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New Lab puppy

3,035 Views | 24 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by saltydog13
Midland CT 05
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AG
***Edited to add pictures***

Last week I started a thread asking for ideas on a new dog name. We ended up going with Pearl btw.

So now that we've had her for a few days, I've started doing some easy playing/ training. I've already read both Family Dog and Gun Dog by Wolters. I like both books and will stick with it, I just wish he would be more descriptive of what he actually does when he trains. For example during the time of 7 weeks to 12 weeks old he describes this as preschool. It's playful training with no real discipline. Problem is, he doesn't really go into any details of what or how to do this during this time. First thing he talks about is getting pup used to a leash, most of the training will take place with a leash on during this time. I've been working with her for the past 2 days on the leash dragging her around but I'm afraid I'm not making it fun for her. (I know it's a dog..) I would like to introduce some dove wings as apart of the play time, how do you guys do that?

This is when we first got her home and she met our other dog Bella



She fell asleep half way on the step that evening


Milwaukees Best Light
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Puppy pic? Wtf
Midland CT 05
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Yeah I know, bad form. I suck at posting pics on my phone.
Sean98
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8-12 weeks just work on basic obedience. Consistent but nothing too harsh. Sit is the big one for me at that age. I don't want my dogs jumping on me or anyone else. Make her sit before food, before treats, etc. If you want to put a leash on her fine, but I wouldn't go dragging her around.
FirefightAg
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At this point you should have a lot of toys, tennis balls, bumpers. I think Woller says bumpers only so they don't like to haul around your shoe. NO will be used a lot but that's it. It's more about getting the dog to have fun and know you are in the lead. A lab will learn sir in 1-4 days easy and will follow you around if you praise him at play time and can add a leash to get used to it. It's all about high pitched prasie for the good things and keeping you cool and only use NO for the bad things. If he runs past a bumper loses intrest or wants to wonder it's ok change the game or rest for a minute. It's all ok at this point.
highvelocity
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There should be an automatic ban FOR ANYONE WHO DOESNT FOLLOW RULE 1!!!
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AggieChemist
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Man, y'all put WAAAAAY too much thought into raising a dog.

I've raised four dachshunds and never did any of this crap y'all are suggesting, and all of them would lazily watch college football with me, bark at the neighbors, refuse to go outside in the rain, and **** in the hall when I leave.
BCO07
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I'd suggest using paint rollers for bumpers starting out. Get those mini ones to start with and just flip them down the hallway so that way she only has the option of going to it and coming back with it. Also, if you can get some wings for them to play with that's huge. If you cant get them to like feathers your going to have trouble later.

Whats most important is any "training" right now should come with 0 expectations of success and 0 negative repercussions for the dog. They need to get used to hearing the commands and after a while they'll start to figure out what they mean. Do things like calling the dogs name (or whatever you're going to do for a release command) when you throw bumpers. What you really want to do right now is to reinforce the natural desire to retrieve. Make sure its fun and as soon as the dog loses interest (probably 5-10 min) you're done for the day. Get used to the idea that training sessions aren't going to go past 15 minutes.
reddog90
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Gun Dog was published in 1961. Training methods have evolved quite a bit since then. I would recommend Bill Hillmann's Training a Retriever Puppy DVD program.

http://www.hawkeyemedia.net/puppy.html

If you wish to continue training yourself, it is a great stepping stone into Lardy, Graham, etc. If you use a pro, they will be pleased that you actually did something with your dog before dropping it off at their kennel. Jackie Mertens puppy DVD is a good one too, but I think the Hillmann program is more complete. Leerburg has thousands of free articles and videos, many focused on obedience, socialization, puppy manners, etc. Also, joining a local retriever club and joining retriever training forum are good resources as well.

reddog90
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Hillmann also publishes a ton of free videos on his youtube page if this price of the DVD program scares you. It is just very helpful to have a complete DVD program to watch at home, and he is available by email to answer questions.
Midland CT 05
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I think the DVDs or a video in general would be helpful. Wolters book is full of pictures but a video would be helpful. I plan on doing all of the training, I'm not as fortunate as some who have $1500 - $2000 laying around to put into a hunting dog.



PANHANDLE10
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OP you should take this advice. ^

A lot of dogs have turned out just fine on the Gun Dog book. And yours could too. But there's so many good trainers out there today. And the DVDs will help you so much more than a book if you've never done it.

Edit: posted too late. I meant you should take reddog's advice about the newer training DVD's.

Midland CT 05
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I like the idea of the foam rollers, I'll have to stop on my way home and get some. I saved a bunch of dove wings from a few hunts earlier this month, so I have plenty of those. I guess you just tape them on the rollers?
Midland CT 05
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Yeah, this is my first time training a dog. I'm definitely going to look into the DVDs.
BCO07
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Try just flipping the wing around and see if she'll fetch it up. If not, then tape it to the roller.
Emotional Support Cobra
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She is so cute!

Midland CT 05
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So far she's been very easy (knock on wood). I was dreading the first few nights, but she goes right in the kennel and goes to sleep within 5 min and very little whining. Last night we made it all the way through the night without having to go outside. Today is day 5 since we brought her home and we have had no accedents inside, so far so good.
agfan2013
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AggieChemist said:

I've raised four dachshunds and never did any of this crap y'all are suggesting, and all of them would lazily watch college football with me, bark at the neighbors, refuse to go outside in the rain, and **** in the hall when I leave.

I can see why you're so into hunting and fishing away from your house now.
reddog90
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Midland CT 05 said:

I think the DVDs or a video in general would be helpful. Wolters book is full of pictures but a video would be helpful. I plan on doing all of the training, I'm not as fortunate as some who have $1500 - $2000 laying around to put into a hunting dog.

Great. https://www.youtube.com/user/hawkeyemedianet

He is really a good resource. The free videos will give you an idea of his style of video format and you can probably find the answer to your original question. The actual DVD purchased on his website is a complete program to follow and goes much more in depth on his training style and achieving balance. The short cheap book on amazon called How To Raise A Puppy You Can Live With is one I always recommend for home life, socialization, house manners etc. Some of that might be covered in Family Dog and you can find a lot of info on these subjects on Leerburg.

Best of luck on the hunting partner. You will get out of her just as much as you put in.

bedofbrass33
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I'll support not using the Wolters books as well. He utilized "forced" methods of dog training. Basically, make everything unpleasant for the dog unless they do what you want. This creates a dog who is scared to learn and try new things for fear of being corrected.

Most trainers I think of as "good" today use variations of marker training that focus on teaching the dog that doing what you want is fun and exciting. Corrections can be added later but only after you are absolutely certain the dog knows what you want and is willfully disobeying you. These methods lead to a dog who will fail on occasion but is excited to work with you and willing to learn.

http://leerburg.com/philosophy.htm
FirefightAg
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Never heard of leerburg but he sure is full of himself.
arrow
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bedofbrass33 said:

I'll support not using the Wolters books as well. He utilized "forced" methods of dog training. Basically, make everything unpleasant for the dog unless they do what you want. This creates a dog who is scared to learn and try new things for fear of being corrected.

This statement seems contrary to the Wolters' book I use, Game Dog. Everything from sit/stay to blind retrieves have been based on simple games and a decent amount of repetition. Nothing has seemed forced or negative about it.

My black lab Gus is now 22 months old so he's getting his first full dove season. He's the first dog I've ever trained and I've based everything on Game Dog. It's been extremely satisfying watching how quickly a dog can learn based on very simple techniques. "Baseball" for introducing a pup to hand-signals. Brilliant. I should have thought of that!

No doubt some of you experienced trainers may have found more modern techniques to work with. But for someone who wants a well mannered dog that can also work a field/blind, I think the Wolters book is definitely worth the $15.

To the OP, I did supplement the book with some youtube videos to make sure my whistle commands sounded like they should. I don't recall being confused as to what Wolters suggests from 7-12 weeks reading Game Dog so maybe it had a bit more content. I'll have to go back a read that section. Seems like the most important part of that phase was simply human interaction with some playful fetching and basic sit/stay.

Good luck! Enjoy the new pup!
agfan2013
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Im really glad to read this, as I will someday get a lab and bought game dog as well in preparation for it. Too many good reviews in various places to not give it a try and after reading through it, I thought it was really well presented, easy to follow, and made sense in my limited knowledge where I could train one myself. Im not looking for a field trial championship dog, just a good companion that will retrieve 75% or more of the doves and ducks I shoot. Dont need a work horse of a dog that will be going out every other day, hunting blinds that have 4 people in them like a guide does.
FirefightAg
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I used water dog to train our family/field dog. I didn't stick to it 100% because I'm too nice. But they both turned out well. Never seemed to be bothered by anything. Force fetch on dog 2 was from YouTube.
TommyGun
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That was my experience with Game Dog, as well. It has been a while since I've read it, but I don't really remember any "forced" training areas of the book. In fact, it seemed the opposite of that from what I can recall. I haven't read any of his other books so maybe it's mentioned there.
saltydog13
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I'm using Smartworks for my 6 month old lab. Formal obedience is just starting so I don't have too much to review, but it's all laid out nicely to follow for a beginner like me
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