Gun Dog Forum

I have a 12 week old Black lab and she has no interest in retrieving. Does anyone have any ideas to get her excited to retrieve. I have trained several Labs and never had this problem. She is very smart and already listens to sit, stay, just not fetch....

Little early to tell yet....is it an energetic dog with some drive or a dead head? How's she bred?

birddog1968 wrote:Little early to tell yet....is it an energetic dog with some drive or a dead head? How's she bred?

There is that very good question. But also, have you had this dog on real birds yet? It's what the good ones live for!



EvanG

You beat me to it Evan..... That would have been where I was going next.

Yeah intro to birds. I have a dog that until FF had no interest in bumpers, etc, but wouldn't turn down a retrieve on a real bird.

Why is it that people think their dog bred to want birds needs to be introduced to them? That is, to me, amazing! Your puppy is a puppy, when it's engine decides to pay attention to birds, it will. keep playing fetch with it, it'll come around. Play fetch with something that rolls around, the pup will probably chase it just because it's moving. 12 wks old! Imagine a 3yr old kid whose parent's believe he destined to be a Dr having the tools to do brain surgery in his hands. It,,,,,,is,,,,,,a,,,,,,puppy!

Bluesky2012 wrote:Yeah intro to birds. I have a dog that until FF had no interest in bumpers, etc, but wouldn't turn down a retrieve on a real bird.

BBBBbbbbbbbumpers are bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbborrrrrrrrrrrrrrring! (and they don't taste that great either )

She is energetic. I am on nightshift for an outage and have not had the chance to get any birds. I will try that next. I understand she is a puppy but I have never had a dog that would not even chase something. I will just keep working with her and maybe she will come around.

DonF wrote:Why is it that people think their dog bred to want birds needs to be introduced to them?

Not everything that occurs naturally is good or constructive. Often times puppies will run off with birds, roll on them, chew on them, and a host of other non-productive, or downright destructive behaviors unless they are properly introduced to them. This isn't surgery. It's simple conditioning to begin performing an act both we and the puppy desire, but doing it in a manner that does not start problems. And it's introducing something very important that this pup was bred to do for a living; fetching birds. There isn't a season on bumpers! And quality gundogs uniformly prefer real birds. That's what will start the engine for a majority of gundog pups, especially retrievers.

DonF wrote:12 wks old! Imagine a 3yr old kid whose parent's believe he destined to be a Dr having the tools to do brain surgery in his hands. It,,,,,,is,,,,,,a,,,,,,puppy!

That analogy doesn't apply. We're not requiring anything technical in this. Watch the clip. This isn't higher math. It's chasing after motion, and becoming accustomed to bringing it back. The most basic of retrieves. Many of the pups in the video clip are only 7-8 weeks old. Watch the first pup making his very first retrieve ever on a real bird, and note how the light comes on. That's all we're after.

EvanG

DonF wrote:Why is it that people think their dog bred to want birds needs to be introduced to them? ...12 wks old! Imagine a 3yr old kid whose parent's believe he destined to be a Dr having the tools to do brain surgery in his hands. It,,,,,,is,,,,,,a,,,,,,puppy!

EvanG wrote:That analogy doesn't apply.

Never does, never will and really shouldn't be given any credence as to what gives with early exposure to birds.

If anything, the tyke's hands are the tools to do brain surgery just like a puppy's mouth is the tool







for accommodating its retrieving instincts.

MG

crackerd wrote:

DonF wrote:Why is it that people think their dog bred to want birds needs to be introduced to them? ...12 wks old! Imagine a 3yr old kid whose parent's believe he destined to be a Dr having the tools to do brain surgery in his hands. It,,,,,,is,,,,,,a,,,,,,puppy!

EvanG wrote:That analogy doesn't apply.

Never does, never will and really shouldn't be given any credence as to what gives with early exposure to birds.

If anything, the tyke's hands are the tools to do brain surgery just like a puppy's mouth is the tool







for accommodating its retrieving instincts.

MG

You need a bigger dog or a smaller goose

deseeker wrote:

crackerd wrote:

MG

You need a bigger dog or a smaller goose

Where you see a small dog I see a big heart! That puppy has a future.

EvanG

DonF wrote:Why is it that people think their dog bred to want birds needs to be introduced to them? That is, to me, amazing! Your puppy is a puppy, when it's engine decides to pay attention to birds, it will. keep playing fetch with it, it'll come around. Play fetch with something that rolls around, the pup will probably chase it just because it's moving. 12 wks old! Imagine a 3yr old kid whose parent's believe he destined to be a Dr having the tools to do brain surgery in his hands. It,,,,,,is,,,,,,a,,,,,,puppy!

Its called imprinting Don. And those who don't believe it's important, will never own a dog that has reached its full potential.

Nate

DoubleBarrel GunDogs wrote: Its called imprinting Don. And those who don't believe it's important, will never own a dog that has reached its full potential.

Nate

100% Right on the money

Has the puppy been doing "sit...stay" exercises just prior to trying to get it to retrieve ?

Bill T.

Depends how you ''Introduce them''? This one is 8 weeks old.

I'm sure they will get the hang of it? No matter if it is fur or feather.

Can work for my pup that is 7 months this techique it's my first gun dog btw my dog is a German Shorthair pointer thanks for your answer

It's best to form trust/bond with pups before trying to teach them anything.....Let it be a pup.... Fire cap gun at chow time to condition to gunfire. I wouldn't even attempt introducing it to birds until it was a few months old.

Summer-75 wrote:It's best to form trust/bond with pups before trying to teach them anything.....Let it be a pup.... Fire cap gun at chow time to condition to gunfire. I wouldn't even attempt introducing it to birds until it was a few months old.

No. Every time someone new comes on the forum the say this. Do NOT do this. It is stupid and very likely to lead to major issues. Research how to actually condition to gunfire to create a positive association between gun and birds. This is just another stupid myth that will ruin dogs.

Intro to live wing-clip pigeon at 7.5 weeks.
PIC 1 Bird is tossed and the chase is on
PIC 2 The "pounce"





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CONTINUED from above post
PIC 3 The pick up
PIC 4 The return






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PIC 5 The Delivery



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PIC 6 First Grouse retrieve (at 8 weeks of age)
PIC 7 First Goose "Retrieve" at 3 months (Just like crackerd ! )





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All the pictures are great in this thread, , but I don't think they will be very encouraging to the O.P. who's saying his pup won't retrieve.

Give it time ; try some clipped wing pigeons. Every dog is different from "what we had".

( I liked your post Don. )

The pics have nothing to do with what this post is about. They are nice pics though of what looks like a nice puppy.

I have worked with pups with absolutely no interest and have had the light come on well after they were a year old. And I have had some excellent dogs that never saw a bird till they were over two years old. Most well bred pups will finally get the picture so my advice is to not get too concerned till they are a lot older. I am in the corner that says we worry too much about early introduction to probably everything other than social exposure and field exposure. I think the social is extremely important but most other field type training can wait. Just work on the house and yard manners you expect from a dog and get them into as many social situations as possible. You train a dog to act in a manner that you want and you buy the hunting ability when you buy the pup.

Ezzy

Boyleslie wrote:I have a 12 week old Black lab and she has no interest in retrieving. Does anyone have any ideas to get her excited to retrieve. I have trained several Labs and never had this problem. She is very smart and already listens to sit, stay, just not fetch....

This is the subject; a 12week old Labrador with no retrieve desire...so far. It does not matter how any previous pup behaved. Get birds, spend a little time each day as instructed, check in and let me know how it's going. Call if you like. 816-213-9397. If you want help with your retriever pup talk to a retriever expert. I have over 36 years experience with them training them at the highest levels. Be patient and we'll get this pup going.

EvanG

Sharon said : "All the pictures are great in this thread, , but I don't think they will be very encouraging to the O.P. who's saying his pup won't retrieve.

ezzy said : "The pics have nothing to do with what this post is about."

I beg to differ. The pics submitted by three of us show what Proper Bird Introduction will accomplish and how to do it.

Without those pictures, what good would it do for the OP for us to just say, "Inroduce the pup to birds".

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Doc E wrote:Sharon said : "All the pictures are great in this thread, , but I don't think they will be very encouraging to the O.P. who's saying his pup won't retrieve.

ezzy said : "The pics have nothing to do with what this post is about."

I beg to differ. The pics submitted by three of us show what Proper Bird Introduction will accomplish and how to do it.

Without those pictures, what good would it do for the OP for us to just say, "Inroduce the pup to birds".

.

I agree with highlighted quote , but I simply said all those pics would be pretty discouraging for a fellow whose pup isn't retrieving. It would be like me saying , "My young dog won't point." and I get a pile of pics showing beautiful dogs on point + good advice. Just a simple opinion.

Once again Evan wins the prize for the best post.

Sharon wrote:

Doc E wrote:Sharon said : Once again Evan wins the prize for the best post.

Thanks Sharon. But in fairness to others, I'm probably the only one with a library of video clips to make my explanations easier!

Doc and I are saying the same things in slightly different ways. Training a pup to sit won't do a thing for his retrieve desire. Turning him on to real birds will. I like to see a trainer get the dog's motor running as soon as the pup decides to take an interest. Both the video and pictures show the right way to get that going. I hope we hear back from the OP that he's gotten some birds!

EvanG

pics are always nice when everything is going according to plan

Doc E wrote:CONTINUED from above post
PIC 3 The pick up
PIC 4 The return






.

Just realized I recognized these pictures lol

I have a 12 week old Black lab and she has no interest in retrieving. Does anyone have any ideas to get her excited to retrieve. I have trained several Labs and never had this problem. She is very smart and already listens to sit, stay, just not fetch....

It's been about 3 months since this post. Has anything changed for the better? What's the status?