Dog handling

[augustus_65]

I agree. There is nothing that makes me angrier than when my dog breaks. I make every effort to correct him when he breaks and usually its a one time occurrence and he quickly remembers (with some assistance) the proper way to act. What makes me mad is when hunting with someone esle whose dog continues to break and they make no effort to correct the dog. There is nothing worse than hunting with a poorly trained, ill-mannered dog.

My dog may not be the finest retriever on the field, but he will be among the best mannered.

[goosebruce]

Always funny to read this stuff on the net... nobodys dogs break & everyone shoots decoying ducks! Also forgot everyone is the first person the boat ramp. Always wondered why nobody ever posts they set up 50 yards from someone at 730, their dog sucks, and they enjoy the challenge of skybusting. hehehehe. Not macking on anyone, just struck me as funny.

Not everyone can train a dog. Everyone can tie on up. Theres lots of things your dog might not be able to do on a hunt....but still being there when the smoke clears ought to be one of them. For God sakes, if he wont sit, tie him up. Espeically if mutiple hunters and dogs there.

It was a good post, well written, trying to get one of those unspoken things out to people. Nobody wants to confront someone about their dog... its like saying your kid got my kid in trouble. But hey, this is something we do for fun. If someone is allowing something that interfers with that, then a friendly reminder such as this is the ticket. travis

[KWAKHED]

I agree totally. I have been on a hunt with a breaking dog and it was miserable. The dog broke on two crippled birds and forced them to swim far enough away that there was no chance of retrieving them. I for one am not fond of losing birds. Normally if a cripple is shot down we either finish it off or chase it down in the boat but its hard to shoot the duck if a dog is in the way.

[JimAire]

Must be my "pack of dogs", since I like hunting with both of mine at the same time. One of mine broke Monday. My fault cause I don't train on a regular basis like I should. Don, you redy to hunt with a pack again? I'm going when this weather breaks. A few years ago, before I got a dog, I tried giving ole Hiballer hand signals. He don't work a whistle and hand signals worth a dang.

[Don Miller]

I think what the problem is, hiballer hasn't hunted with "Dandy Don F." in a while and By God, it's just time for someone to step up to the plate and say what's really on their mind.

[Faithful Retrievers]

The worst is a dog that want sit in one place. Especially if your hunting in the boat. Like anything else you got to stick to the fundamentals and revisit them on a regular basis. I like to see a good chase on a cripple though. I got some good film of ducks diving and dog following. With a young dog eyebolt leash a quick release is a good investment no matter how steady you think they are.

[JimAire]

Now that hiballer has told it like it is, has everybody got a leash in the boat with them? Hey DonMiller, I'll be back hunting next week, no leash and saving the e-collars to strap on two of my (our) hunting buds...just in case

[akgarris]

I agree totally. My ex-hunting buddy's dog broke and whined NONSTOP! Every time we turned around (to put out or p/u decoys) he was trying to mount my BLF. I asked nicely. I dropped hints. I now have another hunting partner. A retriever can, and should, be trained to sit still and quiet in the blind. Just my .02 cents worth...

[Bayou Beagle]

Ooooo.....who misbehaved?

(I agree with every word of your post)

I think hiballer is referring to my dog, Chief. I'll make sure he is leashed and tied before I hunt with a pack of dogs again.

Hell Miller,

Chief was breakin, he was anticipating a bad shot by you, so he wanted to be there to clean up. here ya been doing well!!!!

Jeff

[onyoside]

I agree with hiballer, but I wouldnt have a few years ago. I used to think if my lazy but didnt have to go pick up a duck then great dog good job. Now that I have a dog and do alot of training on my own I know that breaking on the shot is a very hard habit to break, and not delivering it to hand is also cause for correction. My dog knows which way is electric and which is not.

[dukbum]

i agree wif ya post i got a buddy i hunt wif and hang around and lives close to me and hiz dog will brake if the wind blows wrong and just burns me up and he wont do nutten about either! wut wif that? i dont see how dogs dont get shot sumtimes because they brake when a shot iz fired....how do you know that a top water that is hunten wif you dont try to shoot a "cripple" and bust ya dog or your buddies dog? DAMN BREAKEN DOG....burn dat red button up on that e-collar!

[Damn_It_Boy]

So burn them huh? It's your fault, not the dogs......... You failed during your training, the dog didn't. Grow up folks.

How about training your dog, then using the collar as designed for reinforcement, instead of training???

[pntailhntr]

I've never hunted with of you posting here but my dog is one of those. I pisses me off and I'm working on that problem. She was my first dog to train and I only trained her sit still in the blind and go get my birds. For the reason of her breaking and other reasons I've noticed that I want a FINISHED dog. She will be retired after this season and my new puppy is in training now, he will be a FINELY TUNED HUNTING MACHINE when I finish with him. If I've ever hunted with anyone on this forum with my dog, other than Skeeter, I'm sorry if my dog pissed you off, believe me, It pissed me off more!!!!

If you get a dog and train it yourself, don't just train it to go get a bird because your not worried about field trialing, work LONG HOURS on steadiness, it will payoff and prevent MANY a headache!!!!

[onyoside]

So burn them huh? It's your fault, not the dogs......... You failed during your training, the dog didn't. Grow up folks.

How about training your dog, then using the collar as designed for reinforcement, instead of training???

No if they are burned when they break and have been properly trained they have been corrected before and know how to take it. You cant reinforce if they havent been trained to know what that sensation they are feeling is. You should know that no training is done on a duck hunt. Bad habits are formed and quality learning can take place, abd in some instances we have to reinforce or punish for bad behavior.

[Bankermane]

In a perfect world, I agree with your post.
What aggravates the hell out of me is the dog owner who has to get out of the blind and stand in the decoys to work his dog. Ducks are flying and the numskull is oblivious to everyone else hunting. The duck is dead and laying there and numnuts is blowing the whisle to high hell, stopping the dog every ten feet, and hollering "back" so loud that no ducks are left in the county. Could have limited out during the time it took to retrieve one shoveler.