question for the dog boys

[bog hole]

never posted anything here before, but i have a question that ya'll may be able to answer.
my lab pup will be a year old this may and has done extremely well in training.
i have one minor problem though, i work him at my pond almost every afternoon, unless i'm fishing on the weekends, the problem is, when i take him to work, i command him to sit, in which he will do so until he sees the dummie. once he sees it he begins to bark, almost begging me to toss it.
for example:
i take him to a spot in the pond where there is an extended dock, and a spread of dekes out in front. he knows what we are there for and gets excited, when i walk him down to the dock and command him to sit, he barks. i can make him sit by walking towards him and using a harsh command, but i want to be able to be very discrete with the command, as you would in the field. any suggestions on how to fix this would be appreciated.
thanks guys!

[BrownDog]

Have you taught him a "no noise" command?

I to have a very vocal dog. After teaching a "no noise" command I integrated it into sit. So that sit and “no noise” essentially mean the same thing. I then started working on honoring to give me plenty of teaching moments on both of these commands. IMO this is a life long training issue you will have to deal with on an ongoing basis. IMO a vocal dog will always be a vocal dog, you will just have to help them learn to control it.

[Palmetto Bug]

Wait him out. Give him the command once in a calm voice and don't do anything else until he quiets down. If he doesn't quite down, end the session. He'll figure it out.

[Duckman#1]

I dis aagree with that. Put him on leash and walk him. As you do stop and tell him to sit! And put up slightly on the leash. If he does "GOOD BOY"! If he does'nt tap him on the butt with a whip or stick. TAP not BEAT! It's not on his term it's on yours. Sit is a command!

[HuntinCosta]

i agree with what browndog and duckman are saying. you are giving commands and they need to listen to it. before giving any command you should condition them to it either using a whip or a collar. some sort of pressure tool, ear pinch etc. they have to understand that they are doing something wrong. but of course this is going back to the force fetch argument. because in order to teach a dog you are telling them to do something and not asking, force fetch is a useful tool. sorry im bringing all of this up, but your best bet would be to enforce sit and no noise commands together and if he doesnt listen let him know hes doing something wrong. he's no long an 8 week old puppy, he's a year old, he needs some sort of discipline to tell him he's doing something wrong!

[crowncreek]

You and your dog have some issue that need to be address before you go any farther with training. 1. noise this is a very big and very tough problem to fix, but can be done and will all ways be an issue that you will need to stay on top of. 2. Obedience if he is moving after you have commanded him or her to set you need to fix this problem right away. A dog that is not obedient is not worth hunting with and can be very unsafe for you and the dog. 3. This dog is running the show. he is doing what he wants and is anticipating your every move. It should be the other way around. Now some advice to help you along the way. As far as the barking go's when you get him out and are around the pond or in the field and he starts to bark or even the least little bit of a whimper tap him under the chin and command "no barking or quite" and then put him back up for a little while. Get him back out and try again if it happens again repeat the process it may take some time days or even weeks, but this is something that has got to stop. If he does bark or makes a sound he is not allowed to have any fun (bumpers, blind, marks, or swimming) Like I said before this is a issue that is very hard to fix and takes a great deal of time and needs to be corrected on every instance that it happens. The issue of him moving after you command sit can be easily fixed with some strict obedience work. You will need to require complete and total perfection, this will help in the field, dogs tend to get a little lose when the are out hunting and training, that is why you need to require 100% in a control environment. If you are to let this go untreated it will also only get worst with time. And for number 3 your dog has become and is the Alpha male this needs to be flipped around to where you are the man in charge not him. A lot of this will happen with a solid OB program and strict enforcement of commands. Also it will take time this is another issue that you are not going to fix in a day or two.

[HuntinCosta]

crown- wouldnt force fetch be the first place to start with this?

[crowncreek]

In my opinion no, he has issues that need to be address before moving on barking, and OB. I will agree with you that force fetch will help with some of the alpha male issues, however that can be accomplished with a strict OB program and requiring the dog to be quite on retrieves. It is time to FF the dog but there is a few things that need to be fixed before he moves on. If FF is tried at this point with little control you will see a lot of other problems come about (mouthing issues, and an extremely head strong dog that wants to do things his way and his way only)

[HuntinCosta]

i agree with you completely

[QuackQuackBlast]

Bog, my lab started the doing the same stuff at 10 or 11 months. To say it was embarassing is a mild understatement. He would bark continuously in the back of the truck if you left him in a parking lot and started breaking at the first gunshot of the morning, every hunt, regardless of whether a bird was down. He just flat out wanted to retrieve non-stop and would bitch if he couldnt.

I taught him "Quiet" command (while clasping his muzzle closed) just as I have taught him everything else and he went from the whining and barking stage to constantly chattering his jaw (like he was shivering or something). Thought that would never end, but by the end of the second year he matured and realized we were both a lot happier when he just chilled out.

Sounds like yours is just as anxious as mine and if this is the case, just give him time. Good luck, hope it works out.

[big dog momma]

You can always do some "dominating" things to show him who is in charge. Lay on him till he is subserviant. Don't squash him but try to show him YOU are the dominant one . You can tell when he accepts this when he quits fighting you.

[Fish]

Typical. If your dog's current behavior is on par with your idea of "done extremely well in training", you might as well stop training altogether and just let the mutt do whatever he feels like doing. Because, wether you realize it or not, that is exactly what you are doing now. You simply have not hammered home the REQUIRED obedience drills or established yourself as the alpha. This forum will not cure what ails you.

[2thDoc]

typical. fish will have nothing good to say but will make you feel like you are 2 feet tall. this forum will not cure what ails him.


(i think he's still reeling from the beatdown nutz and I gave him and gander on a clays course one time.)

preemptive [img]graemlins/fu.gif[/img] fishy

[Fish]

Tooof, if you think thats rough, you shoulda read what I typed before I edited it.

I was just admiring your avatar. That's a first class piece of white trash ya got there. The Mulleteer would be proud of you!

[2thDoc]

Bucky Rules!

He got shafted on the voting. Poor demographics. He is BY FAR the best talent in the group.