njbuck22

My brother has a black lab that is about a year and a half old. He is full of energy and loves to play fetch, knows the basic commands and his parents were supposedly great hunting dogs. He isnt into hunting, but i am interested in trying to train the dog how to flush pheasant. I know the saying you cant teach old dogs new tricks, but is it too late? The dog is a master at catching chipmunks, so he does have some hunting skills in him. Please let give me some advice.

mtfreezer

I haven't trained a dog myself, but I have read a few books on the subject. Some say that the dog would be almost impossible to train at that age while others say that training shouldn't start until after the dog is over a year old. My family has had several labs and we didn't have to train them. I was too young at the time to teach them. They weren't the best dogs in the field but they worked just fine. I would take the dog out and see how he does. I would then look for a training manual or someone with experiance to train a dog at that age. One thing I have learned is to not play tug of war with the dog. Unless you like chasing after it to get the bird which is torn up by then. Take away all of the dogs soft toys as well. I think this helps the dog have a "soft mouth" and you don't get holes in the bird. I'm sure there are more guys that are a lot more knowledgable on this subject then me on this board that can give you better advise.