[snipe a duck]

Hey Guys,
My four month old lab was doing really well retrieving puppy bumpers but started to want to take off with the bumper instead of bringing it back to me. Now I only throw bumpers when he's on the check cord. Sometimes he brings them back pretty well but other times he gets interested in playing with the slack in the cord between me and him and drops the bumper to play with the cord. What do I need to do to correct this ?

 

[BigJls1]

how many are you throwning in a session?

are you following a program ?

 

[Drinkin' With Deacon]

Begin with shortening the throw and lessening the number of throws. Make a routine, say when you come home from work and do your drill. Get pup out of his kennel, do you a couple of throws, put him back in his kennel. Try that for 2 weeks and see how he responds. Use the check cord as you see fit. Suggest you do these retrieves along side a fence to minimize his wayward return. Also, have someone make the throw for you even though it is a short throw so you can concentrate on his work. Let him loose the moment the bumper hits the ground.

Deke

 

[snipe a duck]

thanks for the reply's i've read tom dokkens book and thats what i'm following. I typically throw 3-4 max and if he seems to get bored at three the next time i'll only throw two.

 

[Hairy Dawg]

If you're going to use an E-collar, he isn't too far away from being ready for CC to HERE. Once you condition him to HERE, the running off to play with the bumper ends. Until then, I personally would probably not even throw any more bumpers, and work on other light duty obedience oriented drills.

 

[swampbilly1980]

I think you may be expecting too much at this point. At 4 mos. your pup is ready for some learned diciplinary behavior :yes:
While it is good that you are doing bumper work with him, he may not have learned everything he needs to know in O.B...He's still a pup,..get some birds in his mouth.

He's taking off with the bumper because he's a pup, and he doesn't understand HERE! yet. :beer:

 

[crackerd]

It's very simple, snipe, once you get a couple of things out of the way. 1) You shouldn't be throwing for your own dog, and 2) no routine's necessary so long as you use the check cord correctly--and with decisiveness.

Have an assistant go out about 40 feet and throw the bumper a short distance, maybe a flat toss of 15 feet. Release the pup for the bumper when it hits the ground. Follow along behind the dog quickly as it runs out--if your checkcord's a 30-footer, you've only got to run 10-15 feet till you can catch up to the end of the checkcord. Now, as soon as the pup puts its mouth on a bumper, start reeling it in, until you're both back up to the original line where you sent the pup from. Do not stop reeling until the pup is at your side or directly in front of you. All the while, blow your come-in whistle and/or continue commanding "Here! Here! Here!" in as encouraging a tone as you can.

And what's most important--keep reeling even if the pup has dropped the bumper or didn't get its mouth secured around it when you started pulling it in with the checkcord.

This will impress upon the dog that the imperative is the return, not the retrieve. They will always retrieve.

You've got to be quick on this and determined to see it through. Also calls for some athleticism, so be ready, but do not fall victim to manhandling or berating the dog out of frustration. Retrievers aim to please, you're just showing the pup what it must do to please you. Stay cool and always encouraging, even though this is "hands-on" training.

If the pup did not get the bumper and retrieve it to you while being check-corded, tell the helper to pick up the bumper and start over. Another throw. And another repetition even after it's succeeded in getting the bumper back to you. Couple of days getting the checkcord treatment, with four or five straight successful returns over those two days, and you should be able to remove the checkcord and get compliance with a return.

MG

 

[swampbilly1980]

Crackered,..+1 :thumbsup: ..maybe I'm on an O.B. roll here or something :lol3: , but there seems alot of fellas' that want to put the cart before the horse lately ..ffing before a good O.B. foundation of basic commands is established..with the idea that , ie,..ff will clean up any o.b.,..issues that may exist,.. etc.,etc,..

 

[terrellwa]

I think you may be expecting too much at this point. At 4 mos. your pup is ready for some learned diciplinary behavior :yes:
While it is good that you are doing bumper work with him, he may not have learned everything he needs to know in O.B...He's still a pup,..get some birds in his mouth.

He's taking off with the bumper because he's a pup, and he doesn't understand HERE! yet. :beer:

Swamp,

You didn't tell him the most important thing to any training regiment....

take your dog behind the woodshed and whip his little arse

 

[swampbilly1980]

I think you may be expecting too much at this point. At 4 mos. your pup is ready for some learned diciplinary behavior :yes:
While it is good that you are doing bumper work with him, he may not have learned everything he needs to know in O.B...He's still a pup,..get some birds in his mouth.

He's taking off with the bumper because he's a pup, and he doesn't understand HERE! yet. :beer:

Swamp,

You didn't tell him the most important thing to any training regiment....

take your dog behind the woodshed and whip his little arse

Getem',......Aww Gawd,..I like how you accidentally left out the (just kiddin") part of it you scoundrel you.. :yes:

I like to mention this to try to ease some of the fustrations with a little laughter, dogs can try your patience sometimes... :beer:

 

[Teebs]

A pups seem to have A.D.D. really bad. Do you keep your pup on some sort of lead or check cord whenever he is out? Everytime I had my dog out, i kept him on a really short lead. That way he gets the feeling of dragging it around. Don't leave him unattended with it on though. After a while he will not even notice it between you to when throwing bumpers, and will focus more at the task at hand.