Hi I'm new so I apologise if I waffle too much but I need help/ideas/advice. I have 2 male labs , brothers, aged 2 and a half. They are from pure working stoke and although I doubt I will ever work them I am trying to train them as if I will. Well as best as I can. Scott is the more dominant of the 2. He is slightly lazy but the more obedient. He will do what asked but is just as happy to sit and watch. Scout is much more driven to retreive and always ready to go but he is less obedient. Scout can go for days in a row retreiving really well, good recall etc. not perfect but good. Then all of a sudden it's like a switch goes off. He will go for the retreive but on the way back he will get distracted by a smell or a stick that just has to be chewed or just decides he fancies a wander. This will go on for a few days then the switch will come back on and he'll do well again. It is very frustrating. I have tried everything I can think of. Reward when do it right, go and get him when wanders etc. He's clever though if I go for him he will quickly pick up the ball and bring it to me then do a few good retrieves then wander again! My old lab who got to the grand old age of 15 would do anything for a ball and would retreive all day if he could o this problem is a new one for me. I feel rude asking for help when Iam so new but if anybody has any ideas I'd be really grateful. Thank you
Re: How retreive consistently ? Don't feel rude Jen.....this is what the forum is for,it's great you have found it and I know you will get some good advice and I will benefit from it too! ;D We have Dexter,our first dog.....a yellow lab 11 months old.....I've been so focused on training basic obedience that we haven't even got onto retrieving....it wasn't something I thought i would do,but I will now.im working through Pippas total recall and I've realised that walking is a lot more fun and interesting when we are both actually doing something......I haven't got any advice for you.Dexters retreive is hopeless,he loses interest very quickly so ive not pushed it and just hope when I start reading up about it and practising I can bring it out for him Bet your dogs are gorgeous,what colour are they?
Re: How retreive consistently ? Hi Jen, and welcome to the Forum. Is it possible that he is a bit bored? Do you vary the retrieves, making them more difficult and in different terrain and also do you use different items to retrieve?
Re: How retreive consistently ? Hi dexter and heidrun. Thank you both for replying so quickly. Ive never been on a forum before so wasn't sure if I'd done it right. Obviously I did but I don't know how to reply to you both separately sorry. My 2 monsters as I affectionately like to call them are gorgeous . They are black and while I call them monsters they're good really just young and a bit boisterous sometimes. I'm sure Dexter's retreive will improve its finding the right object, Scout likes a ball Scott prefers a ring they both like the dummies but can get a bit destructive with them if I don't get it back ! I did wonder if he was getting bored every so often so I've started doing some rough cover retreive which apparently is exciting. All you can see is a tail wagging like mad above the grass. I'll keep ringing the changes and see if that works. Thanks again.
Re: How retreive consistently ? Welcome to the forum Jen, your boys sound a lot of fun. I have Poppy, a retrieverholic yellow lab. As Heidrun says, we do a lot of different kind of retrieves to keep her interested and to stretch her mentally - such as memory retrieves, retrieves with two dummies, retrieves from water, blind retrieves, etc. Also, have you considered gundog classes? I dont know if that would be possible with two dogs, but I've found it to be very useful indeed with Poppy, on all sorts of fronts, and it's a lot of fun too!
Re: How retreive consistently ? Hi Karen thanks for your advice. I did look into gundog classes when they were younger . The only ones near us weren't near enough if you see what I mean but I will start altering our training sessions so they are more varied and see if that helps. Poppy sounds like my old lab he'd never stop retreiving given the chance. Thanks again.
Re: How retreive consistently ? hi and welcome...i have one lab who is rabbit skin dummy retrieve obsessed, one who would rather hunt and flush but who is really getting into retrieving recently.to get himengaged in retrieving ive had to make it exciting and more difficult, thick cover dummy launched so it bounces down hill a bit into cover. loves it! easy retrieves just dont do it for him...interestingly though despite needing challenged and being by far the most confident of the two he needs his confidence built retrieving. sometimes he seems to get unsure of himself and will suddenly stop retrieving and sniff the ground instead. a few easier retrieves and bucketloads of praiae and butt rubs for success and he is raring to go again...
Re: How retreive consistently ? Hello, and welcome from me, Julie, and my six month old choc boy Charlie. (Just wanted to say hi - can't help with the question I'm afraid. My boy is mad for fetch, but we've only just moved on to find it in very long grass).
Re: How retreive consistently ? Hi Jen - welcome to you and your boys from me too! Lilly has no inclination to retrieve at ALL outside the garden unless it is to swipe an item encourage another dog to chase her - so guess I'm not going to be much use here : Sure you will get lots of tips from those more experienced though. jac
Re: How retreive consistently ? Hi all Just wanted to say thanks too you all for the advice and the great welcome to the forum. I can see forum chatting could start taking up a lot of my time if I'm not careful .
Re: How retreive consistently ? Hi Jen. Welcome from me too, if a little late in the day. This forum is THE most addictive thing. So you need to set aside time for OTHER stuff. ;D 4 year old black Lab, Lady, here. Yes I think vary the retrieves and don't do too many at a time so thay are looking for more but can't have them just yet.
Re: How retreive consistently ? Hi David Coincidence I've just been looking at a photo of lady on another post (not sure if that's the right term) just before I saw your reply . She's a bonnie looking dog. I followed the advice and did a mixture of different things today and Scout did do a lot better than the last few days especially when I appeared to be ignoring him ! We' ll see how we get on tomorrow. Jen
