noisy in duckboat

[Kodiak]

my 2y/o lab gets noisy in the duckboat,,,all whiney/excited after about 15 minutes of sitting quiet. is there any way i can help relieve this problem. She loves going out on the boat and hunting, she is a real good duck dog but she gets noisy and excited. I wish i could get her to sit there like a rock and shut up. any tips?

thanks,

J

[Swamp Scooter]

Just time! And a lot of it. But seriously now. Can the dog see or is it down in the boat and whining due to the lack of sight? Sometimes that can help. Also be careful that you are not keying the dog in to getting wound up. I mean if you are hunting with another person and you say," here they come, or down the pipe, or ready, or take 'em." The dog will key on it every time and get cranked up. Also if the only time you use your call is when you see ducks and are going to then shoot the dog keys on that as well.

I know it is hard but tiring them out is also good. And I know a 2yr old is hard to tire out too. Try working dummies and using the call as well. In the boat, on the water and in the yard. Also take the dog out in the boat and do not hunt. Just have them sit around and get used to watching and hopefully get bored with the whole thing.

Camo, guns, decoys and the cool Fall weather will get them going every time.

[Ryan Becklund]

My yellow lab is 8yrs old now. She still does it in the boat. Not so much a whine more of a scream if she can't see anything. Best thing I can tell you is get a dog dock and let her sit out there. Thats the only way I can get her to shut up. She is a great duck dog but it really makes me angry when she does it. Make sure the dog can see!

Good luck!

[Kodiak]

YEAH, she sounds like yoda but really loud and high pitched...mmmmerrrmmmmmahmmm is what she does,,i makes me angry. I will try all your ideas and see how it goes, i think she is just a whiner though.

[percherman]

Peanut Butter and a little piece of bread. Make sure it's the creamy kind that sticks to the roof of their mouth good. One piece can usually keep them occupied for a couple of minutes, or long enough for a conversation.

To this day I still don't know why my dog got so excited when my wife got the peanut butter jar out of the cupboard.

Must have been coincidence.

Anyway, RIP Little buddy, I miss ya everytime I throw that first deek and can't say, "no Tar no."

[Blackduck]

I wouldn't worry about "Keying" the dog into the fact that birds are coming, in fact, you definately want the dog to "Key" in on the fact that ducks are coming. Your dog should watch the sky when you call. After some time in the blind the dog will key in on everything you do. Weather you say here they come, get down, cut em, etc... If my dog is sitting looking at me and not watching the sky, all I have to do is reach over and grab my gun and he fixes on the sky. When I can fit it in I will tell my dog to "watch em" while ducks are working. Alot of people say mark while ducks are coming.

If you do not take care of this problem ASAP you will probably have to live with it for ever. My brother has a buddy that no one will hunt with anymore if he brings his dog because of this. This is his second dog that has done this, and he did nothing to stop the first dog and it did it it's whole life.

You could try not letting the dog retrieve when it whines. Maybe haulting the retrieve until the dog settles down. A spray bottle with water to the face when whinning. Is the dog collar conditioned? Maybe a quiet-nick. Remember, a dog needs to know what it's being corrected for before it can make the correction.

You could call a trainer and I'm sure they could help you out a lot more.