New pup!

[DuluthMedic]

Just got back from a pre season pheasant farm hunt in SD. We had a blast, shot tons of birds. I also came home with a 3 month old male cho. lab. He's got some awsome blood lines, all his relatives grew up on the farm 50ft from the birds! At what age should I be taking him in the woods and using a gun. And when is a good time to introduce a shock collar? Basicly I have never had a hunting dog, and have very little clue. Where do I start? I will be looking for a good book.

[R. Miller]

At three months old I would just think about basic command training right now. I just bought a pup 1 month ago, and I know how pumped you can be with wanting to get him out there. Introduce him to diffent noises. You may want to try blanks around him sometime later this fall or winter. I wouldn't even think about a shock collar until next spring. Make sure you let him wear it for a while next spring and summer before you even think about using a stimulation on him. That way he'll associate the collar with outside fun and play. Get some good books! You'll have a lot of reading ahead of you.

[1runhotshot]

See the above forum on training videos and books available.

[Kallista]

Today was the first day, i used a shot gun near hunter. Hes 12 weeks old.. I started off having Mike playing fetch with him and i was a ways away, i shot and he didn't even look around he just kept playing i went in a bit more and shot again, nothing he was all on his playing, i finally got within 60 feet of him and shot again, this time he picked up his bumper and came running to me with it.. So i came next to him and shot, he was all eyes and ears looking to where i had shot.. So after that i put a grouse wing on a bumper and we played for a hour with just that. next week will take him out again with shot gun and see about shooting and having him retrieve something.. I bough one of the Dokken dead grouse with the power grip, he loves it now to combine the two with some grouse scent.

kalli