Quote:
Originally Posted by m_young10
Dog is 9 month old Black Lab, will be doing mostly on land waterfowl hunting nothing to serious but would like to have a good solid dog. I wont be doing any hunt tests or field trials with this one. I dont expect to have a championship hunter but would just like a functional hunting partner, I also have no issue putting the time in I just want to make sure I / we are moving in the right direction with his training.
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to have a solid dog it takes
obedience consistency obedience consistency obedience consistency obedience obedience consistency obedience
and consistency
is the main key
also force fetch your pup, if you are unsure of how that's done , that maybe the one part you would want a trainer to instill, and then you take lessons how to carry on with what the trainer taught him
then just work with him,
become a team between you and your dog ,
if that's all you are wanting you can do it all yourself, unless you work away a lot, and don't really have the time together , it takes patience and dedication, but the way I see it is,
if the pup does what you ask of it ,
and his style works for you then you've got what you want ,
if you can join a retriever club
practice with people that are into hunt tests
even though you don't want to go hunt test route , it will help develop a solid hunting partner in your pup
take some seminars, and a handling/training class if its offered by the retriever club
another tool you may want to invest in is an ecollar
watch the Bill Hillmann videos on how to collar condition and use it properly
it can be a great tool if used properly, or it can totally ruin a dog if you abuse its powers
I recommend the DT Systems ecollar it has a hand held piece that you can operate a gun and use at the same time