Retrievers at work.

[Music] even with the best blood in your dog it takes a lot of training patience time and money to make a finished hunting door but it's plenty worth it because there's still plenty of game for the man with a good retriever the game you kill you get no matter where it falls which is the best breed of retriever you do not buy the breed you buy an individual dog there are plenty of fast stylish Labradors big tough chesapeakes grand eager to please goldens rugged Irish Water Spaniels all have proven themselves in field trials and in everyday hunting most important buy a good dog or pup from a recognized breeder the more you start with in a dog the more you end up with who is The Sire what's he done who is the Dan what is her record all four grandparents should be goodw workking dogs with not one serious fault parents count for 1/ half of a dog's inherited traits grandparents for one quarter one great great grandparent accounts for only 116th no matter how great A Champion he was be ready to pay a good price for a pup of good ancestry it costs as much to feed a hammerhead as a good dog the best age to buy a pup is about 3 months but he's not old enough for intensive training just the kindergarten age let him play and romp and become acquainted look over your pup carefully before you buy is his body close coupled coat feel hard and heavy the tail thick at base tapering to a point not too long a head good nice stop at forehead does he have a good bite teeth not over or unders shut ears not too long not too heavy and good well arched feet large toes development training comes before obedience training most important is love of water never push or throw a pup into water let him play in warm water not cold water build up confidence in water with Pleasant associations no punishment is the pup birdie here's 3 months old Liz and plenty birdie how bold is he this one never was afraid of the devil don't take a pup to a trap shoot or shoot a gun too close to him at about 9 months your dog's ready for first grade be alone with him do not exceed 10 minute sessions twice a day the command to sit tell him to sit as you push his Fanny down repeating sit sit when he has mastered this you're ready for the command to come to whistle which is several short blasts start away from the dog as he sits then whistle and pull him in now he's ready for the command to heal pull him up firmly if he lags behind but don't choke him if he forges a head swing a lead in front of his nose is a threat to hold him back every time you're out for a walk repeat these commands until he's fully trained if you buy a dog a year old or more find out if he's worth training is he water shy or a poor swimmer this Chesapeake is taught to swim with confidence is he guny if he has more than one of these serious faults don't buy him do some all looking a retriever is naturally Keen to retrieve but when the going gets tough he's have to let you down that's why Force training is a must if you want a finished retriever when he refuses to carry the dummy exert pressure on his ear and say fetch as he opens his mouth in protest put the dummy in his mouth at the same time release pressure on ear and say fetch pet the dog as he holds it do not exceed 5 minutes of Force training three times daily if your dog turns to bite you when you use one ear exert pressure on both ears as you push his mouth to dummy when you take the Dummy from him say drop it when your dog comes back with the Dum as fast as he goes out start giving him a line on longer retrieves never overtrain a dog any one day but work him daily make him follow the exact direction of your hand gesture give him the line with your left hand if you're working him from the left side the other hand directions are over over and back for the dog to go out farther Snuffy is going through the fundamentals of teaching over over for the dog to go farther over left or right back back is for the dog to go out farther associate the first few shots of a gun from a safe distance with something pleasant like retrieving start your dog on his first water retrieve only after he enjoys water toss the dummy a short distance sending him at once before dummy Falls don't let your dog expect short retrieves because he must learn to go out on long retrieves as soon as possible when you put out decoys for young dogs remember not too many not too far out and have them far apart so the dog goes through them quickly start young dogs close to water and jumping through a portable blind and suck him into blind with your voice and actions anticipate a dog's possible mistakes and be close enough to correct him too late now to correct him for dropping this bird your dog should come straight back to the blind don't let him start to putter at the water's edge pull him into position show him his job and show him who boss don't take the bird right away from him make him hold it for a while or he'll get the bad habit of dropping birds don't always throw throw dummies from the bank have someone in a boat to throw dummy and fire a gun don't use a spike collar let a professional trainer use that if a dog needs it don't let a dog into water with a loose collar he may get a foot caught in it a dog seldom needs a whip but when he does use it little and lightly dogs are creatures of habit rules of fixation are governed by laws of repetition again and again patience and time this dog shows his utter contempt for you but losing your temper has no place in dog training remember there are as many dogs ruined by bad training as made by good training Chuck and Snuffy train dogs to sit on the line while they await their turn this is good training for tests at trials where a retriever must await his call Group Training like this this is good steuding training only the dog whose name is called goes out to retrieve training to quarter a field on pigeons is an important step if you want your retriever is an allaround gun dog he flushes it's good and the dog does a fine job of retrieving never let your dog come out of the water without completing his retrieve there goes Chuck he'll never let a dog start that bad habit the longer you let a dog get by the harder it gets Chuck's having it out with a dog here and now and showing him who boss whenever you see Chuck's hat floating you can be pretty sure Chuck's underneath still training a dog Chuck says anytime a trainer is afraid to get his feet wet or muddy he better quit training dogs and Chuck practices what he preaches Chuck's in the water so much he Sprout and web feet and look at that dog proud and happy that he's done his job here's a retrieve you'd like to see his nose directs him and he's got it fine boy a blind retrieve on the opposite Bank done entirely through Direction spectacular splashes what you like in a finnished dog and one who knows what his nose is for plus plenty of determination to fetch what he's after whether it's a black labrador big tough chess eager to please golden or an Irish Water spanel there's a lot of pleasure for you in your educated hunting companion if you can hit them when birds are flushed they're yours with a good retriever there's still plenty of game for the man with a good retriever the game you kill you get no matter where it falls who else but a finished retriever could bring you your birds in a spot like this but remember even with the best blood in your dog it takes a lot of training patience time and money to make a finished hunting dog but it's plenty worth it man it's plenty worth it [Music]