wooderson15

I got a wierd one here. I've been training my lab for waterfowl hunting for almost 10 months now. He's does single, double and blind retrieves no problem, is steady when shooting until i release him but i have one problem. He goes absolutely nuts when i get him to heal beside me and call. The wierd part is that he is fine when i use a mallard call, its when i use a goose call that he goes crazy. He barks and runs around in circles for some reason. Any advice??

lostmountainlabs

How is your basic obediance? Is your dog solid when it comes to heal, sit , stay and come? Try using a check cord to remind him to stay and work on it daily...try it in the house first, all my training starts in the house, when they aresolid there then move to the yard. If your dog is solid on obediance and I mean solid then he should mind you at all times regaurdless of how close he is in proximity. If not, take a few steps back and get him solid on stay...it takes time but it is worth every minute you will spend.
I practice with a stay rug in the house, the dogs are not allowed to wander around. If they are told to "get on your rug" they know not to move unless released. The release is just as important as the stay, if you don't release your dog from a stay they get bored and will break, if they know a release is coming they will wait it out no matter how long you ask them to stay. Don't forget to give alot of praise and an enticing reward to start with...I use the fat from a ham hock when I first teach this it really gets the attention of the dog, reward when he does what you ask of him & don't be afraid to get silly and love up on him, they respond best to happy praise. Keep your corrections quick and sharp, don't dwell on the mistakes or breaks, repeation is the key...keep your anger in check and repeat until he understands.

Doc E

What training program have you been using?



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wooderson15

For everything but the damn goose call he's as solid as i want him to be. He will stay until I tell him to fetch em up. His obedience is fine as well he comes when called, heels while walking, staysuntil released,fetches birds and brings them right back to my side. I just don't understand what the difference between using a duck call and a goose call is. Kind of frustrating.

Doc E I followed a book called Water Dog that I gotfrom my neighbourthe best I could for training him.

wooderson15

Oh I forgot to mention that he's been living with my parents about 2 hours away since school started about 3 weeks ago.Landlord doesn't allow dogs in the house that im living in which sucks. I askedmy parentsif they were teasing him or anything with the calls or anything like that but nobody has fessed up so far. We also have another lab who isnt trained at all for hunting and barks at pretty much anything. I'm wondering if my dog is picking up on bad habits maybe???

robopiggy

It's a possibility it is just the pitch of the call. Haven't had
any problems with my labs in the past, but our housepet, a min-pin will
howl at the goose call and wont even pay attention to a duck
call. Sorry, no ideas how to beat that if it's the case.