Labrador retrieve training

[Little Butch 16]

Hopefully the lab im training for the shoot will be coming down on saturday so i can do some more training with her

Ive done a fair bit of basic training and shes getting good, ive also done a bit of retrieve training with a dummy and she can find it and bring it back 99% of the time.

Alot of the time when we shoot a bird we leave it untill the end of the drive untill we pick it up and as we often shoot near woods and thick undergrowth its hard to find them and thats where a dog comes in (weve only got one that can retrieve on the shoot)

I was thinking about trying to get her to find the bird first and I pick it up and then eventually moving onto her doing the full retrieve.

Weve let her have a smell of some pheasants on the shoot before so hopefully she knows what they are.

I was thinking of getting a few pheasants from the butchers and getting her to retrieve. Is this a good idea ? And how do i go about it ?

Cheers Leon

Edited December 12, 2007 by leon-b

[Little Butch 16]

Thanks for the help guys

Leon

[landrover 6]

remove the wings from your birds and fasten them to a dummy with elastic bands first,same with a rabbit skin,then throw for the dog see how she gets on,then try it with a full bird or rabbit,if successful then try it on warm game

[Little Butch 16]

Cheers, ive only got one bird at the mo but could get another if needed, so i cut the wings off one and strap them to a dummy, when she ges good with this can i use the bird without any wings ???

Will i be able to get her onto the bird on the same day or will it take longer untill i give her a real bird ?

Leon

[landrover 6]

get a copy of GUNDOGS TRAINING&FIELD TRIALS by p.r.a.moxon it will help you through every stage of training for both you and the dog,it's very good hope this helps

[Little Butch 16]

Cheers mate We've shown the dog pheasants on the shoot and she has a good ol' sniff but doesnt seem to wanna pick it up, is this why you put wings on a dummy first ?? To build her confidence or something ?

Leon

[landrover 6]

yes i assume she's used the dummy warm game is new to her and smells different, and it could put her off if your not careful

[Little Butch 16]

Ahhh i fort this might be the case, yeah she was getting good with the dummy

Most of the time on our shoot a dog isnt required to retrive a bird back to hand, normally we just use the dog to take us to the dead bird and then we pick it up. But i will still teach her both.

How do i go about this ??? when shes off the dummy i was thinking of tying her to a tree down the beach (where she cant whats going on) and then i'll hide the pheasant and see is she can take me too it, Good idea ?

Leon

[Guest k9wpg]

Most of the time on our shoot a dog isnt required to retrive a bird back to hand, normally we just use the dog to take us to the dead bird and then we pick it up. But i will still teach her both.

H

Leon

 

You Kidding

:clapper:

[Little Butch 16]

No i'm not its a small shoot and we'll wait untill the end of the drive and then we will collect all the birds

Leon

[Little Butch 16]

I took her out today and threw the dummy with wings on for her and the bloody wings fell of lol So i threw the wings and she only wanted to chew them and not retreive ??

So i moved her back onto the dummy and she is brilliant with it Although sometimes she is reluctant to drop it but most of the time shes fine and can find it anywhere i put it.

I also got the pheasant out to let her have a nose about it and she didnt want to pick it up, she just licked it where i cut the wings off.

She was great when i tyed her up out of sight and hid the bird, i just put it in the undergrowth and she found it everysingle time.

So next time i think i will tie just a couple of tail feathers to the dummy and take it from there ??

Cheers for the help

Leon

[Guest k9wpg]

I took her out today and threw the dummy with wings on for her and the bloody wings fell of lol So i threw the wings and she only wanted to chew them and not retreive ??

So i moved her back onto the dummy and she is brilliant with it Although sometimes she is reluctant to drop it but most of the time shes fine and can find it anywhere i put it.

I also got the pheasant out to let her have a nose about it and she didnt want to pick it up, she just licked it where i cut the wings off.

She was great when i tyed her up out of sight and hid the bird, i just put it in the undergrowth and she found it everysingle time.

So next time i think i will tie just a couple of tail feathers to the dummy and take it from there ??

Cheers for the help

Leon

 

How olds the dog ? feck the dumy of pheasent wing only ..put her on lead drop the wing let her sniff it walk away from it a few meters , turn her round let her run bck with lead let her sniff play walkaway slowly call her back she should pick the wing ,,loads of praise dont touch wing or attempt to take it pull her too with lead giving loads of praise -fuss 'take the wing and say dead ...if shes possevive all the better dont fret ..just stroke her head and back then take and repeat..Once doing that lead off repeat then ask what next regards Steve

[Little Butch 16]

Cheers mate Will try that next time

The dogs three years old

Leon

Edited December 16, 2007 by Little Butch

[Little Butch 16]

Some pics of our training session

 

 

 

 

Little Butch

[Little Butch 16]

I've just got some permission and am getting an air rifle to take rabbits

And i'd like 'Misty' to retreive them for me Shes caught and bought back live rabbits before so im hoping she'll be ok with it.

Would i be best to get a cured rabbit skin and attach it to the dummy first ??

Cheers Leon