Thread: Training a gun dog

Not sure if any of y'all can help, but I have recently became the proud new owner of a silver lab (50/50 weimaraner/chocolate lab) and I am looking to train it for dove hunting. Do any of you out there know of a good source for training gun dogs? I want to train him myself, not send him to a school. Thanks!!

I used a lot of info from Gun Dog written by Richard Wolters
It's a lot of work and time consuming but very rewarding to train em yourself

"Training Your Retriever" by James Lamb Free --available on Amazon. One of the best on the market. Trained a duck dog with it. As OSG said, very time consuming and occasionally frustrating. You must remember that when
you get frustrated or even down right pissed off, chances are you should be pissed or frustrated at yourself and not the dog. Read whatever book you choose a couple of times through to get an idea of the entire philosophy and to have an idea where you are headed. WILL NOT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT. BE PATIENT AND RELIGIOUSLY CONSISTENT. Nothing will ruin a good dog faster than inconsistency and thus not knowing what is expected of him.

ETA - if you got a pup, you really shouldn't expect a lot for almost a full year. Push too hard and he'll get bored and quit. Sessions must be fun.

Retrieving is in their blood. He should be leash trained and taught the fundamentals of "sit, stay, and heel" for starters. Then start the retrieval training in the back yard by making him stay, throwing the dummy and then giving him the "back" command. You should use a small treat to reward a successful retrieve every time to start with and randomly as he progresses. He should eventually make the retrieve with no reward other than praise from you. Be patient and don't punish him if he messes up. A young dog has more energy than a nuclear power plant and needs to be worked consistently and often. If you don't he will get bored quickly and chew on anything within reach-including himself, or start his own excavation business in you back yard. Good luck!

Retrieving is mostly instinctly for your dog , but some dogs, just will not retrieve a dove . They will mark the bird when it is down. Yet because of the tendency of the feathers of the dove to come out in the dogs mouth and gag the dog, it will not pick it up and carry the bird .Some dogs are not bothered by the feathers and retrieve the dove without a problem . Also if you have choice get female .Much easier to train and works better with other dogs around . Consistency and patience are the key. Good luck .Actually just returned from dove hunting and had the chance to see a couple of good dogs work .

Thanks guys, excellent advice very much appreciated. I already ordered Wolters book and a basic kit. I have a huge field by my house that I will use to train mostly. How long should I wait to expose him to a hunt? Not to retrieve but just be out there with guns. I have being doing the bang the pots while he eats thing and is doing fine with that. But with hunting season coming up I wonder if I would be ok just taking him out there to watch and get a feel of it.

I wouldn't let him get NEAR a dove field until he is beyond 100% comfortable with close gunfire. If you spook him now, he may never recover. I started with a bb gun (association) then a .22 from a distance and then close and finally a shotgun from a distance and close. First shotgun was like 100 yds away. And, yes, ALWAYS associate it with something he finds pleasant.

ETA--not to say that will take a year. Seen dogs get used to gunfire in a week. Just wouldn't drop him straight in without conditioning

I would take him this year if I had a shady spot to hunt from. He might get overheated in direct sun especially wearing a dark fur coat. Keep plenty of cool-not ice cold water for him. It wouldn't hurt to let him walk with you on a leash to pick up and look for birds and maybe try to get him to carry one back to the pile. You will be amazed at how quickly he can learn. My buddy is nearly 13 now, diabetic, almost blind, nearly deaf and is very slow to get around. He was awesome in his day. I knocked a bird down that got up and flew a few feet off the ground for about 50 yards before he jumped up and grabbed it out of mid air, and it was still flopping when he got back to me. I wouldn't have believed it had I not witnessed it. When we got home from hunting he would drink enough water to sink a battleship and then fall asleep like a kid that had been swimming all day. I took him out to the driveway to get the newspaper two mornings in a row when he was about 2 years old. He went out and got the paper every day for the next 7 years until his vision went bad. He would get my tv remote until his eyes went bad.

This is my dad's 5 year old lab. Maggie was supposed to be the "worlds best bird dog". She loves to follow all the commands and is not gun shy by any means. We were out dove hunting and cut a few down, well....turns out Maggie don't care for the birds. Wouldn't even pick them up. The feathers bother her even though I trained her with a dummy that had real feathers. I guess some dogs just won't hunt. Anyway, she's a great dog and loves to swim and "hunt" the tennis ball and hooked feeshes.

Here's my Bleu. (hope the picture uploaded) Thanks for the info guys, really appreciate it. One other question, I hear about training "the versatile dog" that includes both pointing and retrieving, being my Bleu is half Weim(which are in the versatile category) should I take that approach or start with basic retrieving first. He sure is smart and I don't wanna waste some good undiscovered talent if it's there.