Bad sign for a hunting dog?

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AzCountryman
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Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by AzCountryman » Wed Aug 03, 2016 3:15 pm

Well finally got a yellow lab. Hope I can get here trained enough to go get my doves for me. But then this happened. Went to let her out of her crate. Usually use the other door but turned the cage sideways so used the other door. After opening the door "Lemon" didn't seem to notice...so I shut it and reopened it....nothing still waiting for other door to open....she didn't move until I stuck my hand in and out of the open hole a few times to show her it was open.

Think I m in for a rough time training this dog......
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vtjeeper
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Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by vtjeeper » Wed Aug 03, 2016 5:38 pm

I have been told that dogs have a tough time seeing up close. My lab wouldn't come through the door while I had the screen out repairing it. When I opened door frame she walked right in. It was funding to watch. She hunts great too

mnaj_springer
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by mnaj_springer » Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:29 pm

I hope my intention and meaning of what I say isn't lost over the Internet when I say this... This is just a cute story you're sharing, right?

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NEhomer
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by NEhomer » Thu Aug 04, 2016 4:16 am

Yeah, you might be reading too much into this. Get him on some birds and we'll have something to discuss. Back when I was a kid my dad's best hunting beagle had to be helped out of a corner.

Cute pup....congrats.

NC Quailhunter
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by NC Quailhunter » Thu Aug 04, 2016 5:58 am

I agree you are worrying about nothing. The pup is used to the other door and doesn't even recognize the one you are now using. get him out and train and get him on birds.

AzCountryman
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by AzCountryman » Thu Aug 04, 2016 8:42 am

Lol ....nah this is just for a good laugh. Sure this little girl will be just fine. Just funny to watch a dog so excited to get out and just sit there 3 inchs from a open door.

Timewise65
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by Timewise65 » Thu Aug 04, 2016 10:50 am

As a kid, didn't you walk into a few closed doors or maybe a window? Just a pup being a pup..LOL!

How old is this pup?

I have trained and hunted retrievers since 1990, I have worked with many good trainers. I do run my dogs in hunt tests, but primarily train them for hunting....

I am a bird hunter, if it has feathers we hunt it, starting with dove and ending with geese....and everything in between. I am lucky to live in a part of the country where most game birds can be found.

Regarding dove hunting, be careful, this is not the best hunting situation or bird to start a new pup on.

Usually you have multiple guns in the area and the shooting can get pretty aggressive at sun up, if your pup is not gun shy, this can make them gun shy and obviously if they have not been conditioned on guns, this is a bad way to start them. Also, in a normal dove field, birds are dropping all over as the sun comes up and even the hunters do not always know who shot which bird, so your dog may be marking and retrieving birds that are not yours. Finally, if you are fortunate to have your own field to hunt, and your dog is through basic training, doves are hard for dogs to scent. Even if they are good marking dogs, I have seen good dogs run past a dead fall bird never getting a scent, if you do not have the dog 'handling to whistle' this does nothing but harm the dogs marking and confidence.

For me, once my dog is at the Senior Hunter level, I will take them dove hunting. At that point I have full control of the dog, they are not gun shy, and I can handle them onto any bird if they run past it....

Just my thoughts....good luck and enjoy that new pup!

AzCountryman
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by AzCountryman » Thu Aug 04, 2016 2:34 pm

Timewise65 wrote:
How old is this pup?

Regarding dove hunting, be careful, this is not the best hunting situation or bird to start a new pup on.

Usually you have multiple guns in the area and the shooting can get pretty aggressive at sun up, if your pup is not gun shy, this can make them gun shy and obviously if they have not been conditioned on guns, this is a bad way to start them. Also, in a normal dove field, birds are dropping all over as the sun comes up and even the hunters do not always know who shot which bird, so your dog may be marking and retrieving birds that are not yours. Finally, if you are fortunate to have your own field to hunt, and your dog is through basic training, doves are hard for dogs to scent. Even if they are good marking dogs, I have seen good dogs run past a dead fall bird never getting a scent, if you do not have the dog 'handling to whistle' this does nothing but harm the dogs marking and confidence.
Thanks for the info. She is barely 8 weeks old. Other then Dove it is mostly Quail. Here in Southern Az I haven't done to much dove hunting sitting on fields. Did that once and it was a mad house of getting peppered with shot. Almost always we sit on cattle ponds at sun up and sun down and wait for them to fly by. Advantage is once someone sees you there they move on to the next. Hopefully this dog wont be gun shy. Other then hunting we do enjoy camping and with that comes target shooting while camping so having a dog that dislikes a gun shot wouldn't be ideal. Going to have to read up on introducing her to loud noises.

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ezzy333
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by ezzy333 » Thu Aug 04, 2016 3:00 pm

AzCountryman wrote:
Timewise65 wrote:
How old is this pup?

Regarding dove hunting, be careful, this is not the best hunting situation or bird to start a new pup on.

Usually you have multiple guns in the area and the shooting can get pretty aggressive at sun up, if your pup is not gun shy, this can make them gun shy and obviously if they have not been conditioned on guns, this is a bad way to start them. Also, in a normal dove field, birds are dropping all over as the sun comes up and even the hunters do not always know who shot which bird, so your dog may be marking and retrieving birds that are not yours. Finally, if you are fortunate to have your own field to hunt, and your dog is through basic training, doves are hard for dogs to scent. Even if they are good marking dogs, I have seen good dogs run past a dead fall bird never getting a scent, if you do not have the dog 'handling to whistle' this does nothing but harm the dogs marking and confidence.
Thanks for the info. She is barely 8 weeks old. Other then Dove it is mostly Quail. Here in Southern Az I haven't done to much dove hunting sitting on fields. Did that once and it was a mad house of getting peppered with shot. Almost always we sit on cattle ponds at sun up and sun down and wait for them to fly by. Advantage is once someone sees you there they move on to the next. Hopefully this dog wont be gun shy. Other then hunting we do enjoy camping and with that comes target shooting while camping so having a dog that dislikes a gun shot wouldn't be ideal. Going to have to read up on introducing her to loud noises.
A pup is never gun shy unless the trainer made it that way. Don't worry about a pup being a pup just be careful what you teach and it will be fine.

mnaj_springer
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by mnaj_springer » Thu Aug 04, 2016 3:44 pm

ezzy333 wrote: A pup is never gun shy unless the trainer made it that way. Don't worry about a pup being a pup just be careful what you teach and it will be fine.
+1

Don't just hope she's not gun shy. Carefully condition her so she isn't.

Timewise65
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by Timewise65 » Fri Aug 05, 2016 4:08 pm

Gun Shyness is easy to have but hard to break! I would never take an 8 week old pup hunting or ever around guns! You should be following a puppy gun dog program which will focus on beginning basic obedience...MY favorite ones are...Sound Beginnings by Jackie Mertens and/or Training a Retriever Puppy with Bill Hillmann...both will get you going down a happy road for field dogs...

Also another forum that is pretty much all Retriever people is Retriever Training forum (RTF)...search for this forum. It works just like this one but it us 98% retrievers including lots of trainers who do provide advise and perspective on the forum.

Good luck...be patient and let you dog grow into your vision for him....at eight weeks he is just a baby. At 6 months he is equivalent to a 3 year old child....they are so cute, happy, and fun it is hard to keep in mind where they are in their ability to learn new things. :mrgreen:

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Sharon
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Re: Bad sign for a hunting dog?

Post by Sharon » Fri Aug 05, 2016 5:12 pm

AzCountryman wrote:
Timewise65 wrote:
How old is this pup?

Regarding dove hunting, be careful, this is not the best hunting situation or bird to start a new pup on.

Usually you have multiple guns in the area and the shooting can get pretty aggressive at sun up, if your pup is not gun shy, this can make them gun shy and obviously if they have not been conditioned on guns, this is a bad way to start them. Also, in a normal dove field, birds are dropping all over as the sun comes up and even the hunters do not always know who shot which bird, so your dog may be marking and retrieving birds that are not yours. Finally, if you are fortunate to have your own field to hunt, and your dog is through basic training, doves are hard for dogs to scent. Even if they are good marking dogs, I have seen good dogs run past a dead fall bird never getting a scent, if you do not have the dog 'handling to whistle' this does nothing but harm the dogs marking and confidence.
Thanks for the info. She is barely 8 weeks old. Other then Dove it is mostly Quail. Here in Southern Az I haven't done to much dove hunting sitting on fields. Did that once and it was a mad house of getting peppered with shot. Almost always we sit on cattle ponds at sun up and sun down and wait for them to fly by. Advantage is once someone sees you there they move on to the next. Hopefully this dog wont be gun shy. Other then hunting we do enjoy camping and with that comes target shooting while camping so having a dog that dislikes a gun shot wouldn't be ideal. Going to have to read up on introducing her to loud noises.


You started out your thread just for fun and now you are gettinhg lots of advice. :) Here's some more: "Introducing pup to loud noises" has little to do with gun conditioning. You need a programme to follow. See Timewise's post.

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