frustrated!!!!

[honkerbonkers]

ok guys, here is the deal, i am for the first time in my life training a choc lab. he is about 6 months old, he is a very mellow pup from what everyone around me says, ive had him retreive the teal dummy a couple of times, he will run out there fast pick it up and maybe 25% of the time bring it back to me, the other 75% he either runs arounnd the yard head held high with his show prance, its hard not to smile at him while he does this. ive tried tying a 50ft. rope onto his harness so that i can reel him in when he attempts to do his voyage around the yard. since then ive had a hard time getting him to go after the dummy. today i had some insight though i threw the teal out the first time and he ran right at it, picked it up and brought it right back to me, i was all smiles, the second time he went back to his usual prance around happyville. i tied the rope on his harness again to reel him back in but with that on he wouldnt even go out to the teal? i took the rope off and wrestled around with him with his chew toy for about 10 minutes then i threw the chew toy across the yard to see him on a full run hit the chew toy hard, roll over his own head with his body, bounce up and run directly back to me and dropped the toy when i told him to. he proceeded to do that 4 or 5 times again in the same fashion. is there any insight on how to transition from the chew toy to a duck dummy? any help and ideas from anyone of you would be greatly appreciated.....thank you :D

[BIG DOG]

well 1st off your dog is choco, and there is probablly no hope for him considering that choco's are mentally retarded

GOTCHA smile.gif
it does sound like there maybe some desire issues here (the restricted by a harness and 50ft check cord) when you say teal are you refering to a dokken dft or real bird?

right now throw him what makes him happy to build his desire up once he knows the name of the game slip the bumper every now and then keep it fun for now.

BTW...how does he respond to pressure?

[Christian Curtis]

My pups rarely bring the dummy, pigeon, toy, or whatever back to me. They like to play these games. (I suspect it's from playing with my kids.) Don't worry about it. This will be corrected when you start your obedience program. Right now, have fun with him...Throw bumpers for him. Make him a retrieving nut! No pressure associated with the retrieve yet.

[honkerbonkers]

yeh i am referring to the dokken when i call it teal, and with the pressure thing, i tried one time to make him force fetch and he didnt like that one bit, i dont know if its because of his age and still having his puppy teeth or what? like i said im very inexperianced with this and any insight would be awesome....

[Mark Brendemuehl]

Try doing these drills in a hallway, in a fenced in area, down hedgerows, etc... anything that channels the dog back to you. Praise him each and every time, keep the drills short, and make him beg for more. He is avoiding you because he can... try and take that option away.
Mark

[JGT IV]

Another thing to do is soon as he picks up the teal start walking away from him calling his name and making a fuss, even run. He will think he getting left out and follow you. When he does come up behide you give him lots of prase and repeat. Never chase him. Make him chase you.

[Mallyard]

Chocolets arn't any diferent than any other lab BIG DOG. I've got one and she's a hunting machine...

Mallyard

[BIG DOG]

dude did you not see the word GOTCHA and the smile.gif
behind it
chill it will be ok

[BIG DOG]

HB,
don't apply any pressure now, as I and others said keep it fun

btw... FF isn't fun and he won't like it but...imho it needs to be done but fornow just keep building desire

GOOD LUCK!!!
(you do know i was picking about your choco dog right? there are some good ones out there and I hope you got one)

[honkerbonkers]

yeh i didnt take it personal when you referred to choco's....hes got great desire and i know he's gonna be a great partner, with lots of patience and persistance from me...thank all of you for your insight

[Mallyard]

Sorry BIG DOG. I didn't get that far in the post... And my buzzer went off. LOL. :rolleyes:
Sorry agian BIG DOG.

Mallyard

[BIG DOG]

HB,
That's cool just keep working him and he will fine, have you started obedience yet? keep that short and simple for now as well (little pressure)

mallyard that's cool-just read a little further next time ;)

People that know me know 1 thing about me...I take my training very serious, and my life too I seriously live it on the FUN side (life's to short not to laugh smile.gif )

[honkerbonkers]

life is too short to be serious right?.....ive only had the pup for about 4 days now, in that time he is responding to his name excellent, he sits and lays down on command also, like i said before just time and effort on both me and his part..... :D

[cupped&committed]

i also have a choco lab pup. he is 8 months old and very inteligent. get the obeidence down and you wont believe the difference in the way the pup will act toward you. make the retrieving very fun (tease the heck out of em) then if he does good tell him he is the best. these methodes everyone on the board is telling you worked great for me. work the check cord on the retrieves, but make it so fun he forgets the rope is on him. training on my pup has definatly made me a more patient guy. obedience is the key to a reliable companion. these are just my .02, im still training my first pup. if you want teach "come" with the whistle, it seems to excite them more.

[Jeff "Pitboss" Coats]

""i tried one time to make him force fetch and he didnt like that one bit""

what and or how did you do this?

jeff