Legacy357

anyone know where i can get some pigeons in the northern va area? i should just bring down my pellet gun and shoot one of them off the bridges and use one of them...........what do you recommend i do with the dead bird? drag it around and hide it in some brush and then have her follow the trail to it? let me know thanks guys

Doc E

You'll learn how to use birds when you get your training book.



.

bronko22000

Legacy, sounds like you already are. The basic commands like sit, stay come are all part of the training. Starting to train a pup early (I started my last one at 7 weeks) makes him/her want to learn all through its life as long as you take it slow and easy. John Wooters "Water Dog" is a great training book. Once your pup starts learning voice commands, introduce the whistle and hand commands too that way you can save your voice when he's way out there. The sit command with one whistle blast not only is good for a dog to know it can stop him from doing something wrong. I've been training labs for over 25 years now and I love it. My last pup was water retrieving at 12 weeks and at 6 months was catching more pheasants than I shot.

Legacy357

i only plan on really hunting her for pheasant, quail or chuckars. is that water dog book good for upland hunting as well or is it mostly for duck and goose hunting.........thanks

bronko22000

Water Dog is a basic training book written for the retrievers. Wooters also has another book titled "Gun Dog". Either one will work for you and both are step by step books that you can read once, then re-read when your pup is ready for his next training phase.
I prefer "Water Dog" myself. You can get these at any bookstore or online, even if it has to be ordered.

tailcrackin

Here is a word of thought, never be afraid to take a day or two off, it will do you, and the dog some good to think about whats going on. Never be afraid to do less one day than the other, because the dog will get bored, and then you will start trying to fix what you were trying to teach. Now this will not pertain to all handlers, and all dogs, it is just a good rule of thumb to quit sometimes while you are ahead. You do to much, to fast, the dog will blow up somewhere. I will promise you, 1 or 2 retrieves, put the dog away wanting more, it will be more and more dog each time out, wanting to work, and retrieve. If you get something taught really well, in this spot, go somewhere else, and see if what you thought was really good still is. You put the dog in different place, alot of times, what was great, falls apart. So now work on the same training in a different place. this is what will make the nice dog. Just like when I take on new pup, I will do ob, in the yard for 2 weeks, then mix in the yard and field, for around week and half, then when I feel the dog is getting right, I will go to a park with lots of kids, and then tighten the dog up, because that is a lot of new bells and whistles, and 99% of the time, the first 15 minutes will be wild, but keep your cool, and it will all the sudden kick in the dogs mind as to what and why. Now you are becoming the trainer. There is no book that will tell you what to watch for or how to read a dog. It is something that is learned by hands on. Our job is to pay attention to the dog signals, and learn to finish the day before he or she shows its time. you follow?? You keep it simple and if it takes a month extra, so be it, you learn your dog, and how to teach, your teach as you are comfortable, and the dog will be to. PROMISE!! Thanks Jonesy

Legacy357

thanks guys............i ordered water dogs off of amazon and will start to work each day, but take some breaks as well..............thanks