Too late to start training?

[nistka93]

My lab will be 1 year on the 11th. I havent done much for training, but would like to. Am I too late to start or will he be ok? Also, any recomendations o good trainers in MN?

[Todd Caswell]

Never too late too start, I would suggest getting involved with a retriever club, either Central MN retriever club in Sauk Rapids or Benton county retriever club between prinston and Foley. And Purchase a good training program to follow, you need a good foundation and a plan. Stawski's "fowl Dawgs" is a good afforable program and I would recommend him as a trainer as well, Rick has a solid program and is good at training the trainer as well, and he has excellent grounds, Fineline Retrievers in Milaca MN

[Powerstroke]

I would say that you are not too late, but it can be tougher. Do to lots of different factors I did not get my dog to formal training until he was 1yr old. The trainer took him willingly, but we settled on a shortened training program than their normal package. The trainer wanted to make sure my dog was "ready and willing". Sometimes it takes time to unlearn some behaviors that are undesirable for a hunting dog.

It ended up working out well for me. He ended up being a much better dog, even after just the first two weeks of training.

We used Wings and Whistles in St. Boni.

[kentuck_ike]

Lake country retriever club, is close to you. I think the Run at the Horse & Hunt club.

Trainer: Greg Fryar, High Fly'n Kennels in Elko.

[pokerface]

I didnt get my lab trained until he was 2 years old with good results. I did obiedience training on my own, but not much else. I would recommmend watching several trainers and see how they go about training. Most trainers should have no problem with that. The training turned out very good and hes a pretty good hunter and retriever now.

[BLACKJACK]

A dog doesn't have to goto a professional training, you can do it yourself, if you're willing to put in the time and effort. It just takes some time every day, with longer sessions on the weekends. Get a couple a good training book, work on the basics, sit, heel, stay, come, quartering, make sure you expose them to guns properly. Joining a retriever club and training with someone else is a great idea.

[Brocster]

I got my lab when he was 10 1/2 months old. He had no training prior to getting him and was considered "untrainable". (Totally not true, but that is a different story).

I didn't start working him on birds/retriever training until he was almost 1 1/2, and he has turned into a DYNAMITE bird dog. He is now 3 1/4 year old. I am no expert, but here is what I did...

1. Worked hard on basic obedience training. Hard really means consistent.

2. I did send him to a two week intro course at a trainer to get him on birds. I did this when he was almost 1 1/2 years old. This was really to drive home birdiness.

3. I worked with him 15 - 30 minutes a time, 3 - 4 days a week. Just constant retrieving skills that I learned from the internet and books. Nothing crazy, just the basics. Sometimes in my driveway, sometimes in a nearby park. I also took retrieving dummies along with me for walks.

4. I kept a couple dead pheasants in my freezer to work up birdiness, retrieving and tracking skills. I always have scent on or injected into the dummies.

More than anything, the foundation for my training approach was basic obedience. I also used positive reinforcement versus negative. I barely EVER used a shock collar, and never ever shocked him when he was retrieving or bringing back dummies/birds.

The rest was really just getting out hunting with him. Be patient. Your dog is going to learn over time, so don't expect top performance right away. Have the mindset that your first year or two hunting with him is as much about training as it is about your hunting success, and you will be much happier I think. Have a longer term approach and I bet you will be thrilled with the results. Also, it sure has been rewarding to see my lab progress.

I used Stevenson Gun Dog Training in Ramsey. I could not more highly recommend someone.

Hope that helps.

Good luck and safe hunting,

Broc

[Todd Caswell]

Quote:

More than anything, the foundation for my training approach was basic obedience. I also used positive reinforcement versus negative. I barely EVER used a shock collar, and never ever shocked him when he was retrieving or bringing back dummies/birds.

With the advancements in Collars these days and all the tree hunggers out there, electrinic training collars is a better term, and we don't shock we correct. Possitive training is great and should be a big part of your training program but to say collar reinforcement is always negitive isn't really true. Being you rarely "correct" your dog was he collar conditioned during his OB training ? Just wondering?

[Brocster]

With the advancements in Collars these days and all the tree hunggers out there, electrinic training collars is a better term, and we don't shock we correct. Possitive training is great and should be a big part of your training program but to say collar reinforcement is always negitive isn't really true. Being you rarely "correct" your dog was he collar conditioned during his OB training ? Just wondering?

Good point, I wasn't clear what I meant.

I did use a TRAINING COLLAR (thx!) For OB, sparingly, but definitely as a reminder for things like heel and steadying. What I was trying to get across was I was totally careful to not correct when he was retrieving birds or scented dummies. I admit straight up that I am an amateur at best and I sure did not want him to regress or associate corrections with birds. Hopefully that helped?

[sakazulu]

Naw! Had my five, going on six month lab out hunting last weekend and even though things went better than I expected, I can see why some told me to wait until labs get to be your dog's age or even older! You'll both have a lot of fun getting that instinct "kicked in"! It is the single most amazing thing about a hunting dog to see! Good luck to ya!

[Hookmaster]

My lab had only obedience training until 13 months. Then intro to bird and gun and some retriever and field training by a professional. The main reason was I didn't have consistent training time and birds. She retrieved well last fall and hunted OK. I worked with her all summer on water retrieves and obedience. This fall she is a retrieveing machine and hunts (quarters) better. I almost wet myself when she tried to retrieve a winged honker last Friday. She must have thought "The birds never fought back before." The bird stood up, spread its wings and hissed at her. She just stepped back and looked at the goose. I heeled her up and finished off the goose. She then retrieved it no problem.