Dog's guns

[Redclub]

I was just thinking (I know get in trouble that way)But my dogs own 6 shotguns. Which they won Luger auto,2 -870's 3 single shots plus several cases of shells.
RedClub

[E.T.]

Redclub

Owning dogs that own shotguns is one thing but do they know how to use them.
Case in point is with picture included.



The only thing left to teach this one was how to clean birds. ;D ;D

Ed T ;D

[TKO]

Awesome pic!

[Redclub]

Hey that's great
Last year I was duck hunting and a flock of geese flew real low over our heads (geese wasn't open) That dog looked at me and if dogs could talk She would have took that gun.
Ken

[E.T.]

Redclub

Know what you mean with having a dog excited when he/she figures some action is about to take place. Used to enjoy taking shots at ducks after they lifted off the water (produced better kills) but had to learn to tag them before they touched water or my dog would try to retrieve them live. Thought I broke him of that habit but down the road it resurfaced. He’s older now so I just had to adjust my technique a little. But no matter how old they get they still love being a part of the action no matter what the cost of painful muscles afterwards.

Ed T

[Redclub]

I know what you mean. I have an old dog here (AKC Master hunter) that any time We go outside she has to find a stick for me to throw for her, Here is a dog that has traveled all over the country hunting and competing and still loves to fetch sticks. A couple days ago she had a stick and I looked at her and said lets go get a pheasant she perked up and we went out in the field and put up and retrieved a huge rooster. She was soo proud, I am afraid that could be her last one. Lucy is a yellow lab someone else has a Lucy yellow on these pages.
Red Club

[Kudzu]

I do believe that would be Bubba

[Rifleman]

I am looking for a lab myself. Kinda new to waterfowling as I took it up just a few years ago. I have never owned a retreiver, just beagles. Any pointers for a guy looking to buy his first Lab ?

[TKO]

Rman,

I have owned two labs: one yellow and one black. The black was a hunting dog while the yellow was a house pet.

The single most important point of advice that I can offer is do not get the dominate male from the litter. Get one that is out going and socialable, but not the alpha male. Alpha's can be trained, but there are problems inherent with this choice that create more work for no further gain over a middle of the road mentality dog.

That said; you will love a Lab!

[Redclub]

Well guy's now you are talking my game.
Please check out our webpage and you will learn about labs all the way back to the first ones. My wife does this
REClub
personal.pitnet.net/LDoll/

[TKO]

Redclub,

VERY nice site.


Thanks!

[Rifleman]

I LIKE THAT SITE !

[Blue-Dot-37.5]

Redclub:

I may give you a shout sometime this Spring and stop by. A few of us are planning on hitting the White Bass run, maybe the Walleye run too......

Blue-Dot-37.5

[Blue-Dot-37.5]

Rifleman:

Here's my $.02. Do a LOT of reading/research into the lines of dogs, call a lot of breeders and ask questions. I have my Springers in the house when I'm home and see no reduced desire to hunt, in fact, the one Springer that I got as a "Field Trial Washout" did better when she was in the house than in the kennel. I took her to a trial a year after I had her and the guy that owned the property (it was the same grounds that the previous owner trained her on) said that if he didn't know Reba, he would think it was a different dog.

The price that you pay for a puppy is the least amount of $$ that you will spend on the dog, no matter if it's free or costs you $1,500.00! When you start adding up all the training costs, it can be pretty frightening! Ask Redclub what the bird bill for the first 2 years would be to get a pup trained for hunting.............

Food/water bowls, leashes, collars, whistles, crates, combs, shots, heartworm meds, training trips, etc., etc.!!

Redclub: What's the average monthly cost to send a lab to a trainer for a year?? No entry fees/travel expenses, just room/board/training & birds.

Blue-Dot-37.5

[E.T.]

Rifleman

I am by no means an expert on dogs or breeds and Shadow my mixed lab/Shepard was a mistreated 4-month old pup that was scheduled to be put down if a home was not found for him. Never expected him to turn out have as good as he did under the circumstances. No regrets on my decision of adopting him.

I see you have already received great advice to your question so there is little I could possibly add but will ask you to note TKO’s advice about an Alpha Male.
Also suggest you take a look at Chesapeake retrievers along with Labs. The only caution with them is that they are very protective with family and become very aggressive when a threat is perceived. But boy can they dive underwater to retrieve as seen by a friend’s dog displaying this un-natural characteristic.

One thing I did do when Shadow was a pup was subscribe to a bi-monthly magazine called “Gun Dog” for about 2 years. The information there was very helpful with training Shadow and gave me a better insight about hunting dogs.

RedClub

Enjoyed your website immensely. As said thanks for sharing that and is now on my favorite list to be recalled when others want to learn about Labs.

Blue-Dot-37.5

No denying the cost of owning hunting dogs and the commitment involved. In a way I was very fortunate that Shadow took well to on the job training (did a lot of pond hunting then) as far as fetching ducks when he was 10 months old. At that time I could not afford the expense of a full training program. But once he new what was expected of him all I can say is look out. The tenacity he showed for getting a downed duck is amazing. Once watched him for over 10 minutes (if I remember correctly) chase a cripple hen mallard through cattails and did not come out until he had that cripple. Not saying he has a perfect record because a few managed to dive and tangle themselves under water in vegetation.

But the big Vet cost I think has yet to come when old age afflictions hit him. For all that he has given me with priceless memories, I will not deny him the best of care to allow him to hunt as long as he can or enjoy his life until that quality disappears. Hopefully nature will dissolve our partnership on that fateful day and not force me too.

Ed T

[Rifleman]

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I read every page on Redclubs website and got alot of good info. I sent him a pm with some specific questions, at least I learned enough there and here to start asking some questions. I guess that is the first step. I have wanted a lab for along time and I guess I am starting to get ready. Thanks again, Rifleman

[TKO]

Rman,

Be forwarned. A lab is one of those breeds that can eat 5 pounds of food and, magically, crap 10 pounds.

[Rifleman]

What a deal ! Free fertilizer ! ;D

[E.T.]

Big dogs produce big logs and you will have good sized fertilizer pellets. ;D

Ed T

[Redclub]

Thanks for all the compliments on the website My wife does all that Designing ,researching etc. I can only send e-mails and search the web.
Blue dot I live a mile from the wolf river. However I don't fish the white bass run. I do fish the river after all is settled down and in the Fall if I can get away from hunting. Give me a call if you come up. What town do you stay in. Most people come to Fremont Where I live.
I used to run Hunt tests and field trials in Ind. A large wildlife area. Forgot the name But good people.
Ken

[Redclub]

Sorry I didn't address cost of retriever training. I am not a pro retriever trainer although if I was younger I would go into it. Minimun cost is $500 per month plus birds which add another $80 or so to the bill. Some trainers command over a $1000 a month and they are usually always booked up Some people have numerous dogs with these people. To train a dog to handle takes about 4 months. Remember this is for the basic's, Running minor blind retrieves Doing multiple marks, Force fecthing,collar conditioning etc. Do you need this of course not ,Teaching the dog obedience is all most people need. The dog will hunt, That is what he gets from his mom and Dad.
There are a lot of of trainers that are not very good almost crooks. Look at their trucks and some have over 30 dogs, how many hours in the day?
So do research.
Ken

[Blue-Dot-37.5]

Redclub:


A friend of a friend has a resort & bar in Winaconne(SP?) and we are planning on staying there.

Your bird bill is very reasonable! Those rates are in line with the Springer world also. We train Springers on Pigeons and Pheasants, and the birds have to be alive and flight capable unless we are doing retrieving drills or working on a problem that doesn't require the bird to fly. Pheasants run $8.00 ea and usually 3 minimum are used per training session per dog. When I was training the last pups, 2 of us were going thru 200-300 pigeons per month for 3 dogs.............. We'd train with birds 5 days a week. Now, if I had the property back then I would have trained homers and saved a bunch on the bird bill!

Blue-Dot-37.5

[Kudzu]

I think that the first question that you should ask yourself is do you want a hunting dog or a field trial dog. I have never seen a pro. trained dog that was worth a cuss for hunting. The best hunting dogs that I have seen have all been self trained by the owner. It must be the bonding thing. I have abuddy thats has a lab that is the best hunting dog I have ever seen. His rule, 5 min. a day every day and the dog will do whatever you want them to do.

[RAF]

We had a springer years ago. She was bred for show and all we wanted was a pet. The breader looked at her after a year and wanted to show her but we declined. Unfortunetly something went hay wire with her temperment and when she was 2 she attacked our daughter and ripped her hand up real bad. We had to put her down. Afterwards we found out that the line originated in Ontario and the owner of that kennel put the whole blood line down for the same reason. I don't know what happened but always felt that springer were renowned for their temperment. I did take her hunting once and didn't expect much because we hadn't trained her at all for hunting. As soon as she hit the ground she started to cast back and forth just like the books said she should. I'm sure it would have been easy to train her as hunting was in her genes.

[Blue-Dot-37.5]

RAF:

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your daughter doesn't have any lasting pproblems from the incedent. You did right by putting the dog down.

What happened is known as "Rage". Some breeders get so wrapped up in breeding for a certain trait, they don't pay attention to the other traits of the dog. "show" bred springers now don't have the hunting drive that the "field" breds do, and they don't have the stamina nor the nose. You will see "show" bred Springers in the Hunt Tests, but they cannot compete on the level of the "field" bred Springers in the Field Trials. On the other hand, you will never see a "field" bred Springer do any good in the show ring. Even tho the 2 types of Springers are considered the same by AKC, there are major differences between them.

Blue-Dot-37.5

[RAF]

Blue Dot. Thanks for the reply. My daughter healed nicely as she was quite young. She does have some problems with the cold in that hand. Before we bought the dog we had heard that Springers have a wonderful temperment. The term we heard was "Springer rage" and the explanation I got is exactly what you stated. Incidently a fellow I worked with back then had a Springer that originated in the Same kennel in Ontario and they shared the same blood line. When the dog got to be about 2 years old it changed. He was playing with it on the floor when the dog bit him in the face. His one eye was swollen shut for about 10 days. Fortunely no Permanent damage.
Ours was a beautiful dog and have pictures which pop up on my screen saver from time to time.

[Redclub]

I had a Springer as a graduation present from the eight grade, I had that dog for 16 years it never left my side.
Back then (in the 50's) You took 2 hunting dogs and bred them. However they were all hunting dogs. A dog had to earn its keep or it was history. Selective culling?
Now with the show people that only breed for looks it is a whole new game, some breeds it is very hard to get a good one. However there are good ones if a person knows where to look .This is with all breeds. Show dogs do look different from field lines. Field lines breed for temperment and trainability as well as drive. A field dog has to be able to take discipline and enjoy it. The know that the rewards are well worth it. Kinda like us.
Red Club

[RAF]

I should have added some information about the breeder that we bought our dog from. I have to give him a lot of credit. Lots of breeder only are interested in the sale. This gentleman invited us over to look at his dogs and the litter in question. While there he wanted to know what we wanted in a dog. At some point I mentioned that I hunt. He quickly pointed out that these were show dogs and if we really were interested in hunting dogs we shouldn't buy his dog and he would give me the name of a breeder he knew who had an excellent line. If we were looking for a pet and companion, his dogs would fill the bill and the hunting instinct was there just not as strong as the hunting line. He also want the dog back for some free grooming after I believe 6 months.

[Tom]

I have been lucky enough to have had 3 great bird dogs so far my first a black lab mix was the best phesant dog one could have. My second was a britney again what a dog now my present is a tri color setter who is learning the game real well. Redclub I know about that last bird thing both my lab and brit went out hunting with me and had the chance to put one last bird in the mouth before passing on. Both were 13 yrs old and 13 yrs apart and when I lost each one well can't even explain it in words but those of you that have had a great dog know what i mean when they pass on. I sure wish they would live a longer while 12-13 yrs is not all that long but thats life. Just thought i would chime in.

[Blue-Dot-37.5]

It's coming up on the 2nd anniversary (4-15-2003) of having to put down Reba. She started sneezing one day and to make a long story short, it turned out to be a nasal tumor (cancer) and nothing could be done about it, I even took her to Purdue Small Animal Hospital. I'm getting teary-eyed typing this. She was my first "Field" Springer. She hung in there for a year after the diagnosis. I bought a couple of pheasants, took her to the vet, cut the feathers from one wing on one of the birds, dizzied the bird and planted it in the field behind the Vet's. As soon as she hit the scent cone it was like nothing was wrong with her. He put her down with the pheasant in her mouth after she finished the retrieve. I had both of them cremated, and kept a sample of skin/hair just in case cloning gets a lot cheaper. I still miss her!

Blue-Dot-37.5