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  1. #1
    Puppy kayepaye's Avatar
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    Is 2 too late to start bird training?

    A good friend of mine is really in to bird hunting, but his dog has absolutely no interest in the sport. My lab has always been great at retrieving things, and listens extremely well. She has a very soft mouth (when my hamster escaped from his cage she found him, and brought him to me and plopped him in my hand), and while I know nothing about hunting, I'm pretty sure a soft mouth is a requirement.
    She's a great, strong swimmer, and is not afraid of loud noises (we've been less than 25 feet from fireworks going off and she never even batted an eye).

    Anyway my friend would be able to do all the training and such, since he's the expert, I'm just wondering if 2 years old is an okay age to start training? Or is that's considered "too old"
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  2. #2
    Senior Dog BaconsMom's Avatar
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    With labs, I dont think they are ever too old. It will all depend on if the dog is "birdy" or not. Bacon is more interested in birds than anything else. He chases them in the yard, is always searching for them and flushing them. I would talk with a local lab club who has hunters, have your dog looked at by them. I think hunting is a great activity for labs! Bacon loves it!!!
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  3. #3
    Puppy kayepaye's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BaconsMom View Post
    With labs, I dont think they are ever too old. It will all depend on if the dog is "birdy" or not. Bacon is more interested in birds than anything else. He chases them in the yard, is always searching for them and flushing them. I would talk with a local lab club who has hunters, have your dog looked at by them. I think hunting is a great activity for labs! Bacon loves it!!!
    She loooooooooves birds. No interest in squirrels or rodents or cats or anything. But birds are like heroin for her. She loves sniffing them out, and she LOVES going out into the pond after the ducks.
    We don't have any hunting clubs here, but I'm sure my friend knows of someone!
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  4. #4
    House Broken EvanG's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kayepaye View Post
    I'm just wondering if 2 years old is an okay age to start training? Or is that's considered "too old"
    Short answer: "No". As a pro I started one that was previously totally untrained at age 5. But he was a nice dog, and an exception because he became fully trained in about a year. It's dog to dog. Just train the dog and let him show you what he can do.

    EvanG

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    I would agree that they are never too old to learn. You may have to un-do some bad habits with the retrieve, however. If you have allowed your dog to not retrieve, allowed the dog to grab the item and take off, etc. Also, with your dog's hips (assuming you're talking about the one with dysplasia?) you may want to re-think it. I guess it depends on what you're doing and your goals and such.

  6. #6
    Puppy kayepaye's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    I would agree that they are never too old to learn. You may have to un-do some bad habits with the retrieve, however. If you have allowed your dog to not retrieve, allowed the dog to grab the item and take off, etc. Also, with your dog's hips (assuming you're talking about the one with dysplasia?) you may want to re-think it. I guess it depends on what you're doing and your goals and such.
    She doesn't have any bad habits with retrieving, she never takes things without them being given to her, and will simply stand there and hold it until you tell her to go play. If something is thrown for her, she always brings it back. She's a great retriever.

    She wouldn't be put through any training until after her surgery (if she's a candidate), and it she wouldn't be brought out to the field every day, it would be a few times during the season and that would be it.
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  7. #7
    House Broken Aerodogs's Avatar
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    My rescue (with mild to moderate hip dysplasia) didn't see a bird until she was 5 years old and she is an amazing waterfowl (and occasional upland) dog. Dogs are never too old to learn, but obviously there are some limitations with every individual, so my recommendation is to just take things slowly, don't skip steps in her foundation training (just because she can sit at heel or deliver to hand at home, etc.) go through the foundation stuff and if she is enjoying it, roll with it. That's what I did with Hailey and this is the result:




 



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