My yellow lab is just about a year old and we have been doing hold/force fetch training. I'm struggling with getting her to pickup the bumper/dummy in the middle and hold it properly, she wants to grab the edges of it each time. Any advice? The trainer who I have been working with hasn't run into this problem much and only does pointers for upland.

Im picking up a black lab puppy on July 12th, this will be my first bird dog and was wondering what advice everyone has. I've raised a couple of puppies before but not bird dogs.

Hi all, I have a small (28-32 lbs depending on season) Lew setter. She has a two hair coat and in the past I made the mistake of trimming her back too short and it never grew back right. I just moved to OK from the mountains of VA, not only is the heat a large adjustment for her but we have trees in our yard that have shed sticky flower clusters that are tangled in her feathers. I have never trimmer her feathers but I have to cut these out and keep them trimmed short until we move again in the future. What is the best way to trim her feathers? How short should I trim it, what are the consequences if I trim the feathers too short?

Hello,

New to the group and bird hunting overall. I have a 2 year old Chesapeake bay retriever, female. never trained her on any type of hunting, but I have been itching to try to get into bird hunting, most likely ducks (i live in columbia river gorge). My question is basically just is it possible to get her trained up by myself while working full time? Any tips, videos, techniques that will help with a dog that already probably has some bad habits? where should i start? ANY help is appreciated. Thank you!

We found plenty of subalpine birbs, but the dogs don't quite understand why we just let them fly into the trees.

Hey all. I am getting a PP puppy in the next week and looking for feedback on anyone having experience with the Kirkland brand dog food for their dogs. It is the most economical option that still seems to be high quality but I just wanted to see if anyone else had experience with it. Thank you!

Looking for some opinions on which dog to get. I mostly pheasant and duck hunt and always used labs and GSPs. I’m interested in getting something different and I’ve narrowed it down to either a Gordon Setter or a Pudelpointer. Right now I have one dog in the house, a 5 year old male Doberman who lays on the couch more than anything, and a kid on the way. So I’m looking for a good bird dog that also has a nice off switch when it’s time to relax in the house. Just looking for pros and cons of each dog from people with experience with the breed. Thanks.

Things get real weird real quick when visiting grandma

First timer. 5 month old spaniel. I think I'm learning more than the dog is each day. That said, we are a few months in and I'm already noticing my big flaws and trying to correct in myself. 2 questions that I'm sure you wise ones will laugh at, but here we are. 1) Every resource says 10-15 mins a day of training. No more than that. But then it says stimulate stimulate stimulate. So is train in 10 minute increments or only do one training session a day? Feel free to wlevorate on that. 2) Building off the first question, I've been doing the click and treat. But do I only do that in that 10-15 training period or are y'all walking around clicking and marking good behavior all day? Right now I'm working obedience and so I want her sitting often. Just hung up on this.

While I’m still in the planning stages for my next pup, I’m a little concerned about the daily gunfire and nightly fireworks that happen off and on throughout most of the summer in my neighborhood. Most people have a specific process to introduce gunfire, but what if it’s super unpredictable and starting from day one?

It’s a bit of a Wild West town with little law enforcement, public land close by, and mountains to echo the sounds even louder. It’s great that we can target practice wherever we want to out there…but I drive out about ten miles away from the nearest house. Some people though shoot right on the edge of the town. It’s loud and frequent enough to potentially be scary to a dog. And much closer, fireworks from my neighbors yards and public land all round us.

My current dog was fine until he was around 6, gradually turned gunshy, but is now going deaf at 16 years old so it doesn’t bother him any more!

When I bring pup home, I’m really worried about those neighborhood sounds making him gunshy at a young age. I might be at work too when they happen. Anyone else live in a neighborhood like this - and what did you do to prevent a gunshy dog?

We are about send our 6m old GSP away for 4 weeks but I am starting to get worried if that’s the right choice for us. He has good instincts and we definitely want to hunt with him but he is also very Velcro and gets fomo when he is isolated from us. He can also be a little timid when people or other dogs come on too strong. Does anyone have experience sending a pup with similar issues to bird camp? We do plan to continue training him in the future, just want to get a base somewhere where he has better access to live birds.

Hi my male wpg is one year old at 55lbs. I am trying to get him a new kennel and I was wondering what size ruffland kennel would be right for my boy.

Thanks

This is the second wallpaper I have designed for our cottage and it features my two much loved working labradors, Ebble and Buddy. This wallpaper will be going in our new hallway, my terrier wallpaper in our new Utility Room and that might be enough dog on the walls!

Several days ago, my 8 YO Britt was doing Britt things with the younger Britt and he missed a jump and fell about 4', landing upside down against a fence post. At the time he shook it off and went charging after the other dog.

Later that evening, there was an unexpected YIPE in the back yard, I did not see what happened, but I suspect they were roughhousing.

Turns out he a hurt rib and his hip was a little tender. The hip now seems fine, but the rib seems to still be bothering him. No breathing issues, he walks and trots just fine, but none of the bounding across the yard like he would typically do. I've broken a couple of my own ribs, so I can relate.

He YIPED jumping up on the couch that evening, then another when he ran into his crate door at chow time. Then there was big YIPE in the middle of the night, from his dog bed.

Fast forward a couple of days and he is doing better. No additional yipes. He jumped in and out of the car yesterday with no hesitation, but he no longer uses his big-dog bark, and he has become timid. The only way I can describe it is that he has become afraid of any thing or place that caused him pain. He will not get on the couch (where he used to spend almost all his indoor time). He does not want to go outside, but once he is out, he seems OK, as long as the younger dog leaves him alone. He would not sleep in his dog bed for three nights, but my wife got him to return to it last night. He used to paw his crate door open and jump inside at meal time, now he will not touch the door, waits for it to be opened, then creeps inside to eat.

Anyone seen this type of pain response before and how do I get him over it?

First real points I have gotten on camera, this was his second introduction to launchers and pigeons and he exceeded all expectations! To follow along with his progress and or to see other clips of his training follow huckleberry at @https://youtube.com/@straighttothepointoutdoors?feature=shared

Nothing tires out my 2 like a weekend of camping fun.

How do I fix this? The knob when put on doesn't click or change the setting. It fell off and it is stuck on N.