Education

As an owner of a hunting dog, you need to be on guard against problems as they develop, and you must also become skilled at solving these problems as they arise.

Patience and guidance key for first few hunts Maybe you purchased a retriever puppy and sent him off for months of training. Or, perhaps you did the training yourself. Either way Fall is approaching and you cannot wait to get your dog out in the field or in a blind and show him off to […]

The Wagon Wheel Lining Drill is a great drill to teach your retriever any time of year. It helps you, as handler, learn to read your dog better. It also helps you work with your dog as a team to improve your dog’s lines for marks and blind retrieves.

Older dogs can be taught to hunt. The question is often less about how old the dog is and more about the experiences of the dog up to his current age.

Get your retriever running longer marks without a training assistant If you only do hand-thrown marks for your retriever, you are going to have a problem. Dogs quickly learn how far you can throw and will start hunting only at that distance. Then if you shoot down a bird out of that range, they will […]

Solutions for where and how If you live in an area where winter means cold and snow, you know how hard it can be to keep your retriever in shape and learning throughout the winter season. What you might not realize, is that while it might not always be comfortable training your retriever in the […]

If your retriever is also your waterfowl hunting partner, you probably realize the importance of teaching your dog to be steady. A dog that jumps out of the boat or blind at the first sight of a bird is not going to be a great hunting partner. And if your dog takes off after your […]

You do not have to wait for your puppy to get older to start working on fetch. You can start working on it almost immediately after you bring him or her home

When dogs are young, they learn quickly and soak up lots of information about the world in which they live. If the owner chooses to not doing anything, the dog does not stop learning, he just learns wrongly.

Teach your dog to love your car or truck. If you have a retriever that doesn’t like to get into your vehicle, you are not alone. Many owners struggle with training their dog to get into their vehicle on command. Generally, the harder you force the issue, the worse it can get. Here are some […]

Teaching your retriever to handle starts with 3-Hand Cast drill One of my favorite drills to teach retrievers is often referred to as 3-Hand Cast or Baseball. This drill can be taught to retrievers of all ages, from young puppies all the way to the old guys. After they get the hang of it, most […]

Getting your Labrador Retriever, or any retriever, to be obedient requires firm consistent obedience work on a regular basis. it also requires you to earn the respect of your retriever. If you do both of these things, you will see a defined change in behavior from your retriever and the reward will be a dog that listens to you and obeys your commands.

Training is fundamental to getting your retriever to listen and obey you. Using these cornerstones of retriever training, you can teach your retriever what is acceptable and what is not acceptable while being a thoughtful, respectful trainer.

What to do when your dog only listens when wearing an e-collar        The electronic collar marked a huge breakthrough for hunting dog training. It gave us the ability to make corrections immediately after an infraction and thus helping dogs to learn faster. Unfortunately, if a dog is not introduced to the electronic collar properly, the […]

Labrador Retrievers are great dogs. They generally have an even temperament that makes them perfect for family dogs, but they also have an innate love to retrieve that makes them wonderful hunting or gun dogs. They are also very smart dogs. If you are looking for tips on how to train a Labrador Retriever, here are ten important tips.

Having the right retriever training equipment will make the task of teaching your dog easier. It will also keep your retriever from developing some bad habits along the way.

Teach your retriever to mark better for more effective hunting Many people believe you don’t need to teach a retriever how to mark a bird falling to the ground. That they will just do it naturally. And some might. But marking is a skill that retrievers can learn, and working on the concept will increase […]

When training retrievers for hunting or hunt tests, there is a lot to consider. One element that is high on the list of considerations is weather. In the Midwest, our weather can change daily. And in the summer heat and humidity are a real concern.

6 steps to flawless quartering Upland hunting with a retriever can be a fun and exciting way to spend a day. Watching your dog work a field, finding and flushing birds for you to shoot can be a wonderful thing. That is assuming your dog understands what his/her job is and hunts with you, not […]

What to do when your hunting dog stops delivering the birds Retriever breeds, as their name suggests, generally have an innate desire to retrieve. This can be fun for playing a game of fetch or exercising the dog, but there is also a more practical side. Retrievers make great duck dogs or gun dogs for […]