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11 month Old PUP

1K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Tigershark 
#1 ·
Hey Ladies and Gentleman. I have an 11 month old pup and its the first dog i have trained by myself. I have made many mistakes along the way and I have made some big gains. In your experience can I recover from my mistakes and come out with a good working dog. This dog craps more potential then I know what to do with. I just want to be able to bring out the best I can in the dog. Mistakes I have made include Holding objects( she cigars and chomps) have not started FF yet due to the sloppy hold. Obedience is sloppy in some aspects for example running a few yards past me on here rather than coming right to heal. Return on retrieves is sloppy at long distances. Again, in your experience can these issues be cleaned up to make this dog a good working retriever? And how do i put myself in a position to make the best of it. Keeping at it and grinding it out? I do belong to a dog club from march until august.
 
#2 ·
Keep at it, but not without a game plan. Get a good retriever Basics Program, and take your time. Be thorough about each step.

The components of Basics in order

1) “Here”
2) “Heel & Sit”
3) “Hold”; automatically evolves to Walking “Hold, Heel, Sit”
4) “Fetch”; ear pinch, which evolves into Walking “Fetch” & “Fetch-no-fetch”, e-collar conditioning to “Fetch”
5) Pile work, including Mini-pile, Nine bumper pile; AKA Force to pile
6) 3-handed casting; teaching the 3 basic casts – “Back” and both “Over’s”, including 2-hands “Back”
7) Mini tee; includes collar conditioning to all basic commands, transferring to the go, stop, cast functions in micro dimension as preparation for the Single tee. Also includes De-bolting
8) Single tee
9) Double tee
10) Water tee with Swim-by

Evan
 
#3 ·
The short answer is yes you can overcome your past mistakes but you have to educate yourself as to the proper techniques to use. Have you invested in a training program dvd? Going to a club training day once a month is not sufficient to learn how to train a retriever.
 
#5 ·
Gunssmoke

Sure you can do it. I speak from experience training only one dog such as yourself. I made lots and lots of mistakes. I lost several weeks at a time going back to correct my mistakes. I believe in a training group however I trained mostly alone due to my location. AT 3 years my chessie was front title MH and back titled MHR. Take the above advise and get a training program and follow it. I believe you will be surprised in your dog when you slow down and follow a training program. I would also recommend you pick your battles, an example is your dog will not cigar a bird!

Have fun with your friend.
 
#6 ·
Yes it can be done for sure! Last year I took back a puppy that I had bred and sold. The puppy barely knew its name when I got her back at about a year old. In just over 4 months she was FF,CC, solid OB, and basic hunting skills. I sold her after having her back for less than 6 months and she is now a great hunting dog.
 
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