New Pups

[Huntlabs]

This is just a note to keep you updated on the male vs female puppy question. I for the next 3 weeks will have a 7 week old male and an 8 week old female lab. As they progress through basic training I'll let you know how they are doing. Initial impressions are that the male is just like my 3 year old male was as a pup. He bites everything that moves. That includes my hands and Doc's tale. I take it better than Doc does. The female is so sweet. She follows me everywhere and loves to be held and rubbed. She licks rather than bites. Both are just getting adjusted to the house and have accidents. Skeet, the male, has twice as many as Chic, the female. She is a week older but I think it would be the same even if they were the same age. I'll let you know tomorrow about sit training which will begin today.

[mother tucker]

Good luck with the pups.....both are black?

Note: Check out the note I dropped you under the Grand river kennel post!

[Huntlabs]

The male is a yellow. He has 3 of 4 MH as grand dads and a good looking pedigree. The female is black and pictured on the other thread. She has a great AKC and UKC pedigree. Dad is AFC/FC and mom is UH HR soon to be UH HRCH. Lots of Champions in pedigree. The genes are there and we'll see how it works out.

[Huntlabs]

Day one training went well. Spent about 30 minutes with each pup and worked on sit, down and come. Sit was no problem for either pup. By end of the training session both had grasp the command and eagerly parked it. Down was more difficult for both, a little more resistance from them. I'll contine to work on that today. Come was easy to introduce and get started. The dogs eagerly came to me when called. The surprise came with the introduction of frozen pigeons. Chic not only picked it up but returned it quickly to hand, gave it to me without a pulling match and retrieved it again. Skeet was much more interested in smelling and playing with the bird. After a short intro to a wing we ended it with him. Looking forward to today.

[Huntlabs]

Day two training was short due to having an open house at the school. My students or my dogs, students won. Reviewed sit, come, and down. Sit is progressing nicely and come is going well. Down is still a battle with Skeet. He would much rather eat on a stick or pull up grass. He is the explorer. He has to see and smell everything. Chic is doing OK but down seems to be the tough command here for both dogs. I will add the whistle to sit today. More fun with pigeons on the schedule too.

[Huntlabs]

Day 3 and 4 rained out serious stuff but did get a chance to throw a few pigeons. Both dogs did great. Chic returned the birds to me with just a here. Had to step toward Skeet to keep him from going past on the first one but both delivered to hand. No tug of war for the birds and both were ready to do it again. Stopped at 3 times and they were loving it. Pulled out the old Dokken Mallard to see what would happen. Chic returned it to me with no problem. Skeet had trouble getting it in his mouth but drug it back by the head. Hopefully the weather will cooperate today for more sit, stay, come, and heal. Whistle will be added too.

[Wing Nut]

H, why do you try to teach "down" so early?

[Huntlabs]

Its the next step in obedience and is a natural transition from the sit position to the down. It all fits together to start their learning process. The first few weeks teaches them how to learn for the rest of their lives. Both of these dogs are natural retrievers and that won't be any problem teaching. They are already retrieving pigeons to hand. They must however learn to learn the tough things early. Hope that makes sence. If not check out Water Dog. He talks about the critical training times. We are in the 7th and 8th week for these pups.

[Huntlabs]

Think these 2 need obedience training?

[Sasha and Abby]

Originally posted by Hillbilly:
H, why do you try to teach "down" so early?

I thought the same thing... [img]graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Huntlabs]

It doesn't matter. Put in where you like. I would rather teach it when the dog weighs 15 lbs then when it weighs 60-70 lbs.

[Wing Nut]

I see now, a Wother's pupil....is that the only book you extract knowledge from?

I just don't agree with all of his veiws-opinions ie; teaching "down" so early in a dogs training. It can (and I'm not it always does) cause problems later on.

A lot of people use his books to attain their goals, I think he is hard on dogs esp. (young ones).

There are a lot of better books out there...
Beautiful pups by the way, good luck.

Just my .02

[Huntlabs]

No, it's not the only reference. I also use the Tritronics Retriever Training by Dobbs. It also recommends teaching down early as a part of pups basic training. I taught it to Doc after he weighed in at nearly 90lbs and it was a great hassle trying to get him down. I'm trying it early with these pups to prevent that struggle with a 6 month old dog.

[Huntlabs]

Day 6 training includes water introduction. The pups had a great time and so did I. The old saying they took to it like ducks to water came to mind. We also worked on sit, stay, come, and down. All obedience commands are improving but not enough reps yet. Tomorrow after church we get to do it again.

[Huntlabs]

Day 7 training was a fun day. Had to meet a couple of friends at a field after church to work the big dogs. We had a good day working them on long blinds (150+) and triples. Doc is in need of more training as he was starting to use his nose too much on the long blinds. The pups got to explore the field and they had their first ride in the dog box for 20 minutes each way. They also got to retrieve a couple of chuckars that we had saved from the last upland training day.

[deadduck]

Observers here should not be critical of a man's plan. Thats the most important thing- having a routine, and structure to the training. Timing is important but not as important as consistancy IMHO.

Nice pups.

[Fish]

Most good professional trainers have learned that Mr. Wolter's opinions regarding critical time frames are not really critical at all. Until the pup is 5 or 6 months of age the only things required to turn out a great dog are good nutrition and fun. Keeping the "work" fun is important until at least four months. "Here", "heel" & "sit" should be introduced but the goal is for the pup to have fun during this period.

Another item on the list of most important things to do at this age is to always let the dog chase bumpers and not hold him back. Nurturing the "chase" during this period is crucial. Steadyness will come later and is really one of the easiest skills a dog will learn. Trying to steady a dog at this age could crimp the pups desire to retrieve and will definately demonstrate the trainers lack of training knowledge.

For a look at an updated and highly effective training regimine, go here and buy this book . This book will take you from birth to finished in cronological order. It is easy to read and you won't be able to put it down once you start. I have yet to meet someone who read the book that didn't learn something from it.

[Huntlabs]

Charlie does a good job in his book. I see him all the time at Hunt tests. Talked with him last week about our hunt test. He trains dogs for a living and has a lot of experience. I also have a VHS tape of Wolters' were Charlie is the demonstrator of his teaching techniques. As I read Charlie's book I saw alot of Water Dog in it. I guess you just have to pick a plan and make it fit your schedule. You can't read enough stuff, but you have to pick a plan and go with it.

[Huntlabs]

FW, I'm not a pro and just do this for the fun. I am a teacher and have done this for 12 years after a 20 year Army career. I do a lot of the same things with high school students in my JROTC program. Its amazing how much they enjoy someone teaching them discipline. The one's that have problems are the one's that get left in the kennel alone all the time. (dogs or kids)

[Fish]

I'm not a pro dog trainer either but I do scuba dive with one. [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] CJ and I are good friends and we talk about dogs a lot. I agree with your assessment on dogs and kids and discipline. You'll never see a group of happier dogs than those at DamBeaver Kennels on a week before a hunt test. My kerr loves discipline and he thrives on pressure...and thats a good thing cause without it hes a friggin nightmare.