I recently bought a little 13 week old yellow lab puppy, in hopes of training him to be my new hunting companion. I wish i could have come by him earlier, but i got him as soon as i heard about him. Well i am in the process of teaching him how to sit, stay and come. He has the sit down pretty well, but he doesn' t really know about stay and come so far. Well my dilemma is the fact that in about 1 month i have to go back off to college (out of town) and will only be able to see my pup on weekends, as he has to stay here at my house with my family. They will care for him, but i know they don' t have the time to train him while i am gone, plus, he is my responsibility to train. I am afraid this will affect our training as well as our bond that i am trying to form with him. I want him to be my dog, and my friend, and a well trained hunting dog, and i am afraid that while i am gone he will end up turning into a family dog. Is there anything i can do, or will this affect his learning much?
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"A man with a gun is a citizen, A man without a gun is a subject."
G-Dawg,
Do you make it home on weekends or are you gone for semesters at a time? I think that family bonding is important, but if you' re not there, all that' s out the window!
Jim
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Member of the "new" PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals
Visit your pup as often as you can and train a lot while you' re with him. Many short sessions are preferable to long ones. Also, make sure you give him a refresher of everything he has learned before moving on to new skills.
i would have to say you should of thought about the timing little bit better but with all that said and done try and find someone who lives off campus that would allow you to keep you dog at their house. i know it sounds kinda stupid but my buddy did it and everything turned out fine.
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" Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison" -- Genesis 27:3
I agree with what has been said about the timing issue. However, lets look at the positives : You will be working the pup on weekends- make sure that everyone of your family members back at home know your commands. Don' t let them throw balls or frisbees to him (confusing for them when you are being serious with dummies and bumpers).
Spend as much time as you can in this month before you go back to school with the pup. This is a huge bonding time in his life.
Make sure you are focused and have planned out training sessions for your weekends with him. You will ofcourse need to be flexible and as mentioned do A LOT of refreshing. But also make time for fun with him.
Be patient. You have to realize development will be slow because of your time constraints.
If you are training the Lab for primarily Upland bird hunting you don' t have as much of a mountain to climb. Waterfowl (to do it even half way correct), needs a great deal more time and I would recommend stronly seesions with professionals.
I didn' t start training my lab to hunt until he was 8 months old because I was primarily a bow hunter before I got into dog training. But he is a fantastic retriever and pheasant' s nightmare.
You got two really good things going for you: 1) You care enough to seek help with your situation and 2) You don' y have a dog you have a LAB. I will never get another breed. They are smart, easy to train and great with people.
What to do with my new lab pup?
