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Dog will no retreive in cold water?

14K views 92 replies 30 participants last post by  j towne 
#1 ·
I have a 15 month old lab that has been hunting all season and has been doing great. today we hunted a large, half frozen pond with ice around the edges and he just flat out would not retrieve the ducks. He really did not want to get in the water. This is not lack of drive or training so, with all due respect, those are not the answers that I am looking for. I played with a dead duck with him for a while when we where done hunting both on dry land and throwing it in the water. He was as thrilled as ever to pick it up off of the ground but wanted nothing to do with it in the water. I was able to force him to it in the water but he certainly did not want to go. Any suggestions on what we might try to get through this? I live in montana so over half of our season is very cold. Thank you for any help!
 
#2 · (Edited)
I also live in Montana, where are you? You didn't mention a neoprene vest, do you use one? If not I highly recommend a good quality, tight fitting vest. Now most dogs will drive though anything, even cold water and ice to get a duck, so the vest is mostly a safety thing to fight off hypothermia, but making him more comfortable can't hurt. The ice could also freak him out just because this is different, I assume you were avoiding the iced over section of pond.

BTW, Welcome to the forum.

John
 
#4 ·
Thanks guys, i did forget to mention that yes, he was wearing a vest. He is pretty lean little guy and no matter what I do I cannot get weight on him nor can the vet. I was concerned that the cold would be an issue and unfortunately, i was right. John, I am in the gallatin valley.

Thanks!
 
#5 ·
In that case I wouldn't push it right now. If possible I'd take him upland hunting a lot. Even a game preserve if you can't get into a lot of birds otherwise. Get him jacked up on live birds, really jacked up. If the opportunity arises to have a pheasant land across a small arm of water see if he goes through the water without thinking about it. I had assumed, but now that I reread your post, didn't see you mention how much water work the pup received during summer. Hot weather is the time to work on water, so maybe hold off on duck hunting this season. The last thing you want is to push too hard and create a bad attitude around water.
 
#7 ·
Thought, could the vest be causing some confusion/refusal???... The reason I bring that up is because my 19 mo old BLF had her first and only "no-go" the first time I had the vest on her for real work (not fun bumpers). I resent her and she took off real slow then turned around (popped), I sent her with a loud "back", no pressure, and that did it. I read her as being confused, not as a refusal. No issues since.
 
#10 ·
Guys I'm gonna jump in here and give my thoughts.not an expert but this is something that I feel has become a huge problem.I have some thoughts on it but prefer to keep it to myself.But it is the main reason I have switched breeds for my personal gun dogs and have not looked back.As far as forcing...I really question why I should have to force a dog for something they should looove to do.Just my thoughts
 
#16 ·
Exactly what have you switched to for your personal dog? Force fetch has less to do with force than you might think. That being said If the problem has only presented itself in really cold water and there appears to be no other mitigating factors then the problem is probably cold water. Some dogs get past it some don't.
 
#12 ·
My pup would do this too. I realized it was because he sat in the warm truck on the way to the hunt. I would only put him in the kennel in the bed after the hunt when he was all muddy. I started putting the pup in the kennel before every hunt and he would actually go in the cold water. Im a newb to gun dogs but this worked for me.
 
#13 ·
Force fetch is a good training tool for a lot of reasons. That said, I am hard pressed to think of a situation where I would force, an otherwise bidable, birdy dog, into cold water. Yes, I want a dog to retrieve in cold water. But, one that stops when the water gets cold I don't think I would, especially a young or old dog.

Just my feelings,

Tom
 
#14 ·
I have a 15 month old lab that has been hunting all season and has been doing great. today we hunted a large, half frozen pond with ice around the edges and he just flat out would not retrieve the ducks. He really did not want to get in the water. This is not lack of drive or training so, with all due respect, those are not the answers that I am looking for. I played with a dead duck with him for a while when we where done hunting both on dry land and throwing it in the water. He was as thrilled as ever to pick it up off of the ground but wanted nothing to do with it in the water. I was able to force him to it in the water but he certainly did not want to go. Any suggestions on what we might try to get through this? I live in montana so over half of our season is very cold. Thank you for any help!
There again....What happen to change his behavior? Something was done. Don't force it.:)
 
#17 ·
Been at this way over 40 yrs Bruce,all my dogs and clients dogs get FF but not to get in the liquid after a bird that has been shot.That has to come from the heart of said animal.And it`s sad to say a lot of heart has been lost in todays lab.Don`t get me wrong,there are still a ton of labs out there with a lot of heart.Just not the percentages there was 50 years ago.

As far as personal dogs now....We have 6 chessies with more on the way!!!!!At least for now they havn`t gottn popular,and we all know what happens when a breed gets popular.Would you like a list? Jim
 
#25 ·
I have seen labs refuse to get in the water. Chessies, boykins and poodles do the same things. When I see the big swim in the 4th series mostly it is labs that have the heart & guts to make that swim. I will force my dogs to water. That way the day they decide they don't want to swim I will have an option.

Option b is to force fetch an otter.
 
#18 ·
Damn this place has gone to absolute hell. Bottom of page 2 and nobody has even gotten close. You say it isn't a drive or training problem and in fact, you are wrong. It is one or both and probably more a training issue than drive. Unless there is some sort of health issue(doubtful) that dog is just giving you the finger and has decided that he is more comfy staying dry. I do agree that now is not the time to fix it but that means biting the bullet and not putting the dog in the situation to refuse and get away with it again. Has the dog gone through force fetch? Force to pile? Water force?

All that said, here is the disclaimer: anytime you are hunting in really cold conditions you need to watch the dog for signs of hypothermia. Just because you can make them get in doesn't mean you should.
 
#19 ·
And why is he giving him the middle finger????Jim
 
#20 · (Edited)
And why is the dog giving him the middle finger? My guess his guts and heart is the size of an acorn.
Ok,nother scenario,jr wants to play football but hates hitting do we force jr into it or do we find a kid that wants to hit? Jim
 
#22 ·
Somehow Paul I saw that coming from you..Haaaaaa:D
 
#23 ·
I have a 15 month old lab that has been hunting all season and has been doing great. today we hunted a large, half frozen pond with ice around the edges and he just flat out would not retrieve the ducks. He really did not want to get in the water. This is not lack of drive or training so, with all due respect, those are not the answers that I am looking for. I played with a dead duck with him for a while when we where done hunting both on dry land and throwing it in the water. He was as thrilled as ever to pick it up off of the ground but wanted nothing to do with it in the water. I was able to force him to it in the water but he certainly did not want to go. Any suggestions on what we might try to get through this? I live in montana so over half of our season is very cold. Thank you for any help!
I don't have any solutions but from the OP, it looks like there has been force in his program.
 
#28 ·
maybe, maybe not. Could have just been pissed enough to throw the dog in.
This is a big problem with trying to give advise to these kinds of posts. Way to little info. Has the dog been in water before? What was his reaction there? Was it the ice freaking him out or was it the cold? What training background does the dog have? Then we are told by the op that it isn't a drive or training problem when everyone reading it knows that is exactly what the issue is.
 
#24 ·
You mentioned that he is very thin and you can't get weight on him. Change food to a more caloric dense product - adding more quantity of a low cal product won't do anything to help, add satin balls or dyne. It seems that many field type Labs don't have any undercoat which they really need in harsh weather. No fat on him isn't good either. They need some to help keep the cold away. I know this isn't the only answer to your problem but it would be an easy place to start for this winter and work on the water issue in the summer. A vest wouldn't hurt either.
 
#32 ·
Well there you go....Thor just made it thru MY 4th series!Beautiful Nick.
 
#39 ·
10 degrees and breaking 2" of ice all day today. Luckily no wind. Hunting is no big deal. Live birds and excitement. Shoot live birds over ice all day. Take the same dog and give it a fourth series triple with cold weather, two retired and all birds 200 yard swims and you see a different animal. Dogs will swim a slurpy river for a downed cripple. Ain't always going to do it for a white coat popper duck with another dogs slobber on it.
 
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