Gun Dog Forum

Bluesky2012

Bluesky, I don't doubt that your dogs are fantastic, but I don't know if you're the exception. Dog training is not rocket science... Now I'm not saying a first time dog owner will train a FC, but they can train a great dog if they are dedicated. You are right, it's not rocket science. But it takes ...

Bluesky2012

There is plenty of good advice here, but if I was a "REALLY new newbie" as the OP has admitted (and I would be when it comes to labs), I would probably be totally confused and would think that it is too involved, expensive and complicated to end up with the kind of dog I have been wanting. Personal...

Bluesky2012

"Good advice like, don't do proper research on a dogs bloodlines, settle for a poor pedigree because "it just felt right", do a poor job of training a dog by not using live birds or following proven methods, and then hoping it turns out okay, and then feeling happy and proud that it sort of worked ...

Bluesky2012

Sharon wrote:[quote="cfaustino

I've actually been told by others that I shouldn't get a field trial dog because they are too high strung. Any truth to this?[/quote
.........................

No truth at all to that.

None. Ask my lab that's snoring like an old man by my feet if he's high strung.

Bluesky2012

I don't want to contradict some of the advice you've been given here already, but I will offer you my perspective as an alternative. I've owned a few other dogs before my current one, but I have never had a hunting dog before. I have hunted for about 10 years, and for several years I have wanted a ...

Bluesky2012

I don't want to contradict some of the advice you've been given here already, but I will offer you my perspective as an alternative. I've owned a few other dogs before my current one, but I have never had a hunting dog before. I have hunted for about 10 years, and for several years I have wanted a ...

Bluesky2012

Also if you are really set on one, go to a legitimate pro who trains field trial level dogs and see what a truly good duck dog is. I'd bet you have never seen one that can handle on 200 yard blinds, run triples, etc. before you go off thinking you want a bargain pup from a small local breeder, go ou...

Bluesky2012

I'd wait a while and make sure he loves duck hunting enough to do it a lot for 12 more years before looking to drop 6k$ on a gun dog if I was you.

Bluesky2012

Seems the o.p. is in far southwest AZ and wants a lab primarily as an upland flusher, and his new pup is apparently from here,http://www.lavishlabs.com/ . Oh no... Those dogs are show dogs. Not a single hunting title that I saw. And to top it off, they breed "charcoal labs" aka not a legitimate bre...

Bluesky2012

Plenty of people thing training a retriever with a wing taped to a bumper works too. Then they find out the truth....

Drop the wing.

Bluesky2012

Ms. Cage wrote:I think any breed is capable of hunting anything you want. All a matter of training and exposure

I'd love to see a Yorker retrive a goose.

Bluesky2012

I love FF posts. I hate FFing but love the result. Interested to hear if a result is brought forth.

Bluesky2012

Come on guys. You are shooting Bluesky's opening sentence all to pieces. For you Yuma, you have the right to train however you like but you should understand what the likely outcome will be. Clicker training has worked well for obedience training where it was developed. There has not been much evid...

Bluesky2012

But I want to start with a whistle after I get him trained to basic obedience. Any videos on this?. My pups start conditioning to the whistle at 5 weeks old, and it's not done until they are about 9 months old, But sure would like to cut that part out if I can ? Thanks Look up chad Hines on YouTube...

Bluesky2012

Careful using a lot of pressure with birds and marks, both ear pinch and collar pressure. If your dogs' not Pressure Conditioned properly, ( and Collar Conditioned), leave pressure alone. Your fear is that the dog would associate the pressure with the bird. The dog has already been CCed and FFed, s...

Bluesky2012

Your dog is not experiencing the "terrible twos" because that is a human issue not a dog issue. Your dog is experiencing "lack of discipline" aka you're letting your dog get away with crap and not enforcing behavior year round, but rather expecting the dog to perform well in the field despite not ha...

Bluesky2012

If it refuses to pick up the duck, walk out there, grab the heck out of that ear, or use the e-collar depending on which works best with your dog, and command fetch. Let the dog squirm or avoid it but don't let the pressure go, and then force the dogs head down to the bird. Right now your dog knows ...

Bluesky2012

The transition to dove went real well- just a couple short sessions..but with the duck her whole demener is differnent. Have you ever ate a duck? Then you'd understand. Most the people I know of make pepperoni out of them then give it away as Christmas presents! Friend of mine years ago had the onl...

Bluesky2012

If the natural desire won't come out from cripples, then FF will be your next best bet (though I still FF regardless because of the added benefits). Don't just stop at FF though. Work all the way through collar fetch, walking fetch, etc then start using walking singles with both bumpers and ducks in...

Bluesky2012

The first minute of this video sums up this argument. Very few if any empirical evidence has shown the risks of a choke chain properly being used on a gun dog during their obedience training stages, yet member here are arguing that they are insanely dangerous tools with inevitably bad outcomes. Esse...

Bluesky2012

These are insanely dangerous and badly designed tools that are inferior to better and safer tools. Why take the risk of almost inevitable injury? Bill "in almost every study almost EVERY dog... Shows evidence of damage Do you listen to yourself when you type these phrases? First off you have yet to...

Bluesky2012

Ray, you are missing the point. Choke chains are inherently dangerous...by design. In almost every study almost EVERY dog on whom they've been used shows evidence of damage. Similar post-mortums on dogs that were trained with prong collars (which work just as well, if not better) show few (if any) ...

Bluesky2012

magspa wrote:The transition to dove went real well- just a couple short sessions..but with the duck her whole demener is differnent.

Pull a dusk flight feathers, and tape it's feet closed so the webbing isn't spread. Throw the live duck into a pond then send the dog. You'll see a big difference.

Bluesky2012

No, You both are sittin on a high horse claiming a "fact" based on no statistics. Every article I just read continues to fall under the same issues that I just presented as to why their statistics are not relevant. Every article I've read continues to talk about choke chains causing damage from dogs...

Bluesky2012

You should train with birds (all species you plan to hunt) as part of your training plan, beginning with early socialization. Just start like it's a new concept with praise, then begin to enforce results that you trained for in force fetch. You simply have to use birds to expect the dog to understan...

Bluesky2012

Did these people also say go to petsmart for obedience classes? I never listen to any self proclaimed dog training "experts".

I have and hunt two male (as in un-neutered) dogs and have never had a single issue.

Bluesky2012

Everyone keeps referring to these "statistics" but we should all take a step back and breakdown the statistics. The majority of gun dog owners and trainers know substantially more about how to use a choke chain as compared to the average how who uses one to slow their sled dog from dragging them aro...

Bluesky2012

You’re getting a GSP. If you have a lab, then both will work just fine, but you are getting a GSP. These dogs are meant to run and run and run. So let them run and don’t worry about just walking your dog. It’s not in their genes for a walk. They need to stretch their legs. They are breed for that. ...

Bluesky2012

You need to find a retriever training club and get a program. That will do the most for you. Sounds like you don't know what you're doing yet. The program and retriever group will benefit you. Unfortunately I don't have many trainers in my area, I've tried to contact my local retriever club without...

Bluesky2012

Also, it helps with house breaking too.

Bluesky2012

Are you considering Not crate training? Like you want to just leave an 8-10 wk old puppy freely roaming your house?

Somewhere between control, discipline, safety, quiet, peace of mind, travel, etc yeah it's worth crate training.

Cons are: none.

Bluesky2012

You need to find a retriever training club and get a program. That will do the most for you. Sounds like you don't know what you're doing yet. The program and retriever group will benefit you.

Bluesky2012

You’re getting a GSP. If you have a lab, then both will work just fine, but you are getting a GSP. These dogs are meant to run and run and run. So let them run and don’t worry about just walking your dog. It’s not in their genes for a walk. They need to stretch their legs. They are breed for that. ...

Bluesky2012

Blue, yes this is my first retriever and pretty much my first time around a good one. All of my buddies are deer hunters so no one I know has dogs. I do have a 2 year old vizsla so am a little experienced in hunting dogs in general. Maggie the lab will literally want to fetch to the point of annoya...

Bluesky2012

I'm more than certain one could recite articles from the internet regarding a myriad of blogs and theories and opinions. What's yours? Well the OP is asking for facts, so I'm trying to offer words from a source that would make it reasonably credible rather than the random words of an Internet forum...

Bluesky2012

I'm more than certain one could recite articles from the internet regarding a myriad of blogs and theories and opinions. What's yours? Well the OP is asking for facts, so I'm trying to offer words from a source that would make it reasonably credible rather than the random words of an Internet forum...

Bluesky2012

Choke chain is better for teaching obedience because you apply the correction. A prong collar is made for the dog to apply it's own correction when it pulls on the leash. Learn to use a choke chain. It will also transition to the e-collar well too. I have seen videos where the choke chain is used f...

Bluesky2012

Thought I'd show her off. Tioga's Magpie the Ugg "Maggie" Long snout, small beady eyes. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l297/bumpas/Mobile%20Uploads/DF02DC37-39D5-49DE-9100-CE3A40C9D0F4_zpsggdzlbsu.jpg She's pretty awesome though. Click for video from yesterday. http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/...

Bluesky2012

I've read articles in the past suggesting getting a puppy prior to 8 weeks can cause anxiety and nervous biting issues later. If I find the article I'll post it. It was not talking about gun dogs necessarily but was more so referring to bite statistics and age of dogs being released from the "breede...

Bluesky2012

Choke chain is better for teaching obedience because you apply the correction. A prong collar is made for the dog to apply it's own correction when it pulls on the leash.

Learn to use a choke chain. It will also transition to the e-collar well too.

Bluesky2012

Honestly I'd run from the breeder your talking about. Many aggressive issues can come from taking a puppy too early as well as other issues. 10 weeks is the goal. Honestly the longer the better. Seriously, you have time. Look for a different dog. Everyone new thinks their dog will be different or so...

Bluesky2012

Forget the ecollar. Not necessary. Eventually the dog will go in on its own. Until then just give it the command and put it in. It's not an option. Don't worry about the e-collar for a while. I e-collar condition that only for a specific response, and unless you are avidly duck hunting, I wouldn't ...

Bluesky2012

Doesn't matter at all if the crate isn't his favorite voluntary spot, as long as he's quiet while he's in there. I have one setter that just likes to go in his crate to sleep, two that prefer other spots to chill but that crate up on command, and one that needs a little help like Don's dog :lol: Wh...

Bluesky2012

Your dog is probably jealous that the other one is actually a guy dog. I'd be pissed and jealous if someone neutered me.

Bluesky2012

If your dog once considered growling at you, then you are not in charge and it does not respect you. There's the initial problem. Poor socialization and a lack of formal training.

For an immediate correction, lift it up by the scruff of the neck. I do it with my 70lb dog, works well.

Bluesky2012

With the perfect start perfect finish program what items do you need to buy to successfully train a dog? Do you need live birds and bird launcher? What kind of training collars do you need? Etc etc. Check cord, choke chain, e-collar, birds, launcher. Nothing else is really needed to train a pointer.

Bluesky2012

My point is that we too often expect too much too soon. Better a rough diamond than a highly polished stone, to steal an old saw. 80% of all gun dog issues are related to owner expectations. 134% of statistics are made up on the spot. If the pedigree is right, then I'd say your statistic is probabl...

Bluesky2012

No. I do it all the time. Rinse in freshwater after.

Bluesky2012

Out of curiosity did the OP fix the problem? The suggestions made sense and I'd expect solid results by now as the dog grew and was exposed to more birds.

Bluesky2012

[ There's a thousand ways to skin a cat, but 99% of those methods are just stupid. I could also train my dog while wearing a clown costume so that he isn't afraid of clowns. But why? I want a gun dog. I want him trained to love the gun. Preventing fear of other issues in life occurs through sociali...

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