Hand signals with a slow sped lab....

[andrew06]

Anybody have suggestions??
I have a chocolate lab who's just over 3 years old & I've hunted with him for the last 2 years, he does great work and is definatly driven when it comes to duck hunting and retreiving shot birds.. I have never done much of anything with hand signals (back/over) until this year, we've began working on it. I've been doing the drills and he is so sloooowww its painful - thats his nature!! I will give him the command, he knows what I want but he does barely more than walk back to retrieve the bumper. Its hard for me not to get frustrated, he is a very laid back dog which I dont mind but NOT IN TRAINING lol!! Is there anyway I can bring out some of the drive he shows when hunting into our training situations or do I need to realize this is how training will be?? My concern is the pace we are at, Im not sure I will be able to teach him what he needs to know with hand signals.

[franklauzon]

welcome to the site!!

I've got nothing with speeding up the drill, sorry.

[Tim]

Two things come to mind, one is the confidence your dog has with the new training
The dog will try to please you but if he is unsure of what to do ???
You have to teach a dog before training him and teaching will bring out the confidence which should increase drive.
The other is how "down" a dog gets with drills every day. Maybe try mixing in marks or throw a "happy bumper" after the drill to keep his spirits up.

[Kevin Hannah]

Welcome to the board welcomeani

It sounds like he just lacks confidence. And is not exactly sure what you want so is afraid of making mistakes. Try and perk him up a bit before the drill with a couple fun bumpers and then if he is doing well fire one part way through and then again at the end. Keep your sesions short, 2 or 3 ten minute sesions would be better than one 20 or 30 minute sesion and may help keep him up a bit more. You could also try birds at the piles or bumpers with wings taped on them as well.

You could try and hook up with someone training as well. Why don't you let us know what area you live in and maybe there are other people here training in your area.

Kevin

[Kevin Hannah]

I usually have trouble slowing them down a little to think more clearly :cry_1:

Kevin

[andrew06]

Thanks guys for your feedback, i was reading some of the other training discussions you've been involved in and have learned alot from your responses there!! I live in Woodstock, NB area and actually just started attending a retreiver club in Fredericton about 4 weeks ago. What a great time and a awesome way to meet some very knowledgeable people!

[Tim]

I usually have trouble slowing them down a little to think more clearly :cry_1:

Kevin

:dog: That's the truth,

[AD18]

If the dog is not high speed on shot birds then I suspect that the boredom of drills and training with bumpers may compound the issue. I'd definetly run him on some real birds and see what that does. You may see a major change in attitude when the feathers come out.

[North of 7]

I could tell you what I think but without knowing the dog I could put you down the wrong path. If you are getting to know the people in the club talk to Fred and if he won't help you PM me and I will call him and give him ####

[luvmylabs]

I usually have trouble slowing them down a little to think more clearly :cry_1:

Kevin

Ain't that the truth!!:amen: Mine usually seem to think they know where they are going BEFORE they even get the signal. :censored:

Anne

[andrew06]

I've tried the shorter training times - 10min - 15 min.. I have no access to real birds BUT I have used the dokken trainers instead of the bumpers and what a change!! Thanks for the advice guys, hopefully im over this training hurdle!