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Labrador breeders ..
- Thread starter Augustus McCrea
- Start date
Nice stuff dixie, i was thinking about getting another lab as a female pup to train waterfowl, and maybe adopting a male pup from a rescue or something for my wife... just putting feelers out and trying to get educated
Training is as much for you as it is the dog.
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dixidawg
NES Member
If you can make the time commitment, it is better for you to learn how to train the dog. The best bet is to join a club or training group, or go to a pro and work with them. Even if you were to send it to a pro to get trained, the dog needs lifelong maintenance training The dog always needs to work to maintain skills.
Be careful though. This stuff can become addicting. There is no better feeling than when you see the light bulb come on over a dogs head when they finally understand a concept you have been trying to teach. They are capable of so much. If you are willing to keep teaching and training, there is a whole world out there of people who train, run hunt tests and field trials. It is a blast, and when hunting season rolls around, yoiu will have the best trained pooch in the marsh or field.
BTW, 3-5 months is nowhere near long enough to teach handling (hand signals). You might be able to begin to have them understand in a controlled environment, but they will not be reliable in a new environment with lots of distractions. It takes time and lots of repititions in many different scenarios to get them to be consistent and reliable.
dixidawg
NES Member
Yep. Even more so. The training should really be training you how to train the dog. No dog is ever "trained". There is always something that they need work on. And they don't stay "trained". You need to know how to do that, so the training should be for you. They will always need refreshers, and work to maintain their skills. It is a "use it or lose it". You can't do nothing all year, and expect the dog to be sharp come opening day of duck season.
