RoostRider
Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2008
- Messages
- 670
I have a 6 year old pure bred Black Lab that I am taking care of for my buddy while he serves another tour in Iraq. He would be glad if I would take the dog out hunting, and I would be glad if he would help.
This dog was taken as a pup and trained for birds.... I don't know much about how, aside from a shock collar with a tone was used and is considered his "hunting" collar....
The owner almost never took the training any further than the school he went to... he was trained with this collar and some sort of dummy.... I don't think he was ever actually hunted... except perhaps practice birds in camp...
This dog is great in most ways, aside from slobber... he has a lot of energy, he quickly goes into command mode and will heel perfectly on your left side, he will sit, and even stay if you show him you mean business when tossing his ball.... he LOVES to retrieve and will bring the ball back gently and drop it in your hand or on the ground, he chases small animals but usually obeys if you holler for him to come back (he gets off on a tangent now and again, and is hard to get back)
The owner told me a couple of commands for him and said he would get me his "hunting collar" and training dummy before he left, but things got ahead of him and it didn't happen.
I took him to the water and he was right at home playing fetch even in deep water.
I took him to the woods and he would stick by my side in heel mode until I said "hunt 'em up" (one of his commands), then he seemed to tear willy nilly thought the woods around me, getting further out (sometimes too far out).... but he would 'usually' return upon the "heel" command... but not always...
I called the people who trained him, an outfit called Online Retrievers in Minnesota, I only mention the name because maybe someone is familiar with their training techniques.... They told me not to put the collar back on him (good thing he didn't get me it).... they said he may have retained his training, or he may just get wild if I used the shock function, or even just be confused by the tone.... they didn't/wouldn't/couldn't tell me his commands and what I should do aside from consider sending him back for retraining and they would get him back in shape.... they were polite and nice, but I think they were afraid to tell me because they didn't want me screwing up the dog... especially with a shock collar...
What I want to know is how I can best retrain him for hunting birds (grouse and pheasant in particular) on my own..... I don't have big bucks to lay out on training someone elses dog...
Are there common commands he should know still? He does Heel, Sit, Stay, Hunt 'em up, Go get it, Lay down, Go!..... and he might even know "out" while hunting, but that might just be tone related..
Is it best to try to retrain him the way he was trained originally?
Should I get a dummy? What kind? How do I use it?
Should I shoot around him? Shoot and toss the dummy?
Should I use dead/live birds for training at all?
How should he be behaving? Should he have retained most of his teaching despite the lack of use?
In particular, how can I keep him closer to me if he gets out too far?
He seems to cover a lot of ground in a search like pattern, great for grouse, but he certainly doesn't point.... but he could get birds up that I would never even see...
Is there a good free place to learn all this? If so, would it be harmful to try to teach him a new way?
I want to try to get him up to speed by grouse opener (mid September) if I can.... He is a smart dog, affectionate, and well behaved most of the time, and I don't want to change any of that....
Also, he is a house dog, and he will be staying that way.... and I realize this is not the best for a true hunting dog, but he is more a companion who can hopefully help with the hunting....
I am excited to have a dog for a year, and glad that my friend trusted me to be his guardian for this year... even if he is only marginally helpful hunting.... hopefully he won't be harmful....
So please, help me learn how to have this dog help me out....
Thanks in advance.....
Mods- I know this isn't exactly gun related, but this is the best place I feel comfortable asking about this hunting related question... lock/delete if you see fit...
This dog was taken as a pup and trained for birds.... I don't know much about how, aside from a shock collar with a tone was used and is considered his "hunting" collar....
The owner almost never took the training any further than the school he went to... he was trained with this collar and some sort of dummy.... I don't think he was ever actually hunted... except perhaps practice birds in camp...
This dog is great in most ways, aside from slobber... he has a lot of energy, he quickly goes into command mode and will heel perfectly on your left side, he will sit, and even stay if you show him you mean business when tossing his ball.... he LOVES to retrieve and will bring the ball back gently and drop it in your hand or on the ground, he chases small animals but usually obeys if you holler for him to come back (he gets off on a tangent now and again, and is hard to get back)
The owner told me a couple of commands for him and said he would get me his "hunting collar" and training dummy before he left, but things got ahead of him and it didn't happen.
I took him to the water and he was right at home playing fetch even in deep water.
I took him to the woods and he would stick by my side in heel mode until I said "hunt 'em up" (one of his commands), then he seemed to tear willy nilly thought the woods around me, getting further out (sometimes too far out).... but he would 'usually' return upon the "heel" command... but not always...
I called the people who trained him, an outfit called Online Retrievers in Minnesota, I only mention the name because maybe someone is familiar with their training techniques.... They told me not to put the collar back on him (good thing he didn't get me it).... they said he may have retained his training, or he may just get wild if I used the shock function, or even just be confused by the tone.... they didn't/wouldn't/couldn't tell me his commands and what I should do aside from consider sending him back for retraining and they would get him back in shape.... they were polite and nice, but I think they were afraid to tell me because they didn't want me screwing up the dog... especially with a shock collar...
What I want to know is how I can best retrain him for hunting birds (grouse and pheasant in particular) on my own..... I don't have big bucks to lay out on training someone elses dog...
Are there common commands he should know still? He does Heel, Sit, Stay, Hunt 'em up, Go get it, Lay down, Go!..... and he might even know "out" while hunting, but that might just be tone related..
Is it best to try to retrain him the way he was trained originally?
Should I get a dummy? What kind? How do I use it?
Should I shoot around him? Shoot and toss the dummy?
Should I use dead/live birds for training at all?
How should he be behaving? Should he have retained most of his teaching despite the lack of use?
In particular, how can I keep him closer to me if he gets out too far?
He seems to cover a lot of ground in a search like pattern, great for grouse, but he certainly doesn't point.... but he could get birds up that I would never even see...
Is there a good free place to learn all this? If so, would it be harmful to try to teach him a new way?
I want to try to get him up to speed by grouse opener (mid September) if I can.... He is a smart dog, affectionate, and well behaved most of the time, and I don't want to change any of that....
Also, he is a house dog, and he will be staying that way.... and I realize this is not the best for a true hunting dog, but he is more a companion who can hopefully help with the hunting....
I am excited to have a dog for a year, and glad that my friend trusted me to be his guardian for this year... even if he is only marginally helpful hunting.... hopefully he won't be harmful....
So please, help me learn how to have this dog help me out....
Thanks in advance.....
Mods- I know this isn't exactly gun related, but this is the best place I feel comfortable asking about this hunting related question... lock/delete if you see fit...