Old sporting dogs
 

Does anyone have any advice or experience with training 3 or 5 year old yellow labs for hunting retrieval services? I have recently taken up hunting, (long time ago used to be upland game hunter), and wonder if either one of these worthless balls of fur;) could possibly earn their keep with either duck retrieval or pheasant flushing with proper training.

Great training book.
 

I learned a ton from this book and was able to apply it to my Labs. Even though the title is "Water Dog" it covers basic training for ground dogs really well. Good luck!

http://www.gundogsonline.com/dog-tra...-dog-book.html

Pineedles!!
 

I'm aghast! Those fine, impressive, Red Sox rootin' (I've seen pictures!!) dogs?? Worthless balls of fur?? They lie there and pose regally, now you want them to slosh around in the water? Run through the bush? Oh, I just don't think so!

Jeff, do the dogs like to play fetch? Most dogs do, but that is a good way to transition them to retrieve birds. Pick up some scent or this year when you knock down a bird, keep the wings for hiding in the field. This combined with getting a taste for the scent is the only way to know if your dogs will make good hunting partners, aside from what they receive from breeding.

The only sure fire way to train a dog that will not hold or flush properly is to attach them to a seasoned hunter (that has desirable hunting traits) with a
short lead leash. That way they have to pay attention to what and why the dog is doing when hunting. The age of your dogs may make this type of training a no go as younger dogs typically get the hint when corrected by an older dog. Your older friends may have something to say back when corrected.

Typically labs are water retrieval dogs, but that does not mean they cannot work upland, as many do. The issue tends to come in that you will have a very difficult time getting them to flush properly. Not having time to think about how the bird will flush creates a stressful hunt for you and your friends as safety becomes a very big issue. Most uplanders know that anything within 45 degrees of a partner requires stand down, some folks get way to excited when that flush happens and forget or have not mastered the technique of pulling off a bird in flight (read: new or young hunters).

Retrieval will be an easy transition for your dogs if they enjoy fetch.

One important note is to make sure they are not gun shy, have seen many good prospective hunting dogs started wrong and then they quiver when you open the cabinet.

Just remember, don't expect more from them than they of you. Meaning always end on a good note, whether it is what you wanted or not. And set aside a lot of time. Most of all have fun. It typically takes two years from 6 months of age to train a hard nosed hunting dog, so add some time for the added age. But, under no circumstances will they be ready for this season. But go an pick up a dog training license from the local CO ($6.00) and go work some of the fields that get stocked regularly to see what their reaction is to a bird flushing. The license allows you to work your dog and fire a shot in the off season, you MAY NOT shoot a bird, unless it is a training dove that you purchased for training. The CO will fill you in on what you can and cannot do.

If it does not work out with your dogs, I have a 3 year old English Pointer that has 5 Dual Champions in his blood and his father is a Master Field trial Champion in Greece. Not having the time to fully bring him to spec is my fault, but he locks up on moths and other yard critters, without formal pointing training. You can't have him (that spot on the couch would get cold), but I will let you train him, if I can hunt with you when he is done. :laugh:

I have trained three labs (all yellows) thus far for both upland game and water retrieval (ducks , geese etc.) All three turned out to be excellent hunters. My current and recent lab enjoys water retrieval more than anything. She is a little too laid back for pheasant, woodcock, grouse, upland type hunting believe it or not, but is still quite capable and does enjoy it.

Jmen has given you some good information above and one of the points he brings up will be your biggest hurdle to find out and get over and that is whether or not your dogs are gun shy.

One of the best ways to train your dog not to be gun shy is with a starter pistol. While your dog is feeding, stand in a far away room with a starter pistol and fire it a couple times only while they are eating. Over the course of a few weeks gradually get closer to their feeding station until eventually your are right next to them and able to fire the pistol without them running away. They will then always attribute the sound of gun fire to something they enjoy, eating. Then always try and train with gun fire whenever possible. Starter pistols are cheap and invaluable during training.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Dan

Now I am going to leave field train techniques and ideas to those above.... But some thoughts on working with older dogs. They get set in their ways... If they already to a lot of fetch and retrieval you are probably in good shape, however if they don't you need to work on the basic game of fetching extensively.... I never believe that dogs get to old to learn new tricks, just like the say goes. However they can just be a bit more stubborn. Also if these dogs have been used mainly as family pets, I suggest talking with the rest of the family, Mainly Mrs. Pineedles before starting this endeavor.... I was yelled at and reprimanded when by Mrs. LIforrelaxin when I hinted that I might get some realistic looking waterfowl retrieval training dummies for our new pup... I don't plan to use him to hunt but it is in the nature of the bread (springer spaniel) and I was going to foster it..... I decided I pushed my luck enough by getting the dog...

Great Advice
 

Thank you all for your great advice! Both love to retrieve from the water, but only the female will ground retrieve, and she likes to drop the "ball" a few yards short of where I am. I'll start with the gun shy testing of both and go from there. Thanks again.

Pineeedles;

One other important suggestion... Make training sessions short, no more than 15 - 20 minutes. Dogs get bored very quickly and you want to make this as fun as possible for them so they look forward to the next session.

Good luck and have fun with your companions!

Dan