Age To Start Your Dog Hunting?

[graftongal]

Thought I would post to see how old everyone's dogs were when they started to take them out waterfowl hunting. More than one person has told me that they thought their dog was ready for hunting, but when the time came the dog wasn't prepared for it.

I guess my question would be, how would you know if he or she is ready for hunting?

[johnsbritt]

i new misty was ready when i took her for a walk by the creek and she jumped in , grabbed the goose by the neck and brought it back to me. she was 9mths. i might try some retrieves on rainbows this week?

[graftongal]

Now that is what I call fishing! Sit back and let the dog do the work! :idea:

I know my dog isn't afraid of the shots going off, I am just concerned with his maturity level. I can hardly get him to sit still for more than a minute at home, I can't imagine how I'll keep him calm and still when hunting!

[3 black dogs]

If you are planning on running Dax in hunt tests you may want to wait till next year when he is more mature and if you chose to hunt him this year rope him and do not let him break. I have seen many dogs hunted early to have the owner beating his or her head against a wall the next year trying to fix all the bad habits formed by hunting the dog to young. A high energy dog like him I would be sure to make his Obediance rock solid before even thinking of hunting him.

Chris

[graftongal]

Thanks for your input Chris, I really appreciate it. I never considered the bad habits he would pick up from being out in the field. I do want to run tests with him so I sure don't want to screw that up. I was thinking about waiting until next year anyways, so perhaps I will stick with that plan.

[quackaddict2]

chris is on the money,if you do hunt him this season do not alow him to break even if it means roping him.have someone else do the shooting and you concentrate on handling the dog and keeping those standards.

[Drew Good]

Some really good advice, nothin ruins a hunt like a retriever that breaks often. Kinda like in this duck hunting vid....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8DZXEoMWq0

Those dogs broke alot!! It was kinda cool seeing the yellow catch the live duck at the end though.

Drew

[nimkii]

I took Abbie out last year and I had her staked out. It was more for the exposure to the guns and the guys. Maturity and obediance are key.

[Blacky]

My boyfriend and I just bought a chocolate lab, 6 mths old, and we are hoping to have her ready by next spring. She needs a lot of work!!! I guess it all depends on the dog.

[Huntmaster]

I'm no expert, but I am the type that cant wait to introduce my dog to hunting. As long as my dog has been gun trained and shows no fear. I would take it along to get the experience. Depending on what training the dog had would tell me if I should maybe send her on a short retrieve ( make sure the duck is stone dead) or just retrieve the bird myself and let the pup smell it. At 5 months old your pups brain is like a sponge and they will remember their first hunt even if they didn't get to participate. having it in the blind also will give you a chance to teach the dog to be steady and quite. I agree it should be keep on a leash for the first couple hunts and you are sure it wont break. I had a Black lab about 12 years ago that I took out for the first hunt at the age of 6 months, he was very well trained and ready to go. Tied him up in the blind and waited for the birds! The first flock came in just inside my coys and we managed to knock down two of them. I untied my pup and he retrieved both birds with alittle help. That was it, he was my new hunting partner.

But only you know if your dog is ready,,,GOOD LUCK and remember to have fun. :spoton:

[andrew06]

I took my chocolate lab out at 9 months. At that time training for hunting was very new to me. But he was definatly NOT gun shy and was great on his obedience, we shot 1 canada goose that morning and he was steady until I released him - if he was half excited as I was than he would be hooked for life. He ran to the goose, sniffed it at 1st then drug it to me by the neck. That 1st year he wouldnt have done nearly as well without having obedience down. I am far from ever giving advice to anyone on training their dog but I can tell you that 1st fall of hunting with him I will never forget. He is a very laid back calm dog except when it comes to hunting - he is all business!

[Sharon]

I took my chocolate lab out at 9 months. At that time training for hunting was very new to me. But he was definatly NOT gun shy and was great on his obedience, we shot 1 canada goose that morning and he was steady until I released him - if he was half excited as I was than he would be hooked for life. He ran to the goose, sniffed it at 1st then drug it to me by the neck. That 1st year he wouldnt have done nearly as well without having obedience down. I am far from ever giving advice to anyone on training their dog but I can tell you that 1st fall of hunting with him I will never forget. He is a very laid back calm dog except when it comes to hunting - he is all business!

I call that good breeding, good puppy training and luck!
You are a blessed man. Do you have any idea how many people struggle for years to get their dog to do all that?
Enjoy!

[Huntmaster]

I took my chocolate lab out at 9 months. At that time training for hunting was very new to me. But he was definatly NOT gun shy and was great on his obedience, we shot 1 canada goose that morning and he was steady until I released him - if he was half excited as I was than he would be hooked for life. He ran to the goose, sniffed it at 1st then drug it to me by the neck. That 1st year he wouldnt have done nearly as well without having obedience down. I am far from ever giving advice to anyone on training their dog but I can tell you that 1st fall of hunting with him I will never forget. He is a very laid back calm dog except when it comes to hunting - he is all business!

You make me smile and remember the same experience of hunting over your dogs first hunt, you know you just gained a new hunting partner that loves the sport just as much as you do. I do agree with Case, you are blessed, I had to tie my dog the first few times. The word Chocolate also made me smile. :amen: