If you don't read the rant the question is at the bottom.

My father in law has took a pup that was a little under 6 months old to a so called "PROFESSINAL TRAINER" I also took my pup (At the age of 6 months) to this very same trainer and left him a month and was considering leaving him for 6 months and after the first month it had seem as if my pup had went backwards instead of progressing and with the fact that I had tried to see my pup after the first two weeks as he had said was kind of mandatory visitation type thing where he would show me what all he has done with him and whatever else and he seem to never be able to set a date that I could come see him on that second week on the third week he had told me to come and I drove 3 hrs. to go see him he wasn't there. He called me back and told me to come the next day which was on a Sunday I went over there and my pup had dirreaha and passing blood with it. He had assured me that there wasn't anything wrong with him and I QUOTE "PUPS PASS BLOOD A GOOD BIT" and that if he wasn't better he would take him to the vet on Tuesday and he said that my pup wasn't picking up on things real well and was slow learning which was hard for me to believe considering that when he was dropped off he was already pretty good on the OB. Well after all that which its more to that story and on the 4th week I was out of town and wife wife had went with my in laws to see thier pup well she saw mine and called me and told me he looked awful like he had not been fed in weeks. So I told her to load him up and bring him home and get him to the vet so she did and he was ate up with worms. Which two weeks before we had took him over there he had just been dewormed and checked out by the vet. Well after that the guy called me back and ask me if I was going to bring him back and I told him nicely no I would finish him myself. My pup is now 9 months old and has been on 3 hunts and hasn't missed a beat. He has got to pick up but 2 birds which I know isn't a lot but it's been slow for me this year.

Well my in-laws went and picked their pup up last week after she failed a hunt test. The guy said that it was just bad luck that he had 2 other dogs that fail. He had said that the bird she was supose to pick up fell in a spot where 10 other birds had fell already and she ran past it and never found it. Well yesterday my father in law wanted to take the pup hunting witch she will be a yr. old on Jan 12 on her first hunt. He shot a mallard hen that fell 15 yards from him in some knee hight grass the dog had no interest in picking the birds up. He walked her over to the bird and bird took off running and made it into the water and she just had no care in the world about this bird what so ever. She just watched it!!! Now this trainer said she was field ready when he picked her up. I'm not here to bash the man's name bc I've never had no dealings with a dog trainer untile now and this maybe how things are done in the trainer world I don't know. He knocked down 3 more woodies and she never would pick the birds up just swim by them and keep on swimming. She will not have anything to do with a duck. Even in the yard she will not.

My question here is this how do you get a dog to do a transition to live birds? She does good with a bumper but will not pick up a duck at all. I have never had this problem with any of my dogsand he is wanting me to work with her.

_________________

You can try clipped pigeons.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

Instead of using or training with bumpers use your duck carcasses... Or cut the wings off and attach them to the bumpers and train that way.. And as for my opinion on dog trainers.. Iam not bashing them it's just better off doing it yourself.. Even if you only have 15 min a day... It something that dose not happen over night it takes time...

i agree. you may not be a professional trainer yourself but training your own dog establishes a bond between you guys. he knows your command and you know his capibility. the key is dedication and discipline. ive seen wings on bumpers work wonders. a guy i know used scent on his bumpers a couple of times also. i didnt think it would work, but considering he trains field dogs, to police dogs, to dibetic dogs i assume he knew some tricks to the trade. he helped my dad train our dog years ago. i guess really he trained my dad more than he trained the dog. about 6 months of everyday work and he was freakin awesome.

i assume that your dog came from a good blood line being that you sent him to a professional trainer?

Was the dog forced fetched? Something isn't right if a wounded bird doesn't get her goin.


Sent from my iPhone using

What dfou says
My dog will try to pickup a brick if you tell him to

Yea something isn't right. I took my lab on his first hunt when he was 7.5 months old and the first duck he picked up was a crippled teal that was still very much alive. Before that hunt he had only seen frozen ducks. Is try the wings on the bumper first. There's also a duck scent and u can inject it into a duck shaped bumper.


Sent from my iPhone using Smoke Signals

Really sorry too see this . First off , a real pro would have first built drive on birds first . You never force a dog on a bird , just like water you don't force until the dog is ready . Then FF would have been done . So no , your in-laws dog wasn't properly FF or never was . Their are good pro's as well as bad , that being said . Now , you can really do it yourself . Their are programs for you too follow , for example . Fowl Dogs ( 3 Vol's for around $65 ) , Duck Dog Basic's ( Chris Atkins program-2 Vol's for around $55 ) , and their are others out there like Evan Graham-But cost a lot more. The first two examples will get you a finish retriever , trust me . I also run hunt test with HRC and have title a few dogs too a HRCH ( HUNTING RETRIEVER CHAMPION ) and I'm no pro . I even have a female who I know can get a grand , just don't want too spend the time away. Recommend you find a local retriever club , they will help you . Get the program and start your dog just like a puppy and don't skipped any area and don't rush . You do this , it will work out

Someone on here suggested me to shoot crows and have him retrieve the crows. That will get him use to the gun shot and to look for birds. Also keep in mind a wounded crow is a mean crow and may discourage him and retrieving wouded duck
so try to ensure crows are dead when they hit the ground.

live shackled birds. Buy some live pigeons or ducks and place a panty hose stocking over it.

Just take your dog out with it throw dead birds for your dog and shortly the other dog will retreive one when she does lots of praise is needed sounds like your trainer was like the one I first self with there are some good and some bad but nothing is better than doing yourself if you need a good trainer in Mississippi try Ronnie lee he is good

Anybody have or know where to get live birds ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not in your state , but I've always get lucky by checking with the local feed stores . They always have a lead on who's got ducks , quail , and etc . @ dfou , notice your location was P-Ville . Would that be Pineville , I went to Pineville high in the 70's where they were called the Rebel's . We had the riot's there when they started busing blacks across the Red River from Alex's .

Try craigslist dfou. Its hard to find mallards but sometimes you can find some kind of flying ducks