Release word

[DuckSlayer]

my release word for my choc lab is dead duck she listens and only goes when i say that is that a bad phrase i taught her to be released on?

[jforgey]

The only thing that matters is that you and your dog know.

[Winchey]

Anything will work but I would prefer to use one word instead of two. I would just find it strange to use those two words in the house, in the yard, at the park etc... But if that is what you like to say, go for it.

[jimbo&rooster]

For my lab I have always used her name for the first retrieve in a series and used back for multiples as a release word. I found that when I hunted with other guys with dogs, especially in a dove field.... "fetch", "fetch it up", "dead bird" etc., were common but i didn't hunt with alot of guys who had dogs with the same name....

For my pointers I usually use "ok" with a pat on the side as a release. For some reason they usually wont release with out the pat on the side. which im ok with.

JIm

[Ruffshooter]

For my lab I have always used her name for the first retrieve in a series and used back for multiples as a release word. I found that when I hunted with other guys with dogs, especially in a dove field.... "fetch", "fetch it up", "dead bird" etc., were common but i didn't hunt with alot of guys who had dogs with the same name....

For my pointers I usually use "ok" with a pat on the side as a release. For some reason they usually wont release with out the pat on the side. which im ok with.

JIm

+ 1

[ymepointer]

I had a buddy who use "ROCK and ROLL' as his release comand for his setters to start hunting.

[Birddog3412]

I had a Cheasapeake that released on her name. It was so neat teasing her with other names close. Her name was Reba, you could yell rebel, red, retard, whatever, she wouldnt move until she heard Reba.

[nj gsp]

I made the mistake of using "all right" with some of my dogs to release from a command. The mistake is that "all right" crops up fairly often in normal conversation and is something I say without thinking about it.

So now for my release word, I use "release".

I encountered a problem using a touch to release the dog, and that is what if you can't get to the dog to touch it? I learned this fast in the grouse woods of Maine. My dog was on point, the bird flushed, the dog stayed steady to wing and shot (I missed) and I tried everything to release her from point - "no bird", "leave it", "easy", "hunt", "all right", and she would not move until I tapped her on the head, even though it took five minutes and lots of cussing to get close enough to her.

So I would suggest training a dog to release on a verbal command too.

I like "rock & roll" and I think I'm gonna use that!

[JKP]

I guess I think different than other folks. My commands are basic and few...dogs cue off the situation..a lot of different commands are sometimes unnecessary...IMO

Come....or repeated short rapid whistle

To the front....2 toots or the pager (love that pager)

Find it....release at the water, in the field, on a track...after training, dogs know the situation....so if the dog is at the water, it knows there is a duck to find, in the field a bird, or if brought to a spot, a track to follow.

After FF, I find dogs don't need to be told to fetch...if they "find it", they bring it....

I will also use the dog's name as a release....with a tap or an arm motion...visual signals (or the tap) can be another level of the steadiness chain.....using the dog's name can help control the retrieve when 2-3 dogs are down.

[crackerd]

my release word for my choc lab is dead duck she listens and only goes when i say that is that a bad phrase i taught her to be released on?

DS, the release word for retrievers is usually the dog's name - that's for trained retrievers - and the command for a blind retrieve of a duck the dog didn't mark is "Back!"

Retrievers are often cued with the phrase "Dead bird...dead bird" to get them to focus before they're given the "Back!" command. The focus lets them turn up the jets on the runway preparing for take-off before running or swimming for a blind. (Poor Winchey here thinks that such focus is "robotic" but forgive him, he's still learning.)

Again, there's a difference between a release word and a command - if you've trained accordingly.

MG

[Winchey]

Crackered, retrievers should be trained the way the best retriever trainers train retrievers, no question. When the question was posed I was thinking more of day to day life with a dog. When I tell a dog to wait or stand or sit or lay down or heel it should do so until released. I use "OK" for that stuff. On Marks I use fetch rather then the dogs name because that is what I started with and it became a habit I didn't bother breaking, but I consider that as much of a command as a release (don't know if that is right) same as back for blinds.

[crackerd]

You're good to go, all counts - but the "OK" can be, er, misconstrued when you're saying it once and there are four or five dogs heeling along beside you. Thus my release for everything, to get around any confusion, is the dog's name.

Now back to that "robotic" stuff - some handlers at trials will send a dog on the second or third mark (bird) of a triple on "Back!" thinking the command makes for greater urgency to the dog's ears. Some awfully good trainers have succeeded with it, but I like to think their great desire to get to the bird (and memory of where it fell) provide urgency enough.

MG

[Winchey]

I don't think really good, well trained retrievers look robotic, they are extremely enthusiastic and full of desire and determination. They handle like robots as in how you can thread the needle with them and are fun to watch. On the other hand when I do a lot of retrieving drills with my VDog I find him to be more dependent to me then I care to have him in the field, even when not using much force if any. To much training leaves me wanting in the field and not enough leaves me wanting in the blind. It drives me crazy, I don't want to loose anything in either arena.

[mobeasto123]

When the Dog is heeling or sit or Whoa ,,, I just say OK to realease him..

[brule]

I don't have alot of experience with training dogs, but with my retiever I used the commands the crackerd said. The dogs name on a marked retrieve and "back" on a blind.