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  1. #31
    Senior Dog ChoppersDad's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    Got them!
    Good. Make sure you send me your schedule. I will be hunting you down at the Sportsman's Show. Look forward to meeting you and your dog.

  2. #32
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    I just can't send Chopper away for 10 weeks for professional training no matter how good the benefits. E-collar, forced fetching, away from home, no supervision, etc. The price is just too high. We will miss each other too much. We are going to learn together.

    LOL... My new goal is just to get him to bring the quackers back to me when I shoot them.

    I ordered Bill Hillman's videos:

    - Training a Retriever Puppy
    - Fundamentals - Water
    - The Fetch Command.

    I'm going to order some training devices as soon as I figure out what I need to get started training Chopper.

    Our training ground... It is within walking distance of where I live. He's on three ducks in this picture.



    I let him off the leash this morning and just let him go.



    I wore my fly fishing waders this morning so I could go in after him if he got into trouble. He had a blast!


  3. #33
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    Good luck with your training. You should be able to accomplish the goal you have set. You might want to print off a copy off Mike Lardy's flow chart from Total Retrievers. It gives a good breakdown of the basic skills with sequencing and you can use it after you have been through Bill Hillman's Training a Retriever Puppy. I also have Dennis Voigt's two DVD series. The Training Along one can give you an idea of what equipment you will need. The 25 Essential Drills one is good for anyone that is not familiar with the drills that build handling skills. The manuals with both are good reads and can be taken into the field with you.
    We always tell people to begin with a minimum of a dozen bumper 9 white and 3 orange, a whistle and a heeling stick. There are many whistles on the market now but we always started with the original Roy Gonia but they don't seem to be as good as they used to be . Again like Tritronics a company that was sold and things are just not the same. Your dog should like bumpers and Dokens just the same as birds. We often mix them in training sessions just to keep the dog sharp.
    Just a curious question I see hydro wires in your pictures of your training grounds, do your every get any feed off them. We have a training place under wire that you can actually hear the hum of the electricity and feel a vibration of the hood of your car. We are real careful of the e-collars in that area. it is a great water area so we use it when we need some long swims.

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anna Scott View Post
    Good luck with your training. You should be able to accomplish the goal you have set. You might want to print off a copy off Mike Lardy's flow chart from Total Retrievers. It gives a good breakdown of the basic skills with sequencing and you can use it after you have been through Bill Hillman's Training a Retriever Puppy. I also have Dennis Voigt's two DVD series. The Training Along one can give you an idea of what equipment you will need. The 25 Essential Drills one is good for anyone that is not familiar with the drills that build handling skills. The manuals with both are good reads and can be taken into the field with you.
    We always tell people to begin with a minimum of a dozen bumper 9 white and 3 orange, a whistle and a heeling stick. There are many whistles on the market now but we always started with the original Roy Gonia but they don't seem to be as good as they used to be . Again like Tritronics a company that was sold and things are just not the same. Your dog should like bumpers and Dokens just the same as birds. We often mix them in training sessions just to keep the dog sharp.
    Just a curious question I see hydro wires in your pictures of your training grounds, do your every get any feed off them. We have a training place under wire that you can actually hear the hum of the electricity and feel a vibration of the hood of your car. We are real careful of the e-collars in that area. it is a great water area so we use it when we need some long swims.
    Thank you Anna Scott for all of your help. I need some bumpers and Dokens for sure. LOL... I was using a Kong tennis ball today. Dennis Voigt's DVD's sounds like a plan. I have no idea what to buy, what to teach him first or in what order I should teach the drills. Healing stick? Never heard of it. LOL... I hope I'm not supposed to beat him with it. I saw a video that stated black and white bumpers are great because you can see them in a light or dark background. Orange is the hardest color for a dog to see? This color makes it more challenging for the dog I believe? I'll do some research on the best whistle.

    Regarding the wires, I've been under high voltage transmission lines that sing like there is no tomorrow. These are not high voltage transmission lines. Thanks again for your help Anna Scott. I'm so excited to get started doing some productive training.

  5. #35
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    Hillman is a good way to go. He is also good about responding to emails if you end up with questions. Good luck

  6. #36
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    A whistle, duck call, white and black bumpers, some wings, long line (wear gloves!), should get you started. I don't know much about heeling sticks... But plenty of dogs can heel without them, so probably not needed unless you're having a problem.

    Is Chopper in obedience class? Wouldn't hurt to get a good foundation on him. PM me if you'd like suggestions for trainers in your area.

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    A whistle, duck call, white and black bumpers, some wings, long line (wear gloves!), should get you started. I don't know much about heeling sticks... But plenty of dogs can heel without them, so probably not needed unless you're having a problem.

    Is Chopper in obedience class? Wouldn't hurt to get a good foundation on him. PM me if you'd like suggestions for trainers in your area.
    Chopper is not in obedience class at this moment. I am going to try and do the training myself, but I may need help if I fail miserably. I did watch all of the Freddy King videos (total of 27) while I was waiting on Bill Hillman's videos to arrive. I'm not sure if I agree with all of his training techniques, but I did learn a lot from him. I am going to need a lot of patience and high praise for my pup. I spent Saturday and Sunday working on commands. I took him out to the pond this weekend to get him acclimated to the water. I got him to go in the water and swim to me, but he panicked when he got near me. I guess I shouldn't have grabbed him when he swam to me and let him make his way back to the shore on his own. I couldn't get him to swim anymore after that incident. Maybe the scented bumpers will get him past the swimming issue. It is going to be a long road with lots of low and high points in the training process.

    I did research on the healing stick. Thankfully, the healing stick is used to tap the dog on his butt to reinforce the heal or sit command. No dog beating allowed.

    I already have gloves and wings, but I need to order a long rope for command training. Out of my own ignorance, I ordered pheasant wings in lieu of duck wings a week ago. Should I order the duck wings instead?

    I ordered the following this weekend:

    1. Two (2) Mallard D-100 -- Dokken's Deadfowl Trainer Ducks
    2. One (1) Acme Thunderer Metal Whistle #60 1/2 Brass
    3. Nine (9) SportDOG Original Lucky Black/White Dog Regular Plastic Dummy (Bumpers)
    4. One (1) Dokken's DeadFowl Scent 1176 Injector
    5. One (1) Duck Scent for Dog Training - 16 oz.
    6. One (1) SportDOG Deluxe Heeling Stick (Bright Orange).
    7. Three (3) SportDOG Original Orange Lucky Dog Regular Plastic Dummy (Bumpers)


    Thanks for the help Labradorks. You have been very helpful. Please send me the links to local obedience trainer. I'm pretty sure I will need their help.
    Last edited by ChoppersDad; 01-26-2015 at 08:49 PM.

  8. #38
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    You have a good list there. The reason we use orange is for blind work once the dog is to that level. You have a ways to go. The heeling stick is not used to beat the dog. If you want more info on its use go to Mike Lardy's website and he has an article on the use. How old is your pup. If he continues to show reluctance to go back into the water put on your waders and walk in with him. Don't make grabs at him when he is exiting unless he looks like he is in trouble. Labs are resilient and he will make his way out. There are a number of books on the market that outline training as well. Obedience is of the utmost importance so really focus on it.
    With your Dokens be sure to leave them out to dry once they have been in the water because they tend to smell like cat urine if you don't. We don't inject ours with anything as they have enough scent for any dog to find. The dogs also love to chew them so keep them out of reach.
    Keep us posted on your progress and enjoy the journey. Remember that when things get a little frustrating the pup is not out to get you or push your buttons, he just doesn't understand what you want so back up, simplify, break down the task and teach him.

  9. #39
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    Thank you Anna Scott. Chopper is now 6-1/2 months old. I was in the water up to my chest the last time I took him swimming. Chopper swam to me, but he looked for me to catch him when he got to me. I think I am going to wait until it warms up a bit before I take him to swim again. It may have just been a bit too cold for a swim that day. I am 100% devoted to obedience at this time. Everything else will have to wait. I put him in a once a week obedience training class starting February 2. It goes on for 7 weeks. Chopper and I will receive homework to complete between classes. Meanwhile, I have been working on his commands such as sit, here, heal, stay, fetch, and place. He is doing great so far. He is very smart. I'm trying to keep the training fun!

  10. #40
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    Update on Chopper's training... We completed our first formal obedience class yesterday evening at Pup-A-Razzi Dog Training School. He was training along side a Golden Retriever and rescue dog. He was pulling like a Mack truck at the beginning of the class because he wanted to go play with them. After we went through some drills to expend some energy and broke out the treats, Chopper did great. LOL... He will do backflips for treats.

    The best part of the first training session was learning how to keep him in a heel position as I walked past the other dogs. That is very tough for Chopper. He wants to go play with every dog he sees. I was able to maintain his attention as I walked right past them. That was a major accomplishment. We received some homework assignments for next week's training session. I took him off of the flexi-leash and have him on a short Kong leash now. I have been working on letting him know that I want him on my left heel when we walk. I keep his attention with a treat from time to time. He has begun to follow me versus pulling on walks. What an improvement!

    Got the Bill Hillman videos in the mail. LOL... Chopper likes them more than I do. Nothing better than watching the videos together before our training sessions. Right?



    I received the retriever training supplies from Gun Dog Supply. Chopper loves the bumpers. He has not had the privilege of enjoying the Dokken's yet. I'll save those for later.


 



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