16 week Choc Lab

[Sage45]

I am new to the forum so, thank you in advance for you help and advice. i am also new to puppy fatherhood. WOW it is aswsome. I got a choc lab from Bruce Mountain in Iowa (i live in florida) and am using the Richard Wolters (water dog) method for training. it is going pretty good. i started her retrieving right away and she loved it, back and forth back and forth. i always would try to quit before she got tired of it thought to keep her excited about it. we started working in a field across the street with short retrieves, then i threw it a little longer and so on. 3 weeks ago i started having someone out about 30 yards with a bag of bumpers throw the bumper and have sage retrieve and return to me. ohh i also bought a starter pistol and would fire it when the bumper was thrown (sage loved the bang and fall) she did this well 5-6 times in a row before getting distracted at which point i would quit. i picked up a DT system bumper launcher to work on further retrieves and some marking, it only took her two sessions to pick up on the depth perception thing. it was amazing watching her hunt around for the bumper and how excited she was when she would find it (the whole pounce thing) and would come a running back with it so proud. well recently her interest in retrieving has just slowed. i dont think i over did it because she loved it so much. i mean she was running into the saltwater (from the beach) after the bumper, jumping into a pool for it. loved it. i have gone back to the basics in the house to try and jump start her desire again (short retrieves, high energy) and she does this very well, its when we move outside she is getting really distracted. this is probably normal for the age but any suggestions would make me feel a whole lot better. thanks, lane

[gonehuntin']

Go to some clip wing pigeons and I guarantee she won't get distracted. Don't use all pigeons though or she'll stop retrieving the bumpers.

[bean1031]

Well, not that this is related to your problem (though it might be), you need to switch to Evan Graham or another training book. I started out with Richard Wolters too, and it ended badly, it took me months to untrain the stuff that book says. Richard Wolters was one of the first people to write a retreiver training book and came very close to destroying the retrievers of the time. He has the basics down good (obedence, basic retrieveing drills) but his upland work and handleing is terrible. At the time he new basic dog trianing but he made up his own method for handleing on his own and only trained one dog on the method before the books hit the market. He was a good writer, but an amatour trainer. Lucky, many pro trainers started writing training books after seeing his succsess with his that were actually proven methods and saved the retrievers. With out them people new to training would have just continued on using there only availible tools (his books) and today it would be rare to see a dog that could handle at all. Dont delay, switch now and save yourself time, effort and frustration.

[Lab Man]

This is common at this age. I caution you to slow down a little bit. This is a very important time to build a solid foundation of obedience and building retrieving desire. One of the biggest mistakes new trainers make they get so excited about there dogs progress they hurry to quick through the early training process. You received a good suggestions to purchase Evan Graham's training material. It is very good and it will take you as far you want to take this dog. you can see his material at www.coonriverkennels.com Good luck

[mudhunter]

Follow above advise and don't stress out, the dog sounds like a great retriever and is at a funny age where they act strange. Give him time to mature, the puppy work sounds like it went great now you just have to wait. I would get some pigeons if he has never had a real bird though.

[Gordon Guy]

Many people have used the Richard Wolters book without any problems. I did and ended up with a better than average hunting dog (as compared to my buddies dogs) and wonderful pet. However, it's not even close to what is required for a trial dog. Pick one book and go with it, even if it's "Water Dog".

I agree with what someone else posted and that it's common for pups to loose interest for a while. Give him a couple weeks off and just play. He'll bounce right back. It could be his teeth coming in and it's sore for him to pick up the dummies. Patience!!!

[EvanG]

Lane,

Your pup is at a terrific age to prepare him for his formal education, which in modern methods is called "Basics". That course of work usually begins at around 6 months of age, and includes a sequential program of development that will provide your pup with a solid foundation for a lifetime.

Times do change, and some of the changes in retriever training have taken place for the same reasons change has altered the way many things are done; we learn from our experience, and from the proven processes of great trainers. In modern methods trainers aren't left to fill in the many large gaps left in older ones. In addition, the progression is linked into steps/stages to make it easier for the dog to learn and for you to keep track of his progression.

Mark at Coon River Kennels has the entire Smartwork system, and offers great service. He's also great at helping trainers out with information.

Please let me know if I can be of help, as well.

EvanG

[Goosehunterdog]

I personally know Bruce Mountain and he is a Great trainer with outstanding dogs!!! I also sell the Smartwork series at www.mclabstrainingsupplies.com

[Sage45]

Thank you all for your responses, sage has recently gone even crazier about retrieving!!! It has been great, taking a step back and just working on sit, stay, come and a few retrieves with a frozen bird is what it took. i need to get pigeon trap set up to get her some live birds though. I am having a problem with Heel also. is this an age thing as well? i want her to continue to learn but not push the issue so hard it is discouraging.

on a side note, we have started taking her out into a field with very high grass (i can barely see her wagging tail through it) and having someone keep her distracted, throw a frozen bird or scented bumper in the grass. then i walk her around the area saying "hunt dead" she has started to associate that phrase with smelling and "hunting" for "something" it is really neat to see how they progress.

[EvanG]

Thank you all for your responses, sage has recently gone even crazier about retrieving!!! It has been great, taking a step back and just working on sit, stay, come and a few retrieves with a frozen bird is what it took. i need to get pigeon trap set up to get her some live birds though. I am having a problem with Heel also. is this an age thing as well? i want her to continue to learn but not push the issue so hard it is discouraging.

It's somewhat age related, but more a result of inadequate training. They would not do these things without training in the first place. What is needed is simply more training, and of an efficient type.

EvanG