Dog not looking for Birds Anymore :(

[perezalf]

Hello,

I have a six month old Lab. I took her hunting last month and she would look for the doves in the grass when I would tell her "hunt-em-up" and she would look for them and find them. Well took her this month and used the same command and she just sat there looking at me, like if I spoke Chinese, and didn't look for the birds. She did this to me two days in a row. Lost six birds in two days. Was getting frustrated with her. Is this normal for labs her age? Or should I wait longer to train her?

[MadMax]

Did you train your dog to retrieve, or did you just take her out hunting with you and the dog was retrieving, because it is her natural instinct? If you trained with her to retrieve to hand and with proper hand and voice commands maybe you should continue training. Try about 15 minutes per day, and try about 3 or 4 retrieves at home and end the session with the dog wanting more. Do not train to the point that the dog gets bored and does not want to retrieve anymore.

[gonehuntin']

At six months, she's a baby and you can't expect much from her. You get out of a dog what you put into a dog. Are you convinced that she KNOWS what "hunt it up" means? Try dropping some pieces of cookie or dog biscuit in the yard, walk her over, and tell her to "hunt it up".

A dog this age must be successful or it gets discouraged. If you take it to the field as a baby, tell it to hunt it up, and it doesn't find birds, it will lose all interest in that. Keep it fun, interesting, and successful.