Training a dog

[Dave]

I'll be trying my hand at dog training beyond the basic "here, sit, lay down" for the first time come April. We're getting a female lab with a respectable pedigree and we aim to train her as a family companion and waterfowl retriever.

Anyone have any books or training materials they could recommend? Any personal experience? Anything from basic obedience to advanced training.

 

[Robert Bills]

I have no expertise training retrievers or hunting dogs, and my "dog training" library is limited to the "usual" books from Petsmart, etc., except for this one, which gave me some basic tips that worked far better and far faster with my Australian Cattle Dog / Border Collie mix than anything in any of the others:

Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan (The "Dog Whisperer" guy).

http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

Try a "google" search for "dog + training + retriever" and see what you find. There is a book out there titled "Retriever Puppy Training." Don't know anything about it, but you may find a review.

 

[mightymike]

We just got a lab pup from a great breeder, he is 7 months old now. I highly recommend Water Dog by Charles Wolters. We started reading it before we picked up "Brutus" and it has been very helpful. My brother used it to train his lab as well.

 

[akphotobob]

We had a Chesapeak retriever that was so smart it was scarry. His water instincts were so strong that retrieving from the water was was the greatest joy in life. If he lost sight of the stick, we could say "left", and he would search to his left or we could say "right" and he would look to his right. We did very little training, it was all instinct and smarts. Chessies are extremely stubborn, so nothing I could tell you about training him would relate to a lab. The key is that your labs natural instincts are to please and serve you and so your primary job is to reward and focus him in what he naturally wants to do. You will know you are training him, but it will just be fun to him. Lots of rewards, consistency, and repitition guarantee a great dog.

I strongly second the suggestion of Ceasar Milans book and TV show (on National Geographic channel) as a neccessary foundation to owning any dog.

 

[adrenaline503]

Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan (The "Dog Whisperer" guy).

http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/

Ditto

 

[Topher Walters]

Dave,
I have trained several Labs for hunting (waterfowl and upland game). I highly reccommend www.dobbsdogs.com for their books and DVD's. I have an older book by Jim and Phyllis Dobbs that they wrote for Tri-tronics (e-collar). It is a great book. If you go to their web site and search their Libarary under retreivers you will find all sorts of info from the book and newer up to date info. There is a ton of info on their web site. The Wolters series of DVD's are also very good. I am currently working with a new Chocolate Lab and she is really putting me through the ringer! But slowly we will work through things. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Martyn]

Like everyone else I recommend The Dog Whisperer, we rent the DVD's through Netfliks.

I like Caesar’s approach. We are putting our new dog through an 8 week obedience class right now, and the trainer uses treats to alter behavior. Once the behavior in learnt then treats are lessened and the stopped. I don't like this approach I prefer the reward to be in praise and attention, but the training is for my daughter and her new dog, so I go along with it.

After all who are we fooling it's training the human not the dog.

 

[Gregny]

I'll be trying my hand at dog training beyond the basic "here, sit, lay down" for the first time come April. We're getting a female lab with a respectable pedigree and we aim to train her as a family companion and waterfowl retriever.

Anyone have any books or training materials they could recommend? Any personal experience? Anything from basic obedience to advanced training.

I have 21 years as a canine trainer/Behaviorist my experience includes domestic/competition obedience, theatrics, Police/narcotics, Shutzhound/KNPV and problem dogs (anxieties, Fear/Dominant aggression, Phobias and abused/neglected pets) if any one had questions and needed help or something explained ( methods, approaches, tools , how to implement them or just why does my dog act like this? ) Call me 845-895-8118 www.GregEdgarSchool.com. I may be able to shed some light on certain topics.

 

[Dave]

Fantastic input, thanks! I am familiar with Wolters' work. There is an old copy of Water Dog floating around my family somewhere and I own a copy of City Dog. Is anyone familiar with the SmartWorks method?

Sounds like we have a few up and coming pups on the ExPo...post up some pics!

 

[Ruffin' It]

Just for back ground, I work with dogs training them for the Deaf and pet therapy.
For obedience, Ian Dunbar is about as good as it gets. I disagree 100% with his take on aggression and what to do with aggressive dogs. However, when it comes to understanding how to train a dog and why, he's the guy. I'd also recommend getting a DVD as oppose to just a book. Training a dog is more about the subtle things than the big things and the subtle things are hard to properly convey with a book. Pet Co actually has pretty good classes in stores. I was surprised, but for basic things, they are a good place to start. Just remember, a dog that wants to please will ALWAYS out perform a dog that is trying to avoid punishment. Hitting, screaming at, or scaring a dog will never, ever make a good worker or a stable pet. They are much less consistant and MUCH more likely to feel that they must defend themself through biting. Not that I'm saying you would go that route, just throwing it out there.
That, and consistancy. Do things the same way every time with systematic progressive additions for complex behaviors and you are on the right track. As for hunting - I have no idea. I know some advocate shock collars. I am not 100% opposed to shock collars. But I do think they are only appropriate in extreme circumstances, when used by someone who actually knows how to use them (rare! even with trainers who use them), and to teach a dog to avoid a behavior rather than teaching him to conduct a behavior. Lastly, if you are going for a hunting dog, pay attention to the breeder. There is a significant difference between labs that are bred for companions and Labs that are bred for hunting. A good hunting dog is not necessarily a great pet. They have a lot of energy and aren't the easiest to control. But man, are they happy when they are hunting.
Lastly, listen to your gut if you work with a trainer. In my experience there are more bad ones than good. They love to come up with weird ideas on their own that aren't really based on anything. Even ones certified by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers can suck. If you see them working, getting frustrated and starting to abandon what they told you to do; dump them, right there. If they have to use any significant physical force to elicit a sit or whatever, dump them.

Rant off

Best of luck,

Tyler

I'll be trying my hand at dog training beyond the basic "here, sit, lay down" for the first time come April. We're getting a female lab with a respectable pedigree and we aim to train her as a family companion and waterfowl retriever.

Anyone have any books or training materials they could recommend? Any personal experience? Anything from basic obedience to advanced training.

 

[Ruffin' It]

Many of Ceaser's techniques are good, but usually not necessary. He generally works with problem dogs, so his approach is oriented as such. My theory is train as soft as you can. If you can get a dog to behave well without excessive dominance, then do it. In my experience, about 70% of dogs don't need much more than clearity and consistancy. My two highly dog-aggressive German Shepards required a lot of dominance and directions (never hit them once, but there was no confusion as to who was in charge). That said, his advice on spoiling, excercise, and boundaries applies to every dog/person relationship and will make the dog much happier than it would otherwise be in the long run.

Ditto

 

[Dave]

There is good news and there is bad news. The good news is the puppies were born last night. The bad news is there were only three in the litter and the single female was born DOA.

Kind of crazy how attached we were to the little girl (or to the idea having a little girl pup) even though she had not even been born yet...my wife cried when I delivered the news

We thought about it for a couple hours this morning and even talked about getting a girl from a different litter, but decided to stick with this litter. We get to bring home a boy towards the end of April.

A picture of the momma from this season...

And a picture of the poppa...

 

[mightymike]

Dave-Sorry for your loss. I know the pup you end up with will be perfect for you. "Brutus" is almost 6 months old. He looks like the male in the photo you posted. I've grown closer to this dog than any pet I've ever had. I'm highly allergic to dogs but so far it has worked to have him restricted to the the kitchen. I've trained him to retreive (the instinct was so strong I really don't think I've done much) and he responds to whistle commands and hand signals already. We just had some invisible fencing (Contain A Pet) installed around 2 1/2 of our 5 acres, so he has lots of room to safely roam. I highly recommend it. They were even able to put the wire fencing under the house at the threshold to our intrerior kitchen doors so we no longer have to step over the baby gates we had been using. Having him inside has really made a difference. I offer all of this as encouragement-keep us posted!

 

[HMR]

Our puppy chewed through the wiring for the brake light on my fiberglass shell. I spent an hour yesterday repairing the wires. All the while he was sitting at my feet watching as I wrapped the wire in electrical tape, then covered that with heat shrink tubing and finally hid everything below the lip of the shell in the truckbed. I put him in the truck with 5 different chew toys while I went to grab our Aussie to take them both to the beach. 10 minutes later I came back out to the truck. The wires were shredded, chew toys untouched and the puppy wagging his cute little tail.

Oh how I love puppies...

 

[the dude]

Congrats at getting a dog, sorry to read the female didn't make it. Getting a puppy can be such an emotional experience. I am on my third dog for bird hunting, I am by no means an expert, but I have gone through a lot with my mutts.

In my opinion, you should read every book you can on labs and training dogs. Get lots of knowledge in you and different ideas and different approaches and different views. There are lots of great books out there. The already mentioned Wolters is a good read, but outdated. I also REALLY like "The Labrador Shooting Dog" buy Mike Gould. It is a great read. The Art of Raising a Puppy by The Monks of New Skete is also interesting.

Wrap your mind around using a electronic collar. Either you will, or you won't. Don't punish your dog later by "not" using it now and find out later that you want to. I highly recommend the proper use of an e-collar. We can go more into that later if you are struggling with it.

I would then decide on one of two programs. Smartworks or Training with Mike Lardy. And stick with the program. Don't use some of this and some of that. They are both well proven and fanatastic training devices. They are the only two I would recommend.

I would then try and find the book "How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With" by Clarice Rutherford and David H. Neil . A another Great book on raising a pup.

After that, enjoy your new dog for the first year of it's life. (well hopefully for many years) Let it play and grow and teach it to become a good citizen. Start teaching obedience from the moment you bring him home but leave the discipline for later. Play fetch, let it follow you around, go swimming...Just don't push to hard to fast.

here's my two pride and joys, Diesel at 10 months and Cruiser at 6 years