Moose is getting a LAB puppy

[monstermoose78]

I sure enjoy playing fetch with my pup! Had a neighbor come out and want to learn how I got Finn to stay when I toss the dummie. He said he wants to get a lab pup but did not know where to get one. I sent him to the family I got Finn because Finn's mom is having a litter of pups any day. 

[monstermoose78]

Finn and I are jacked to kill some crows

[monstermoose78]

Finn and went to vet for his shots omg!! 112 pounds and the vet said he might hit 125 as he might fill out some more. I guess it would odd if I had a little hunting. Finnloves going to the vet cause the ladies love him so much much. He is all caught up on shots heart guard is taken and frontline is on. 

[monstermoose78]

Still playing fetch with with Finn he sure has grown up. Finn sure loves kids and kids sure love the big white dog. One neighbor boy always come out to play fetch with us. 

[Dune27]

He's turning out to be a dependable pet. 

[monstermoose78]

Took Finn in and he tipped the scale at 114.7 pounds. The vet said he still has to fill out some more. We play fetch most every day but I am going to get back to using two dummies. Finns favorite reward is a drink of water. Yesterday Finn caught a 13 lined striped gophers baby. The little thing was screaming Finn brought to and dropped it at my feet. Darg thing tried climbing me I screamed and Finn went after it again but I told him to sit. A flock of young geese few over and Finn watched them like a hawk. I need to learn to shoot better so Finn is happy with me.

[monstermoose78]

Finn loves America!!

[JB18]

i wanted a yellow lab and got over ruled on the chocolate.  Great looking dog!  Does not look 115 pounds

[monstermoose78]

He is huge 

[monstermoose78]

Been working on the double and triple retrieves. Finn is starting to get the bumper I send him to get, but he likes to get the closest one.

[monstermoose78]

Still out working Finn most days, because being laid off I have a little more time for it. Seeing it is warm I keep the sessions short. Finn is been dropping the dummies on my feet just as I want him to do. I can't wait for hunting season as I know Finn as excited as I am.

[monstermoose78]

Well yesterday tried tossing out three dummies. Two duck looking ones a orange bumper. Two were to close together and Finn brought two back at once. 

Question for you all Finn relies on his eyes to much not his nose. How can I get him to use his nose more.

[rundrave]

you could buy some scent and spray it on the dummies and work it in tall grass. but if it were me I would use live birds or in a pinch use a dead duck and do some drags through some tall grass.

with your dog out of site, make a feather pile. Take bird and put it on a string and drag it though the grass. Take your dog to the feather pile and have him start tracking. Start with short drags and gradually increase distances.

then you can start pulling flight feathers and using live birds on a hobble and work up to a duck search over water. that's when it gets fun.

Edited August 29, 2017 by rundrave

[monstermoose78]

Thanks Dave. I will give that a try. I am going out dove hunting this weekend so I hope I can hit a few for him to find

[monstermoose78]

Been working with Finn to use his nose more. It's working, but he like to circle to catch the scent. We have been working double retrieves, so I thought let's try triples. Finn does not like his orange bumper and would not bring it back to me.  He used to fetch the orange bumper, but now drops it after he picks it up. Today is youth waterfowl day and we had plans to hunt with my nephew, but his dad killed that idea. Finn and I might go chase some doves yet.

[monstermoose78]

On 8/29/2017 at 9:27 AM, rundrave said:

you could buy some scent and spray it on the dummies and work it in tall grass. but if it were me I would use live birds or in a pinch use a dead duck and do some drags through some tall grass.

with your dog out of site, make a feather pile. Take bird and put it on a string and drag it though the grass. Take your dog to the feather pile and have him start tracking. Start with short drags and gradually increase distances.

then you can start pulling flight feathers and using live birds on a hobble and work up to a duck search over water. that's when it gets fun.

Thanks Dave this seemed to help with grouse, woodcocks,and ducks. 

How does a guy get a dog to stay focused on the sky watching for birds? Finn did great at sitting or laying down for ducks but he does not watch for them so he does not mark the birds then. Any ideas to get him to do this?

 

[rundrave]

 

45 minutes ago, monstermoose78 said:

How does a guy get a dog to stay focused on the sky watching for birds? Finn did great at sitting or laying down for ducks but he does not watch for them so he does not mark the birds then. Any ideas to get him to do this?

Im not a waterfowl guy and dont do a lot of it. But isn't that why you retriever guys do blind retrieves?

My GSP's dont always mark down birds either and I just send them with hand signals. I think its just something we have worked on over time.

Do you know anyone that has access to a zinger winger launcher etc. That's about the only other way to replicate it with out doing the real thing.

[monstermoose78]

I do, never thought about it. I will ask my buddy and I will have to work on blind retrieves. I never have done blind retrieves with Finn. I will have learn up on it now. If you have any tips or tricks it would help. Thank you Dave 

[Wanderer]

With my lab it helped to do false throws when we played fetch.  I'd whip my arm but keep holding the dummy or ball or whatever we were working with.  She'd run out and look around for it, then stop and look at me for a clue.  

I'd start the drill by showing her the ball to let her know she'd jumped the gun and if she didn't run back for it, I'd toss the ball high so she could watch it go up and come back down.  If she'd run back, I'd throw a grounder past her or off in another direction.  

When she got better at keeping tabs on the ball I'd start throwing it over the house from the front yard to back or vise versa so she always lost sight of it.  On the rare times I had to give her help to find it, I whistled to get her attention and once I had it, I'd make a clear full arm gesture in the direction I wanted her to go.  Straight up was "back" as most signalers do.

If I ever had to walk to the ball because she just couldn't find it, it was always just to the area of the ball and I'd keep signaling until she finally found it.  She was a fetching machine.

And the last thing was the fetch never ended until she put the ball in my hand.  If she started getting lazy and dropped it at my feet I'd tell her to fetch it up!  If she didn't put it in my hand, fetch was over.

She figured that out well enough that when she was done in her later years she would just not put that ball back in my hand!

[monstermoose78]

I think I can try that as well. Thanks wanderer

[monstermoose78]

Well Finn had a pretty good second season.  We are not done hunting upland game birds yet

[monstermoose78]

Well this snow has Finn using and trusting his nose. I did lots of scent training but he relies on his sight. I will be doing more work this summer in the tall grass as well again. The big thing for this summer is jumping off the boat to get ducks. Gordie is going to help me with this.

[monstermoose78]

[monstermoose78]

The crow was fun got 8 for 3 boxes of shells. Finn made some good retrieves at long distances. He is figuring out he has to watch where the bird drops. Today I ground up the crow meat for the chihuahuas and fried it this will be enough for 3 batches of dog food for them. In all I am happy with Finn has if he had a more knowledgeable owner he would be even better. He sure likes it when I grab the shotgun and he is all jacked up to get the birds. Turkey season will be hard on him with the nephew coming over as they are duck hunting buddies. 

[monstermoose78]

Been working with Finn every day for short sessions. I am still working on giving directions while on blind retrieves he starting to trust me and follow my directions. 

I am helping my neighbor with their golden retriever. I he is still young but they are learning to train their dog. 

[monstermoose78]

Finn and I are still keeping up with training. During the fireworks last some geese few by and he was watching them closely to see if any fell with the booms going on.

[PRO-V]

I know some will get a laugh out of this but we are getting a new Bichon Frise puppy in a few weeks. Last one was a grouse maniac believe it or not and a great house dog. She would even bail in for water retrieves.

Edited July 6, 2018 by PRO-V

[Mike89]

that is so cool!!!  dang good dog for ya!!!!

[monstermoose78]

14 hours ago, PRO-V said:

I know some will get a laugh out of this but we are getting a new Bichon Frise puppy in a few weeks. Last one was a grouse maniac believe it or not and a great house dog. She would even bail in for water retrieves.

That’s awesome 

[PRO-V]

I think she will go through a little less food than Finn!!