Pointing labs hunting with other labs??

[311Hemi]

I am looking at purchsing a pointing lab in the near future. One question I have is will hunting a PL with my friends lab have any negative effects on my dogs pointing performance? This is assuming my dog developes this and then is trained to hold point until released. My friends lab is not trained very well IMO and will flush birds, and is not easy to control.

From what I have been told it is not good shooting any birds that are flushed....where I know that is how my friend hunts with his dog.

This will be my first pup so I am not 100% sure on how everything should be done. I plan on doing training myself.

[LABS4ME]

I wouldn't hunt any young dog with another dog that has control issues. They can easily pick up on these problems and develop problems themselves. With any dog (pointing or not) which ever way they perceive success will be what they key in on doing... ie: if they have better success getting birds by flushing rather than pointing, this will be the way they develop their style of hunting... I've only had one "pointing" lab, and she did so only on her own instinct, I never worked her to be a pointing dog. Half the birds she'd work like a flusher and half she'd point, she had success both ways I guess so she did both based on the bird. I also had a shorthair that I hunted with her and he started flushing more birds than pointing (was never a real great pointer either... my fault), but he hunted close so it never bothered me. That was my one and only foray into the pointer world... Good luck with the pup once you get him, Let us know how he's doing...

Good Luck!

Ken

[311Hemi]

Ken, thanks for the info. That is kind of what I was expecting/thinking.

Thanks again,

John

[charliepete2]

Unless you want a flusher I wouldn't hunt any pointing dog with a flushing dog until the pointing dog is steady and knows it's business. Once you have the dog pointing reliably you can hunt it with a flusher, but personally I only do that if the flushers are well trained and can be commanded to 'sit' so as not to bust the pointings dogs bird. It's easy to get a pointing dog creeping in on birds if it's constantly getting pressure from other dogs early on.

[Bushwacker]

311Hemi,

There are a couple of pointing lab forums on the internet that are usually pretty informative for training help and hunting help. If you do a seach on Yahoo you should be able to find them. There is even a club that is specific to MN that holds group training days.

[311Hemi]

Thanks for that info, I will do a search and try to find them.

FYI.....Our new (first) pup will be home Friday. We are pretty exicted!! Still working on the name though....

[Tripleplay]

I hunt my shorthair pretty consistently with my brother-in-law who has a lab and it has worked out OK although I had the same concerns as you. Usually his lab hunts directly in front of him and only crosses out of that area if he is getting birdy (or in the past trying to catch the other female lab along with us for a sniff and a you know what--he can't catch my female so he has given up chasing her!). My dog will cross into his area sometimes as she really works the entire line back and forth and really hasn't had any great problems. She does try to compete with his lab at times and she may have flushed a few birds which doesn't make me happy but doesn't bother him in the least. When given the opportunity and not having the lab in her general area she still points consistently. (He owns the property so if I want to hunt it and hunt my dog I have to hunt with the lab.)

Now on the other hand, that lab beats her to almost every shot bird just because she doesn't like to retrieve like he does. She finds them and then stands waiting for me--well his dog just rolls right in and picks up the bird and heads for his owner.

Have fun with the puppy!

[caseymcq]

311Hemi, have you purchased a pup yet? If you haven't and haven't already picked out a good breeder I can recomend one.

If you are training the pup your self I would recomend any of the books by Richard Walters. I think if you buy "Game Dog" that has everything from "Gun Dog" and "Water Dog."

Good luck.

[Bushwacker]

I have read a ton of training books and the #1 book for you to purchase should be "The Pointing Labrador" by Paul and Julie Knutson. It goes through everything from picking out a pup, to force fetch. Evan Graham also has some very helpful books. The "Smartworks" 1 and 2 are also great books, and if you advance to force fetch training on your own, SmartFetch is a must read. I have Wolters Game Dog, Water Dog, and Gun Dog. One thing to be cautious with them is not getting two rapped up in his time tables. It can be discouraging if your pup falls a week behind and some guys give up there. All pups move at different paces and Wolters overall training methods are for the most part excellent, but you have to keep in mind that most of his stuff is decades old.

[caseymcq]

Bushwacker, I would agree with you that in training you shouldn't get hung up on Wolters's time tables. Each pup is going to learn at a certain pace and it may not rigidly follow his exact formula. The basic outline within a reasonalbe deviation of his time tables is a great training tool though. While it is decades old it is still good methodology and still used by a lot of trainers today.

"The Pointing Labrador" is a great book too. It goes into more than just training. Some of that ifo is great. I use shredded paper in my dogs crates like they suggested.

[311Hemi]

Casey....yep, we already had a pup picked out...thanks for the offer though! Had I posted a little earier I would have definitely been interested.

Guys.....great info and thanks for the recomendations on books. I will be ordering a few books today!

We got the pup home on Friday and he's doing great! He wined for a while in the kenel at night so not ton of sleep over the weekend. Last night I finally put a radio near the kennel and a blanket over it and he stayed quiet right after that. I was amazed and owe it to this site. Hopefully that will keep up for the nights to come. He also likes to chase the cats around......I don't think they care for that too much however!

Brought him to the lake yesterday and he liked going in the water for what I think was his first time in a lake. Hopefully get some pics up later today.