I am no trainer or dog proffesional but I do agree with you about the family dog/hunter concept. We had a beautiful redbone coonhound and he ended up being a great hunter and family dog. I think the myth that a hunting dog has to be hooked outside all the time in order to keep his hunting skills a priority is way off. Our dog started coming into the house when it was extremely cold out and he became a great family dog. For some reason (which I dont know because I am not an expert on this) he never changed when we went afield with him. All I can say is this….....he always wore an orange reflective collar while hunting and when my dad would take the collar off the coat rack, he would go absolutely bonkers! He knew where he was going and he knew it was now! I dont believe anyone who tells me any different. If it is different for them, then they didnt do something right. I miss those days and sometimes think I would like to get back into it but I really dont have the time to dedicate to giving a dog the time he needs. Maybe my life will settle down sometime where I can feel comfortable to own another hound. Its alot of work owning a hunting dog and My hats off to all of you that do.
