goose caller

ok i have a boxer/lab mix puppy. he loves to fetch but has a lot of trouble bringing the ball back to me. he is 7 1/2 months old and i really want to train him for waterfowl. he knows how to sit and shake but were still working on stay. where do i start with training this puppy?

goose caller

does anyone know of any good books or DVD's that i can buy???

thanks in advance!

fsulaxer18

Don't make it work make it fun. Dogs want to make us happy so just go slow. Get something with wings and start using that. Take him with you once before you get too involved in training him. If he doesn't like gun shots then it would be a waste to train him into a waterfowl dog. We take all of our pups out in the blind with in a week or so of them being able to leave mama just to see their reactions-some deal with it others freak out then we know which ones are worth putting the time and effort into as far as waterfowling oes and which ones will be just a pet that makes a great companion.

goose caller

ive already taken him clay and skeet shooting and he didnt mind it at all. he was more interested in what we were doing not the shells being fired around him. now thta i know he doesnt scare from gunshots, what do i do?

fsulaxer18

Get some sort of boat bumper- that is what we use- and some wings of a duck or goose and fasten them on the bumper- use a starting pistol and throw and shoot. Make sure he stays and doesn't chase it though. Make him see the bumper then when your read let hime get it. Make sure he brings it bakc to your feet. The hard part is getting him to learn to do a blind retrieve. We have a guy who comes to the farm and teaches our dogs this but almost all of our birds land in the visual field-we drop em close so that they can see. but the one's we sell as pups we haven't really finished them up yet. People will bring them back for us to train but we just make sure the hunters get the ones that are fearless.

goose caller

is there an alternative to boat bumpers? or evn a starter pistol? i am still young and dont have a job so im on a VERY limited budget.

BlueRidgeRetrievers

Pick up a book like "10 Minute Retriever"... You can get bumpers for about 4.45 each here http://www.gundogsonline.com/dog-training-bumpers/plastic-dog-training-bumpers/

Your dog needs to be on a check cord so you can "reel him in" when he doesn't want to come back...

Here's some good 'free advice'-
http://www.oakhillkennel.com/library/puppy1.html

http://www.oakhillkennel.com/library/comeback.html

http://www.oakhillkennel.com/library/introbirds.html

Here's the link that all those pages are on if you think you might see something else you'd be interested in reading up on.

http://www.oakhillkennel.com/library/index.html

Main thing is to find a program (book) and stick with it!


Best of Luck,

Kim

Granby

goosecaller,

Make it fun is right, start with the basics, which it sounds like you have. BlueRidgeRetrievers gave you a lot of good info. Also any of the books and dvd's by Richard Wolters are great. For duck hunting solely I would recommend Water Dog, it comes in a book or dvd. You can find it on Amazon pretty cheap. There are plenty of breeders along the Colorado front range that give great lessons on how to begin training your dog.

They're flyin' in Colorado, I huntednearLoveland last week with my laband did really well.