Your thoughts on training a hunting dog yourself

[Ufatz]

That's a mighty fine post. Amen.

[KING]

so i am kind of going through this right now with our english setter. he has a great background and i wanted to make sure i did everything for the pup to make sure he gets to be a good hunter.

i had originally planned on taking him to puppy school where he could get maximum exposure to birds at the appropriate age. scheduling didnt work out with work so we are on our own. i was nervous about messing this thing up baaaad.

BUT...the more i talked with trainers and read, a big part is getting a dog with good background...the hunting is built in, the know what to do...so you have to provide them the opprotunity to hunt.

We are fortunate to have a large wild bird population on our property. as a pup he would point every tweety bird, grasshopper you name it and I was worried i was messing him up becasue he was sight pointing. well it took exactly one nose experience with his first covey of sharpies that he blew out of the grass to realize that didnt work.

Outside of basic obedience i have been advised to let them learn, its in their genes to hunt, thats why you bought a dog with background...provide opprotunity. If you dont have access to birds at a young age i think taking them to a trainer who can provide that is invaluable.

If you want a finely polished dog that may mean a trainer if you dont have time. otherwise its just a lot of patience.

[leechlake]

I think if you're going to do it yourself you need to basically make into another hobby. If you enjoy researching books and/or videos and make that part of the process you're part way to being successful at it. I think the first thing you need to decided is what your goal is for your dog. For me that is a well behaved dog that can flush birds and retrieve birds. While I hunt a lot by most standards my dogs spend 10 months a year not hunting. Frankly, they both spend more time fishing with me than hunting with me.

After training four dogs in 20 years I like looking back at my mistakes and my victories. For example, my first dog Jake probably had the best potential of any dog I've owned. I trained him to run blinds and other things that were great. I also ended up with a dog that couldn't sit still in a duck boat and didn't like to retrieve pheasants. My next dog I learned from those mistakes and "built" a dog that worked for what I did. Be a good pet, behave in the field, retrieve birds to my hand.

[Da Biggin]

To be honest with you all, I wanted a pro to train my dog but didn't have the funds to make it happen. So, I treated the entire thing like training camp in football or spring training in baseball. I set a schedule that he and I followed religiously no matter the weather and we worked hard. As my "know all" tool I turned to this site in particular along with some resources I acquired (books, training DVDs, Youtube even) and asked whatever questions I may have had. It was the veterans on this site that got me to realize that dog training is just as much trainer training as it is training the dog. I learned that I pushed my dog way too hard and could have potentially ruined him for hunting (by the way, thanks for reeling me in guys!!!)

With all of that having been said, I am a firm believer in training yourself versus sending the dog away. This is singularly because of the bonding you get when you do it. I've learned more about my dog and he about me because we train together and I feel that if I had sent him off to be trained he may have resulted in a better dog but I would still be lacking as his handler and partner. Now that we have taken our lumps and grown together we have a bond that is unwavering and goes beyond the field. So, my opinion is that you should do it yourself. It can get spendy and time consuming but the end result IMO will be far more rewarding. To be able to look into the eye of your furry friend after a day in the field or pond and have the ability to say that you've done it together, whether the trip ended with birds in the bag or not, will leave you with a feeling of such accomplishment and can't be replaced with anything. Sure a pro trained dog may outperform mine but hey, the owner of that dog can't say that the dog got to that point because they themselves put in the time and effort to achieve that level and I can.

Inform yourself, set aside some time, and train hard together. Nothing in the world is better than watching all the hardwork pay off, nothing!

[LABS4ME]

very well said.

Have fun with your newly trained dog this year. It even gets better and better as you polish him up each and every season!

Good Luck!

Ken

[onthefly]

I say... To each his own. I've hunted with well-trained hunting retrievers and dogs from hunting lines that didn't have much training. This made me respect what a well-trained dog can add to the experience - almost as valuable (to me) as a shotgun!

I had a pro do intermediate work with my lab, primarily due to a very hard mouth issue. (Obedience, force fetch, marks on land/water, steadiness, etc). But, after those 10 weeks, I had the dog doing training drills at least 5 days a week. Definitely became a hobby. I just love watching him do his thing, plain and simple! Very rewarding to watch it all click this Fall.

[Scott M]

My $0.02...My wife and I bought our lab two years after we were married, right when I started my professional career, and 3.5 years before our daughter was born. I wanted a retriever that did some upland hunting. I followed a local trainer's advice, worked with said trainer on a few occasions (he was retired and worked with me for free), and within a years time, turned her into a fine dog. I give her some remedial training that keeps her sharp for the fall. She's not a perfect dog, but a fine dog. I am not a perfect man nor a perfect hunter, so if she makes a few mistakes, I roll with it and in a way it gives me some humility. She loves me and my family and has been a perfect companion however.

I took the time to read some reference materials and get her out and I'm happy with the results. I know where I made some mistakes and I know what steps I would have to take to make her better...Keep in mind this is all from a complete rookie.

I think the decision you make when it comes to training all depends a bit on your expectations and how you're wired. Like some others have said, I'm more of a do-it-yourself kind of guy and I wanted the challenge. I reached a point where I was satisified and that point is different for all hunters/owners/trainers. Philosophically I believe that we all get 24 hours in a day and we can all only do so much. I enjoy fishing in the summers, so rather than taking the dog to the park or to the water to train further to get some of the finer points my lab misses, I take her as is and go wet a line. Some call it lazy; I call it a tradeoff.

My next dog? Well, I'm finally getting to a point where I could afford a trainer and I will probably entertain the idea. However, I will still be putting time in with the pup if only because there is great joy in taking part in it.

I don't think there's a wrong answer - just do what's right for you and your dog. And have fun!