Gun Dog Forum

This is my Chessie, Rooster. 16 weeks old and has been learning really fast! He loves playing fetch with his duck wings and brings them right back. Think it’s about time to put him on live pigeons? Recommendations would be great. Thanks!

Disclosure, totally new to training duck dogs. Any advice about training or general age to start training for certain commands would be awesome. I know it really depends on the dog but basic advice would be great. Thanks!


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Google... Evan Graham "Smartwork" For Retrievers, Volume 1 basics and Transition
Best of luck
Hal

I'm also a newbie, but four years down the road from you. I used the aforementioned Smart Works from Evan Graham. It's great and very detailed. Get the videos, too. I also used local obedience trainers, because that was what I had available. Then, a pro retriever trainer moved to the area and I forced myself onto him. I would suggest getting with a person or people (training group) that have experience in achieving training their dogs to an objective standard. Don't take advice from every Tom, "bleep", and Larry that has owned a dog they claim to have been the "best dog ever."

As for the appropriate age for training... It's always appropriate to shape behavior. From the day you bring home the bundle of joy, you should be teaching him about what is acceptable in the house. Biting is never appropriate. Chewing on the couch is undesirable. Barking to get attention should never be reinforced. Waiting to come in from "potty" is a great way to begin to teach steadiness. Don't expect a dog to obey you in the duck marsh if it won't obey you in the front yard. Teaching 'place' is valuable at all ages. Your pup is ALWAYS learning, so take EVERY opportunity to teach.

Also, be careful about taking too much specific advice from internet threads. Get with someone or a group, or at least follow a written/video system like Smart Works and follow it. Try to avoid jumping back and forth. Along with that, the in-person advice that you'll get will help you recognize how the dog reacts to your body language, tone of voice, timing, and so forth. The education can be time consuming and expensive, but it will be worth it.

You don't know what you don't know. Find someone that can tell you what you don't know.

Enjoy the ride. Enjoy learning. Enjoy teaching. Love watching your pup progress through his career.

Thanks! Appreciate that! There’s is pro close to me I will get with.


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When contacting the pro, be ready to barter. Likely, his business model doesn't revolve around middle-aged guys (me) begging for help. Be willing to offer something he needs- throw birds for a few hours, shovel poo, shuttle dogs, or whatever else he'll let you do.

Good luck!

Hey that’s a good idea! Thank you! Ya I’m
Only 27 so I’m sure he won’t care to help
me much either! Better offer to shovel a lot of poop...


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By the way, I'm not a Chessie guy, but your dog is still a handsome fella.

As a newbie, training a dog will be a huge challenge. You'll have to unlearn things you believe to be true and learn things you never heard of. You'll hear terms like force fetch, water force, bugging, etc. You're going to have to learn how to recognize the difference between defiance and confusion in a dog, so you can enforce defiance and clarify confusion. For us new folks, it can be difficult to discern between the two. Make the investment in Rooster and your next dog will be easier. You'll never regret the quality time you spend with him watching him mature and progress. Hunting with him will be different when you've put a lot of time into him.

A lot of people bemoan the amount of time it takes to train a dog. My biggest investment has been my time. It has taken a lot of time to learn what I need to do by driving (almost an hour) to the trainer and hanging out with him for an hour or more. Otherwise, the time actually spent teaching him is the same amount of time that would be spent exercising him without any kind of structure. For for the last few months we've been skiing and snowshoeing for 1+ hour several times a week, but because there's no mental stimulation for the dog, he's still a pain in the ace afterwards. You'll find that by training your dog (five minutes or less as a pup and progressing beyond that) you'll see that he's more tired in less time from the mental stimulation.

Good luck.

I really like Bill Hillman's approach to training and his DVDs series are very well done. https://billhillmann.net

Finding a local retriever training club could be extremely beneficial to you and your pup. I hooked up with one last summer which has some really talented and knowledgeable folks, a great training ground, equipment, sources for birds, well organized hard working folks. Searching for local hunt tests under AKC or HRC might well lead to you to such an organization in your area. Facebook is an excellent media to find like minded folks. A good training partner is a wonderful thing when you can find them. Observing folks working with their dogs at training and test functions reveals a lot about who you might want to approach or avoid as the case may be.

Beautiful pup. Have fun, it goes fast.

duckingtugboat29 wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:06 pm

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This is my Chessie, Rooster. 16 weeks old and has been learning really fast! He loves playing fetch with his duck wings and brings them right back. Think it’s about time to put him on live pigeons? Recommendations would be great. Thanks!

Disclosure, totally new to training duck dogs. Any advice about training or general age to start training for certain commands would be awesome. I know it really depends on the dog but basic advice would be great. Thanks!



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Live pigeons to do what?

At 16 weeks I wouldn't worry about feeling you need to get him on live birds. I did with my guy at that age (perhaps younger) and while I did end up with an obsessive bird crazed dog I know with my next one I will focus more on bulletproof obedience first and wait to introduce birds till later. If he's from hunting lines he has the genetics to like birds. It's the other stuff that needs to be worked on. A calm obedient dog will be much more enjoyable to hunt over than one that is desperate to get birds at the expense of all else. Go slow. You have many years ahead of you and him.