aggressive lab???

not an ounce of fat on this horse!!

you can see his ribcage, just flat out a big boy

I run 3 miles with him 3 times a week and he is swimming for a least 2-3 hours a day on the weekends

I have to disagree with that. If it is time to train, reguardless of how high strung or excited the dog is, he needs to know its time for business. A well trained dog will be solid when it comes to training time. If he is doing something like shaking the dummie, this is not exceptable anytime and the dog needs to know that. What happens when you get out in the duck boat in the morning and the dog has not had time to run off the energy? He needs to be solid and know when you mean business.

I have to disagree with that. If it is time to train, reguardless of how high strung or excited the dog is, he needs to know its time for business. A well trained dog will be solid when it comes to training time. If he is doing something like shaking the dummie, this is not exceptable anytime and the dog needs to know that. What happens when you get out in the duck boat in the morning and the dog has not had time to run off the energy? He needs to be solid and know when you mean business.

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I have to disagree with that. If it is time to train, reguardless of how high strung or excited the dog is, he needs to know its time for business. A well trained dog will be solid when it comes to training time. If he is doing something like shaking the dummie, this is not exceptable anytime and the dog needs to know that. What happens when you get out in the duck boat in the morning and the dog has not had time to run off the energy? He needs to be solid and know when you mean business.

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I agree 100% Bob. I see your point Reeves, but your Dog needs to know when HE/SHE is at work and needs to obey no matter how much energy it has when in the field or training. This is what seperates the true Hunting companion to the weekender. Let me tell you it is an absoulte joy to hunt with a “Hunting dog” compared to a Weekender”. And to only expect your Dog to be a weekender is cheating him/her out of their full potential. Alot of this goes back to training and obedience when they are young, but can still be learned @ any age.

I used to have a “Hunting Dog” 100% no questions asked and was full of potentail. He was truly amazing and I had guides asking me how old my dog was and who I had train him and were blown away when I said he was just barely a year old and I trained him myself . But, like most of us I worked him hard for the first couple of years and now have slacked . Now it depends on the day, what Dog I have in the field. I feel bad that I have cheated him out of being what he is capable of being. Rufus is my first Dog and I could not have aksed for more. We are working on gettng back to where we used to be. Probably will not make it, but I owe it to him to try. The other thing to remember it is not only your Dog it is also you. It is no doubt a team thing. You need to be able to communicate to your Dog and he has to be able to understand what you want for things to work! This aslo needs to ge the other way. Sometimes you need to understand what they are telling you. Remember they are the ones with the nose. Sometimes they know something we don’t Remember you need to work as a team out there in the field, afterall he/she is your best bud

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I have to disagree with that. If it is time to train, reguardless of how high strung or excited the dog is, he needs to know its time for business. A well trained dog will be solid when it comes to training time. If he is doing something like shaking the dummie, this is not exceptable anytime and the dog needs to know that. What happens when you get out in the duck boat in the morning and the dog has not had time to run off the energy? He needs to be solid and know when you mean business.

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I agree 100% Bob. I see your point Reeves, but your Dog needs to know when HE/SHE is at work and needs to obey no matter how much energy it has when in the field or training. This is what seperates the true Hunting companion to the weekender. Let me tell you it is an absoulte joy to hunt with a “Hunting dog” compared to a Weekender”. And to only expect your Dog to be a weekender is cheating him/her out of their full potential. Alot of this goes back to training and obedience when they are young, but can still be learned @ any age.

I used to have a “Hunting Dog” 100% no questions asked and was full of potentail. He was truly amazing and I had guides asking me how old my dog was and who I had train him and were blown away when I said he was just barely a year old and I trained him myself . But, like most of us I worked him hard for the first couple of years and now have slacked . Now it depends on the day, what Dog I have in the field. I feel bad that I have cheated him out of being what he is capable of being. Rufus is my first Dog and I could not have aksed for more. We are working on gettng back to where we used to be. Probably will not make it, but I owe it to him to try. The other thing to remember it is not only your Dog it is also you. It is no doubt a team thing. You need to be able to communicate to your Dog and he has to be able to understand what you want for things to work! This aslo needs to ge the other way. Sometimes you need to understand what they are telling you. Remember they are the ones with the nose. Sometimes they know something we don’t Remember you need to work as a team out there in the field, afterall he/she is your best bud

good post lip. I too am guilty of letting things go a little. As of the last couple of years I have slacked on some of the training. Mainly the hand signals since I stopped duck hunting. I really dont see the need for it while pheasnt hunting. at least not yet. I feel with a good month I could have her back to being a star but shes my little star already so for now since duck hunting is out shes going to stay the same.

good post lip. I too am guilty of letting things go a little. As of the last couple of years I have slacked on some of the training. Mainly the hand signals since I stopped duck hunting. I really dont see the need for it while pheasnt hunting. at least not yet. I feel with a good month I could have her back to being a star but shes my little star already so for now since duck hunting is out shes going to stay the same.

Stick,

I mainly hunt my dog on pheasants and use hand signals and blind retrieves often. Hunting in some tall CRP or Fields often a dog may not see a bird go down or perhaps Rufus was on a different scent trail when the bird got flushed by me or a different dog and now I have a downed bird. I can move Rufus to the bird similar if you have a dead duck on the pond or in the cover on the other side fo the pond.

Sorry to thear she will not be able to Hunt Waterfowl with you this year! I hear you about her being a Star! When the sad day comes that Rufus can’t hit the field with me anymore, he will with no question be the best dog I ever will have .

Stick,

I mainly hunt my dog on pheasants and use hand signals and blind retrieves often. Hunting in some tall CRP or Fields often a dog may not see a bird go down or perhaps Rufus was on a different scent trail when the bird got flushed by me or a different dog and now I have a downed bird. I can move Rufus to the bird similar if you have a dead duck on the pond or in the cover on the other side fo the pond.

Sorry to thear she will not be able to Hunt Waterfowl with you this year! I hear you about her being a Star! When the sad day comes that Rufus can’t hit the field with me anymore, he will with no question be the best dog I ever will have .

If the only problem your having at this point is being aggressive with the dummy, here’s what you do. Take thin gauge wire make a wrap around the dummy twist and cut, leaving 1/4″ of wire sticking up. What you want when your done is 5-6 wraps with the twists/cuts in different places around the dummy… almost like “barb wire” but not as many barbs. This will teach the pup not to chew the dummy. What you want out of a retrieving dog is a soft mouth, game that’s chewed apart isn’t any good. Give it a try, I’ve used it on many of the dogs I’ve worked with and it’s worked EVERY time. Infact, I’m working with a customers Brittney right now with the same habit…it works.

BIRDDOG

If the only problem your having at this point is being aggressive with the dummy, here’s what you do. Take thin gauge wire make a wrap around the dummy twist and cut, leaving 1/4″ of wire sticking up. What you want when your done is 5-6 wraps with the twists/cuts in different places around the dummy… almost like “barb wire” but not as many barbs. This will teach the pup not to chew the dummy. What you want out of a retrieving dog is a soft mouth, game that’s chewed apart isn’t any good. Give it a try, I’ve used it on many of the dogs I’ve worked with and it’s worked EVERY time. Infact, I’m working with a customers Brittney right now with the same habit…it works.

BIRDDOG

I would also have to agree with John my first choice would be to take him to a pro. Also like was mentioned do some reading, I would highly recommend Richard Wolters books and videos. At game fair last weekend one of the seminars I listened too the pro (sorry I do not remember who it was) stressed to always start and end each training session on a fun note something that the dog likes to do like retrieving so you always start and end on a positive note. That made a lot of sense to me. You can find his books at Cabela’s

I would also have to agree with John my first choice would be to take him to a pro. Also like was mentioned do some reading, I would highly recommend Richard Wolters books and videos. At game fair last weekend one of the seminars I listened too the pro (sorry I do not remember who it was) stressed to always start and end each training session on a fun note something that the dog likes to do like retrieving so you always start and end on a positive note. That made a lot of sense to me. You can find his books at Cabela’s

you all have been great thanks I have 3 different books and worked well last year….. I would love to bring him to a professional but I don’t have $1500 in my couch cussions I am sure it will stop I just need to spend more time with him. I am sure he is as frustrated with me as I am with him

you all have been great thanks I have 3 different books and worked well last year….. I would love to bring him to a professional but I don’t have $1500 in my couch cussions I am sure it will stop I just need to spend more time with him. I am sure he is as frustrated with me as I am with him

Lip,

Just to clarify here its not that she cant hunt ducks in the field or over water I just kinda gave it up . She’s only 4 with lots of years ahead. i may get out now and then last year I didnt even raise the gun to a duck.
The thing about hand signals in tall cover is if they cant see the bird go down how do they see you do the hand signals . Usally what I do is mark it down and if she does not find it rite away Which happens maybe 1 out of 10 as a guess is I will go to the area and stand still so I dont track to much scent to the area and tell her fetch the dead bird. She begins her search next to me and circles around going out further each round. This has worked time and time again. The times it doesnt work will be on wounded birds with lots of sceant in the area Then nothing will help but a little luck. Most of the time when I use this system is when I hunt cattails.

Lip,

Just to clarify here its not that she cant hunt ducks in the field or over water I just kinda gave it up . She’s only 4 with lots of years ahead. i may get out now and then last year I didnt even raise the gun to a duck.
The thing about hand signals in tall cover is if they cant see the bird go down how do they see you do the hand signals . Usally what I do is mark it down and if she does not find it rite away Which happens maybe 1 out of 10 as a guess is I will go to the area and stand still so I dont track to much scent to the area and tell her fetch the dead bird. She begins her search next to me and circles around going out further each round. This has worked time and time again. The times it doesnt work will be on wounded birds with lots of sceant in the area Then nothing will help but a little luck. Most of the time when I use this system is when I hunt cattails.

Read any of the books by Wolters that Steve recomended. Each one goes through the force fetching training techniques. I also love his take on treats and how they are not needed to train a dog. He emphasizes having the dog work because he wants to, and not because he gets a treat. My dog doesn’t get treats and doesn’t need treats.

I have never been real high on force fetching simply because I am a softy and I can’t stand to hurt my buddy. What I did was get him on the table, say fetch and then manually open his mouth and insert a dummy immediately after the command. I would then command hold and slap the dummy from different sides to make sure he has a firm hold of it in his mouth and is not chewing on it. He will drop the dummy somtimes when you slap it, but just go right back to putting it in his mouth and saying hold. My dog will now retreive anything I tell him, including tools, sticks, balls, beers, you know, the necessary items in life.

Stay consistent, and always end on a good note. There is no such thing as a bad dog, only bad training.

Read any of the books by Wolters that Steve recomended. Each one goes through the force fetching training techniques. I also love his take on treats and how they are not needed to train a dog. He emphasizes having the dog work because he wants to, and not because he gets a treat. My dog doesn’t get treats and doesn’t need treats.

I have never been real high on force fetching simply because I am a softy and I can’t stand to hurt my buddy. What I did was get him on the table, say fetch and then manually open his mouth and insert a dummy immediately after the command. I would then command hold and slap the dummy from different sides to make sure he has a firm hold of it in his mouth and is not chewing on it. He will drop the dummy somtimes when you slap it, but just go right back to putting it in his mouth and saying hold. My dog will now retreive anything I tell him, including tools, sticks, balls, beers, you know, the necessary items in life.

Stay consistent, and always end on a good note. There is no such thing as a bad dog, only bad training.

I looked back at one of Wolters books “Gun Dog” and he recommends using a scrub brush for retrieving for breaking a dog of a hard mouth.

I looked back at one of Wolters books “Gun Dog” and he recommends using a scrub brush for retrieving for breaking a dog of a hard mouth.

nip off some roofing nails so they are just nubs. Poke them through some duct tape and wrap a dummie with it. This will do the trick without being too hard on the dog.

nip off some roofing nails so they are just nubs. Poke them through some duct tape and wrap a dummie with it. This will do the trick without being too hard on the dog.

Go look at Tri Tronics website and get a hold of their trained retreive tapes watch them. Then force fetch your dog. It was the best thing that happened for obidience for my dog and for retrieving. I put up with my previous dogs hardmouthing retrieving when they felt like it stopping or dropping bird / dummy etc. I will never have another dog that is not force fetched. The tapes method was easy to follow and not cruel at all. IT teaches the dog how to hold objects and birds. It reinforces that you are the supreme commander and that refusing a command is not an option. Do some research on Force fetching. And decide if it is right for you.

Mwal

Go look at Tri Tronics website and get a hold of their trained retreive tapes watch them. Then force fetch your dog. It was the best thing that happened for obidience for my dog and for retrieving. I put up with my previous dogs hardmouthing retrieving when they felt like it stopping or dropping bird / dummy etc. I will never have another dog that is not force fetched. The tapes method was easy to follow and not cruel at all. IT teaches the dog how to hold objects and birds. It reinforces that you are the supreme commander and that refusing a command is not an option. Do some research on Force fetching. And decide if it is right for you.

Mwal