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First Labrador


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Where do you start, books I recommend irrespective of breed are 

Gundogs their learning chain Joe Irving

gundog sense and sensibility Wilso Stevens. 

Him and six springers probably need the largest box made by trans K9.

i moved to labs many years ago for wildfowling on geese for the reasons you say and the spaniels didn’t like sitting for hours in the wet and cold; now spend more time than ever picking up.

good luck, these are my four. Youngest picked his first geese two weeks ago at 22 months old.

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Mate there’s plenty of training books but my advice would be to just do your own thing if all your looking is your Labrador to sit still in the hide then mark and swim out after wildfowl Obidience is the major factor I think with labs If your buying a pup with good breeding blood lines then the instinct will be in the dog You should have years of pleasure using your Labrador wildfowling My big dog Duke won’t win any field trials but has great drive looking and finding shot duck 🦆 

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HOW SUPPRESSING If you read my post Motty I didn’t say Don’t buy a book I said do your own thing You could read a hundred books but there not about your own dog You and you alone will know the dog you have No book can tell you any different But if hound dog wants to buy a book then he should do it and good luck to him 

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2 hours ago, Gerry78 said:

HOW SUPPRESSING If you read my post Motty I didn’t say Don’t buy a book I said do your own thing You could read a hundred books but there not about your own dog You and you alone will know the dog you have No book can tell you any different But if hound dog wants to buy a book then he should do it and good luck to him 

Of course only the owner will know the dog. Authors of books know this, too.

Do your own thing sounds to me like "don't bother with books".

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2 hours ago, Gerry78 said:

HOW SUPPRESSING If you read my post Motty I didn’t say Don’t buy a book I said do your own thing You could read a hundred books but there not about your own dog You and you alone will know the dog you have No book can tell you any different But if hound dog wants to buy a book then he should do it and good luck to him 

I do tend to agree on some of your points , a book is fine for basic training like sit and stay , recall on a whistle and the general run of the mill with the early training , but then there will be a time for practical training that a book cant give you .

A wildfowling dog need to think for itself when it goes out into the darkness during a evening flight and retrieving duck from across water , in water and around the edge of water .

Only you can tell when and if your young dog is ready for this type of training , some of it can be done with training dummies but a lot will have to be the real thing , although don't be in to much of a hurry , as the old saying goes , don't try to run before you can walk .

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If you can handle 6 spaniels, you be fine with a lab 😀😀😀

Step by step guide to gundog training by Eric Begbie is a small paper back but loads of good info. 

There are loads of good gundog traing books and lots of good videos online and loads of gundog training DVDs. 

The Working Labrador by David Hudson has loads of good handy tips.

The Pet Gundog by Lez Graham is good with hints and tips for Gundog fitting into modern family life. 

The Training and Management of Working labs by Jeremy Hunt is also really worth a read 

Read loads and pick out the best tips that best suit your situation and your pups character. 

Peter Moxons Gundog Training is genuinely a classic , old fashioned and a lot of outdated stuff but also some brilliant tips and outlines key stages separates out what basic spaniel and Lab training then advanced . 

Enjoy the training 

 

 

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No motty do your own thing to me means you’ll know ur own dogs limits.Books can give good pointers no doubt but I believe the owner will know best As I say if the books help hound dog then it won’t do him any harm reading them I’ve bought gun dog books and wildfowling books but they can only give you so much pointers Different when you get into the field or marsh with your dog on your own 

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I wish you every success in training your lab. It is very rewarding when a dog you trained yourself pulls off a good retrieve. Good dog work more than compensates for the odd poor flight.

The books I used in my early years were the PRA Moxon and Joe Irving ones but I learned most when my wildfowling club arranged dog training sessions among its members.  We ran classes and working tests and I learned plenty. 

Id add that every dog is different but getting help and advice for more experienced trainers in person or on PW can help you around more specific problems. I did this earlier this year and got advice from friends and PW members.

Keep the training fun for you and the pup. Stop if it's no longer fun for either and leave it for the rest of the day.

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Read as many books as possible, most trainers will more or less do similar things and you will build up knowledge and a sound training method out of all the combined teachings, just the same way as you, yourself, will teach your dog,  "through repetition". some books state how well your dog should be doing at a certain age but they are all different and ones that learn fast, can forget just as fast!!

Do not forget to let your pup, be a puppy!!  My latest lab pup started retrieving dummies from water at 4 months old and was showing all the signs of being much more mature than he actually was, then he went back to being a pup again and lost interest for a while,  so i just left him alone until his interest returned again, as it did and he is as keen as mustard again, now aged a year.   You have more time than you think to train him and you don't need to keep throwing countless retrieves for him, they don't really get tired of it but its not necessary, mix your training up because they're very clever dogs and they will anticipate what your going to do next if you stick with a routine.

In my opinion, Books are better than videos, as you will be comparing your dog to the one in the video which, behaves perfectly (yours doesn't)  for the camera, that's why its being filmed!!  Training is the easy part, solving the problems that you face whilst trying to teach each individual dog, is the 'art of training', knowing what to do, when things don't go like the book says!!  Most people who have trained dogs for a number of years, will still pick up any new book they come across, which they haven't already read, because there may be just  one little thing in it that they didn't know and it will have been worth reading it,  just for that.  Its not Rocket science but common sense, try and think how you're coming across to the dog and why he cant understand what you want him to do, remember,  he doesn't know what your words mean until you show him, then use the same word for that task every time!!

all the best, read & re-read until its sunk in, then read another book & another.

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john Hallstead  senior had a really nice training temperament on video  or you could try   Walter Harris at Sunstar kennels  training weekends at  Dorchester  he teaches you to handle your dog and gives you an insight  into where your dog goes wrong because of you   and putting your dog in a position it cannot fail to build confidence in itself  and your handling        worth the money cracking bloke         your dog instincts are to work and  its up to you to handle / obedience the most important element in all training    stop on the whistle  is everything while its backside is on the ground its looking to you for direction cut corners pay the price so         a self employed dog scream your  guts out  and it will not  come back  until its had enough  and  / ruined the day for everybody  else guns and beaters not happy you  may not be invited again   even if shooting pigeons an obedient dog is  everything                     the moral of the story  is the best dog in the shooting field nobody knows its name  

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