Thread: Retrieving training questing ?

Your thoughts and play nicely everyone ! . I've been upping my training lately , after my dog went poorly on retrieving geese . Now he struggled to bring them back , he made it look very awkward and gave in bringing them back . I wasn't too bothered as when I thought about it he's only retrieved quails and a few mallard on land . So it's back too the drawing board , do I make a heavy dummy for Him ? Or do I drill him night after night on a normal dummy ? . I'm not sure on heavy dummy as will this make him hard in the mouth ? . Ive noticed that as dogs get older they tend too get a little harder in the mouth . As he's young he is very soft , which I like as quail is really my target and nothing worse than "flat packed quail !". On side question do field trail dogs get marked down if they are hard in the mouth ? .

[QUOTE=Munsey;On side question do field trail dogs get marked down if they are hard in the mouth ? .[/QUOTE]YES and retrieving not my strong point

I could answer, but I vowed not to until march ... sometime, I forget when.... if I get time tomorrow night I'll send a PM... easy fix, no issue at all.

Oh Fuck it... I just posted.

Haha snap!

Originally Posted by Ruff

I could answer, but I vowed not to until march ... sometime, I forget when.... if I get time tomorrow night I'll send a PM... easy fix, no issue at all.Oh Fuck it... I just posted.

Good on you .I'd appreciate your help . Horrie hunter is going to help hands on , starting tomorrow to give me some help here and there , which am greatful.

Originally Posted by Munsey

Your thoughts and play nicely everyone ! . I've been upping my training lately , after my dog went poorly on retrieving geese . Now he struggled to bring them back , he made it look very awkward and gave in bringing them back . I wasn't too bothered as when I thought about it he's only retrieved quails and a few mallard on land . So it's back too the drawing board , do I make a heavy dummy for Him ? Or do I drill him night after night on a normal dummy ? . I'm not sure on heavy dummy as will this make him hard in the mouth ? . Ive noticed that as dogs get older they tend too get a little harder in the mouth . As he's young he is very soft , which I like as quail is really my target and nothing worse than "flat packed quail !". On side question do field trail dogs get marked down if they are hard in the mouth ? .

Bump

You should get that looked at. Seems to be a bit of a disease around here

I'd be keen to know too

Firstly a trial dog which is hard mouthed is not marked down, it's disqualified...

A heavy dummy will only deplete drive as will repetitive drills with a normal dummy... both courses of action your are considering would probably make your issue worse.

Have a session with HH hands on is always better than stuff written on a forum... if you don;t get anywhere we can readdress it, but there is little point taking two different curses of action at the same time, chances are HH will address this how I would and in person is better than the written word.

Originally Posted by Ruff

Firstly a trial dog which is hard mouthed is not marked down, it's disqualified...A heavy dummy will only deplete drive as will repetitive drills with a normal dummy... both courses of action your are considering would probably make your issue worse.Have a session with HH hands on is always better than stuff written on a forum... if you don;t get anywhere we can readdress it, but there is little point taking two different curses of action at the same time, chances are HH will address this how I would and in person is better than the written word.

All good so far , he's responding to HH/Your , basic methods really well , and I'm stoked how he's going . But I'm sure there will be some corrective bad stuff that will rear it's ugly head as I move him back on to game . But at present going well .

Train with a heavier dummy. Start slowly increasing weight, not all at once. Only do two or three retrieves and then put dummy away. Make sure you dog can do them before increasing weight and make the dummy comfortable in the mouth, not out of balance either.

If you have an issue with retrieving then initially making retrieves harder will not help things much... I would go back to basic retrives, make them even simpler, hype the prey drive on retrieve more and then introduce a program of increasing dummy size...

I agree with no more than 3 retrieves per session though.

I for some time had problems with my dog with retrieve of manky ol dead frozen pigeon -he must be smart ! I did a few pressure methods that proved to work but in the end fun and games with the pigeon proved best --happy happy you cant have it , try and get it -throw it and bam he was a retriever.I usually do 2 blind retrieves and that's the days work -in the next few weeks well see how well he goes in the North Island pigeon trials

Yep, that can work with some reluctant dogs.... many don;t like pigeons though.

yep to date I have had one that tasted any good