Dog Training

Not sure if anyone on here is a dog expert. I am training my golden retriever pup (he is 6 months old now) and am running into one road block with retrieves. I have him sit, and I throw a dummy out into the yard. he is AMPED to get it. goes charging after it. picks it up, turns to me and stares, then puts it down and wanders around.

If I throw a dummy in the house, he is 100%. hits the mark, brings it back every time. but as soon as we get outside he is totally off his game.

I have read a book that says I should be training him on a check cord, but all that does is 1) get tangled in his legs, and 2) as soon as I start bringing him back, he just drops the dummy anyway. so the check cord isn't helping anything.

I just tried getting him hyped up and retrieving inside, and then running outside and getting a couple throws in, that seems to help a lot since he is remembering the game. Just wondering if there is anything else I should be trying.

 

Try running in the opposite direction once he picks it up. He'll most likely chase you with the dummy in mouth. Praise, praise and praise and make it fun. You can work on final presentation & delivery once he reliably brings things back w/out dropping.

And start very short outdoors.

 

I literally just did this today. You need to start off slower. Slowly build up. Also are you rewarding when he does ? Also a long line may help even thought it gets tangled

Keep doing it inside so he is succeeding but you need to reward with a high value treat with praise.

 

Thanks!

I did try that once and it seemed to help I will stick to that method for a bit. Doesn't help that we got absolutely buried in snow yesterday. But I look at that as a good lesson in really searching with his nose!

 

yeah, he gets tons of praise (and a treat) when he brings it back. We have been keeping each session down to about 15 minutes a day so he ends wanting more.

 

Seems like you’re on the right track with starting in the house and then going outside. I’d keep it to small distances at first and work out to longer distances, even with tosses in the yard. @Sig45 makes a good point about having the pup sort of chase you, they get caught up in the moment and usually will keep whatever it is in their mouth.

You could also try expanding outside of just using dummies to dog toys in general. I don’t hunt with him but my dog knows “bring it” and will carry all of his toys/balls to me until I signal to drop it. I don’t even really remember working on it with him exactly. It just kind of became a thing. I think it started in the house just having him gather up toys etc—sort of just turned it into a game and kept it light with plenty of positive reinforcement with petting/treats

 

Whatever your chosen command is, he needs to reliably pick up a dummy while your holding it in front of him before transitioning to throwing at any distance. Try walking a dummy out and dropping it...then return to dog and give your command.

 

My shepherd didn’t like to retrieve either but tennis ball at the beach fixed that. I had to teach her to hold objects in her mouth and retrieve objects. She was traininto be a service dog so this was mandatory. We slowly worked up to her grabbing the ball or whatever and they getting down and telling her “here” and then she figured it out haha

 

Thanks everyone. I will keep working slowly towards it then. I scored a bunch of dead quail, pheasant and chuckar from a local hunting club so I can freeze them and start working some actual birds into the mix later. I'm sure I am over analyzing any issues. This is my first dog from a hunting breeder so I am paranoid about any mistakes in training. all my other goldens were just pets, not working dogs. but now I have two kids that want to hunt with me, so it's time to stop borrowing my neighbors lab and get our own hunting pup out in the fields.

 

What are your goals with the dog? One of the best ways to ensure you have a solid hunting dog is to follow a set training program. At 6 months old your pup is coming into the ideal age to start formalizing some training.

There are several sets of DVDs that outline the steps and procedures to take to get your dog up to speed on retrieving and handling: Mike Stawski - Fowl Dogs, Evan Graham - Smart Works, Mike Lardy - Total Retriever Training and Bill Hillmann. The DVDs are simple and straight forward, showing you the drills and exercises to get your dog through the basics. Some recommended books instead could be the Dokken series, Waterdog or British Training for American Retrievers.

For first time trainers it's also very helpful to connect with a training group, look for a retriever training club in your area. Even if you aren't interested in tests/trials training groups are a great resource and opportunity to get your dog pumped up to levels similar to that of hunting excitement.

 

Thanks! I have a Dokken book that I have been referencing. I'm not looking for him to be some champion field dog, I just want him to hunt close, flush and retrieve pheasant, as well as be a good family dog. I am please seeing his progress aside from his recent flubs with retrieves.

 

Has your pup been introduced (properly) to gun fire?

 

Before introducing any kind of retrieving, your pup needs to have his basic obedience (here, sit, stay, heel) completed. Once the dog becomes conditioned to the word "here" and comes 10/10 times without a treat involved, then you can work on throwing bumpers.

 

He has the basic stuff done (still fine tuning heel and stay). I haven't worked on gunfire yet, but when he is eating I will make a loud noise, and when he goes to retrieve I will clap loudly. Can't take him to a field yet since they are shut down to training right now, and I don't think the neighbors will like me shooting off a starter pistol in the backyard. Need to find a farm!

 

Does your dog know "place" yet? I know something that is currently helping me is putting my dog on a remote sit and then calling him to his place. I do this repeatedly until he is conditioned to coming to his place whenever I say here. I am slowly introducing retrieving again and he seems to be doing better bringing the bumper back to his place. If the pup doesn't bring the bumper back to his place on a retrieve, then the bumper goes up and all the "fun" ends. He pretty quickly understands that if he doesn't bring the bumper back to his place, then he doesn't get to have any more retrieves/fun.

I hope that made sense even though its wordy....its hard for it to made sense when I'm typing it

 

That makes sense, and no, that's not something we really work on. I was more interested in him just bringing it back to me, and not worried about where he landed.

A little off topic but what commands do you guys give for asking your dog to "hunt" vs find a downed bird?

 

I guess a place really applies more for duck hunting situations. I think whenever the dog first starts retrieving it helps to associate the place with somewhere he is supposed to go after making a retrieve. Once my dog gets that down, I will move away from the place and have him bring it to me.

 

I use "Hunt em up" for find the bird, and "fetch it up" for find and retrieve a dead bird. I have heard people use "hunt dead" and some others, but it is totally up to you and what works for you. It's all the same to the dog as long and you're consistent.

As far as getting you pup to retrieve to hand, you have to start slow. Get him excited about the bumper or whatever you are using and start short. If all you can do is drop it at your feet for him to pick it up and look back at you, start there. Make sure you are taking it from him and giving it right back. You want him to have fun and know its a game. You can get serious later. If you take it from him, hold on to it, make him sit, throw it, make him wait, then send him for the retrieve the dog is going to get bored. That all comes once he gets "the game." Once you have mastered the short retrieve increase your distance slowly. Until he is retrieving every time you throw a mark don't try to keep him at place and send him for a retrieve until he retrieves every time. I struggled with this with my Lab. What I found worked for me was finding a toy he was crazy about. For him that is a ball. Also going somewhere new to train. The house and yard weren't as exciting as the park. The bumper wasn't good enough either. I got him crazy about retrieving a tennis ball and from there started to switch to different things. A canvas bumper is a good transition to one of the harder rubber bumpers. Frozen quail work great too.