Black Labrador puppy training.

[Craigard]

The price of Black Labrador puppies is now back to pre-lock down levels and I have bought the world's cleverest BL pup, she is now 5 months old , mother was a tracker and father a working retriever. I want to train her as a deer dog. I am a complete novice in this but spent much of my career working with border collies. I need advice and so I'm appealing to the combined wisdom of SD members which should add up to hundreds of years.

How do I start and then develop her training? and what are the three most important factors in success. Knowing three " what not to do" factors would help as well".

A thread posted on 29th September was a help as were the replies which included a book by Guy Wallace, "Training Dogs for Woodland Stalking" I have searched the web for a copy and it seems to be long out of print. Does anyone have a copy to sell or to lend (I'm a very reliable book borrower).

 

[B&W FOX]

Golden and Chocolate Lab's can also be trained.

 

[Woodsmoke]

Golden and Chocolate Lab's can also be trained.

Yes, but only Black Labs matter

Kidding aside, first thing to instill is the basics. Sit, stay, recall, etc. Sounds obvious, but she needs time to be a pup too. My only experience training labs was with my lass Purdey, and in all truth all she really needed was direction rather than training. I trained her on hand signals linked to the whistle though, and that's proven to be an absolute blessing now she's lost her hearing. She's retired now bless her, and we only worked on birds, so I can't offer any guidance regarding deer training. I do, however, remember Purds and I spent many, many treasured hours working together, and I hope you and your pup get that same joy.

 

[Doric]

Golden and Chocolate Lab's can also be trained.

I have been training gundogs mostly Labs for over 40 years, I hold training classes and also one on one tuition. I have trained all colours but have yet to see a first class brown Lab. Go for a field trial and working bread Lab of the very best breading. Book a pup from an established gundog kennel that has had sire and dam checked and has the relevant genetic disorder certificates.
If you are not familiar with these genetic tests ask someone who is.
hope this is of some help.

 

[farrieral]

My 2 yellow Labs have both been very easy to train. As has been said above, basics are everything. Recall, sit, stay and wait. The retrieve or in your case tracking and finding of the deer is the reward for obedience and steadiness. Mine are both seasoned peg dogs, but after doing some blinds with deer legs, blood and heads I think they'd easily begin tracking deer.

Don't over do it with training, shirt and sweet.
Don't train if you're not in the right head space.
Don't keep repeating something if it's not working, change tack every dog is different.

A client of mine breeds many a lab that go into guide dog work and she has a saying... her words after many a year of breeding...

A yellow lab will see a wall and go around it,
A black lab will run into it once and then go around it,
A chocolate lab will just continue running into it until the wall falls down

And there's no such thing as a fox red it's just a dark shade if yellow

 

[VSS]

I've no experience with gundog breeds, but I have trained a lot of working dogs over the years. A few bits of advice that are relevant, whatever the breed and discipline:

Periodically go right back to the beginning and start the whole training process again. Run through it quickly over a week or two, until you get back to where you were. And I mean right back to the beginning, with basic obedience and stuff like that.

Always end a training session on a high note. When things are going well, that's the time to stop. Pushing for an extra five minutes might really sour your dog.

If a young dog is being a pita about recall and being caught, let it go again as soon as you've caught it (even if you're at your wit's end and running late) otherwise it simply learns that coming back to you means you're going to catch hold of it, which is something it interprets as punishment.

If the young dog unintentionally gets away from you and starts working a scent (equivalent situation to a sheepdog pup going round the sheep when you didn't want him to) don't go screaming and hollering and trying to stop him, or it'll just make him more determined to defy you. Instead, bring the situation under control by turning it into a brief training session, and finish on a high note.

Hope that helps.

 

[Lancaster]

I've no experience with gundog breeds, but I have trained a lot of working dogs over the years. A few bits of advice that are relevant, whatever the breed and discipline:

Periodically go right back to the beginning and start the whole training process again. Run through it quickly over a week or two, until you get back to where you were. And I mean right back to the beginning, with basic obedience and stuff like that.

Always end a training session on a high note. When things are going well, that's the time to stop. Pushing for an extra five minutes might really sour your dog.

If a young dog is being a pita about recall and being caught, let it go again as soon as you've caught it (even if you're at your wit's end and running late) otherwise it simply learns that coming back to you means you're going to catch hold of it, which is something it interprets as punishment.

If the young dog unintentionally gets away from you and starts working a scent (equivalent situation to a sheepdog pup going round the sheep when you didn't want him to) don't go screaming and hollering and trying to stop him, or it'll just make him more determined to defy you. Instead, bring the situation under control by turning it into a brief training session, and finish on a high note.

Hope that helps.

^^This^^
Think about it this way, you are training yourself to train a dog, you can't get frustrated or wound up, training should be fun for your dog, little and often re-enforces small steps forward.
I don't bother with "Stay", "Sit" means sit there until I tell you otherwise.
On a positive note, most Labs are born half trained, most Spaniels die half trained

 

[Bowland blades]

let it know about deer once you have it rock steady to sheep etc . Basic training well ingrained then tease it with deer heads , feed it waste venison frequently get it on skins n heads ( good thing to have an experienced dog its confident with to show it the way ) . I am myself just entering one and once it was a little nervous of being teased by a severed deer head , my old dog showed him whats- what and now he hits heads on skins like a sledge hammer ! took all of one demmo.
The older dog i never really trained, just took him out and he took to it ( he was already an experienced wildfowling dog )
Deer are the natural prey of dogs ! The unusual bit is them hunting and retrieving birds.

 

[B&W FOX]

 

[Craigard]

View attachment 271075

Good to see that Labs have a sense of humour too.

 

[Julian S]

I have an excellent book i had to get from the states as not much available here = Tracking dogs for finding wounded deer, by John Jeanneney
If you google it and think it good i could lend you it if you pay postage and return etc.
I used it for my black lab and it was good. Get some tracking shoes too and start getting some deer blood saved up in freezer for when u start laying scent lines as its sods law when you want some u dont have it
My kids got a nasty shock thinking a bottle of it unfreezing in fridge was Ribena !!!
Deer Tracking Services are great, took my dog up to him for some lessons, think its Peter, well worth a call for good advice.
GET ADVICE FROM SOMEONE LIKE HIM WHO HAS REAL EXPERIENCE AND DOGS TO PROVE IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Like others have said, it must be great fun for the dog !

 

[rem284]

The price of Black Labrador puppies is now back to pre-lock down levels and I have bought the world's cleverest BL pup, she is now 5 months old , mother was a tracker and father a working retriever. I want to train her as a deer dog. I am a complete novice in this but spent much of my career working with border collies. I need advice and so I'm appealing to the combined wisdom of SD members which should add up to hundreds of years.

How do I start and then develop her training? and what are the three most important factors in success. Knowing three " what not to do" factors would help as well".

A thread posted on 29th September was a help as were the replies which included a book by Guy Wallace, "Training Dogs for Woodland Stalking" I have searched the web for a copy and it seems to be long out of print. Does anyone have a copy to sell or to lend (I'm a very reliable book borrower).

I think if you have been woking collies then a labrador will be so much easier.

I train a dog to walk at heel and when i stop that is the command to sit.

Tracking blood is quite natural for a dog but start with easy tracks. What you need to think about is how YOU want the dog to report on finding the quarry. My gwp's will give voice whilst chasing a wounded beast but go silent when they catch it because they have a mouth full of neck. I use gps collars to find the dog. You need to workout whats best for you and train for that.

Like someone else said already. I train dogs to sit by verbal command, whistle, hand signal and the action of me stopping when I walk. I don't have to say stay because they sit unil I command them to do something else. The last black lab I had ended up stay sitting on the hill over night because of an situation i got into. She was still there the next morning. I don't think i could trust my gwp's for that long though.

 

[Bowland blades]

I have an excellent book i had to get from the states as not much available here = Tracking dogs for finding wounded deer, by John Jeanneney
If you google it and think it good i could lend you it if you pay postage and return etc.
I used it for my black lab and it was good. Get some tracking shoes too and start getting some deer blood saved up in freezer for when u start laying scent lines as its sods law when you want some u dont have it
My kids got a nasty shock thinking a bottle of it unfreezing in fridge was Ribena !!!
Deer Tracking Services are great, took my dog up to him for some lessons, think its Peter, well worth a call for good advice.
GET ADVICE FROM SOMEONE LIKE HIM WHO HAS REAL EXPERIENCE AND DOGS TO PROVE IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Like others have said, it must be great fun for the dog !

There a a few works in print on the Subject , the one you mention raises a few points but is really tied in to the American ways imo ( not a bad thing just not all as relevant here). guy Wallace Uk , Niels Sonderman Denmark . All add to the mix . However we must remember to train the Dog in front of us as dogs cannot understand the text anyhow and they react differently even within one Breed . Ok i am only on my 3rd so a tonne to learn but they have all proved different and i have two good mates who have done more and they both do it different! One just takes them out soon as , instills basics and allows them to figure things out over time ! But then he is out once or twice a day 5 days a week. Key in most training of course is "train the one Infront of you , not the one in the book " ( but this applies to most dog training i feel)

 

[NullMac]

Fit the brakes. Recall. Then have fun finding things as a pup. Give some exposure to deer early on. Let her get the scent. Let her associate stalking (a walk) with fun. Introduce her to the gun very carefully.

Don't rush. She will largely teach herself if you let her get used to the scents and just have fun doing it.

 

[Precision123]

Eye contact changes everything. When your dog's 2 feet or 200 yards away, having your dog look to you for direction is ace.
Treat in hand, kneel down, dog knows, move hand away and don't say a word. Pooch will do everything to get the treat and when it doesn't work, will sit, look puzzled and then look at you. Reward with treat, ear rubs, good doggie and all that.
Do that and extend the eye contact time to the point that you're gazing at each other like moonstruck teenagers.
Thank me later.