Hunt Test results

[lapadat]

Here's a pic from this weekends BC Lab Retriever Hunt Test.

My 7 month old (the big one) passed 2 legs of his Junior Hunter Title and my 2 yr old girl picked up her Junior Hunter Title and completed the first leg of her Senior Hunter.

It was nice to meet up with fellow HBC'er and dog trainer Jimbo on Saturday.


http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/468.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=4865&size=big&cat=500)

[Derp]

congrats! nice looking pooochies:)

[Dirty]

Good Work, Hopefully I will have my dog in working order soon. What methods do you use to train your dogs Lapadat?

[LeverActionJunkie]

Beautiful Labs bud! Congrats on the Hunt Test:)

[overthetop]

I have a new (5 1/2 month) lab retriever. Hoping to train him to hunt.

[huntwriter]

It takes a lot of work, patience and commitment to train a good four legged hunting buddy. Congratulations to you and your pooches.

[gearjunkierob]

Cograts Lap,

Didn't know you picked up another pooch. Look forward to meeting them one day!

Rob

[Islandeer]

Good stuff Lap, couldn't make this one. Whats the pedigree on your dogs?

[lapadat]

My 2 yr old female came out of Megafloods Azugar (Sugar) from Geoff Cake in Chilliwack and TNT's Gunner

The young boy came from Streamlines Kicking Kayla (Barry K in Chilliwack) and Makailas Whispering Wind.

[Jimbo]

Congratulations Lapadat !! You and the dogs did a great job. It's back to the training program for me.

[Dirty]

Lapadat, it looks like you have whistles around you neck. If so, what kind of whistles are you using and where did you get them?

[lapadat]

Dirty,

The small one is a Roy Gonia Special and the bigger one is a MegaWhistle by Lucky Dog. I picked them up at Chwk Dart Tackle (793-9922),. They are ordering in a few more this week if you need some.

As to your earlier question regarding my style of dog training. Patience, Patience and patience. My strategy is to build confidence (my female is very very very SOFT) in my dogs from day one, I want to show them what to do through successful little baby steps. Then I continue adding more challenging drills.

My program starts with what trainers call "yard work". I teach sit, heel and here. I don't bother with stay because if the dog is sitting as I commanded then I shouldn't have to tell it to stay, because by the fact that it is sitting, it is staying.

I will give them some fun bumpers to retrieve after a session. Then, and only after they are solid at sitting, heeling and hereing (come) I move to retrieving singles, being steady on the line (not busting at the shot), gun shots, and retrieving to hand - A requirement even at the Junior Hunter level. Then its on to marking doubles, diversion birds/shots, blinds, handling and honouring (watching another dog work). Imagine making a 10 yr old kid watch quietly from the sidelines as another 10 yr old has the time of his/her life on the coolest ride Disneyland!!!!.

Over the years, I've found the key is to keep the training fun and not push your dog too fast. Don't expect your 1 year old to be doing flawless doubles or long blinds.

The results of a solid hunting dog in the field are very satsifying.

[Dirty]

That's awesome, I live 10 minutes away from Chilliwack Dart and Tackle. I am currently working with my 10 month old Golden Retriever. I would have liked to start earlier but I go to university and priorities take over. She was sired by Stanley from TNT Kennels. She is very interested in birds and has been introduced to birds. I am working on Heel, Stay, Come right now and she is doing quite well. I have a fully fenced back yard (1 acre) so it helps. I am afraid to let her loose outside the yard just yet because she likes to run, she thinks it is a game when she gets loose. At the rate she is working right now I will be starting force retrieving very soon. Have you ever tried E-Collars (Shock Collars) ? Do you use a book or anything for training hand signals and whistle signals and such? I am just learning. Any advice would be great!

[lapadat]

Stanley is a great dog, I've seen some of his offspring around and they are all solid dogs.

There are several good training books out now. Bill Tarrant is one author that I started reading when I first go into dog training. I'll look up some other authors

I do use an ecollar but I would caution anyone just starting out as they can cause more harm than good. The key is to know when to give a nick to get the requried response. Too many burns on a soft dog and it will give up on you....i've seen it happen. On the other hand, they are a great training aid. I remember the days when I had to run all the way out to my dog to enforce a neglected command.

I learned hand signals and whistle commands from the trainers that have mentored me. They are quite easy to teach to both handler and dog.

Get a whistle from Gary and start with the sit whistle. A 1-2 second blast. Heel your dog around on lead - blow the sit whistle, then say sit. Your dog will associate the whistle with the verbal sit command in no time at all. Then when calling your dog to you (come/here) give it 2 short blasts. tweet tweet. When your dog has that under control, go to a soccer field or other large area. Sit your dog at one end. Tell it to sit, then walk a distance away (start at 30 yards). Give the come whistle - when the dog is 1/2 way to you, give it the sit whistle (I sometimes put out my hand like a traffic cop would to show them SIT) Gradually walk further and further away to the point where you are 150-200 yards away. Come in whistle, Sit whistle, come in whistle, sit whistle, etc.

How does your pup retrieve?

A birdy dog is worth its weight in gold.

Lap

[Dirty]

She picks up good and has a firm grip but she thinks it is a game so she doesn't want to bring it back. I have been working hard on the come command so I think that will help with this problem. I haven't worked formally with her for retrieving yet, I have mostly just played around with her. I want to have her behavior satisfactory off leash before I move on to retrieving. We live in an area where geese and ducks fly over and she is always fixated on them when they fly over. When she was 3 months old we were cleaning ducks and she came over and was picking up the ducks and carrying them around. I do not think retrieving will be a problem for her once I get her started. I want to make sure that I cover all bases and don't have to compensate for mistakes in training down the road. My parents have her brother and he is smart too but very stubborn to work with. I can't wait until this duck season it will be nice to have some help picking up the birds, my brother is too big and too old to be a bird dog any longer.

[lapadat]

One technique you can use to enforce the return part of a retrieve is to put your girl (dog :)), on a long check cord (30-40ft). Throw a short bumper and the second she picks it up give the come command and start reeling her in. This will show her that as soon as she gets the bumper she better be headed for master. Also, make sure there aren't any distractions like other people, dogs, toys, etc, that will tempt her to break away from the return. And never chase your dog when it has something you want.

SOunds like you are on your way to having a good bird dog. Are you interested in competing in hunt tests? The BC Lab Club is having another one in September.

lap