need help training my lab

[tanner]

i have a chocolate lab, i have hunted with him for one year, he loves the hunt, he has no trouble going and getting the birds, on that he does fine. i just cant seem to get him to look for the birds, every time we shoot a bird, i have to throw a rock in the water next to the bird so he can see where it is, if anyone can tell me how to get him to watch for the birds i would appreciate it.

[jimbo&rooster]

I assume that mos of the training that you have done has been done throwing your own marks..... my suggestion would be to get a starter pistol and a buddy and let your buddy thrw the marks from out in the field and let you point and pop at the bumper as it is in the air so that 1. your pup gets used to looking out in the field for his retrieves rather than expecting you to throw them, and 2. your dog will learn to follow the bbl of the gun to see what you are shooting at.

you might even get in to some lining drills so that if your pup doesnt see the fall then you can at least send your pup in a general direction to hunt for the downed birds. very basic blind retrieve
Jim

[Erikh425]

I agree what Jimbo says. When we train we hide throwers and give them a duck call. They quack or whatever and then loft a dummy. I shoot when it is high in the air and hope the dog is paying attention (which she usually is).

I believe it was a Wolters book that explains a baseball type situation for training to cast the dog in different directions. Here is a link that explains the idea: http://www.gundogsonline.com/Article/Re ... -Page1.htm

Maybe you have tried these, but I am just throwing them out there.

Erik

[Sprig]

work the dog on marks with a hidden thrower.

[birddog1968]

to add to the above post....start working on handling and blind retrieves....

[Dave C]

All good advise above, blind retrieves are the key.
Good luck, let us know how you get on mate.

Dave.

[mmduncan]

No No No! Blinds are great but in the field you primarily want you dog to mark birds. Allthough it is great having a dog that will handle but I have seen a bunch of great retrivers that dont handle and rarely lose birds. Get a buddy to throw marks for you, your dog is conditioned to the birds coming from you. Also one of the greatest pieces of equipment you can get is a 5gal bucket and one of the padded swivel lids and start teaching to mark off the gun barrel! Once your dog is marking well then you can move on to blinds. But going to blinds because your dog isnt marking is not the awnser. Make sure you keep him in a position he can see everything. Good luck!

[birddog1968]

No No No! Blinds are great but in the field you primarily want you dog to mark birds. Allthough it is great having a dog that will handle but I have seen a bunch of great retrivers that dont handle and rarely lose birds. Get a buddy to throw marks for you, your dog is conditioned to the birds coming from you. Also one of the greatest pieces of equipment you can get is a 5gal bucket and one of the padded swivel lids and start teaching to mark off the gun barrel! Once your dog is marking well then you can move on to blinds. But going to blinds because your dog isnt marking is not the awnser. Make sure you keep him in a position he can see everything. Good luck!

I don't disagree, getting him steady will be important to having a good marking dog.....He won't be marking much unless he can sit there thru
a flurry, Steadiness is important either way ....

[mmduncan]

I'm just saying it's real simple first you get step A down then move to step B not skip to B cause the dog isnt quite getting A. If that makes any sense!?!? I didnt pick up that his pup wasnt steady. They are all steady if they arent seeing birds fall. Just my.02

[EvanG]

i have a chocolate lab, i have hunted with him for one year, he loves the hunt, he has no trouble going and getting the birds, on that he does fine. i just cant seem to get him to look for the birds, every time we shoot a bird, i have to throw a rock in the water next to the bird so he can see where it is, if anyone can tell me how to get him to watch for the birds i would appreciate it.

There are several peices to this little puzzle, as there usually are in training any aspect of retreiver field work. It's both easy and fun, but it sure helps to have a basic formula to work with.

Dogs do things in the field as a result of their expectations. Training and exposure provide them with such expectations, whether good or bad. If a dog expects to see birds fall when you cue him ("Mark", for example), he'll tend to watch the sky more intently. This doesn't just happen. You will need to arrange things in training that provide him with that. "Mark" is the most common cue given by handlers to alert the dog to expect fallen game. It usually starts in puppy work. But you can get it going easily at this point, especially since you already know and are bonded with your dog.

Start with hand thrown bumpers from your side. Cue him ("Mark") as you toss each bumper. Follow your usual of retrieving. As your dog begins to catch on, which is usually pretty fast, you can begin to involve launchers or hidden helpers. I have mine stand behind a tree or large hay bale, and I cue them on walkie-talkie, as I cue my dog, "Mark" in the same way as before. You can see how easy and simple this is. Just do it in a variety of situations, so your dog generalizes the routine.

Questions?

EvanG