Lab breaking

[bwcb750]

In August of 2001 I was fortunate enough to be given a field trial trained 4 year-old female lab because she had developed epilepsy. If I told you how much professional training she has had you probably would not believe me. Let's just say she is VERY well trained. She had only been worked in trials and never hunted so we spent A LOT of yard time in simulated hunting situations. That first season went very well, both she and I learned a lot.

We are extremely well bonded, she will not take her eyes from me and I believe she would retrieve from a whirlpool if I asked her to.

This year she is rock steady to shot, UNTIL I shoot. When I get up to shoot, she break's like a rookie. Yes, I have an e-collar, but by the time I can get to it, she is already on the bird and I can't use it then. Any suggestions as to why she breaks only when I shoot and how can this be cured(any training techniques)? Is she just so willing to please me that she forgets to wait? HELP!

[Doc E]

It all comes down to OBedience. SIT means sit until released.
How much 'off-season' training (frequency) do you do with her?
Are you hunting from a boat ? blind on land ? blind in water ?
Until then, you need to be using a tie down to prevent her from breaking. Dogs get sloppy in hunting situations (as compared to training) due to the added excitement. Another thing to do is take a hunting partner with you and let the partner do ALL of the shooting and you can concentrate purely on the dog (and have ecollar in hand).
When you're training, what are you using as retrieve objects - bumpers - frozen birds - live birds or what? What are you using as a "gun" in training?

[bwcb750]

DocE, good points to consider. I'm not going to go into them all in my reply, but I value your input. I work her with Fresh killed and frozen birds every moring and evening. I have not been as diligent with the obedience as I should have. As to the gun, I have not been able to use a gun in daily training due to location so I am thinking she is less accustomed to the gun and live hunting and the excitement is getting to her. You bet the next hunt my partners will love me because they will get to do all the shooting. My dog will get 100% of my attention. Thanks for the things to work on.