I rec'd this question from a HNI vistor. Anybody have any tips?? Thanks!


"Hi, I am having a little trouble teaching my lab to come. She is about 4 or 5 months old and a lot of the time she will come to me and sit at my feet and look up at me, then I pet her and tell her good dog and everything. However, sometimes, she will just look at me and keep walking. I am hoping you can tell me what I need to do, if anything. I thought it may be because she still has puppy in her, but I wanted to ask anyway. If I need to do anything I will appreciate your help."

Turn and walk away from the dog ,It will come to you.

Of course you could buy a Golden they like people.

My dog likes me, I taste like chicken to her.

Anyhow, my pup is also five months and on leash she's an angel. Off leash and she's hell on four paws. Won't listen for beans even though she knows I want her to come. There isa period of a few months when they will rebel and just stay out of your reach.

I dont' know what the "proper" method is, but here's what worked for my pup. I had a similar problem with my lab at the same age. I would tie a long leash to her and let her feel like she was loose. Let her get about 10-15 feet or so away and try calling her name. If he/she ignores you, tug the leash at the same time as commanding her with a stern voice to come. You need to get her attention back to what she's supposed to be listening to. Before long he/she will relate to the command call by your voice. EVERYTIME she comes back give her/him[:-]a treat. Work with the dog for the 10-15 feet until it has that part down then extend it some more.

NY Bowhunter method is the way to teach the dog to come and have taught my puppy that way. Only thing is I don't give her a treat as they will come to expect it later on and then it's more training to ween them off of treats.

For so young a pup, I would just use the long leash. Call him while kneeling. If they ignore you, gently pull the leash to you. Make it fun. When he comes, make a praise himby saying excitely, "good boy!"

The same method is used to teach fetch. Get his favorite toy and throw it just far enough so that the pup can reach it and you can reach the leash. Then kneel down and say, "fetch". You can also use a long hallway with all the door closed then he has to come to you. But above all, MAKE IT FUN!

We use the electronic collar on our dog, she got away from me working with her at the gun club on a frigid day, before then a few times at home. I like a dog that I can walk leashless almost anywhere and I now have that. She usally does not where the collar but I put it on her at camp when we are away from home and will use it hunting. She does not mind wearing it at all and the correction level is totaly adjustable from a tingle to a whomp!! When first got it I watched my brother in-laws test level 8 on each other after a long night of having tooo much fun, it was funny. We got the Sport Dog it was around $200.00 or so at cabelas its waterproof and reaches out to 3/4 mile. Came with training videos and worked well for us. Good luck to you!

1)For yard work use a 50ft checkcord, say 'COME' and reel her in, I stress using the command once. Praise her when she gets to you
2)look for training opportunites around the house, if she is walking towards you say 'COME' and praise her when she gets to you.
3)Later on, off leash in the field walking away often works well.

I wait until my dogs are a year old before I introduce the shock collar, That is generally when I start the more intense training. That first year I just want to work on general obedience and get them excited about birds.

I'd suggest Bill Tarrant's "Hey Pup, Fetch it Up" and Richard Wolter's "Game Dog" and "Water Dog"

Jeremy

If the pup is only 4 months old I would suggest a harsh voice and running him down. I am a member of the FGOFS (Fat Guy Old Fart Society) but this is what I do. My son is training his 1st dog, a GSP. My son bought him when he was three months old. The dog is 4 months old now and the 1st time I told him to come after demonstrating he knew what it meant, he ran the other way. I huffed and puffed after him and caught him and explained to him I wasn't happy with his behaviour. I wasn't harsh but I was firm. A pup of this age is like a 7-8 yo human. They can handle harsherdiscipline than a 2yo but not like an adult. Chase him down and have a "Come to Jesus" meeting with him and you'll have a proper acting dog.

Dr Fatguy

Here is a clip about the ecollar:
If you plan to use an electric collar in later training, start putting the collar on your puppy whenever you go out together, as soon as its neck is big enough, usually around four months. Leave the transmitter in the case. This way the puppy will simply associate the collar with its work, and is less likely to become "collar-wise." Do not leave the collar on all of the time as it will irritate your puppy’s neck. We usually do not introduce electric shock until after beginning formal training around six months.

Just an FYI - Our dog gets excited if she sees the collar because she knows shes going outside, our other Dog a Cockapoo would rather sit around the house and hates to see the collar come out.

Here is the link the complete article. http://www.oakhillkennel.com/library/introbirds.html

Lots of good stuff.

Good luck to ya!

Sean