Posted: 8/13/2015 11:29:57 PM EDT
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Hey fellas. Going to pick up my new lab puppy tomorrow and wanted to see if anyone here had experience training their own hunting dogs? I'm primarily speaking of waterfowl as I'm a big duck hunter and this dogs main use aside from being a family dog will be as a hunting companion. He will be too young to actually starting any formal training, but if there are any books or videos you would recommend I'd love to hear about them to try to get ahead of the game. For the first few months I'm going to just focus on socializing him with as much as I can, and try to build his drive for birds. We will also begin working on some basic obedience like sit, heel, here, etc...
What I'm primarily wanting to learn about is all the different options of formal hunting training out there. I've heard of a few programs like Hillmans, Fowl Dogs, and a couple others. Of course each website says theirs is the greatest, but I was hoping to get some real life reviews from people that have used a program to train their own dog. Know there are some hunters on this site so speak up! |
| Anything by Delmar Smith. If you want to go the professional training route I have sent three dogs to Shady Grove kennel in Remington VA. I run shorthairs for upland birds but Shady Grove has a big following in the retriever field trials circuit. Hope this helps. |
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Quoted:
Anything by Delmar Smith. If you want to go the professional training route I have sent three dogs to Shady Grove kennel in Remington VA. I run shorthairs for upland birds but Shady Grove has a big following in the retriever field trials circuit. Hope this helps. I appreciate it. I'll check Delmar Smith out... I'd like to do the professional training but I'm just not sure I can justify the costs involved. I know that to get the most out of my dog that's what I need to do, but since I don't really plan on running field trials I think it would be a little bit overkill. I do think it's possible we will run some hunt tests, but I don't think field trials are really my thing. |
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My two cents. I have ran AKC hunt tests(upland dogs) and participated in a number of field trials, not to mention bird hunting for 30+ years over dogs. Unless you are honest with yourself and have the time that it takes to train a dog well then I would highly recommend sending the dog to a trainer. Most people do not have the time, space, etc to do it adequately and the dog never reaches it's full potential, generally speaking. Some people have spent the time and energy to make excellent gun dogs on their own but they are few and far between from my experience. It generally goes like this....Hey man i just got my dog trained up in the yard so let's go hunting. We drive to the hunting area, let their dog out and then he spends the rest of the afternoon chasing his dog and yelling while I'm hunting. I've seen this numerous times with different people. If you have made the choice to buy a duck dog that you are going to love, care for and have for years then you should figure out a way to have it trained properly so you both can enjoy the hunt. Maybe find a trainer locally that will train you along with the dog instead of sending it away. This will generally save some cash. Feel free to pm me and I'll give you my number if you want to chat. Good luck and congrats on the pup.
Post a pic of that pup! Here's my shorthair Fin. 
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Quoted:
My two cents. I have ran AKC hunt tests(upland dogs) and participated in a number of field trials, not to mention bird hunting for 30+ years over dogs. Unless you are honest with yourself and have the time that it takes to train a dog well then I would highly recommend sending the dog to a trainer. Most people do not have the time, space, etc to do it adequately and the dog never reaches it's full potential, generally speaking. Some people have spent the time and energy to make excellent gun dogs on their own but they are few and far between from my experience. It generally goes like this....Hey man i just got my dog trained up in the yard so let's go hunting. We drive to the hunting area, let their dog out and then he spends the rest of the afternoon chasing his dog and yelling while I'm hunting. I've seen this numerous times with different people. If you have made the choice to buy a duck dog that you are going to love, care for and have for years then you should figure out a way to have it trained properly so you both can enjoy the hunt. Maybe find a trainer locally that will train you along with the dog instead of sending it away. This will generally save some cash. Feel free to pm me and I'll give you my number if you want to chat. Good luck and congrats on the pup. Thanks grouse, I appreciate it. I live out in the middle of nowhere with lots of fields and ponds that I have access to for training. I really think with a solid program I can train my dog to meet my needs. I've also spoke with a local retriever club that I'm going to join so that I have access to their training days. There are a lot of hunt test and field trial guys there so hopefully they will help me some along the way... There's no doubt I won't be able to get the absolute best out of my dog like a professional could, especially considering he comes from a pretty impressive pedigree, but my needs also don't require him to reach his max potential. Priority 1A and 1B is to be a good family dog as well as a dog that will pick up my ducks and have good manners in the blind. His lines don't have to be perfect and if he requires more casts than he should that's fine too. I mainly want him to be steady, mark well, and be able to handle hand casts with some level of proficiency. Like I said, it doesn't have to be perfect and we have plenty of time to get there. I just have a hard time justifying $3K+ in training for an $800 dog. |
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Quoted:
Hey fellas. Going to pick up my new lab puppy tomorrow and wanted to see if anyone here had experience training their own hunting dogs? I'm primarily speaking of waterfowl as I'm a big duck hunter and this dogs main use aside from being a family dog will be as a hunting companion. He will be too young to actually starting any formal training, but if there are any books or videos you would recommend I'd love to hear about them to try to get ahead of the game. For the first few months I'm going to just focus on socializing him with as much as I can, and try to build his drive for birds. We will also begin working on some basic obedience like sit, heel, here, etc... What I'm primarily wanting to learn about is all the different options of formal hunting training out there. I've heard of a few programs like Hillmans, Fowl Dogs, and a couple others. Of course each website says theirs is the greatest, but I was hoping to get some real life reviews from people that have used a program to train their own dog. Know there are some hunters on this site so speak up! Getting the puppy tomorrow, and just now looking for training advice??? ETA: What are the parents like, how do they perform in the field? Labs are a dime a dozen, and most have been way overbred, and are bred for their breed, but are shit examples of the breed. |
| Sounds like you have a plan in place. Just to let you know I start my pups in the yard getting them interested in bird wings, searching for them and just having fun. You want him/her to be curious and for everything to be fun. Don't try to go too fast. The dog will show you how fast it wants to go. It's all a progression and takes patience. A little bit, say 15 -30 minutes a day goes a long way. Do not be heavy handed with the pup. This can cause issues that will be hard to correct. Once one of my dogs gets to around 8 months it is sent to the trainer. It will already know quite a bit about how to course a field and to come when called. Pretty basic. At the trainer it will learn more about coursing the field and be steady to the whoa command (i realize duck dogs are trained differently). I will train it to heel, come, stay, lay down, steady to wing/shot, release, etc once it gets back which is usually two months. Shady Grove charges @ $500 a month for upland dogs so $3000 sounds a bit high to me but it really depends on how much training and to what level. |
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Start with these two dvd's. Game Dog and Water Dog. Richard A Wolters training videos.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Richard-A-Wolters-Dog-Training-DVDs-Two-DVD-Package/717230.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dwater%2Bdog%26x%3D10%26y%3D6%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=water+dog |
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Quoted: Start with these two dvd's. Game Dog and Water Dog. Richard A Wolters training videos. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Richard-A-Wolters-Dog-Training-DVDs-Two-DVD-Package/717230.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dwater%2Bdog%26x%3D10%26y%3D6%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=water+dog I used the Wolter's books. My lab is a retrieving beast. I've fallen off the training regime though; the handover could use some work. |
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Quoted: Anything by Delmar Smith. If you want to go the professional training route I have sent three dogs to Shady Grove kennel in Remington VA. I run shorthairs for upland birds but Shady Grove has a big following in the retriever field trials circuit. Hope this helps. |
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My new pup is almost 4 months old now. Been working on retrieving with decoys, and he loves it. Took him out and did some gun training with him a few weeks back to see how he would react...didn't seem to care at all. Dove season starts Sept 1st for me so I'll bring him along, but I'm not expecting much at this point. Hopefully this is the last season I ever have to go pick up a dove on my own ever again. :)
He's a Catahoula/black lab mix so HOPEFULLY he ends up being a really good hunting dog. |
My Lab has a AKC JH title nothing extremely special but I have followed Mike Lardys total retriever training, obedience first, Collar conditioning, and force fetch. after that the drills and getting him into running the T and pattern blinds, he can now run blinds and takes whistle/hand signals well. This fall will be his first in the Duck/goose blind. I don't know who is more excited me or him.
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Quoted: I used the Wolter's books. My lab is a retrieving beast. I've fallen off the training regime though; the handover could use some work. Quoted: Quoted: Start with these two dvd's. Game Dog and Water Dog. Richard A Wolters training videos. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Richard-A-Wolters-Dog-Training-DVDs-Two-DVD-Package/717230.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dwater%2Bdog%26x%3D10%26y%3D6%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=water+dog I used the Wolter's books. My lab is a retrieving beast. I've fallen off the training regime though; the handover could use some work.  ). He was a full blown fetdhaholic. He also loved hunting upland as much as ducks.Highly recommended. I would get books rather than DVD. |
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I train professionally, mostly now just working with owners and their retrievers. joining your local HRC club will be the best investment you ever make.
anyone can train their own retriever on 5-30 minutes worth of work every other day- its just a matter of doing it correctly and not skipping steps. Training your Hunting Retriever by Robinson and all of the books by Spencer should be mandatory. training the hunting retriever Marshes and Meadows I have just about every book ever printed on Training and at some point in time have used something from all of them. I recommend Smartworks or the Lardy series if you want to go that route as well. Smartworks the Retriever forum on the Duck Hunters Refuge is an excellent source of info. if you have questions IM me. good luck. remember.. Obedience and Structure makes the dog. Train smarter-- not harder. plan every session and don't deviate. just like the golf saying Putting for Dough. OB is the key. |
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Quoted:
I train professionally, mostly now just working with owners and their retrievers. joining your local HRC club will be the best investment you ever make. anyone can train their own retriever on 5-30 minutes worth of work every other day- its just a matter of doing it correctly and not skipping steps. Training your Hunting Retriever by Robinson and all of the books by Spencer should be mandatory. training the hunting retriever Marshes and Meadows I have just about every book ever printed on Training and at some point in time have used something from all of them. I recommend Smartworks or the Lardy series if you want to go that route as well. Smartworks the Retriever forum on the Duck Hunters Refuge is an excellent source of info. if you have questions IM me. good luck. remember.. Obedience and Structure makes the dog. Train smarter-- not harder. plan every session and don't deviate. just like the golf saying Putting for Dough. OB is the key. Ordered the first book, thanks for the suggestions! |