Well after a few other post on weather I should have takin my 6 month old pup on a teal hunt , I decide to take him and it was worth it , he made me very proud , trigger made 25 retrieve to hand and it was SO cool to watch him. I found that there's a few things to work on and thats what we will do , the only thing he did a few time was drop a couple birds as soon as he got to the boat , I need to work on him with holding and not dropping it short, what is a good way to do this , also hge was not gun shy at all by the third day he was able to watch the birds fall in the deeks and mark them , and he would look at me for the comand to fetch it up.

Congratulations your joy has just started!!

Man you not kidding , I've never owned a dog before him, and when I got him ,we started to bond , now he's like one of my kids , I will never leave him , and every time i take the boat to hunt or fish he'll be right by my side.

Westend I'm not sure what FFetch is really I've never done that with him,as for getting him back in the blind is another problem , I 've got a huntdeck on the boat but he likes the front deck and swims to it not the back for some reason when I'm training him he takes his bumper strait to the hunt deck , might need to look into a dog ladder my boats a gatortrax so I think they have them ,what do you have for your dog to get into your boat.

I have the Gator Trax dog platform to help my girl get in the boat. Here is a quick video that shows it.

Force fetch.

Congrats on your dog Slingshot. Like these guys ^^^^ have said, you need to do some research on Force Fetching. For some dogs it is the most difficult part of training, and for others it comes naturally.
But, DO YOUR RESEARCH! If done improperly you can really mess a dog up...
The basic concept is teaching a dog to obey comands (like "hold") because you tell him to do it and not because he wants to do it. Ear pinch technique is effective when done properly and devistating when done abusively.

Congratulations man! Bet it's a great feeling, can't wait to get my pup out there this season!

What your dog is not doing is finishing by the way you described it. He's doing everything but finishing, thats ok cause thats pretty easy to cure. When your in your back yard throw the dummy, he'll go out pick it up and start heading back to ya, how ever far he drops the dummy from you, you meat him in that spot, always run to him telling him hold hold hold, then when you get to him give what ever command you use to release...this has worked for me on my past 2 dogs.

Just rmemeber don't let him come all the way to ya, you go out and meet him commanding to hold at the same time, then just make your meeting distance shorter and shorter till you don't have to meet him no more, this may or may not work for you but it did for me.

Don't bring the puppy until he hAs completed all the basics u r creating habits that are more difficult to fix later its a lot easier to teach what is expected first then take him out and enjoy the rest of life with our all the hassle

Obivously it's not working out if he's dropping the bird and u still have to go out there and make him pick it up

Reminder: The pup is only 6 months old. Most puppies should not be trained forcibly to return before they are about six months old—the cost to their confidence, drive and initiative, and that all-important desire, is too great. You can take the drive out of your dog, but you can never put it back in.

OK you got it boys

No I say keep bringing him. You never pass on the opportunity to train your dog. If anything get a lot of boat time for him and this will teach in patience.

lol you guys are crazy, i agree Barnes....bring the boy every chance you get, the more wounded birds and dead birds he says the greater his drive will get.

Take,um barnes , I agree with Yall , Freshwaterkiller I completely understand what your saying I not looking for a feild trial dog ,or a perfect dog If you read my post right you would see that he only did this a couple of times as in two times.To me thats not bad at all , The more he hunted with me the more he wanted to retrieve birds , so my question is this why leave him at home if he wants to go and hunt and if he retrieve on my comand and brings 99% of the birds back to me ,then what more could I ask for , I don't want to force my pup to do anything unless it's my last resort. If you can't just anwser my simple question about holding , without telling me to NOT take my pup please don't replie to my post thanks.

@Slingshot-

This is from the Avery Sport Dog Training Camp. The guys at Avery know their stuff. You must also remember, at 6 months his teeth and gums are starting to transition from a puppy to adolescent dog which will also help with successful "hold" training.

Teaching the hold command is the first step in the process of force fetching your retriever. This is not an overnight or even 2-3 day process. It can take a couple of weeks to accomplish. Every dog is different, but teaching a proper hold takes time. This lays a solid foundation before we enter the actual force fetch process for the trained retrieve that we will cover next month.

Before "hold" is taught your dog should have been through the formal obedience, as described in the July training tip. If your dog doesn't sit obediently, go back to working on the sit command. This gives you an advantage, as your dog is less apt to spin, stand up, or otherwise try to avoid you enforcing the "hold" command.

Prior to being taught the "hold command" your dog has been able to have anything it wants in its mouth for as long as they wanted. This is a big change in their life and it takes some getting used to for your dog.

There are several items that may be used to introduce "hold." These include a wooden dowel, a paint roller, a small plastic bumper, or a gloved hand. Different resources will recommend different objects to start the hold process. My preference is a gloved hand. To start, put a leather work glove on either hand. Open the dog's mouth and insert your hand palm down while commanding "HOLD." Be mindful not to put too much downward pressure on their lower jaw. Having your palm down allows you to grasp your dog's lower jaw so that he cannot spit your hand out. There WILL be a struggle at first. Continue to repeat "HOLD" with your gloved hand in their mouth until they settles down and accept it. Include lots of praise at that time by petting them and saying "good, hold." Gradually increase the amount of time your dog is required to hold your hand until they are proficient for at least a minute or more.

Once your dog understands what is being asked of them and will hold your hand upon command without resistance it is time to move onto other objects. Always making sure that your dogs lips are not between the object they are to hold and their teeth, so as not to cause any unnecessary pain they could relate to the hold process.

Start with just the leather glove first without your hand, as they should already be comfortable with it.

You will no longer have the luxury of controlling the dog's bottom jaw with your hand so another type of correction will be necessary. When your dog tries to spit the object out you may tap them on the underside of their chin while giving the "HOLD" command. The more determined the dog is to spit out the object, the more forceful the correction.

Graduate from glove to other objects, whether they are bumpers, wooden dowels, etc. Once the dog is consistently holding easy items it is time to move on to items that are not so pleasurable for him to hold.

Items such as these include brushes with fairly stiff bristles, hard item like a small metal bar, etc. We are teaching the dog that whatever we tell them to hold, they must hold it. Finally, begin heeling your dog while they are holding an object. This will extend their concentration and further solidify the "hold" command no matter what the situation. Usually your dog will drop the object in its mouth when moving from the sitting position into heel. When this opportunity presents itself, stop the dog and firmly place the dowel or bumper back into their mouth with a couple taps on the chin, or slight pressure on their bottom jaw with you thumb, and repeat the process. You may have to hold the dogs bottom jaw for the first couple steps to further illustrate what you are asking of them.

Conclusion
When your dog is reliably holding any object during obedience drills (Sit, heel, and here) until asked to drop it; you have established one of the most vital skills in the complete retriever. Your dog is now ready for transition to force fetch, which we will cover in next months training tip. As always we welcome your questions and response.

You're doing fine and your dog will do fine. Just remember, A LOT of patience, repetition and PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE!!

Thanks for posting this Barnes. I will work on this until he's got it down.

if you stick with it consitantly it won't take long

I used paint rollers starting Sadie... Good info posted above!

This is what u get when ur dog has been taught to hold and fetch properly ImageUploadedByTapatalk1348971098.495879.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1348971117.420707.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1348971134.448863.jpgeleven birds and one fish

My dog does that also excpet sometimes she comes back with 2 of them at the SAME TIME...lol

Just messing, I love to watch all my hard work pay off when she launches off the bank time and time again

I sure the hell is, i didn't notice it at first

AKA freshwaterkilla , your dog will hunt and fish that great , barnes , thats cool your dog got that double , my trigger tryed to get a double on two didferent hunts but he droped the first bird he picked up when he tryed to get the second ,and brought the second bird to me ,then I sent him back out to get the other.

Here's a few picks of trigger , not the bset pic's.

another

That's awesome man!