I posted this on the old site, so some may remember about my dog and the trainer. Well, i took it easy on him this past season, and he did very well by the end of the season. Ive given him a break most of the summer. What I need is how do ya'll go about starting the dog for the upcoming season? Got any tips for a guy with his first duck dog. I appreciate the help guys.

I'm a newbie here so I'm not sure what the issue was. I have a couple live ducks I keep for training. Before the season starts, I always make 'em sit and stay and watch that sucker swim around for a minute before he can go fetch it. With young dogs especially it seems like it's almost too much to resist on opening day...if you haven't done something similar they might just break on ya.

If your dog has only one year of experience, you might want to try putting him in situations that are very similar to the real thing. Shoot some live rounds for marks. Get him in some thick stuff and let him hunt for bird/bumpers. Other than that, I always try to reinforce the most important things for me, so I repeat casting drills and steadying.

Find another trainer fast and drop about 4 grand into it and be finished....

What's he doing, or more importantly not doing?

He just said that he's the worlds best bank retriever.....That means he doesn't do water retrieves......You have to read and comprehend what you are reading before you respond.....

Try using live birds.

we gave him that name in a buddy of mines blind last year. The trainer i used shocked the hell out of him and he was real skiddish at first. So i would just bring him in the blind and let him relax and not worry about getting ducks. I wanted him to like what he was doing. Well will's pond is about 2 inches of water and nothing but soft mud under. We dont even try to walk it cuz you will go over your waders. I sent him for a couple of birds but didnt pressure him too much. He would jump in the water but the mud was too sticky for him to go get them. With the wind blowing that day, the birds would float to the bank. I was looking for him and he was sitting at the bank of the pond watching the floating birds. when they would get close he would pick them up, bring them to the blind, then go find another one. Maybe hes just too damn smart for his own good. We had 4 people in the blind that day, we all limited out, and he brought back 19 of the 24 birds. the other 5 fell on the bank anyway and we used him to find them. The next day at my marsh(which has more water and harder bottom), he did very well. Swam most of the day, picking up birds.

To be honest, i think that he just needed a good relaxing year after being at that trainers for 7 months. When i picked him up he wouldn't even want to think about a dummy and he was only around 20lbs with all his ribs showing. He is doing alot better now on water retrieves, heels good, marks the birds, and everything else. I was just wondering, other than using live birds, if there was anything else i could do to help him out. I have trained numerous horses, but never a dog for hunting.

p.s. we hunted with two dogs one day and he would follow the other dog out in my buddies pond. But that was after his hunt by himself.

Ok, good info.

Sorry about your encounter with the trainer. Unfortunately there are a few guys out there that seem to get business no matter what they do.

With that said, it sounds like he will swim and does like birds correct?

I know for most people it is difficult to keep birds. At the very least get your hands on a few dead birds. You can thaw them the night before using them and either refreeze or put in a fridge overnight to use the next day. At the kennel we have a fridge in the kennel just to put birds that we used that day in.

Take him out to a nice pond a just throw a few birds for him in a really relaxed atmosphere. At first I wouldn't really worry about him being steady. Just keep his spirit up and work on his attitude. Retrieving should be fun. Unfortunately it sounds like his initial experience wasn't so fun...

Anyway, once he is crazy about going out and bringing the birds back then start steadying him up and polishing things up.

The biggest thing I could suggest is get him out NOW, start working with birds in a nice clean pond. Get his attitude up and have fun with him!

Let us know how this goes!

Brian
Sunrise Retrievers
Rockton, IL

I train retrievers for a living douche, I thought I could help the guy out.

What do you do for a living sit in your parents basement in front of the computer with your dic in your hand and whack off while trying to piss off as many people as possible? Fucin' low life....

Guy, was looking for some help and all you have for him is smart ass answers. Go fuc yourself internet tough guy and get some windex to clean the spooge off your computer screen....

douche....

I got your internet tuff guy mother Fucka come your yankee ass to the next run and we'll see about that Bitch!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and as far as training goes you are prolly the one that shovels sh!t out of the kennels, Workin for the man!!!! So go Fuck yourself....


















FAG!!!

Bet you just blew another load on your computer screen after that post douchebag. Doesn't your mama have dinner ready yet, and tell her I said hi....

Life 150 years ago must have been so much simpler. Some douchebag starts up with you BANG, end of fucin discussion, roll his ass in the ditch for the coons....

Both of you dudes are some douch bags....Sorry about your bad luck with a trainer...fucksticks....

Slambin,

Sorry for my step son's post, his mom punished him for whacking off at school so he is taking his anger out on MMT members. I will take care of his lil punk azz.

Sounds to me like you should have been checking on your dog before he had been with this trainer for 7 months.

It has got to be a combination of things, right dog, right trainer for that type of dog, and the right owner.

You got to start with a dog with potential or at least the best you can tell about it during the first few months of it's life. Trainability, desire, good prey drive, heart are things that usually come out early in retrievers(there are late bloomers don't get me wrong)but usually you will see these things.

Check around with several trainers and see which one has the most success with your type of dog. Some trainers' programs just don't jive with thier programs. It happens all the time.

You have to be an active owner. Learn how to run your dog from the trainer. Learn the do's and dont's according to the person who trained the dog.

Like what was said in an earlier post, there are lots of trainers out there find the one that's right for you and your dog.

slambin, not to pry but where did you send your dog? it might be good to post up where you sent him so others can learn from your mistakes. it hard finding a trainer, there are alot of good one out there that would be able to take your dog and turn him around into the type of dog you want. if you want to pm me i can give you a few names that are pretty close to you and would definatley be able to help you out. even though you might not be able to afford it maybe you could help them clean kennels or bird boy for them at times and they could give you some pointers and start your dog in the proper direction.

You can't go bashing trainers on here without knowing the situation! All you know is what this guy is saying and IMHO he isn't very savy about dogs or the training of one.

LA Outlaw, yes my dog was working very well when at the trainers. He was obidience trained, forced fetched, retrieval, and blind retrieves. I never said that he erased his mind.And yes I do think the trainer either quit feeding him or worked him so hard that his output was more than his intake. I was also in college, working, and trying to take care of my farm because my dad had just passed away, so sorry if some of us just dont have time to go to a trainers everyday. Ive trained horses since I was 14 and any horse that was sent here, the owners were more than welcome to come and see the horse work, but rarely came. Its a trust issue. If someone has the trust in a trainer that everybody said was good then they shouldnt have to worry about their animal being there.

BigD- Ive known from the get go that I could not train the dog. Thats why I sent him to the TRAINER. As i said before ive trained horses, not dogs.

JPC- i wont say the name of the trainer on here but I will definately pm it to you. And if anyone else would like to know send me a PM.

Well sorry to hear about the circumstances, and your dad. I believe that trainer needs a stern talkin to...And if that dog was doing what you said he was doing before you were unable to visit often, that trainer need to fix the problem.....Or give you some money back....

I'd suggest finding a good HRC club and joining, Go out for a weekend and help them put on a test and you'll meet alot of people that know how to train dogs and will help you with your problems.

1. HRC = http://www.huntingretrieverclub.org/

2. my site = http://bestlabs.tumblr.com