ok so we are getting a new puppy and he will be ready to pick up around christmas time. My questions is we want to train him for duck hunting and pheasant. at what age should we start to train and what suggestions do you have to train him. we have never had a dog like this and really want to train him rite.where do we start.
How old will he be when you pick him up? You can start obediance training immediately. I always did. You just cant be hard on them when tiny. Just positive reinforcement. Sit/stay/come will be easy. Others can chime in on field training. I think mine was 10 months when I sent her to school and she was a little immature yet but she has had the longest adolescence of any dog I have ever owned so I would not use that as a bench mark.
If I remember correctly he will be 13-14 weeks old when we get him. we had a yellow lab that we had to put down after 13years and he was more of a family pet than a hunting dog. this one we want to be both. But like I said I have never done any field training.and if he hunts great if not then thats ok to we don’t live and die hunting dogs just would like to try
Why so old to pick up? I thought 7-8 weeks was still the norm? I got my 3 at that age. I only took my second dog to school and only basic bird training which I doubt I would do again. Get him in front of birds and see how he reacts. You’ll know very quickly if he has the instinct. I had a dud dog once (my first golden) but kept her because she was family.
not sure I know they were just born and thats what I was told. would be nice earlier ok so I called and she had her dates mixed up she said the 3rd week in november so that would put them at about 8 weeks
Nothing like a puppy. And now your getting it sooner than you thought! Enjoy.
I also have another question…. I don’t want to scare him into boing gun shy so please give me some advice to avoid this if possible. I feel like an idiot when it comes to training a dog as this is my first attempt
Start him out with some .22 shorts. Have someone throwing a bumper and shooting off to the side or out in front of him. Don’t shoot over him right away. Work your way up from shorts to shotgun shells. Same thing, not shooting over him until you are comfortable he’s accustomed to shooting. More than likely this won’t be an issue, but every once in a while you hear of a dog who is gun shy.
Another thing you could do is take him to the gun range and leave in the truck to get used to the shots aswell
I’m only 6 months a ahead of you. Im not a dog expert by any means, but really put in the research for our current lab. The most simple addvise is have fun.
Be prepared with plenty of chew toys. Once the dog knows its name, its time for simple stuff. Roll a ball across the floor…avoid playing keep away!. also, try to make a daily routine of a block of time. If the dog refueses, lays down, or wants to play keep away, just walk away. It takes awhile, but they figure it out.
Ruger is 6 months and is retreiving pretty good. Still more for him to learn as as I’m finding with hand commands.
Thanks for all of the positive input I cant wait to get him home and start the training process
Make sure to give us updates and keep this thread going. I have a 13 week old chocolate lab I’m training right now.
My youngest dog is very sensitive and required a cautious approach to gun training. I keyed in on her strong prey drive to get through it. And my old dog helped as well. I introduced her to gunfire gradually starting with .22 from a distance while in the woods under the pretense of hunting. Then the big push with a trainer with birds in front of her. Even now she is not crazy about guns yet and will often leave the room when I pull one out but in the field it is not an issue. Make it exciting and fun. I took my last dog to a gun range when a pup but honestly I don’t think you could have made her gun shy. They say loud noises around the house can help. Just be cautious and watch his reactions to noises so you can judge your approach.
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Make sure to give us updates and keep this thread going. I have a 13 week old chocolate lab I’m training right now.
So how are things going?? any advice from what you are doing?
Going well so far. I’m just workig on sit, stay, and come for now. I can’t get her to walk decent on a leash yet 
. She’s not afraid of the 22. I will try out the 410 this weekend. She will not retrieve a bumper but she does ok with a tennis ball. I released 75 pheasants on Tuesday and she was a bit scared. She ran by the trailer with the full crates and the second she hit their scent she bolted for the house! 
After some coaxing she came back to investigate but wasn’t sure about them. I let them go about 5 miles from my house. They will help with training soon 
. Crate training is ok so far. It’s still not her favorite place to be. I am sure she is going to be a good dog. I just have to be deligent on setting aside time to train and keep reminding myself to praise her every time she does what I ask.
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Going well so far. I’m just workig on sit, stay, and come for now. I can’t get her to walk decent on a leash yet
I had a hard time with my pup always pulling on a leash. After trying the Halti and a choke chain I broke down and bought a prong collar. I was reluctant because they look so brutal.
He walks very civilized with the prong collar on. He walks next to me not in front. If he pulls I give his leash a quick pop and he slows down.
My problem is she refuses to walk on the leash. She wants me to skid her around. We have tried to walk with a leash a number of times. The only time she did well was when we had another dog walking with us. I rarely leash my dogs but it’s something I feel is necessary they learn before the heal command. A simple heal command should be all I need to give for them to know to walk beside me on my right; but I start to teach that command with them on a leash. Soon I will put the leash on her and drag her until she figures out I’m stronger than her!
Jon, I played fetch for about 20-30 minutes with my male lab, then took a 15 minute walk almost every evening. I think the routine helped a lot, plus having him wore down a bit. He was a pain in the arse for the first 15 nights we walked. Now, he’s right at my ankles and doesn’t really need a leash
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A simple heal command should be all I need to give for them to know to walk beside me on my right…
Are you a lefty? I only ask because most people heel a dog on their left…not that it really matters. Just curious.
A properly used choker or prong collar works wonders, but they are useless if you don’t know what you’re doing.
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