Has anyone here done it?
I have no intention of working my lab (the hunter welly/barbour crowd is not really my scene) but I'm wondering if doing the classes might be fun.
Elsie is 9 months now and (even if I do say so myself) is pretty good on all the basics [all hail the holy clicker]. She is a retrieving addict (funny that) and is never happier than when retrieving tennis balls from anywhere but most especially from the river.
I'd love to be able to train her to do a blind retrieve and also to improve her smelling/searching ability. A perfected stop command would come in handy too (for prevention of puddle wallowing).
I have a book from the library - all rather serious but if we went to a class I could also work on her obedience when she is around other dogs.
Will they look down their noses at us? She is also from show rather than working stock - very noticeable when we meet working labs - but the basic retrieving drive is pretty strong.
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
Gun dog training for a non working dog?
SlubberOnAMission · 01/11/2010 11:31
I started off doing it just for the fun of it with my first lab - but enjoyed it so much, I now have 3 and pick up at a local shoot. We all get so much fun out of it -nothing can beat watching my dog do what it was bred for!
The classes will welcome you - regardless of what you eventually intend to door whether your dog is from working or show stock; many very impressive working lines have a fair dollop of show stock in their backgrounds.
The training is taken seriously - mostly so the dogs know what you're expecting from them, but they are also huge fun.
If you want to make a start with the stop command, begin by buying an Acme whistle like this, and give one short, sharp blast every time you ask your dog to sit. Blow exactly as the bottom hits the floor each time. It does mean you'll have to perfect speaking with a whistle in your mouth, but it's not too hard.
Once she's learned to sit every time she hears a single blast, start working on her doing it when she's a foot away from you. When she's perfected that, do it when she's 18 inches away, and so on and so on until she'll sit every time she hears a single blast whereever she is.
I can work mine anywhere up to half a mile away at the moment (it does depend on the wind strength and direction though 
)!
I do love my labradaughters 
.
Oh that is good to hear, that we will be welcomed and that it is good fun too.
I am already a proud owner of an Acme 211.5 (no pea!) and a jolly impressive recall we have with it too .
I'll start to add in a single blast with the sit command (she responds better to hand signals than spoken commands anyway).
Daisy can I ask what a hard mouth is? And will my dog have one as she hasn't been 'gun dog' trained from the get go. I say I have no intention of working her ...but if she turns out to be a natural.. well then a free brace of pheasant now and again wouldn't be such a bad thing
LOL @ labradaughters too
Really just came to wave
Haven't seen you in aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages.
Don't know much about labs but I know about hard/soft mouths as it applies to working Whippets too. A dog is refered to having a soft mouth when it will bring back live prey to hand, wheras a dog with a 'hard' mouth will have killed/eaten it.
hello there Wildy. My mission what I was on required a full suspesion on mn activities .
mmm I wonder if being raw fed will have given her a hard mouth - not that I feed her anything with feathers or fur on.
I was thinking about your puppy and its water aversion just this morning and how it probably wasn't such a terrible thing as Elsie fully spread and immersed herself in a stinking foul fetid water logged ditch.
No I don't think feeding raw will make any difference, it's determined somewhere between good training and luck of the draw.
I now have a puupy that pees in the rain, thank goodness and will also be (reluctantly) left during the day.
On my profile is a pic of him coated up (all my own work ).
Glad to hear your mission is completed and your are back here.
cor, that is one very fancy looking dog coat there
Very glad to hear he will wee outside now.
A hard mouthed labrador is one who damages game while it's being retrieved - ie it crushes the rib cage, rips the skin, plucks it, bruises it or otherwise brings you back a battered bird . It refers to the intent of the dog while retrieving game; whether it mouthes the bird on the retrieve or not.
It is occasionally an inherited trait - but is mainly learned behaviour. For example, lots of picking up a hard plastic thing with no give in it would contribute to forming a hard-mouthed dog. Once a dog has it, there's no failsafe way I know of to cure it but it isn't something that your girl is likely to have picked up already - she's still young.
And I've peeked at your pics. Your girl looks gorgeous. And mud and labradors seem to go hand in hand. We have an 18 week old puppy who broke a toe Sunday last - we've been back to the vets nearly every day to have her dressing changed. We've tried so hard to keep her out of water and mud and failed absolutely. Every day.
It's getting quite expensive now.
And my mn name is plucked from a few of our chickens .
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.