Send to Trainer or train him myself

Going to try and summarize some of the questions asked...

Yes he's a lab.

He honestly has been a pretty darn near perfect dog... he flips the switch from lazy house dog to hunting companion pretty quickly... I don't ever see him getting out of control... I would see him looking at me and saying "screw you dad you go get that bird across that freezing river" before I could see myself having an out of control dog ha.

He's coming along pretty will retrieving... marking singels with ease... water retrieves and field. Havne't started anything blind yet. Haven't started any e-colloar yet.

He's very obedient. We have Sit, Stay, Here, Release down pat. Still gets a little squirly on Hell as I'm not too picky as long as he's within my reach I let it slide.


My personality is very laid back. I rarely get mad or down. And even a bad day of training is still fun cause I love this dog. So I don't see myself getting frustrated. I could honestly see myself being a little too easy going and not strict enough.

I have access to birds about 30 minutes away. We don't have the facilities to house our own birds although I wish we did. $5/quail will get a little pricey but i'll survive. Might be able to work out a bulk discount if I buy a decent amount throughout the year. It looks online like pigeons are cheaper... is there a benefit to using quail vs pigeons? We've dove hunted a couple times already this year and he's done pretty good. Pretty soft mouth. Can I just freeze dead birds that we hunt? Is that a no no for some reason? Obviously live birds are needed for upland work but for retrieving and scent tracking dead birds would work, right?


it's jsut the wife and I. No kids. I work on the road a few days a week and work from home rest. Fall gets a little crazy with other hunting and football games, but after Thanksgiving things slow down.


Worst case scenario... lets say I don't do a very good job this fall and winter and we're goign into spring with a very average dog... he would be 1 year old then... could I still send him to the trainer at that point and hopefulyl they could fix some bad habits and correct some things? Don't foresee that happening... but just would like to be able to halfway save him if he wasn't responding to the things I was doing.

Thanks guys

Did you specifically purchase a pointing lab? It was on your list so I am just asking.

I am not saying you have to but most retriever folks use 3 basic OB commands. Sit, Here, & Heal. Sit means sit until I command otherwise. Most guys release marks on the dogs name and blinds on the word back. Works well if you have multiple dogs hunting to release on name.

Look into the books I recommended. I would get Smartfetch first, it will get you through Force Fetching and then Smart Works 1. These two books should get you through Senior work.
 
Did you specifically purchase a pointing lab? It was on your list so I am just asking.

I am not saying you have to but most retriever folks use 3 basic OB commands. Sit, Here, & Heal. Sit means sit until I command otherwise. Most guys release marks on the dogs name and blinds on the word back. Works well if you have multiple dogs hunting to release on name.

Look into the books I recommended. I would get Smartfetch first, it will get you through Force Fetching and then Smart Works 1. These two books should get you through Senior work.


Yes, his dad has pointing field trials and his mom has retriever field trials.... he has pointed naturally since I picked him up at 8 weeks.

He has Sit and Here down. Heal i need to be more strict on. He holds on retrieves until I release him with his name.

He wants to retrieve and has a high desire to retrieve... haven't even put an e-collar on him yet and he's pretty darn obedient.

If i had super high strung or dis-obedient dog, I would be a little nervous... but he's honestly a pretty darn good dog just naturally and I haven't done much yet with him other than play fetch in the backyard.
 
Some of my experience.....
My younger girl was 5 months old at this time of year. Had same good manners, good genetics, and basic commands down as yours sounds like it does now.
All during September, I was bringing home grouse for her, doing lots of yard training. Scent drags, stashed birds in the shrubs, etc.
Also doing training (whoa) table stuff, more dead bird work, lots of stay - come, more dead bird work, lots of positive reinforcement - she's a sweetheart, more dead bird work - I think you get my point, etc.
All while working +/-60 hours a week and hunting blue grouse every weekend day with my old veteran - who supplied the dead birds:). All about making the time to do it, if that's what you're committed to.
At six months, she was out on her first hunts - very light, fun, and short duration. In November, she pointed her first huns, and early December had her first pheasant in her mouth. The payoff...
I'm a Ben Williams' guy - natural ability, let the dog train itself - lazy man's method all the way........
Good Luck1222j2.jpgjrooster.jpg
 
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Yes, his dad has pointing field trials and his mom has retriever field trials.... he has pointed naturally since I picked him up at 8 weeks.

He has Sit and Here down. Heal i need to be more strict on. He holds on retrieves until I release him with his name.

He wants to retrieve and has a high desire to retrieve... haven't even put an e-collar on him yet and he's pretty darn obedient.

If i had super high strung or dis-obedient dog, I would be a little nervous... but he's honestly a pretty darn good dog just naturally and I haven't done much yet with him other than play fetch in the backyard.

It sounds like you made your mind up to do it which is awesome and I think you will be fine.

Pick up one of the books I mentioned and start to follow a system it sounds like you have just jumped around and such on training. You really need to get a method go!
 
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