Advice on retriever training

[scdjw75]

My female black lab will be a year old at the end of May 2015. When we first brought her home I focused on the normal socialization and mild obedience training and she did great. My wife always wanted a bloodhound and when the bloodhound arrived she completely dominated my lab Coop. Coop stopped retrieving all together and anytime she tried to play with a toy the bloodhound would immediately take it away from her. We tried to work with the bloodhound, but in the end she became overly aggressive and attacked Coop everyday at feeding time which then led to her becoming aggressive towards my wife and children. The bloodhound now has a new home.

I have been focusing on obedience and increasing her drive since everything was stunted while we had the bloodhound. She's been introduced to water and no issues there. I keep the training sessions short and fun and always end on a positive and leave her wanting more. She loses interest with tennis balls pretty quick; however she loves her canvas duck and bumpers. She requires a very soft hand when it comes to training and too much pressure or even a stern "No" will make her drop her head. My thinking is for now I just need to keep working on increasing the drive and rock solid obedience and introduce some live birds and be patient. Live birds are a bit tough for me, I'm on my own here, and I can't keep them at home. I'm also curious about keeping her steady, should I worry about that later? With drive being an issue I don't want to do anything that puts limits on her urge to retrieve.

She will hunt duck and dove in South Carolina mainly. No interest in field trials, nothing against them either, it's just not my thing. Thanks for taking the time to look this over and any comments or questions are appreciated.

[mnaj_springer]

Lots of birds. Lots and lots of birds. Build that prey drive before getting too formal. They will also build her confidence.

[scdjw75]

Found a retriever club and one of the members offers pens for birds, land, and ponds for a nominal fee to members. It's a bit of a drive ,but if it was easy everybody would do it, right.

I might look at keeping birds at the house, I initially wrote it off as not an option but maybe some members can weigh in on the pros and cons of keeping your own. Also, how much time is required in caring for birds. I stay very busy and adding another responsibility might not be a good move. That said, the club is 1.5 hour drive so how often will I realistically make the trip.

just trying to figure out the next move and make the best choice, thanks.

[Ouzel]

You're on the right track. Tennis balls make crazy dogs anyway. You can steady the dog later and keep up the fun times for now. That bloodhound sounds like a bad actor.

[kcbullets]

You might also join Retreiver Training Forum. Tons of information and guys that do nothing but work with retrievers. Great resource.

[gonehuntin']

You might also join Retreiver Training Forum. Tons of information and guys that do nothing but work with retrievers. Great resource.

Or duckhuntingchat.com. Lot's of good guys on there.

[scdjw75]

Thanks for the replies, I'll check out those other forums as well.

[Swampbilly]

Lots of birds. Lots and lots of birds. Build that prey drive before getting too formal. They will also build her confidence.

*Ding*Ding*Ding*Ding*Ding! ^^^Winner^^^
Give her some live clipped winged to chase.