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Excitement to retrieve

8K views 30 replies 18 participants last post by  Karen Klotthor 
#1 ·
Hello all, I have been lurking/reading and decided to join up to hopefully learn more and meet new folks.
I've had the bug for a new retriever for sometime now and bought a 3 month old black lab off a college football player who couldnt keep him due to his football obligations. He is not registered but "supposedly" came from hunting stock, I keep him in my home and from day one he did not seem to have the urge or want to retrieve. At 5 months I chose to send him to a trainer to see if it was something I was or was not doing.... He is back home and still does not seem to care to retrieve. He acts more like an older family dog more than he does a puppy and is a perfect house dog, obedient, house broken, doesnt chew on things. I just wish I could build his desire to retrieve, he will retrieve 3-4 times and is done with it, even at that he just kinda lopes to the squeaky toy and will not retrieve a bumper at all. I raise quail so I took a live one out to see how he acted towards that, he will retrieve it and bring back but still has no eagerness or spunk about it !
I dont want to give up on the pup and thats the main reason I chose to spend the money on a trainer hoping he could do better than myself but unfortionately that was not the case...
So im curious if anyone else has dealt with this and what if anything did you do to change thier desire or looking for ideas to try ? Any and all info is appreciated.
Thanks and have a great day !
 
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#4 ·
I have an older dog that had the same problem but maybe not to that degree. I would recommend getting him worked up. tease him with the bumper before throwing it. Treat him like a puupy and only throw a few, leaving him wanting more. Do not let him get to the point where he doesn't want more. slowly work your way up to more and more. make it as fun a possible
 
#5 ·
Don't give up yet. Some dogs wake up late. My Shadow was that way. What finally worked for me was drag racing him with another dog (Jack). You need the right kind of dog to pair with him. Jack was very laid back as it relates to other dogs. He was a super good retriever and had good ground speed but showed no aggression toward other dogs.

So the procedure we used. Both dogs on a long check cord with one person holding each dog. Have a helper throw a dead duck out about 20-25 yds. Let Jack retrieve and return. Throw duck again. Holding on to both check cords. We let Jack go, then sent Shadow. Jack got there first but Shadow really wanted the duck. The next time we reversed the sends. Shadow first, then Jack. Shadow was like greased lightning to get there first. He was a retrieving fool after that.

Again it takes the right kind of dog to pair with yours. Your pro should know which dog and how to do this.

I hope this helps.
 
#7 ·
You say when he comes in from outside. Where is he kept?
 
#10 ·
Used a pen raised quail which is not flight conditioned so it wouldnt fly far, he did retrieve but it was still that laid back lope to it ! I let him play with it until it finally died and did one last toss then put it up in the freezer. Im fixing to butcher some quail and I was gonna save the wings and feathers and store bumpers in with them to absorb scent maybe.
 
#11 ·
Time and continued excitement is your only hope. Maybe something will click. You might try shooting the dog some duck flyers if it's been gun conditioned. The trainer input sounds pretty weak.

Obviously 'hunting bloodlines' doesn't mean anything to anybody (including you) and unregistered casts even more doubt on background.

I'm not a cheerleader in these situations but do hope it works itself out.
 
#12 ·
Access to quail reminds me of the quail trick. I have only had to resort to it once but it worked. I would try the other things first but as a last resort try the quail trick. Trick isn't a
good choice of words but all I can think of now . Sharon Potter posted a detailed explanation of the procedure. I would do a advanced search of quail and Sharon Potter. Maybe she'll jump in with the link.
 
#13 ·
I hope you can bring out the best in this dog. What is it that you want to accomplish with it? Do you see yourself running Hunt-Tests? Are you interested in running it in the higher stakes (Master level) and/or earning a title?
 
#17 ·
I don't like using quail for this because they don't fight to get away and die too quick, a good pigeon or a shackled duck might perk him up. Don't feel bad if it doesn't I had one I had to wash out for the same thing out of one of the best litters on paper.
 
#19 ·
I have a rescue dog that does the same thing and today used live pigeion for her to retrieve. It took my Brittany running around with it In his mouth to get her interested in it. But she finally took it from him and did 2 retreives an I pulled the bird why whe was going nuts trying to get it.

I just uts picked up some more birds and she will get tons of live birds for now on. I don't have the option of getting a dog from a good line with my wife being so involved in rescue work so I go every direction possible to get the dog going some times it takes a long time to figure it out.

Try a wing on a string to get him going and hyped up .
 
#20 ·
First off I would like to say that I agree fully with all of the previous posts and trying to get your dog to love retrieving is what you should do first and foremost. However, and I will say this is not going to be popular, sometimes you have to think outside the box and do things a little backward. I have had a few dogs that have come through that the owners just wanted a hunting companion and nothing more but the dog had little to no desire and would not retrieve a fun bumper. The dog you describe is obviously compliant and trainable or you would not have been able to train obedience. If I were a betting man I would say that your dog is praise driven. If so as a last resort consider moving forward and force fetching the dog. I know there is going to be wailing and gnashing of teeth over that statement but if your dog is compliant as you describe it will be just like any other skill that you have trained and enforced. Dogs like that sometimes need to be made to do it so that they can find out its fun later on. Only then are you going to bring whatever is in there to the surface. If you are looking for a hunting companion I bet you will be successful with this method. If I'm wrong you won't be any worse off than you are now but I've seen it work.
 
#24 ·
I had a 2 year old yellow lab male brought to me 15 years ago by a man that wanted the dog to flush upland birds for him. I tried every thing under the sun to get the dog excited . Squeaky toys , wing clipped pigeons , quail . Name it and I think I tried it. Dog hand NO interest in anything seemed. I called the owner up and said come for the dog , I give up. He could not get the dog due to a trip over seas. And said "please board the dog till he got back home".

Well I can not leave a dog in a kennel and not work them so , I force fetched the dog , kept working with that idea and what happened was pretty dramatic. Not only did the dog learn to love retrieving , he learned to flush birds and the more birds I shot for him the better he got. Honestly, he turned out as good as most flushing dog labs I have seen.

That is not the first lack luster dog I have turned into a fine working retriever for owner / hunter. And just this year I ran into another dog like old yellow. And if you see this dog doing swim-by right now - It is doing it better than some dogs I have worked from field Champion bloodline. And that is dam scary ! But will the dog ever go to those high lever of retriever work ? NO ! would be my answer.

But if you all don't want to believe me - Come here and see for yourself -I have honest witness that will vouch for me

( Force Fetch could be a answer towards your problem)

I agree with what Tony Marshall said.

END
 
#22 · (Edited)
#23 ·
X-Ten, go to Bill Hillmann's website and blog and watch the 7-part video on creating desire and drive using excitement. The little GR puppy in the video, Tart, comes from Grand Champion and Champion Breed Ring parents. Sometimes and with no disrespect to breeders and owners of Breed ring potential dogs, because I have a LR like this, the desire, drive to retrieve is not quite there and good enough to play the upland, duck hunt, HT or FT games. Tart's owners want this little gal to do field work. With plenty of excitement to create desire sessions, this little gal is ready for more retriever training. Her confidence and desire to do the job her genes tell her to do are there and awake. She's ready for the next stages of training.

p.s. use a squeaky toy during her excitement lessons and switch to bumpers and birds later.
 
#26 ·
I would not give up yet but Genetics plays a huge part. Buddy has an English lab that was slow to catch on but did turn on about 13 months old. Never going to great but does a passable job for his standards. Mostly depends on your expectations.
Don
 
#27 ·
I had the same problem. My pup is 10 months old right now. Retrieving didn't click with her until about 8 or 9 months. She would lope to 3 or 4 marks and then she would be done. She showed absolutely no excitement. I was almost ready to send her home to mom and dad and get me another dog. Now, she can't get enough. She loves to retrieve. Honestly, I don't know what happened to make her this way. Abbie seemed to have more drive when she was around other dogs and when she watched other dogs retrieve. If it was just us out there, she wasn't excited. Im not saying it will get better but I would have patience if I was you. Abbie finally came around and she's doing great now. Good luck!!
 
#31 ·
I always found that if you get a duck or pegion and act like a crazy person to get the dog excited, it works. Use a high pitch voice. IF you have a wife let her do it. The higher pitch the better. We have new members that will come to a training day and their pup has no interest. I take a duck, make noice with high pitch voice and they do get excited and retrieve. I would use ducks at this point if you can get any. tie the wings and feet together and let pup loose.
 
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