[Swamp Puppy]

boy, if i could lay all that out i should probably write a book and publish it.

how old is your dog?

does it already have an instinct to retrieve? (if you throw something will he/she chase it?)

has it ever been hunting before? if so, how did it do?

what type of dog performance do you want? a field trial champion or just a good retriever to get your birds?

give me an idea of what you're working with and teh good folks here can help you out a little better.

also, there are some good books out there. i'll get the info on them for you a little later.

 

[Swamp Puppy]

14 months old if i throw something she will retrieve it and bring it to me but i took twice this last season and she go to retreive the bird and half ways back with it she would drop it and leave it she is a akc registered choc lab does well in feild but terrible in water what can i do

sounds like you don't have to big of an issue here.

first, she is still a "puppy" at 14 months and has a lot of learning and growing to do. patience on your part will be a big help. my dog started at 11 months and had (and at 16 months still has) similiar problems. he will retrieve training dummys like champion, but sometimes drops birds well short. here is why.

he associated the training dummys with "play" (remember...still a puppy). when he brought the dummy to me i would throw it again for him. great fun in his book. after retrieving a duck, i would take it from him and then it was "hands off". play time was over. i made great progress early on with him by taking a few moments after each kill to step out and play fetch with him and the bird. he started bringing them back to me because he knew i would throw it again for him.

maybe not a a championship way to train, but it worked for me.

the biggest thing for you and your dog now is patience and re-enforcing good habits. people will recommend FORCE FETCHING to correct this problem.....and yes, that will work. i highly recommend that you DO NOT force train a dog under 2 years old. you run the risk of totally ruining an otherwise competent hunting dog.

books to look into:

'10 Minute Retriever' by authors John and Amy Dahl

'Hunting Dog' / 'Water Dog' / 'Bird Dog' all by Wolters

 

[Swamp Puppy]

it all depends on the dog's personality. i've seen very highly regarded dogs break because they were "forced" too soon. not only did they not learn the force fetch, but they gave up on retrieving all together. of course, professional trainers won't accept responsability for this...they just tell you the dog is "untrainable" and send him home. usually with a hefty bill for the un-training of your dog. he he.

btw...my dog is just over 14 months old and has been retrieving to hand since he was 11 months. was able to do double blind retrieves at 12 months, and is capable of taking hand signals now. he has never been force fetched or forced anything. he does these things becasue he wants to..not because he is in fear of punishment if he doesn't.

to each their own..i am not saying that you cannot force a dog at a young age. but just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should.

 

[Swamp Puppy]

"force fetching" is training your dog to pick something up or hold something that is given to him until he is given a command to release it into your hand.

the training is normally done with the dog standing upon a training bench or table and placing or "forcing" the dog to take and object and then subjecting the dog to some sort of pain punishment if he/she releases it before being given the command. common techniques are to pinch the ears..pinch the scrotum (male dogs), or the use of shock collars. the dog eventually realizes that if he/she drops the object that the consequence is going to be some sort of sever pain.

the problem with this is that some dogs personalities won't stand up to this sort of training at a young age and they end up shutting down altogether. they associate the entire retrieving process with the bad experience and just lose all interest. that is why it is recommended by a number of different sources to wait to "force fetch" your dog.

 

[Swamp Puppy]

hey swamp, I think "severe" might be a bit strong of an adjective.

you think "severe" isn't appropriate???????? having your nuts pinched isn't severe? are your's made of steel or something? i like to think mine are but that is a figure of speech at best.

shrpshtr - i couldn't have said it better myself. :salude:

but fine, even if you want to argue about the severity of the pain the dog feels. my point still stands. it is a pain training technique that forces (hence the name) the dog to do somehing against it's will with fear of physical repercussions if it does not.