My lab trigger made a year in November. He wasn't the best dog but was pretty decent... sit, stay, here... and loved to retrieve. Took him on the last hunt of the season and he just took off running during the hunt.. no matter how much I called he wouldn't come. When I finally caught him I whipped him. Later that night he ran away from home then came back by morning. Now he will listen and retrieve when he wants. Most times we will be training and he will just drop the duck and not touch it again..... what school did you send your dog to? Location? Price? I'm fed up with him and will brig him to the pound if this don't change.

Snip, snip.

Are you following a training program with him? Has he hunted before? I feel like we need some more background to figure out the problem. However to me it seems you haven't finalized his obedience training. Be careful just whipping a dog, unfortunately by the time you caught him he will not associate the beating with running off.

No this was his first season and only made 2 hunts. Does great in the yard but there is different. And I tried to just work through it but he just gets it in his head he is not going to work and he dont. A couple of people have told me to snip snip.

No training program... and I don't ask a lot from him but to stay bye and go get ducks. As long as he gets them to the boat/ blind I'm fine. De don't have to hold it there or anything

If hes fine in the yard then acts up in the field maybe try to get him out more so its not so new to him.

Agree with these guys . Don't think you are following a proven program . You didn't FF (Force Fetch ) your dog I'm thinking . Beating your dog did nothing good but make him scared of you and loose respect for you as well as the leader . You felt better but just lost a battle , but not the war . That being said , if I was you right now . I would regain his trust as the leader by having fun with him .In the mean time , order a program and start him just like a puppy step by step . Don't skipped any area , even if he knows sit . If you start skipping and moving too fast , you'll have holes in your training that will affect you in the field . Force Fetching is about so much more than force . It molds the way a dog will accept all training and how he or she will accept the trainer for the rest of it's life . A good FF program , the dog will learn to hold , drop , and fetch on command .
A good hunting dog is bred to do many things naturally , you , on the other hand , are not genetically predisposed to train a dog . The trainer needs a trainer . Find a local retriever club .

^ this is exactly to the "t". But I don't feel better after I whip him by that's my buddy. I will definitely order a program and start over with him.

That would be good . Not trying to make you feel bad . We all made mistakes with our dogs at one time or another . Remember this , you said that all you wanted was for him just too bring the bird back and drop it . In a way , you are lowering your standards and so will your dog . I for one wouldn't want my dog too drop a cripple in the blind , that could be a safety factor . Your in the state of La , they have a lot of HRC retriever clubs there . Find you one , someone will show you the ropes when you have a hang-up . Keep some follow ups on your dog , sure it will work out with him being a good gundog

Send him to akafreshwaterkilla. He's good with the dogs


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My lab is a year old also but has been threw OB And FF. I've gotten to different spots later in the morning where ducks where already on the water and my lab would run threw the whole field for 10-15 mins. I just let him run it out then he would come back.


Sent from my iPhone using Smoke Signals

Well this was said....."He wasn't the best dog but was pretty decent... sit, stay, here... and loved to retrieve. Took him on the last hunt of the season and he just took off running during the hunt....no matter how much I called he wouldn't come. When I finally caught him I whipped him. Later that night he ran away from home then came back.........Now he will listen and retrieve when he wants....most times we will be training and he will just drop the duck and not touch it again....I'm fed up with him and will bring him to the pound if this don't change."

Quite awhile ago, I had a really well trained bitch with nice titles. She was excellent working waterfowl and upland. I used her as a guide dog....very pleasant dog to be around. However, I really wanted more. The short of it was I could just not get her to the "next level" in hunt tests. Taffey is in my signature.

A pro trainer had moved to my area and I met him. After a year or two, I came over to discuss my "problems" with Taffey. He said bring Taffey over and I will watch both of you work together. After a short time, he asked me several times if I really wanted to know what the problem was. I insisted. Finally, he simply said. "It's not the dog." Then I asked him why he had repeatedly asked the same question. His reply to that was, "Most people don't want to hear that."

You need to find someone that knows how to train you to learn how to teach/train a dog so that your pup can begin to trust you (all over again) and do properly what he was bred to do. Sending him off to be trained (and/or having him "snipped") is not going to solve the problem. To repeat "It's not the dog!"

Just passing along personal experience, Jim

I know I probably don't do the best job as this is my first dog I train and I know I need help which is why I'm asking questions here

Bud, patience! !!

This will sound strange but - 2 hunts for a young dog isn't enough to have it 'trained'

I'm against forced fetching and holding blaw blaw blaw....

I make it fun for my dog with lots of praise. If I hunt with him and he won't do what I ask - I do more training until I have confirmed that he will always listen to my commands.

Beating your dog for not doing what you want it to will just make him not want to do it more.

Kepp it fun for the dog with lots of praise when he does something right.
A sharp NO and calm corrections for not obeying a command.

And worlds of patience. A dog can sense if your aggressive and angry with it.

Just make it fun - he'll come to love to get birds for you.

No offense but you need as much training as the dog does. Inexperienced handlers can screw up a dog's desire and ability more than any other factor. Like stated before, find some clubs and make some appearances at training days. There's no way to simulate hunting situations perfectly in training, and its impossible altogether without having bird boys and other help when training. These dogs are a lot smarter than most give them credit for. I have been in this game a long time, and I learn something new with every group session I attend

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Well istarted over today building trust.... i took him in the boat and we went fishing. let him lay against me while i fished and would rub his head. then i threw a stick a few times and let him play. after we got back he went next door so i stayed calm when i went get him and hes different just today. he responded alot better just by me staying calm.

Right on man. Keep updateing us hope it works out for ya.

Keep bumpers everywhere especially the boat. Sticks can cause more bad habits.

If your in port barre Cajun hrc is in your area they meet once a month for a meeting at rice palace and schedule some training days.

Try to go other places and train some. It doesn't need to be miles away or even like where you hunt just a park down the road. Different places keep the training new. Now having said that I've driven 30 miles to work my dog only to load him back up after 5 minutes.

I normally have his duck in my truck. Just forgot to put it back. I'm going to check them out also

No don't have any dvd's or books but been looking into them

Mike Lardy or Evan Graham

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

The problem with books is they don't tell you how to teach. It is "fine and dandy" to describe a session with diagrams and words, but success in the process depends on teaching plus the receptiveness of the dog in question. Having someone objective that is a good teacher of trainers will be much more effective than reading a book. Part of being an effective teacher is not taking what the student (dog) does personally.....especially with dogs in that they don't really think like we do. They don't plan ahead, try to get even or understand the concept of consequences unless tit is all part of a well presented pattern/routine.

There are three reasons a dog won't do what you would like 1) they are confused, 2) lack of effort and/or 3) inhibited. Most would like to assume it is lack of effort, but a dog demonstrates "lack of effort" more along the lines of "What's in this for me?.....nothing...so I'm not doing anything." It's not exactly thinking that, but a dog needs to have a reason for doing something related to his instincts. If I do this then I know what's next is either rewarding or not. Dog's are more into "reacting" (well or poorly). Both are reads that either you are doing something right or not. If every time they do something the trainer is "on their case" they shut down.....doing nothing is often easier....because in most situations....."I receive the same negative reward".

You'v got to take advantage of a dog's instincts. They like to chase, they like to please and they like to have fun. It's not unlike having a rewarding job. Look at it from your dog's point of view.....are you a fun, fair, consistent and rewarding type of person.....or not?

A dog that has a "good job" (meaning that all instincts are rewarded) will tolerate corrections and play your game because if done fairly they all work together and enhance the process. When things get out of balance.....a dog looses his performance.

There are five factors to keep in balance with a dog.....too much of or not enough of any one (or more) of these and you won't like how the dog performs.........retrieving, "birdiness", focus, control and responsiveness. The first two are rather obvious. For example if your dog is too "birdy", he'll often be out of control. If the dog is non-responsive......the trainer becomes like a potted plant. If the dog is not focused.....he's very difficult to teach and obviously if his control is poor the dog will be "out of control".

All this means is that the teacher/trainer must be aware of each factor in his dog and design training setups that maintain a balance. Too much of anyone of them creates imbalances which become rather apparant (to the skilled eye). The issue then becomes......who is at fault? The anwer almost always points toward the trainer not being a teacher. He has not maintained balance....and this usually is the result of wanting a dog to do what the trainer wants rather than doing what the dog needs. "It's not the dog!"

Old teachers never die.....they just give another lecture regards, Jim

I've found with several dogs through the years hounds, cow dogs, and bird dogs, are just like kids. From 1 to 2 yrs old think of them as teenagers they won't always act right, they have a lot going on. By the time they turn 3 they should be bombproof. Just be patient and stay with them they usually work out of it. If they are still an idiot at 3 not much help for them.


Sent from my iPhone using

"I completely agree with everything you said; however, I'd still recommend books/DVDs."

I agree that books are a way to find out what steps need to be taken. They kind of serve as a series of proven "lesson" plans. The best allow the "reader" to concentrate on training....and yet this is their primary weakness. The terrible assumption is the "reader" will be teacher. The problem is you're not "baking a cake". There's a huge difference to following directions when the variables along the way require a "pinch more of this" and "none of that". Each pup is unique and the reasons some may do well (because of a book) doesn't necessarily translate to using a book.

Again, I agree not having a plan in advance is naive. Not having a few texts around is foolish. I'd think it would almost be a given that a books/DVD's would be necessary, but they won't do anyone much good unless their focus is on teaching......from the very beginning. They tend to provide a false sense of security. Books do not tell someone how to teach, when you are doing something wrong and/or prevent a well intentioned, inexperienced trainer from wandering out beyond "left field".

I have quite a few training books in my library.....I rarely look at them anymore. There is one I do intend to read over again because it spends a great deal of time concentrating on the trainer being a teacher. It's one of those books that tends to make you see things a little bit diffently every time it is read. Anticipation and awareness are difficult skills to acquire. Often times it is more effective to look at yourself rather than the dog or a book.

Most books and DVD's tend to look more like "cook books"....."do this now and then that next" with little in between the lines explaining what to do if "yours" doesn't look the same. That's why on the dog training forums a great deal of time is spent "fixing things". "My dog is doing this.....please give me a simple, quick drill that will fix it......'cause I have other things to do....I'm in a test next Saturday, Opening day is coming up pretty quick or I am just sick and tired of seeing no improvement. This issue is not in my book (or DVD)....what should I do??!"

Trigger is showing a lot of progress. Just by building trust, keeping a calm voice and a lot of positive reassuring. Started force fetch today. Did decent, about how I figured but started to Calm down towards the end... kept it Short at about 10 minutes so he wouldn't get too bored