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New to this! (Opinions wanted)
So for a while now I have wanted to take up upland/waterfowl hunting but nobody in my family hunts (I am a city girl) and until now I've never had the money, gear, dog, support, etc. to do this. It is worth mentioning we have several family friends who hunt and train gun dogs. When I decided to get a new dog, I concluded that a lab was the best decision for me. I wanted a dog that would hunt but would also be friendly, good with small children/animals, easy to train, and relatively good for a first timer (I've grown up with dogs, but this is the first dog I've personally owned/trained). I know it's better to train a dog from early puppyhood in order to increase the bond and mold him/her into the hunting dog YOU want, however I am still in school and do not have the time to raise a young puppy and older, started dogs are incredibly expensive (thousands of dollars; and none close to me). With this in mind I looked at a few rescue labs and ultimately adopted a 14-month-old from the local humane society. Hunting with the dog wasn't my number one priority (or I would have gone to a breeder), mainly I just wanted an active companion that would hike, run, swim, and accompany me on adventures.
I adopted Teller a few weeks ago. My boyfriend and I went to the local humane society and fell in love with his sweet, smiling face, after reading his bio (which said he was wild, not very obedient, and didn't fetch) and learning he was returned twice before, we were a bit hesitant. However, we played with him out in the dog run and he immediately brought us a ball and played fetch until it was time for him to go back inside, much to the surprise of the volunteers. We decided to adopt him and learned that he was returned because both the owners didn't "know a puppy would be so destructive, time-consuming, and wild" and the previous one had left him outside/alone for 12 1/2 hours a day in the middle of the summer. Neither one had sought obedience training for him, much less any other training. I took him to the river for what was presumably his first swim (not knowing if he liked water) and he jumped right in and even fetched plastic bottles, etc. out of the water. I started reading up on training gun dogs since he had the natural love of water/retrieving and a soft mouth. He is leggy, lithe, and has a thin coat/tail--so he is definitely from field-bred lines but we have absolutely no idea of his background. The shelter had him listed as a lab mix because of his legginess and based on the pointing/coat/tail, we thought he may be a GSP/lab mix but he has a solid yellow coat, looks all lab, and fits the lab personality/temperament 100%.
Well, it got even better once he moved in with me full-time (previously he had been staying at my boyfriend's house while we painted/re-floored our house). We have learned he points and not just as a rarity, he points at birds, squirrels, and chipmunks regularly on our walks and will hold the point so strongly that I can make adjustments to his form without him moving. He seems to have a very high prey drive for squirrels, birds, and chipmunks; he will freeze, point, and just watch them until I coax him away. I've introduced him to pheasant scent and dummies and he can't get enough of it. He's not disturbed by loud noises similar to gun fire, our neighbors have been shooting off fireworks a lot lately for some reason. Recently I've noticed if he hears a bird in a bush or low growing tree, he will first point it and then walk or leap into the bush to scare the bird out and just sit there staring at it and waiting. Finally, he appears to be good at scenting and finding things, alive or dead. He always has his nose to the ground and has found/sometimes pointed dead snakes, squirrels, and a raccoon--but he doesn't try to lick or eat them (probably because I'm there, lol). We have cats and he has sniffed them out to their hiding places, although he only tries to play with them (play bows, whining, jumping spastically). A few times he's been beaten up but doesn't strike back. Although I am a complete novice at this, it seems to me that he has a lot of potential as a hunting companion (once he masters obedience completely). Should I pursue this avenue? Because based on his energy level, I would like to get him involved in something constructive like dock diving, agility, hunt tests, etc. I am planning on getting him a PAL listing from the AKC but I just wanted some opinions before beginning training.