Dog wants to follow me.

[Big R]

When I am in semi-thick to thick cover me lab has a tendency to want to walk straight behind me through the cover. How do I get her out in front hunting even in the thickest cover?

[fishin58]

My older dog will do this BUT only when she is tired. She lives with my parents and is not in good endurance condition. She is just using use as a blocker.

More endurance training for your dog would be my soultion.

[APCfishing]

When my dog was a pup he'd do the same.

Stop and give a him a light kick with your heal, he'll learn that its safer to be out in front.

[Big R]

She is a puppy (6 mo. old) so I was hoping this was normal and more experience in the field would solve this.

[duckbuster]

It will. The older she gets the more she will work in front of you.

Don't sweat this to much.

Have a GREAT FALL!!!

[dc240nt]

Duckbuster said it best. The big thing is to not scold or "kick" the dog in any way. Always encouage it to be in front of you even if you have to slow way down in order for it to happen. Hopefully you are hunting by yourself. With a 6mo old you should be solo.

[rainylakefisher]

I had the exact same issue with my young golden retriever her first year. I thought I had a bust for a hunting pal. She was much better in year two and only started to trail me late in the day. I found that stopping and making her move with 'Get the bird' or some other encouragement helped her figure it out.

I would try to get your dog on guaranteed birds as much as possible (game farm) the first year. I also try to zigzag away from the dog as much as possible so we cover more ground.

[Big R]

I do hunt solo. This has been her only major problem as she is an excellent marker and retriever. I have tried slowing way down and even stopping but she just keeps the pace or stops with me. In open cover or on trails she is out in front but she must be afraid of losing sight of me in the thick cover. I'll just keep trying to encourage her to work out in front and to quarter.

[Neighbor_guy]

I am in my third season of trying to make an upland dog out of a duck dog. The first couple of years, she was a boot licker. At times I was worried I was going to bust her teath with my heel.

She is getting better now. I have been hunting her solo more and she is starting to realy get the hang of it. Quartering and working birds/wind and everything. But when she gets tired and is done with a spot, then it is back at heel or right behind.

I try to keep the enthusiasm and excitement up as much as possible. If I can keep her excited about the hunt, she stays in a lot longer than if I/we get discoraged.

[APCfishing]

If all else fails, use your heal.

[crothmeier]

my dog did this at that age. i just stopped, said no, grabbed her coller and led her in front of me (not forcefully) and said fetch em up(or find the bird). keep repeating this and eventually it will go away. she is 4 now and does it when she is tired, now all i have to do is stop, turn sideways and look at her, and then she springs out in front again.

[LABS4ME]

When creating a bird dog, everything has to be broken down into training.

It amazes me that people with retrievers will throw bumpers all day until their arms are sore and the dog's tongue is hanging out of it's mouth the size of a dinner plate. But yet this is where their greatest instincts lie... in the retrieve. Upland hunting is learned.

So, off goes Johnny and Bingo for their first pheasant hunt only to find Bingo can't figure out what it is that Johnny wants him to retrieve. And so he lacking confidence follows behind Johnny until someone magically throws a bumpre for him.

Pre-hunting season, get some pigeons and hide them in a small area of medium high grass. Encourage Bingo to find them. Do not worry about his style or desire... just really praise him each time he finds them. If he falls in behind you and does not take a command to go ahead and hunt, change the course of your hunt 180 degrees so now he invouluntarily is in front of you. Praise him for this and do not scold him. He will start to realize that praise comes when he is ahead of you. The problem with the heal in the chops is it forces the dog to walk further behind you to not get a boot in the face and is counter productive to increasing confidence. Eventually with each successful session, keep increasing the size of the hunt area so he has to hunt bigger and longer to find the same amount of birds. Use a command that you can use upland hunting, like 'find it', 'hunt 'em up', 'high on', whatever. As he gains confidence, he will gleefully go out ahead of you looking for planted birds.

As you are out that first fall, take time to immediately drop a freshly harvested bird behind you when Bingo isn't looking and walk 40 -50 yards away. Preferably up wind. Turn him around and encourage him to again find that bird. You don't want the wind in his nose so he just immediately bee lines it to the bird. You want him to search it out and learn to find and use scent cones. He may get down wind of it before finding it, but that is good. You want him to start to trust his nose.

It rarely takes more than a handful of these sessions before Bingo is out making fond memories for you chasing upland game.

Good Luck!

Ken