Young Dog's best day yet

[plantquestions]

Drake and over under.jpg

Did a woodie shoot with Pops this morning.

Shot 5 on 7-8 shots. Dipped out early to keep pressure low. Drake's about 2 and is still relatively inexperienced. Last season was not a ver productive one for me. I trained him myself from YouTube videos and asking friends for advice.

He had his best day of hunting yet. Picked up all 5 birds. Was steady through birds buzzing over head, to shooting, to birds landing/falling in the water 5-10 yards away. Picked up his first cripples still flapping today, wasn't phased one bit. He found one wounded birds in deep cover purely off of scent tracking on the walk out and flushed out another hidden cripple. Looking forward to many more hunts with this stud.

[JABIII]

Good looking pup!

[plantquestions]

Appreciate it man. Pic doesn't do justice to how friggin big he is (85-90lbs)

[ziggy]

that's what it's all about right there. nice job dude

[Timsmith]

Ain’t trying to hi-jack you thread, cheers to a good looking lab.
They pick up hunting quick. I have a year and half black lab, which has no training,except obedience. Last year I introduced her to the dove field, gun shy a little the first day , second day a little better but wanted to visit other hunters. I left her at home for reminder of season. Squirrel hunted her on off season and got her retrieving of squirrels and balls to an art. This year she is a bird dog , she will watch for birds and when she hears the safety clicks off, she is looking, dead birds are dropped at my feet, crippled birds have no chance. Lost birds from other hunters are found. Her mother has no interest in hunting,but her father is owned by Millhaven. She was the runt and rest of litter was chocolate, so no one wanted her. She was free of charge, but I would not take million dollars for her. She goes bird hunting 3 times a week and other hunters are bragging on her cause she doesn’t give up hunting and well mannered. She is definitely making me proud .


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[cajunwannabe]

Beautiful looking pup! It's a game changer hunting with a good retriever!

[plantquestions]

@Timsmith the manners thing is definitely under appreciated. My guy still has to work on being steady while watching me put out decoys. He’s been rock steady through shooting all season, but can’t not be by my side. Makes me feel loved to sure, but also ticks me off.

I’m gonna work him on squirrels to keep him fresh this spring. He’s pulled some out of tm yard I’ve shot with the old pellet gun, but I want him working on using his nose in the woods.

[scatter shot]

Manners and absolute response to basic commands are critical to the safety and hunt training success of your dog.( come, sit/heel and stay)
I've trained 3 labs over the years and this is what I worked on the most ( way more than retreiver training) when they were young.
Lack of solid command and control of the dog is setting you up for less than excellent results IMO.

[YoungBuckTX]

Good stuff. Check out the duck dog basic DVDs. That's what I've used and it's gotten us to seasoned level HT , thus far. Agreed, a steady and obedient is the most important qualities of a gun dog

[plantquestions]

The ones by Bill Hillman?

The major stuff I’m still working on is sitting in place while I’m not next to him and taking a good line back. He does left/right ok