Lab Training

[cab09]

I have a lab pup who is now 10 months old. His obedience training has been going quite well but as a novice trainer I would just like to ask for some advice on the following:

 

1. We have been developing his steadiness. I will walk him to heel and sit him beside me. I walk away with my back to him (facing to begin with) and turn to face him. I have then been blowing the stop whistle to associate him sitting at distance. Most of the time he will stay and not need re-seating, I will then praise on my return to him. However, he has now started to not focus on me and look all around, sniff the air etc. I have tried making a clicking noise, jumping up and down, rattling keys etc to get his attention but with little success for any length of time (plus I look a right plumb!). What can I do? We train on a night in a lay by which is lit up as it is too dark to go to the fields after work. The problem with this is that every man and his dog pee's / walks this route which isnt helping.

 

2. Retrieving - he will sit steady at my side when i throw the dummy, but when released he charges to the dummy and now skids over the top of it whilst grabbing it and messes about with it on his way back. He was doing it brilliantly bringing straight back to me and holding until i give the release command, but now he has gone all daft! If I shout at him on the outrun / pick up he may be put off altogether?? On the back of this, he still has a tennis ball and a kong in his kennel to play with - should i take these toys from him now he is 10months of age?

 

Any help is much appreciated.

CAB

[jen shooter]

Hi CAB

well i thought you were talking about my lab BLUE hes 11.5 months old kennled all day ,dark when i get home ,so training in the evening is a problem so if you have a garden stay there .blue went backwald just the same i thought i was doing things wrong i had read all the good books writen by the best trainers yes ime a newby trainer.there is a 4 film video presented by Mr David Lisett he is the gundog trainner for Buccleuch dundogs buy it now , no ime not on commision.

Unlike spaniels lab training starts a bit later so take your time with him keep him close and let him run off that energy.

there are a lot of guys on here who know more then i do but they will tell you hes still a pup take your time best of luck Jen shooter

[bobbo]

put him on the lead. then ay firmly wait. then when you want to send him on take off the lead keep doing this then just drape the lead on him so he feels the precence of it. then you will find he will wait just concentrating on the dummy . make sure when you point you point directly this will help when picking up.

[cracker]

Unlike spaniels lab training starts a bit later

 

That there's pure fallacy, but I suppose if you want it to be true, then it can be true.

 

I have a lab pup who is now 10 months old. His obedience training has been going quite well but as a novice trainer I would just like to ask for some advice on the following:

 

1. We have been developing his steadiness. I will walk him to heel and sit him beside me. I walk away with my back to him (facing to begin with) and turn to face him. I have then been blowing the stop whistle to associate him sitting at distance. Most of the time he will stay and not need re-seating, I will then praise on my return to him. However, he has now started to not focus on me and look all around, sniff the air etc. I have tried making a clicking noise, jumping up and down, rattling keys etc to get his attention but with little success for any length of time (plus I look a right plumb!). What can I do? We train on a night in a lay by which is lit up as it is too dark to go to the fields after work. The problem with this is that every man and his dog pee's / walks this route which isnt helping.

 

Dogs being situational learners, you're putting it in a bad situation--distractions aplenty--at the lay-by that you have no way of controlling. Find a football pitch or featureless field with no previous "markings."

 

Even better, try teaching the remote sit with a reward involved. Sit the dog at a distance from its food bowl. Walk to the food bowl and stand over it. Call the dog either verbally or with pip-pip-pip of your whistle. As the dog starts in a few steps, blow the sit whistle and also command "Sit!" If the dog breaks the command and proceeds ahead, step out front quickly and physically resit the dog as soon as you get to it, repeating the "Sit!" command. Then heel it back to the original location and start over, standing over the food bowl, and continue as above, until the dog sits to the whistle. After it sits en route to the food bowl, let it sit for 5-10 seconds then blow the come-in whistle again and let the dog get to its food bowl. From the very beginning--wanting to get the food as its reward--the dog will be facing you and its actions will be dependent on you. So even if it's looking at the food bowl initially, it's looking *toward* you, and eventually, when this is transferred afield, the dog will be looking at you. And waiting for you to cast it back or over or to recall.

 

2. Retrieving - he will sit steady at my side when i throw the dummy, but when released he charges to the dummy and now skids over the top of it whilst grabbing it and messes about with it on his way back. He was doing it brilliantly bringing straight back to me and holding until i give the release command, but now he has gone all daft! If I shout at him on the outrun / pick up he may be put off altogether?? On the back of this, he still has a tennis ball and a kong in his kennel to play with - should i take these toys from him now he is 10months of age?

 

Except as a last resort, you shouldn't be throwing dummies for your own dog. Lot of bad ramifications--not least of which the dog gets in a habit of looking up at you--at your arm--when it should be looking out afield to mark a fall. Get a helper, it's easy and extends the distance for a dog retrieving. My philosophy is, the further a dog must return with a retrieve, the more compelled it is to race "home." If the obedience is in place--for the return--the dog will run out and then back to you with a retrieve at speed, both going and coming.

 

Your pup's a typical 10-month-old Lab, rumbustious, energetic and, I dare say, bored with the easy retrieves you're giving it. Make it more challenging, but make it fun as well, and you'll hit the Tote with your training.

 

Good luck,

 

MG

Edited December 18, 2009 by cracker

[jimmyb79]

Another suggestion re distraction:

If possible, when you see he's getting distracted, blow the whistle and immediately throw a dummy. Don't necessarily send him for it, but it'll soon get his attention and keep it on you if you keep him guessing.

[Jurrasicway]

Cracker,

 

Great advice. I also am a newbie novice trainer and have a 10 month old lab. I was wondering how to get him to stop mid recall. What a great way of getting the right result by standing over his food bowl. I will definitely be giving that a go,

 

Thanks mate...

[cracker]

Jurassic, food is a powerful motivator for puppies and dogs. You can continue to use it not necessarily as a treat but as an incentive over the course of a dog's lifetime. The remote sit whilst recalling is obvious for pups, you just need to be able to mark off some distance between where you're sitting the dog and the food bowl it's running toward. That way the dog builds up momentum recalling and you bring it to a halt with a sharp whistle blast or "Sit!" command. You can do it outside if the indoors are too confining.

 

But as I say, food as treats goes away after the pup's gotten the basics (sit, heel, here) down, but it doesn't go away as incentive. I sit five dogs alongside each other at feeding time. They then have to sit and wait (and watch) as I fill five food bowls and place them strategically on the floor. Sometimes I will have the dogs sit and stare at the food bowls for five minutes whilst I'm doing a chore or otherwise involved. Since they're sat alongside one another in a line, I also can tell if any of them have moved during the interim. If so the culprit (or culprits ) is placed back in the original position with a sharp rebuke and then a repeated "Sit!" command.

 

Dogs may not need food as a reward after they've experienced their real reward of a retrieve as gundogs, but they are still driven by dinner time. Right now, I'm topdressing their food with venison and tripe, which puts them on a launching pad in anticipation of hearing their names called to release them to eat. Makes for a nice little obedience session. And the obedience that gets instilled in them through using food may very well carry over afield to a dog sitting in a line for a trial or a shoot--especially in sitting still and silent and waiting for their names to be called after a judge calls your number.

 

Good luck, it's when they're young that they're the most fun by far to train--because you're not taking away their enthusiasm and "puppyness," just shaping it.

 

MG

Edited December 18, 2009 by cracker

[cab09]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, sorry I haven't replied earlier as my wife has just given birth so been a bit pre-occupied!

 

I have used his food to influence all of his basic commands since he was a pup with good results. I have moved away from the lay by but this was the only area available which was lit up after work but with poor results. I have found a small grassed area near my house which is lit partly with a street lamp and this is our new area to train during the dark nights. We don't have a large garden so this will do for now. His steadyness was starting to improve as I was also closer to him at this new location.

 

However, I have now managed to create yet another problem. Since the baby has arrived home he has only been on short walks with little or no training. I was getting a bit worried so took him out to the fields over the holidays to give him a good run out since he was cooped up a bit. Now though I have started to go back to the steadiness training and get back to normal routine training but all he now wants to do is get up and do his own thing....... I can't seem to win! I'm hoping his steadyness will come back after a weeks training but what's everyones view on free running? Seems to me I have done more harm than good???