Training your own

[Appleman]

Would like to get some ideas on the table for discussion or "tips" on successful how to make a great hunting dog.  Looking back on my life I have had 6 dogs that I have trained and hunted with; 2 labs, one Brit, one springer, 2 Weimaraner's.  I'm currently working on my 3rd lab a 8 month old yellow female.  I'm not a field trials guy because of time and money.  I want a house dog that starts wagging when she sees the decoy bag in the back of the pickup and knows it's time to go.  Let's keep the list short and simple, your best tip without repeated responses (dittos ok and modified differences good i.e. Different tools than the ones I showed).  Good food, good vet, good meds, and other non training deals aside...

My tip: train every day with good tools using consistent one syllable commands i.e.: sit, down, stay, back, come

Tools:

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[Appleman]

Tool:

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[ATS1755]

Obedience, Obedience, Obedience. Looks and sounds by your statement and photo your definitely on the right track. With an obedient dog in the field it will make your outings enjoyable and successful. Make your training sessions fun, interesting and short in duration but frequent. Your K9 partner will let you know how long your sessions should last. I too have a female lab. Great dogs for sure. All the rest will follow. Good Luck.

[Labman519]

Like ATS said , obedience is first and foremost. I
Found access to real birds is a good thing to have when you see the dog getting board with training.

[Pointer]

I’ll start by saying I train pointing dogs not retrievers. In my opinion the most valuable piece of equipment to own is a Garmin Tracking Collar. The best tip on actual training is work the dog on wild birds, there is absolutely no substitute for wild birds. Basic training can be accomplished with pen raised birds but wild birds are the only thing that will make true bird dogs.