[rlp1970]

Hello GUYS!!
I am new to the forum and 2nd year of duck hunting. I have a black male lab he is 2. The guy I got him from worked with him a little and had to give up do to job reasons. Got him because he was chasing whitetail deer that are being raised for game leases. My question is I have never trained a dog, is he trainable at his age? I also would love some advice on how to get started .
Thank You

 

[Bull_Can]

Go out and buy a copy of Game Dog, by Richard Wolters. This is a great book and lays down the basics, as well as more advanced techniques to get an all around great dog.

 

[SteveInTN]

It's definately "do-able", it will just take time and patience, especially since you've never trained a dog.

Before you start, you might want to get a feel for his desire to retrieve. Does it seem to be something he naturally wants to do? If you throw something, will he go and pick it up?

I'm a Wolter's fan as well, but I would suggest that you get the Water Dog DVD/Video along with the book. Game Dog is basically a concise version of Water Dog with more Upland stuff thrown in. I have both books & videos. Get the Water Dog DVD and watch it every night for a week, then get out and start working with the dog on obedience. Just go slow, be patient, and don't move on to the next step until he has mastered the current.

 

[h2ofwlr]

Yup Wolters is good common sense approach to training. :thumbsup:

 

[SteveInTN]

Yup Wolters is good common sense approach to training.

Couldn't agree more! You always see people dismiss Water Dog, saying that it is 'outdated'. What they really mean to say is that it doesn't include the Force Fetch and use of an e-collar. I had decided early on that I would use those two tools and kept that in the back of my mind when following along. The Water Dog DVD/Video does cover Force Fetch, but the book does not.

Still, Wolter's approach of starting training the first day home from their momma is the way to go. I don't think there is a sounder method with which to produce a started dog. There are plenty of equals, but none any better. For advanced training and training specifically geared towards hunt tests and trials, there are better guides. All I want is a hunting machine, and Wolters' Water Dog has produced.

 

[rlp1970]

Thank You!!!

 

[jlb512]

I feel your pain. I aquired a nine month old from an old lady and he NEVER had any training and is stubborn as a mule.. I got GAME DOG from the local library and it is an awesome video for instruction. I was also recommended bya trainer to use a pinch collar with obedience bar. Keep your progress updated.

 

[phillipstd]

Has anyone heard of any other videos or books besides wolters?? I've got a ton of books, and videos, even the wolters ones, there's a couple that I dislike even more, but only one or two, but there's a ton I like way better, the book jim dobbs put out is by far my favorite, I think it's the tri-tronics book, don't remember, I've heard so may people bash wolters cause he never actually trained a dog that did very well, just wrote about it. lots of dog trainers think water dog is the bottom of the barrell. It was the first training book I read though.

 

[jlb512]

Two good books I just read are:
GUN DOGS by John R. Faulk
The Labrador Shooting Dog by Mike Gould

Both are very good reads with a wealth of info. I also really liked the Game Dog video by Wolters. I am not experienced enough though to be discriminatory to anyones works. So I like them all