Help with disinterested lab

[eastwoods]

What I was trying to say is "the uglier the better". When your breeding for desire, style, birdiness, trainability, etc. you don't care what they look like or the color. Your right and we agree that looks aren't important, but I guess we differ on why looks aren't important. Since black is the dominant color and if one were truly breeding for the right traits guess what color it would be. Course here I go getting to general again. I'm just trying to share some knowlege, take it for what it's worth.

[dukdawgn]

my take on the subject is that the dog has every freedom that he'd ever want. you make mention that he'd just as soon lay on the padio all day as to retrieve. Is the dog kept in a kennel run, or allowed to run free all day? If not kept in a kennel, most definitely would start there. Take away the freedom for a while, and watch as he turns boredom into aggression. then transform his understanding that getting out and following orders means getting out more often. starting small with basics is a good suggestion and a very broad subject. but the foundation of any willingness a dog harbors comes from being energetic. therefore a lazy dog needs absolutely no opportunity to be lazy. take away what it is that he resorts to or depends on, and make yourself that which understands as being his ticket to ride.

competition is the next best thing. i can't count the times a good 30 minute game of chase with a big dog has made a non-retrieving young dog resort to primal instinct, and that young dog now retrieves, holds, and has no inclination of giving up what he just fetched. all the better for you when you go back to individual work. your obedience training will cure the keep-away effect, and its much easier to condition a now-willing dog than to beg a non-willing dog.

best of luck.....

[D1]

I do take everyones opinion on here seriously...and thats what makes this such a great forum...is we can voice OUR opinion....you just happen to like a bullet head,pencil,nosed dog and I like a block head,otter tailed dog and as far as color goes I am not colored blind as long as the dog does what I want thats fine with me(although I am not to fond of choclate)..... and the bottm line is the only man that dog has to impress is the man that puts food in that dogs bowl agree?

[eastwoods]

I do agree D1 and I think we offer others more ideas when we are challenged to explain our generalizations. I was worried this guy wasn't getting any good help and I love dogs.

You got some good solid answers and perspectives to your initial "what you can do to encourage a nonretriever to retrieve" question you intially posed. You may have to read between the lines and compare all the posts, cuz dog training talk is almost a different language for those that are new to it. If your dog has it in him (breeding), you'll get it out with some of these techniques. I'll try to summarize the attitude uppers:

Your voice and your actions can bring the dog up (watch the tail you want it up).
His only stimulis is retrieving.
Live birds.
Happy (hup hup) bumpers.
Hunt tests or field trials (nothing get's a dog fired up more than this).
Training with others with guns, birds, etc.
In the box a lot watching and waiting his turn.
Competing with another dog on land and in water, fun like and racing to see who can get it first/keep away oriented (he should win at first).
Water (that's the playground)
Put him up before he's tired (don't tire him out retrieving) he shouldn't be able to get enough of it. He has to want more (watch the tail)!!!!!!
Before you put the brakes on (training/commands/forcefetching/etc.) he ought to love retrieving with a passion. When you walk out in the yard a pup ought to bring you something to throw and act like a nut trying to get you to do it.

What we have discussed here is not training, but bringing out the retrieving desire so that training can begin. Training comes next. In a perfect world he would already know sit, here, heel, but you have a bigger problem and I'd forgo these commands until the dog builds his retrieving desire. Any advanced training or yard work will be built upon the dog's desire to retrieve and/or forcefetch, but you don't have something worth forcefetching (breaking the wild mustang) yet.

Good luck.

[PAXDUCKS]

I aggree with just about everyone's comments here, except for taking the dog behind the barn. Remember we are talking about a five month old lab here. I don't think there is anyone here that struggled at some point training thier first dog. There are all kinds of techniques to training your dog. Ask yourself the question. What do you want out of it? A champion, or a dog that just gets the ducks back to the blind. I have seen guys that have put a lot of money and time into a dog, and not amount to anything. I have also seen guys put hardly any time or money into a dog, and get great results. Please give your dog the chance it deserves, and don't go spend 5 grand on a dog unless your loaded!!! Good luck with your dog, and let us know how it works out.

[dukdawgn]

picture of a 5 grand dog.....

pictures of a 6 month old pup with desire.....


now build your own conclusions about having a confident dog.... I love mine.

[eastwoods]

I love those photos.

Noticed that yellow dog has a black nose, I won't say anything about a pink nose yellow dog.