New dog, great start.

[npaden]

After some very sad and unfortunate circumstances with our last 2 dogs, I ended up going a different route this time and purchased a started dog instead of getting a puppy and starting from scratch.

It was painful to write the check, but everything else about this has been a joy. We actually got to choose from 2 different dogs that the trainer had been working with for 6 months and although both would have been good dogs, we feel like we got one that really is going to be the perfect dog for us.

She has been trained for pretty much everything I would have ever thought to train her for and then some. Force fetch, collar conditioned, steady, etc. For my purposes I would call her a finished dog, but for the trainer she was considered a started dog.

We've worked with her for the last month or so, just trying to keep her sharp and I was able to get her out and work with some live birds the last couple weeks. She did great!

First night out. We only got 6 birds, but it was due to my poor shooting.

Second time out. Limited out in just over an hour!

Last night. Another limit in just over an hour.

I didn't take pictures from Sunday night when we got our limit a whopping 38 minutes after walking out the front door of the house!

Last night I forgot her e-collar and she did a great job even without it. She wasn't as good on being steady as she would have been with the collar, but still did pretty darn good.

About the only thing I would want more would be for her to be able to do doubles, she brings the first one back and doesn't know to go back out for the second unless I get up and guide her out there.

She isn't the best at finding birds, but I think that is because she is paying too close of attention to me and not looking and smelling on her own to really try to find the bird. And that is just for the birds she didn't mark, she is really good at finding the ones that she sees go down. I would say on average the last few nights she has needed help finding about 4 or 5 birds out of 15.

Need to work on her picture taking skills, sitting and staying isn't something that she was really ever taught so that picture of her with the birds took some work. To her "sit" means to come to heal and sit at your left side. It was confusing to tell her to sit and then walk away from her.

She is a very quick learner though. Very attentive and a go getter. It is a real joy to watch her work out there, she hustles after them and hustles back. The night that I limited in 38 minutes I didn't get up out of my chair until the 7th bird.

I am sure hoping all our bad luck with dogs is behind us and I don't know what I will do if it isn't. We've only had Sage for 2 months but have already bonded pretty hard with her. She is just such an easy dog to like.

Her only odd habit is that she is the trashiest dog I have ever seen. If there is a scrap of trash anywhere in the yard (sticks, rocks out of place, pieces of plastic, etc.) she picks them up and takes them over to her spot. She has done a good job leaving other stuff alone, a little bit of light digging and some chewing on the porch, but nothing too bad.

I wasn't sure about buying a started dog, and I'm sure there are hits and misses on them, but I really feel like we got a great dog out of the deal.

Just thought I would share. Nathan

 

[Muskeez]

Looks like you are all off to a good season together. The best part is seeing your son and his red ryder bb gun getting involved!

 

[Elkmagnet]

Love the sloppy lab sit. Be careful about guiding her to birds she may start to think that's what you want.

 

[npaden]

Love the sloppy lab sit. Be careful about guiding her to birds she may start to think that's what you want.

I've been making her retrieve them once she finds them. What is the alternative when she doesn't mark a bird on her own? It's just the birds that she doesn't see fall, I guess I should be more selective and make sure she is looking before I pull the trigger. A couple of them were birds that I shot while she was bringing another bird back to me.

 

[noharleyyet]

Your boy likes her...that's really all that matters. Good looking dog, congrats.

 

[Big Sky Dreamin]

Like you said she is a started dog. Finishing would include learning to mark multiples and blind retrieves with handsignals. Fun training for sure, and a great way for her to build trust with you. There are a few books out there that I used for my lab. I paid for her to be trained, but did most of the advanced stuff myself. She wouldn't have won any championships, but she is a great pheasant dog and pretty solid on ducks. Well, she was anyway. She is hard of hearing and doesn't see to far anymore, but her nose is still good and she can hear the treat bag crinkle.

 

[mtmiller]

Great looking pup. Lucky guy.

 

[kansasdad]

She has chosen her family well. Congratulations to both parties.

 

[skimerhorn]

That is so awesome! I got a lab but with poor training on my part she's now a couch dog haha. I'm gonna try again sometime or maybe go the started route?

 

[npaden]

This was a great deal for me as it is a lady from a gun dog family who is trying to break into the business on her own. Her parents strictly work with pointers she is trying to start up working with English labs. Our dog should be around 55 pounds full grown. These dogs were all out of the same litter that she got a puppy out of to use as her beginning breeding stock so they have very good pedigrees. They even were crate trained and slept in her house so very social instead of some dogs that have lived in kennels their entire lives. She did take a bit to get accustomed to having free time, she was otherwise just used to training or sitting around in a kennel or crate.

I'm very happy with her so far, a great dog, any limitations are more my fault than hers.

 

[Elkmagnet]

I'm wouldn't say I know enough about blind retrieves to give you good advice I just know its not good to walk your dog to the target.
I love having a 60lb lab he is easier to handle when he "lab's out" although it's hard for him to retrieve the bigger elk sheds in the brush.

 

[7mm08mo]

I love a good lab you can make lifetime memories with them and they are really smart and good with the kids I have had a couple good ones. I have been thinking about a started dog myself with 3 boys and a busy schedule I don't have time to train a puppy. Keep me updated on how it works out for you.

 

[1_pointer]

Super!! I'm on a couple of lists for a pup and excited to try my hand at training a gun dog.

 

[putm2sleep]

Good work ! Doves blew out of here so early no chance to work
My new pup!?
Hazel is 8 months and raring to go!
Fun trips for you all!!!!! Great hunting!

 

[putm2sleep]

And the dog has better eyes than you if it has a pedigree
Should be certified eyes ?
Anyway they will let you know when the birds are flying
Must teach fetching on a line - your line!!!

Like casting a pole, probably more
Like a fly rod, takes practice and repetition
Practice

 

[WestT]

Originally Posted by elkmagnet
Love the sloppy lab sit. Be careful about guiding her to birds she may start to think that's what you want.

"I've been making her retrieve them once she finds them. What is the alternative when she doesn't mark a bird on her own? It's just the birds that she doesn't see fall, I guess I should be more selective and make sure she is looking before I pull the trigger. A couple of them were birds that I shot while she was bringing another bird back to me."

If you had time you could work on casting her in the direction you see the bird fall. Its allot of work just depends on what you want out of the dog. I will say one thing that I did with my dog that shouldn't be overly difficult to teach is the "dead bird" command. I'm sure there is lots of professional instruction on this one out there but basically you will start walking towards the bird and say "deeeaaaaaaaad bird, deeeeaaaaaaaaaaad bird" while waving your hand around the ground. This gets the dog searching pretty hard for the bird if the training sticks.

 

[LCH]

Her only odd habit is that she is the trashiest dog I have ever seen. If there is a scrap of trash anywhere in the yard (sticks, rocks out of place, pieces of plastic, etc.) she picks them up and takes them over to her spot. She has done a good job leaving other stuff alone, a little bit of light digging and some chewing on the porch, but nothing too bad.

We've got a chocolate. We got her shortly after moving into our new place, which had a sinkhole filled with trash. She'd go in there and bring the trash up and leave it by the back door, then I'd pick it up and throw it away later. She eventually cleaned out that entire sinkhole, piece by piece..

 

[maxx]

Great looking yella gal. I love the yellow labs.

For most people with Kids started dogs are the way to fly. Ya they seem expensive but if you look at the cost of a puppy, shots, training birds, time it really isn't that much to just get one started.

My first dog I trained through SH title and she was doing master work. The one I have now I got through FF and I sent her to a pro for a few month. I just had to much going on. I wish I would have sent her back the next summer for a few more months to clean a few things up. With three kids I just don't have the time. She has a lot of potential but is a wired up dog most days.

I have found that dogs that spend a lot of times with a trainer take a little more time to mark birds in the field and time to learn to use their nose.

When you are training you don't want the dog to use their nose. You want them to use their eyes and mark the birds. Most training translate into hunting but a few things just take some time and experience for the dog.

Good luck it is a fun ride.

 

[npaden]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. One other really nice thing about this process has been that the trainer has been super helpful even after the sale. She also mentioned that finding birds is something that should be improved with on the job training and has given me a few other pointers. When we went to pick her up we spent a couple hours working with her and gave us some paperwork with all the commands and methods that she uses.

I'm VERY, VERY happy to announce that this has seemed to really get my son's interest in hunting to a new level. We discussed our options and he is graduating from the Red Ryder BB gun. We are purchasing him a single shot .410 shotgun this week and going to see if he will be able to skillet shoot a few birds that sometimes end up landing near the decoys! Would love to be posting up a picture of him with his .410 and even a single bird that he shot himself! A single bird for him would be 10 times better than a limit for me.

 

[maxx]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. One other really nice thing about this process has been that the trainer has been super helpful even after the sale. She also mentioned that finding birds is something that should be improved with on the job training and has given me a few other pointers. When we went to pick her up we spent a couple hours working with her and gave us some paperwork with all the commands and methods that she uses.

I'm VERY, VERY happy to announce that this has seemed to really get my son's interest in hunting to a new level. We discussed our options and he is graduating from the Red Ryder BB gun. We are purchasing him a single shot .410 shotgun this week and going to see if he will be able to skillet shoot a few birds that sometimes end up landing near the decoys! Would love to be posting up a picture of him with his .410 and even a single bird that he shot himself! A single bird for him would be 10 times better than a limit for me.

Yep my 10 year old killed his first teal a few weeks back. I picked him up a Weatherby SA-08 20 gauge. Both my 8 year old and 10 year old shoot it. I like gas autoloaders for kids because it helps mitigate recoil.