4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

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Raider21
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4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Raider21 » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:10 pm

Hello, My 4 month old Lab is great. He heels well, sit/stays well, he retrieves well with most objects and bumper dummies. Lately, he has seemed to become a bit lazy indoors and outdoors. But more so outdoors.

A month ago, he would charge after a bumper and bring it back 5 times in a row and then we would stop on a good note, play and pounce.

This week he had very little interest in training. He wanted to sniff, and sniff around and walk the field slowly. He seemed to lose intrest in retrieving or he would run to the ball/bumper, sniff it and then walk off or come back to me SLOWLY.

I tied his bumper to a string to liven up the action and this got him excited. He was really having fun with the chase, and as I kept the momentum up I tossed the dummy 10 feet away.....Nothing. He just started sniffing around again.

We train retrieves 10 mins almost everyday (take a day off occasionally). Combination of indoors and outdoors.

This has been happening for a week now and naturally I am concerned I am doing something wrong. Any ideas?

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by ArcticRetrievers » Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:38 am

By the way you worded your post, and the frequency in which you said you train retrieves, it sounds like your little pup is bored.

Back off of retrieving a bit, play and bond with your pup. He will still know how to retrieve when you go back to it. I would only retrieve with him maybe 1 time a week, and when you go back to retrieving try doing only 2-3 retrieves at a time, and it helps to change up the bumper you are throwing.

Good luck

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by EvanG » Fri Nov 11, 2011 8:39 am

Your Lab may be starting to teethe, and sore gums don't make it lot of fun to pick up bumpers. Get some pigeons for him. That should be going on anyway. Cut the retrieves back to only 2 or 3 per session for a while, and only retrieve with him once or twice daily. Have you introduced him to birds?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bywrx4O9FeY

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Last edited by EvanG on Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by mxdad777 » Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:45 pm

I would back off on the sit and heel training for a few weeks and stop all retrieving too. Take the dog for lots of walks out in the field and don't talk hardly at all. Just let your pup be a pup, exploring and having fun. If possible, plant a pigeon or two for your pup to find while on your walks. After about 2 weeks, pull out a bumper and start over. I think you will see the excitement back in your pup after this short break.

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Cajun Casey » Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:53 pm

Is this dog EIC clear?
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by mountaindogs » Sat Nov 12, 2011 11:46 am

Take Evans advice.
Nice video, really liked the positive attitudes from the people, and notice on the second puppy he rewards puppy without taking the bird away right away. Gives time for puppy to have both.

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Sharon » Sat Nov 12, 2011 2:14 pm

When you think about it that dog was an 8 week old baby, several weeks ago. I could be wrong but reading your posts, I think you are putting to much pressure/expectations on this youngster.
See MXdad777's recommendation.
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by quanah labs » Sat Nov 12, 2011 5:51 pm

I would take him to vet to make sure he is not sick. If he comes back fine then I would do this three step training approach.

1) Live BIRDS

2)Live BIRDS

3)Live BIRDS

There is nothing a retriever wants to chase and put in their mouth more than a live bird. Take a pigeon with clipped wings out on your next training session, let your pup see that bird flap and jump around on the ground and I guarantee you he will go after that bird full throttle. Put him on a long check cord and when he grabs that bird shower him with genuine enthusiastic praise, encouraging him to come back to you, useing the check cord to reel him in.

Then ,this goes for birds or bumpers, when he does retrieve the bird to you don't take it away from him right away. Just praise him and love on him allowing him to prance around you with his trophy. This will make him want to come to you when he grabs something.

Good Luck with your pup!

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Raider21 » Sun Nov 13, 2011 10:12 am

Wow! These are all such great responses! Thanks guys!!

He has not been tested for EIC, although I have seen him in a good 20 min chase play session with a couple other older dogs more than once. He also doesn't appear to be sick.

We took the main course of advice here. I am using some live birds today. Heading out in a bit actually.

The past couple days we stopped training, just very enthusiactically play and pounce on walks indoors and outdoors. He has been bringing me most every toy he picks up to play with me (good sign). He doesnt readily want to give it up and really wants to just play in my lap with it. I am keeping my hands off for now. Letting him enjoy the enthusiasm.

I got some new bumpers, 4 Avery's and 3 Flagmans canvas dummies. He was excited for the Avery's, and nuts for the Flagmans. I made a huge "exciting" deal when opening the box and pulled them out one by one. He was hot on every dummy as them came out.

Yesterday, we went hiking on a (new to him) beach trail and did no training. I casually tossed a couple sticks in the tide pools and he peeled off after them. I think my regiment was boring him, or taking the fun out of training for him. Teething is a very propbable factor also. I have to remind myself hes still only 4 months old, and not a hard core retiever yet. I see him prgressing well, and want more, so I'm sure the problem has been me laboring, and boring the process (at least I hope its me).

We will use live birds today and then take the week off, except for hikes and fun outdoors. You guys are awesome!! Thanks for the help.

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by bumper52 » Mon Nov 14, 2011 7:25 am

more than likely he is teething.....check his gums for any soreness...meanwhile, I would suspend all retrieving.....take him for walks on a lead and work on basic obedience (heel, whistle sit, etc.) Lots of play time. I bet in a couple of weeks he will be good to go.

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Raider21 » Mon Nov 14, 2011 12:48 pm

Update:

I agree with going back to OB and breaking from retreiving, keeping this week playful and focused on OB.

We used dead and live birds yesterday and he was fanatatic about the chase.

I discovered a new problem. He dove on the dead bird and brought it back to me. I did have a check cord on, but really didnt need it. He locked onto the bird like it was his last meal. He promptly chomped it to shreds and completely ignored drop command. It took everything I had to get him to release the bird, which was totally destroyed.

This was the same for the live birds. This time he just ignored me and destroyed them. I had to pry his mouth open to get a release.

So it went well, but not so well.

I'll take any advice I can get here, thanks guys!!!!!

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by ArcticRetrievers » Wed Nov 16, 2011 1:44 am

I would back off the birds until he is through the teething process, Keep up fun retrieves, and puppy play-work.

Another thing is to freeze those birds, but if he is truly teething a nice frozen bird will feel good when he bites down hard on them.

Have fun

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by crackerd » Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:26 am

Raider21 wrote:So it went well, but not so well.
Not so well at all. Any time a pup masticates a bird - chomp, chomp - it most definitely did not go well. I'm betting you inadvertently put the pup in this position by giving it an introduction to the "wrong" birds - pigeons, doves or quail. All those are fine when the pup's 9-10 weeks old (also the opportune time for teaching the drop or "give!" command) but now you've got a 75% full-sized Lab with a full-sized mouth including alas jaws that go with it.

So the temptation's too great for the pup releasing smaller birds - and you also needed to know, going into the introduction, how to get the dog to release something that's in its mouth. With a pup, again with a 9-10 week old, that may mean pulling the lip over a canine tooth so that the pup bites itself and releases its grip on an object. Now you're working with a 4-month-old and it's a little more of a challenge - you've got to get the pup back to you, have it sit for delivery and then get the bird off the pup. A lot of this is obedience, which if you've worked on, can help you quickly clear up the problem. As advised you might want to work on the delivery with bumpers before going back to birds. But if you're going to work on retrieving with birds, make it a duck or cockbird - dead birds - until you get the pup's mouth habits under control.

My yardstick for pups - and it doesn't work for everyone - is always give them a bird that's a little too big

Image

when they're starting out retrieving game, rather than a bird too little - that tempts their appetite and their base instincts (eat the bird rather than deliver it). Nor do I "freeze" birds - which can soon become a "pup-sicle" from the dog chomping on it - or not chomping on it because it's too cold. Dogs don't retrieve frozen birds working from a duck blind or from CRP, so ...

Also, if you throw a dead bird into moderate cover for a pup to retrieve,

Image

most of them time they'll want to hurry and get it back to you - remember, pups don't really like being out of your sight when they're young - which speeds up not just the retrieve, but delivery, too.

Good luck,

MG

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by mountaindogs » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:08 am

I guess at 4 months old I don't see munching up a bird 1 time as TERRIBLE. Not great, but it happens. you traded problems. Personally I would do the following:
1) find a program to follow, and don't solve everything with advice from here. :oops: :roll: there is much to learn, but advice from a afar, without watching the dog, can only go so far.
2) go back to bumpers, and don't address real birds again until later when you have more control over the "hold." You may or may not add in scent (be sparing, if you can smell it you most likely used to much) on a bumper to increase excitment IF NEEDED without using a munchable item.
3)add back in some obedience work, keeping attitude positive when actually retrieving.
4) KEEP SESSIONS SHORT! You can expect more, gentle, but expect it for only a few minutes!
5) Play to start and play to finish. You puppy will remember "feeling" of the outsides of the training session more than the middle.

Though out all of this, Allow healthy appropriate chewing. Labs are chewers!! and they need to have a direction to channel this. NOT bumpers, NOT BIRDS, not your shoes, but chew toys on their down time. Them exhaust their desire to chew on toys that are just for chewing. My dogs have chew toys but I do not play fetch with them. And Fetch toys, that they do not get to chew...

As for more than that

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by mountaindogs » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:26 am

Also, I would wonder if outdoors at least, he is not so much lazy as distracted. Teach him to focus and hold focus, then add in distractions buy changing rooms, goin to porch, then yard... each time you add distractions start with focus drills and help puppy learn.
I like to do a hiking style focus drill. My puppies go on daily (as near as possible) hikes for about a half hour, working up to an hour. Most of this is free time, off lead or on check cord if needed, and is explore time. After teaching a watch or focus command, I will call puppy back to me (careful here - call them when you expect them to come anyway, sit down in the field or lie down, and wait until they are headed back to see what the heck you are doing - don't teach them they are allowed to ignore you, EXPECT them to at this age) maybe 3 times during the walk, hook up a leash and regain focus for a few seconds then reward for it. Then I might ask 1 easy obedience command that they are very solid on, with my pointers, I might have them do a clicker whoa... for about 2 seconds VERY SHORT or a short 3-4 foot on lead here, and then a vigourous petting reward, then they can go explore again. Mind you my dogs have been taking these walks since 4 weeks old (albeit they were shorter then) so they are loving them but also they are not new to the puppy.

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by crackerd » Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:01 pm

Mountain, no disrespect, but where did you come up with some of these things ("add focus," "changing rooms" - is that a British euphemism for lockerroom?, "goin' to porch"), from Victoria Stilwell?

Afar or a'near, any dog eating a bird is not a good thingk and anybody afar or a'near can tell somebody how to correct it without having to resort or having them resigned to the shaggy bromide that "Labs are chewers (!!!)" All dogs are chewers, but working retrievers better not be - not with their work, nor with their training, and that would include giving them chew toys at 4 months old.

I'm sure the original poster appreciates the insights, though - especially to follow a program. A retriever program.

MG

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by mountaindogs » Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:31 pm

1)Changing your location to a different room in the house. 2)Training the same command on the porch, were there are more air scents but not as many ground scents. Outdoors but not fully, get it?
Both of those are basically helping to move the dog through learning to transfer commands to ALL locations. As you know, dogs do not generalize well. We have to help them through it.

and Train the puppy to focus on YOU. Teach them how to pull their mind off of everything around them and focus on you.

You don't give 16 week old puppies anything to chew? Ever? wow.
Very good luck having a house left if you do not supply something constructive and healthy for the dog to chew on.. :roll: Other dogs are also very prone to needing/loving to chew and labs are among them. labs are what we are talking about.

A 16 week old puppy did something wrong? :roll: Oh no! All is ruined. This one mistake and it's over. forget it - you have a bird eater. Throw in the towel! Seriously. The dog did not have rules yet on that, and it "messed up" and doesn't even know it was wrong! Move on. But don't let it happen again. That's all I was trying to say. All is not lost, but let's avoid it and move forward.
and yes, follow a RETRIEVER program. Of which, even's Smart Work is a good one.

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by crackerd » Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:50 pm

Mountain, do you train for smugness too? 'Cause it's pretty evident from your condescending comments (and cracks about "helping from afar) that you don't train for anything competitive with retrievers or, just an educated guess, maybe don't train retrievers period or at the very least train them up. You know, train them up from chew toys...

But keep the "in-house" commentary coming, it's educational as always. Like the "focus" bit - why do you want a pup looking at you when it's supposed to be marking (but just so I'm clear, not "marking" indoors)? Then the "focus" falls adrift of where the bird went - and where it's to be retrieved from.

And you're right, if again in your condescending but inexperienced way, that when a pup eats or mangles a bird, at whatever age, you've got an uphill battle on your hands - especially if you're an inexperienced trainer.

MG

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Raider21 » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:14 pm

I appreciate all the feedback. I am learning (this my first GD) and I'm sure some of you have trained much more, thats why I am on the forum. Theres some great ideas and tips here.

I am understanding that Buzz is a more laid back pup, and needs to be rev'd up to be more consistent. He's not a high paced fetch fanatatic. He's more casual and he gets fired up but for lack of a better explination, "smells the flowers" here and there occasionally. He really only goes bonkers when its feeding time. He scores an A+++ with obedience when I have a bowl of food in my hands.

He adapts very well and surprises me with how quick he can learn from an inexpireenced trainer. I applied some of the ideas here and we just took two days off for long exploring hikes. Practicing obedience and keeping it fun of course. I started noticing the more frequent energy bursts and capitalized with bumper play on those moments the past two days at home and outside.

I focused on the key foundations tips regarding avoiding distractions, changing bumpers (he's already a decent scooper aside from the problems that showed up this week), changing locations. Keeping it short. Keeping my mouth shut. I have seen an subtle improvement already but we have a long way to go of course. I really have to pay attention to when he shows fatique and haved stopped training long before.

I like keeping the focus idea, although it's hard to know if Im executing that correctly though. I also like the idea of using bigger game, bigger birds. That makes very good sense.

The hold and give commands I can really work on much much more. Im a sponge for knowledge right now, so thanks to all of you.

I will seek professional help if I seem to be hitting a brick wall. Is there any reason to be worried about his age being to young or old and going to work with a pro?

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Garrison » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:36 pm

My pup chomped on his first bird, I read Training with Mo, it is for pointing dogs but may apply. When he started chomping my natural reaction was to grab it from him, so he thought I was going to take it from him, natural reaction chomp more, then it became a wrestling match where you are saying no to what you want him to do get birds not much bird left by the time I got it from him. Next bird did what Maurice advised and went much smoother. Let him have the bird for a while and just walked with him on lead with it in his mouth no chomping while they are walking, he walked just showing off that he had the bird. I calmly reached down and touched his flank and told him drop, gave it a bit of a squeeze and came right out. Next birds were brought straight back and dropped at my feet. Hard not to chase a pup around with something in their mouth that they shouldn't have it seems natural for you to grab and him to want grab harder and run. I know this probably against some retriever golden rules but made my life a bit better and more fun for the pup until we are ready to force fetch.

Another retriever training tactic that steadys them and keeps them from being so possesive with bumpers that I have seen when dogs are a bit older and the drive is already there and they are holding on sit, is to collect almost half the bumpers you throw your self so they no that all of them are yours and you are allowing them to pick them up for you.
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by EvanG » Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:29 am

mountaindogs wrote:Take Evans advice.
Nice video, really liked the positive attitudes from the people, and notice on the second puppy he rewards puppy without taking the bird away right away. Gives time for puppy to have both.
Also, if a pup mishandles birds you can freeze some dead pigeons or teal to re use. Around 6 months of age it will be time to force fetch, and all of this will tend to go away.

EvanG
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by crackerd » Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:24 am

Freeze them but reuse them thawed, or as I say, it can be "pup-sicle" time for retrieving.
Garrison wrote:My pup chomped on his first bird, I read Training with Mo, it is for pointing dogs but may apply. When he started chomping my natural reaction was to grab it from him, so he thought I was going to take it from him, natural reaction chomp more, then it became a wrestling match where you are saying no to what you want him to do get birds not much bird left by the time I got it from him. Next bird did what Maurice advised and went much smoother. Let him have the bird for a while and just walked with him on lead with it in his mouth no chomping while they are walking, he walked just showing off that he had the bird.
Good show - the squeezing of the flank needn't be done if you've taught the drop or "give!" command early on. And if it has to be done with retrievers - or any competitive retrieving gundog - later on, you're disqualified from a test or trial for touching or intimidating your dog. More practically speaking, you don't want it to have to be done in the field or blind for a retrieve either. You want the dog delivering the bird, not possessing it in front of you until "squeezed" otherwise.

But this
Hard not to chase a pup around with something in their mouth that they shouldn't have it seems natural for you to grab and him to want grab harder and run.
is the source of a lot of frustration, and is why you want the pup to have the return down - with or without the checkcord - when you start a pup retrieving live or cold game.

This, given the original concern, is not what you want do with a dog that may lack drive (per the title of the thread) or hasn't had its retriever ignition turned on yet:
Another retriever training tactic that steadys them and keeps them from being so possesive with bumpers that I have seen when dogs are a bit older and the drive is already there and they are holding on sit, is to collect almost half the bumpers you throw your self so they no that all of them are yours and you are allowing them to pick them up for you.
Unless you're British. Then it's the normal way of training. And of having a dog make a single retrieve of about 30 yards that pretty much tests its limits - because that's how it's been trained.

MG

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by mountaindogs » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:00 am

crackered,
My initial comments regarding not putting too much stock into what you read here was not pointed at you. Your comments regarding larger birds and the dog being older and larger than a very little puppy are right on, in my opinion. I also agree and stated in my post that chewing on a bird is bad news. Not good.
The suggestions you will sometimes recieve on this gundogforum regarding your puppy being too young for obedience, on the other hand, are from people less familiar with retriever training. It was those posts, and the overall fact that you will recieve a lot of varied information that I was cautioning against. It is easy for a new person to jump on every idea and get over their head without physical hands-on help from someone who has experience. Learning from the computer should not replace having actual help from a pro trainer.
The OP was already aware that chewing the bird was bad stuff. Most new trainers are afraid they will ruin a dog with everything that goes wrong. I was agreeing that the bird munching was bad, but looking forward to the fact that it will be fixable later. Don't let it get worse, but don't sweat it. As Evan says, at 6 months or so you will teach a correct hold and drop, and that will be the time to fix it. I am doing that VERY thing with a dog right now.
I also disagree that retrievers (or any dog) should not be allowed to have chew toys ever. I realize some people including yourself differ from this. Feel free to disagree.
I feel that dogs are more than gundogs, there is more to their life than that. Obedience and manners are required thoughout the whole day and applied to many daily routines as well.
Regarding focus: when a dog is ready to retrieve a mark they should not be watching me, but they should still have me in their mind. Their ears are listening and I remain part of the team. This is part of focus. An extention of it. But you also do need the dog to WATCH you at times also, i.e. handling and casting. Even when other distractions are present.

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by crackerd » Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:50 am

mountain, I agree with about 97.5 percent of the above.

As for focus - yes, it can be listening too - but I would rather the ears prick in focus while looking out at a mark or at incoming birds. That's intensity and that tells me they want the bird.

The other focus - the pup watching you - is awfully easy to achieve: a piece of kibble held right between your eyes (after holding it under the pup's nose for it to "get wind" of what it's to focus on), then repeat "Look at me. Look at me. Look at me" - and have the pup continue to look until you lean down and give it the treat. The first few times in getting the pup to focus you do this repetition of encouragement. After that the pup will get a whiff of the kibble or liver treat and watch your hand all the way up to where you want it to look - which as you noted is eventually looking back at you for handling and taking casts on blind retrieves.

And new trainers do indeed fret too much about a pup chomping a bird - because they see it as a pup having made a terrible mistake as a growing gundog. And they overreact accordingly - not wrong, just unknowing of what to do in such a situation. The rule of thumb is pups don't mistakes, you - the handler- made a mistake in not having trained them well enough yet for what you're asking them to do.

My gundogs - not all retrievers, but all trained as retrievers - learn to get released from sit for a reward that will someday be a retrieve, sit at a remote distance, heel backward and jump over obstacles as they may have to someday en route to a blind retrieve - all in the house, and all for a bowl of food.

MG

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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Garrison » Thu Nov 17, 2011 8:15 pm

I knew the lab police would be all over that one. Best thing to do is never let your puppy act like a puppy at all costs and make sure it doesn't have an English accent because they can only retrieve to 30 yards. Have fun with your dog and new hobby you have plenty of time for training he is still a pup.
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by crackerd » Fri Nov 18, 2011 7:49 am

Don't be so defensive about something that doesn't need defending, Garrison - "Lab police" are retriever trainers who train across the spectrum and for their working gundog needs, be it field trial or duck blind. And always willing to learn new things and get turned on to new tools for training. So if you've got a better way of "letting a pup be a pup" than puppy training (by the way, maybe you missed this
The rule of thumb is pups don't mistakes


- let's hear it. (And any other training you've inculcated in gundogs of any kind that might rate as advanced training, let's hear about that too.)

MG

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EvanG
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by EvanG » Fri Nov 18, 2011 8:14 am

Garrison wrote:I knew the lab police would be all over that one.
Actually, the dog under discussion is a Lab, and the issues being discussed are not high tech. They're just more easily solved through thorough, appropriate training. What appears to be needed is to allow this pup to mature a bit, and then to give him a full course of Basics, so he has the tools for his life's work. The dog is only 4 months old right now. No time to get intense with him.

EvanG
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
― Mother Teresa

There is little reason to expect a dog to be more precise than you are.-- Rex Carr
The Smartwork System for Retriever Training (link)
Official Evan Graham Retriever Training Forum

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Garrison
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Garrison » Fri Nov 18, 2011 8:16 am

Do you always take your self so seriously, yes their was a touch of sarcasm in their all in good fun, I believe it is called a joke, take it easy!

+1 Evan
“Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”
- Mark Twain-

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Raider21
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Raider21 » Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:03 am

Thanks Evan, your comment is reassuring about his age.

He defintely doesn't have an English accent. He sounds much more like a Texan to me.

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EvanG
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Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by EvanG » Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:15 pm

Raider21 wrote:Thanks Evan, your comment is reassuring about his age.

He defintely doesn't have an English accent. He sounds much more like a Texan to me.
Cool! I like Texans!!! I do several seminars in Texas each year, and they're some of the nicest dog people you'll ever meet.

EvanG
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
― Mother Teresa

There is little reason to expect a dog to be more precise than you are.-- Rex Carr
The Smartwork System for Retriever Training (link)
Official Evan Graham Retriever Training Forum

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Raider21
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Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 9:46 am
Location: SoCal

Re: 4 month old Lab retriever does well, seems lazy. Help please

Post by Raider21 » Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:05 pm

EvanG wrote:
Raider21 wrote:Thanks Evan, your comment is reassuring about his age.

He defintely doesn't have an English accent. He sounds much more like a Texan to me.
Cool! I like Texans!!! I do several seminars in Texas each year, and they're some of the nicest dog people you'll ever meet.

EvanG
Yes we are really nice. Community ideals runs through our blood. I am stoked on all the feedback here. it's tough being a first time Texan trainer stuck in California. I'm trying to get out of here and doing the best I can working with Buzz everyday. you guys would be appalled at the lack of dog obedience and leadership that exists in Cali. It's really sad. How do think Ceasers Milan became famous. those dogs make up 70% of the dog population here. Anyway I want to do my best and GDF is going to be a big help.

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