Getting a new retriever for christmas

[bsa30-06]

Sounds like your going to have a great new friend and hunting partner, cant wait to see the pictures of your pup.Good luck with him/her.

[Tarp Man]

Marc, congratulations on your new pup! I really like Quota for a name... definitely has a good ring to it. I will never forget coming hom3e with my first dog, a golden retirever out of Zebulun's line of field stock. She was the best dog ever. Stuck in a condo is no place for a dog, so it is pretty cool to see you renew your love of waterfowling and dogs. Having the new pup around an older dog will also be very helpful. The wise ones teach stuff to the young ones (hopefully good things!) faster thatn we ever could. Congratulations.

[Marc]

From what the breeder was telling me it's either this guy or another male.

[MB_Boy]

Awesome Marc!! That was the only kind of dog our family had......great water dogs and awesome retrievers!!

I must say that I am jealous....I am dying to get another one, but work keeps me travelling too much right now.

[BCrams]

Congrats on the chessie Marc.

I used to own one. I also had a male chessie but if I get another - I'd get a female for better temperament.

I am sure the stories are different for every Chessie owner - good, bad or frustrating.

Here's what I learned - I did need asprin when training him. Had I had a 2x4 - I would have been sorely tempted to use it but I didn't have one.

Many many days I swore, and wanted to box him between the ears.

Stubborn and headstrong doesn't begin to describe a chessie......a mind of his own on many days.

However, in the end - when he cued in, he was a damned good water dog and retreiver bar none.

One particular day I remember most was a great goose shoot - he was just so excited and didn't want to heal until given the command to retrieve for some reason. I figured I'd tie him to my waist after an hour ..... so he wouldn't spook more incoming flocks after we downed some......I accidentally tied a slip knot ..... I underestimated the strength and his will to go and retrieve a goose ....... next bird drops and before I could do anything ... he tore out of the blind knocking me to my ass and dragged me across the field until we got to the goose ....... the dog looks back with a dumbfounded look as if he was saying "hey I got it" .... Quite the spectacle and the guys in the blind couldn't stop laughing at the sight of me being dragged and cussing the whole time.

Eventually he got a disease at the base of the spine where the tailbone joins and he could no longer swim without suffering severe pain afterwards....and I did what was best for him and gave him to a family on a farm where he can run and do as he pleased (one of the hardest things I ever did).

[pupper]

From what the breeder was telling me it's either this guy or another male.

Hey Marc, it looks a little strange to have the caption " I love animals, there delicious" right underneath the photo of this pupp

[Marc]

I've done some reading and I've heard they can be hard to train but once you've got them knowing what you want there's just no stoping them from completing the task. Sounds like your dog had some drive and drag.

I'm up to the challenge and plan on starting his training from Day 1 when I receive him. First thing is not to crap and pee on the floor. Then when he's mastered that then the obedience training starts, sit, heal, come stay. A bit of tossing the dummy with feathers on it in the fenced yard as well to keep him birdy.

[Jimsue]

I'm not bringing up the training kit again , one of the best non-collar books on the market is " The Working Retriever " by Tom Quinn you can get it on Ebay for about $12, it would still be worth it at $120.00

Can you let me know if there is a place here to sell my Lab pups, only 3 left, 2 yellow males and one fox red female.

Tom Quinn is also does wildlife and dog paintings in water colour, there is a great one of a Chesse in the book.

regards Jim

[Marc]

Jim post them up in the buy and sell under off topic for the last 3 dogs.

I picked up the book the 10-minute retriever on Ebay but I really got soaked on the shipping.

[islandarcher]

I think whatever dog you choose is a very personal choice, and if you are willing almost any breed can be trained to perform a task within reasonable limits.

My personal choice is a beagle. I would never expect it to retrieve downed geese for me, but do plan to train it to blood trail downed big game. People keep telling me a beagle is too fast paced to be a good blood tracker, and that I should consider a terrier. Personally I can't stand Terrriers, though I have heard great things about Ken's dog ;>)

Guess I am in the same boat Marc, gonna prove 'em wrong!