Gun Dog Forum

Ruger my black lab/flat coated retriever has an obsession with squirrels. If there is one in our backyard he will watch it for hours. I am afrain when I take him grouse hunting next year he will lose all focus because of a lousy tree rat. Any suggestions for taming the squirrel chasing beast within ...

Nothing like a gun dog playing in the snow and sipping on a beer
Nice pics

What do you guys think about how long a training period should be force fetching the dog? Should I continue if the training is going really well, or go for about ten minutes until he does it right?

Suggestions please

Hello everybody I am interested in peoples dog's weights across the country/world. Whatever, so please post with your dog(s) weight(s), where you live and your breed of dog. I would like to see how location effects the size of dogs all over the world. As you can see my dogs are larger because we liv...

Hey, I took Ruger out today in freezing you know what cold today and he did really well. We got our dekes set up and he decided he wanted to join me in the freezing water which didn't seem to bother him. He had a little trouble staying still at first but that is to be expected of a 1.5 year old dog....

sorry for the misunderstanding guys, what I meant to say he hasn't been in between shooting hunters. I have had him right outside the blind like 15 feet away he should be okay, no worries

I am going to be taking Ruger out duck hunting tomorrow. I am really excited. He is a black lab mix from the pound and I think he will do well. Hopefully I can actually hit something to let him do well. I am only a little nervous if he will be gun shy, he hasn't ever had anyone shoot right next to h...

I would say just have him play fetch with the check cord as much as possible. As soon as he tries to escape give him a little tug and have him come back to you. Eventually, you won't even have to touch the check cord, but he'll know it is there and he won't try to escape anymore. Condition him with ...

Well the heat you'll just have to get lucky with, but make sure you have a place to hunt for sure or else you'll do lots of driving and map searching to find a place where you'll actually get to hunt. Many disappointments in Montana, so prepare well.

Man! that looks like a really cool area. Beautiful pictures, and some good looking dogs too.

I have a humane society dog too, Ruger a black lab mix. He may be even better than my pure bred yellow lab. You never know what you will find in these dogs but the only way to find out is get them exposed to birds, the woods, the water, guns. Most people have busy schedules and have trouble setting ...

Unless you have some serious wind I wouldn't even think to put a vest on for warmth reasons. But, if you want your dog to be all camo'd up go for it. I had my dog in the water in 10 degree weather without a vest last week, a yellow lab, you should be okay. I probably should have put a vest on him th...

I have a situational question. Someone is duck hunting, they have a young and anxious dog, they may have trouble keeping the dog still. Would tying the dog off to something giving them limited room to move help them become a more steady focused dog in the future or is that just some weird thought I ...

never mind guys I got it figured out. I went through photobucket and got it to work, thanks though Greg

How do you modify pictures to be small enough to become your avatar photo? I can't seem to figure it out. Please comment

I just started Drake on a force fetching program today. He is a smart dog and is catching on fast. It is hard not to continue the training because he is doing so well, I don't want to bore him. I think I will go through the same program with Ruger once Drake is done. I hope things will continue to p...

Beautiful pictures. Looks like a great time.

I have a couple of labs and when I take them out anywhere they are always on check cords. They are pretty reliable but I don't want to be the guy whose dog gets shot by a rancher from scaring cattle. I have only had their check cords off when they are in a situation where running off isn't an option...

Thanks for the help guys, I will definitely start a ff program with Drake.

A dog is only as good as his trainer.

Hi everyone I am a 16 year old boy currently working on his first two dogs. There is Drake, a pure bred yellow lab, and Ruger, a black lab mix, who seems to be better than Drake. I joined this forum mainly because I have been having issues with Drake. I live in Montana and it is really freaking cold...

Alright here is my problem, Drake my 2 year old yellow lab will not pick up birds ANYMORE . When he was a young pup he loved birds in his mouth, I don't know what has changed. He is a little hesitant with wings but when it comes to a full bird he picks it up for a second than drops it. I try to get ...